UPSC Prelims 2011·CSAT·Logical Reasoning·Deductive Logic

Consider the following argument: "In, order to be a teacher one must graduate from college. All poets are poor. Some Mathematicians are poets. No college graduate is poor." Which one of the following is not a valid conclusion regarding the above argument?

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  1. ASome Mathematicians are not teachers
  2. BSome teachers are not MathematiciansCorrect
  3. CTeachers are not poor
  4. DPoets are not teachers.

Explanation

Let's break down the argument and derive conclusions from the given premises: Premises: 1. To be a teacher (T), one must graduate from college (C). (T -> C) 2. All poets (P) are poor (R). (P -> R) 3. Some Mathematicians (M) are poets (P). (Some M are P) 4. No college graduate (C) is poor (R). (C -> not R) Let's derive some direct conclusions: * From (1) T -> C and (4) C -> not R, we can conclude: **Teachers are not poor (T -> not R)**. * From (2) P -> R and (4) C -> not R (which implies R -> not C), we can conclude: **Poets are not college graduates (P -> not C)**. * From (P -> not C) and (1) T -> C (which implies not C -> not T), we can conclude: **Poets are not teachers (P -> not T)**. Now let's evaluate each option: A) Some Mathematicians are not teachers. * We know from (3) that Some M are P. * We derived that Poets are not teachers (P -> not T). * If some mathematicians are poets, and all poets are not teachers, then it logically follows that those specific mathematicians who are poets are not teachers. Therefore, **Some Mathematicians are not teachers** is a valid conclusion. B) Some teachers are not Mathematicians. * To check if this is a valid conclusion, let's consider if its opposite ("All teachers are Mathematicians") could be true without contradicting any of the premises. * If "All teachers are Mathematicians" is true, it means the set of Teachers is a subset of the set of Mathematicians. * We know Poets are not teachers (P -> not T). This means the set of Poets and the set of Teachers are disjoint. * We know Some Mathematicians are poets (Some M are P). This means there's an overlap between Mathematicians and Poets. * It's perfectly possible to have a scenario where all teachers are mathematicians, and some mathematicians are poets, as long as the teachers who are mathematicians are not the same mathematicians who are poets. For example, Mathematicians could include two groups: those who are teachers, and those who are poets (and these two groups are distinct). * Since "All teachers are Mathematicians" is a possibility consistent with the premises, "Some teachers are not Mathematicians" is not a necessary conclusion. Therefore, this is **not a valid conclusion**. C) Teachers are not poor. * As derived above, from T -> C and C -> not R, we get **T -> not R (Teachers are not poor)**. This is a valid conclusion. D) Poets are not teachers. * As derived above, from P -> R, R -> not C, and not C -> not T, we get **P -> not T (Poets are not teachers)**. This is a valid conclusion. The final answer is B because it is the only statement that cannot be necessarily concluded from the given premises; its opposite is consistent with the argument. The final answer is B
Logical Reasoning: Consider the following argument: "In, order to be a teacher one must graduate from college. All poets are poor. Some Mat

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