UPSC Prelims 2022·CSAT·Logical Reasoning·Deductive Logic

Two Statements followed by four Conclusions are given below. You have to take the Statements to be true even if they seem to be at variance from the commonly known facts. Read all the Conclusions and then decide which of the given Conclusions logically follows/ follow from the Statements, disregarding the commonly known facts: Statement- 1: All pens are books. Statement- 2: No chair is a pen. Conclusion- 1: All chairs are books. Conclusion- II: Some chairs are pens. Conclusion- III: All books are chairs. Conclusion- IV: No chair is a book. Which one of the following is correct?

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  1. AOnly Conclusion-I
  2. BOnly Conclusion-II
  3. CBoth Conclusion-III and Conclusion-IV
  4. DNone of the Conclusions followsCorrect

Explanation

Here's a brief analysis of each conclusion based on the given statements: Statements: 1. All pens are books. (This means Pens are a subset of Books.) 2. No chair is a pen. (This means Chairs and Pens are completely separate/disjoint.) Let's evaluate each conclusion: Conclusion I: All chairs are books. This does not logically follow. We know chairs are not pens, and pens are books. However, chairs could be entirely outside the category of books, or they could partially or entirely overlap with books (as long as they don't overlap with pens). There's no information to force all chairs to be books. For example, if "pens" are "red apples" and "books" are "apples", then "chairs" could be "oranges". Oranges are not red apples, and red apples are apples. But oranges are not apples. Conclusion II: Some chairs are pens. This directly contradicts Statement 2, which says "No chair is a pen." Therefore, this conclusion is false and does not follow. Conclusion III: All books are chairs. This does not logically follow. From Statement 1, we know that all pens are books. From Statement 2, we know that no chair is a pen. This implies that pens (which are books) cannot be chairs. Therefore, it's impossible for "all books" to be "chairs" because at least the "pens" (which are books) are not chairs. Conclusion IV: No chair is a book. This does not logically follow. We know chairs are not pens, and pens are books. However, chairs could potentially be books, as long as they are not the *pen* type of books. For example, if "pens" are "red apples" and "books" are "apples", "chairs" could be "green apples". Green apples are not red apples, and red apples are apples. But green apples *are* apples. So, some chairs (green apples) could be books (apples), making "No chair is a book" false. Since none of the conclusions can be logically derived from the given statements, the correct option is D. The final answer is $\boxed{D}$
Logical Reasoning: Two Statements followed by four Conclusions are given below. You have to take the Statements to be true even if they see

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