More Questions from Syllogism

Syllogism — Students, intelligence, and a named individual (existential misuse check): Statements: (I) Some students are intelligent. (II) Ankita is a student. Conclusions: 1. Some students are dull. 2. Ankita is an intelligent.

Verbal Reasoning Syllogism Difficulty: Easy
Choose an option
  • A
    Only 1 follows
  • B
    Only 1 and 2 follow
  • C
    Only 2 follows
  • D
    None follows
  • E
    None of these

Answer

Correct Answer: None follows

Explanation

Introduction / Context:Named individuals often tempt overreach. The premises supply one existential about the class “students” and a membership fact about Ankita, but they do not connect Ankita to the “intelligent” subset.

Given Data / Assumptions:

  • ∃ (Student ∩ Intelligent).
  • Ankita ∈ Student.

Concept / Approach:From (I), at least one student is intelligent, but it need not be Ankita. Statement 1 about “dull” students introduces a new predicate with no support. Statement 2 claims Ankita is intelligent, which is not guaranteed by the premises.

Step-by-Step:1) “Some students are dull” has no basis; dullness is never mentioned.2) “Ankita is intelligent” does not follow from “Some students are intelligent,” because “some” does not specify which student(s).

Common Pitfalls:Reading “some” as “all,” or treating a named member as representative of the existential subset.

Final Answer:None follows.

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