Accept every statement below as true, whatever the real world says. Which of the conclusions must then be true?
Statements:
1. Some films are movies.
2. No movie is a theatre.
3. Some theatres are dramas.
Conclusions:
I. Some films are not theatres.
II. No drama is a film.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Only conclusion I follows
A conclusion follows only if it is true in every diagram that fits the statements. One diagram in which a conclusion is false is enough to reject it.
“Some films are movies”: the circles of films and movies overlap
“No movie is a theatre”: the circles of movies and theatres do not touch
“Some theatres are dramas”: the circles of theatres and dramas overlap; nothing is said about films and dramas
Conclusion I: Some films are not theatres. — Follows. The films that are movies can never be theatres, because no movie is a theatre.
Conclusion II: No drama is a film. — Does not follow. Films and dramas are never linked by a statement. In the diagram they do not meet, but the drama circle could also be drawn to overlap the film circle (outside the movies), so “no drama is a film” is not certain.