Take the statements below to be true, even if they differ from known facts. Which of the conclusions follow logically from them?
Statements:
1. All flutes are gifts.
2. Some flutes are antiques.
3. No gift is a parcel.
Conclusions:
I. Some antiques are not parcels.
II. All antiques being gifts is a possibility.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Both conclusions I and II follow
A “possibility” conclusion follows if it is true in at least one diagram that fits the statements; an ordinary conclusion must be true in every such diagram.
“All flutes are gifts”: the circle of flutes lies inside the circle of gifts
“Some flutes are antiques”: the circles of flutes and antiques overlap
“No gift is a parcel”: the circles of gifts and parcels do not touch
Conclusion I: Some antiques are not parcels. — Follows. The antiques that are flutes are gifts, because every flute is a gift, and no gift is a parcel; so these antiques are not parcels.
Conclusion II: All antiques being gifts is a possibility. — Follows. Nothing stops all the antiques lying inside the gifts: the diagram fits all three statements and in it every antique is a gift.