Statement & Conclusions MCQs for UPSC Prelims

63 practice questions on Statement & Conclusions from the Logical Reasoning section of the UPSC Prelims syllabus. 63 come with a written explanation and 33 are actual previous year questions. Try the sample set below - the answer stays hidden until you ask for it.

11 Easy 49 Medium 3 Hard 33 from past papers

Sample questions

Q1
Previous year question medium

Two Statements are given followed by two Conclusions: Statements: All cats are dogs. All cats are black. Conclusion-I: All dogs are black. Conclusion-II: Some dogs are not black. Which of the above Conclusions logically follows/follow from the two given Statements, disregarding commonly known facts?

  1. A Only Conclusion-I
  2. B Only Conclusion-II
  3. C Neither Conclusion-I nor Conclusion-II
  4. D Both Conclusion-I and Conclusion-II
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C - Neither Conclusion-I nor Conclusion-II

From 'all cats are dogs' and 'all cats are black', we only know that the cats (a subset of dogs) are black. The colour of dogs that are not cats is undetermined. Conclusion-I (all dogs are black) need not hold, because non-cat dogs might be any colour. Conclusion-II (some dogs are not black) also need not hold, because it is possible that every dog happens to be black. Since each conclusion is only a possibility and not a certainty, neither follows.

Q2
Previous year question medium

Consider the following statements followed by two conclusions: Statements: Some men are great. Some men are wise. Conclusion I: Men are either great or wise. Conclusion II: Some men are neither great nor wise. Which one of the following is correct?

  1. A Only conclusion I is valid.
  2. B Only conclusion II is valid.
  3. C Both the conclusions are valid.
  4. D Neither of the conclusion is valid.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - Neither of the conclusion is valid.

The premises are particular: 'some men are great' and 'some men are wise'. Conclusion I claims all men are either great or wise, which is a universal claim not supported by two 'some' statements, so it is invalid. Conclusion II claims some men are neither great nor wise, but the premises do not guarantee the existence of such men (the great and the wise could together cover all the men referred to), so it is only a possibility, not a certainty, and is therefore invalid. Since neither follows necessarily, the answer is that neither conclusion is valid.

Q3
Previous year question medium

Three Statements followed by three 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 : Some doctors are teachers. Statement-2 : All teachers are engineers. Statement-3 : All engineers are scientists. Conclusion-I : Some scientists are doctors. Conclusion-II : All engineers are doctors. Conclusion-III : Some engineers are doctors. Which one of the following is correct?

  1. A Only Conclusion-I
  2. B Only Conclusion-II
  3. C Both Conclusion-I and Conclusion-III
  4. D Both Conclusion-I and Conclusion-II
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C - Both Conclusion-I and Conclusion-III

Given Some doctors are teachers, All teachers are engineers, All engineers are scientists: the doctors who are teachers are therefore engineers and also scientists, so Some scientists are doctors (Conclusion I) follows and Some engineers are doctors (Conclusion III) follows. Conclusion II, All engineers are doctors, does not follow, because only some doctors are linked into the engineer set, not the whole engineer set into doctors. Hence both I and III follow.

Q4
Previous year question medium

Consider the following Statements and Conclusions: Statements: 1. Some rats are cats. 2. Some cats are dogs. 3. No dog is a cow. Conclusions: I. No cow is a cat. II. No dog is a rat. III. Some cats are rats. Which of the above conclusions is/are drawn from the statements?

  1. A I, II and III
  2. B Only I and II
  3. C Only III
  4. D Only II and III
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C - Only III

Conclusion III is the simple converse of statement 1: 'Some rats are cats' immediately gives 'Some cats are rats' (a valid conversion of a particular affirmative), so III follows. Conclusion I ('No cow is a cat') does not follow: from 'No dog is a cow' and 'Some cats are dogs', the cats that are not dogs could still be cows, so a definite negative between cow and cat cannot be drawn. Conclusion II ('No dog is a rat') does not follow either: 'Some rats are cats' and 'Some cats are dogs' need not connect rats and dogs, but they also do not exclude them, so no definite negative holds. Only III is valid, option (c).

Q5
Previous year question medium

Consider the following statements: The Third World War, if it ever starts, will end very quickly with possible end of civilization. It is only the misuse of nuclear power which will trigger it. Based on the above statement, which one of the following inferences is correct?

  1. A Nuclear power will be used in Third World War.
  2. B There will be no civilization left after the Third World War.
  3. C The growth of nuclear power will destroy civilization in the long run.
  4. D The Third World War will not take place.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A - Nuclear power will be used in Third World War.

The statement says it is 'only the misuse of nuclear power which will trigger' the Third World War. If the war is triggered, then by this exclusive condition nuclear power must be the trigger, that is, nuclear power will be used; so (a) is a valid inference. Option (b) is too strong: the text says 'possible end of civilization', only a possibility, not a certainty. Option (c) confuses growth of nuclear power with misuse and adds an unstated 'long run' claim. Option (d) is not implied; the passage discusses what would happen if the war starts, not that it will not. Hence (a).

Q6
Previous year question medium

Examine the following statements: 1. None but students are the members of the club. 2. Some members of the club are married. 3. All married persons are invited for dance. Which one of the conclusions can be drawn from the above statements?

  1. A All students are invited for dance.
  2. B All married students are invited for dance.
  3. C All members of the club are married persons.
  4. D None of the above conclusions can be drawn.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - None of the above conclusions can be drawn.

Statement 1 means every club member is a student, but NOT that every student is a member. (a) fails: not all students are married, so not all are invited for dance. (b) fails: a married student need not be a club member (the link to 'married' runs through club members, and only some members are married); we cannot conclude all married students are invited. (c) fails directly: only 'some' members are married, not all. Since none of (a), (b) or (c) necessarily follows, the answer is (d).

Q7
Previous year question medium

Given the statement: "Buses are the cause of more accidents than cars, and trucks cause fewer accidents than buses", which of the following conclusions can we draw?

  1. A There are more buses on the road than trucks.
  2. B Car drivers are more careful than bus drivers.
  3. C Truck drivers are more skilled than either car or bus drivers.
  4. D None of the above
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - None of the above

The statement only ranks the number of accidents: buses cause more than cars, and trucks cause fewer than buses. It says nothing about the number of vehicles on the road, nor about driver carefulness or skill, since accident counts can depend on traffic volume, distance travelled and many other factors. Options (a), (b) and (c) all require extra assumptions not supported by the statement, so none of them logically follows. The answer is None of the above.

Q8
Previous year question medium

Consider the following statements: 1. All X-brand cars parked here are white. 2. Some of them have radial tyres. 3. All X-brand cars manufactured after 1986 have radial tyres. 4. All cars are not X-brand. Which one of the following conclusions can be drawn from the above statements?

  1. A Only white cars are parked here.
  2. B Some white X-brand cars with radial tyres are parked here.
  3. C Cars other than X-brand cannot have radial tyres.
  4. D Most of the X-brand cars are manufactured before 1986.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B - Some white X-brand cars with radial tyres are parked here.

From statement 1, all X-brand cars parked here are white. From statement 2, some of these (white, X-brand, parked here) cars have radial tyres. Combining, some white X-brand cars parked here have radial tyres, which is exactly option (b). Option (a) overreaches: statement 4 allows non-X-brand cars parked here that may not be white. Option (c) is unsupported: nothing says non-X-brand cars cannot have radial tyres. Option (d) is unsupported by any statement. Hence (b).

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