Question 24
HardOriginal questionRead the statements as true, even if they conflict with commonly known facts, and decide which of the conclusions follows.
Statements: No cat is a dog. All dogs are animals.
Conclusions: I. No cat is an animal. II. Some animals are not cats.
Show the answer and explanation
CorrectNot quiteAnswer B
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Conclusion I overreaches. Cats are excluded from dogs, not from animals; nothing stops cats from being animals by some other route.
Conclusion II does follow. Dogs are animals, and no dog is a cat, so those dogs are animals that are not cats.
Only conclusion II follows.
Worth noting
Conclusion I is the common trap: an exclusion from a smaller group is read as an exclusion from the larger one that contains it.
- Concept
- Negative statements do not transfer up a hierarchy
- Typical timeTypical
- 90 s
- Your timeYours
- —
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