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 kettles are pots.
2. No kettle is a jar.
Conclusions:
I. No pot is a jar.
II. Some pots are jars.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Either conclusion I or conclusion II follows
When two conclusions do not follow on their own, but in every diagram exactly one of them is true (such as “some X are Y” and “no X is Y”), the answer is “either one or the other follows”.
“All kettles are pots”: the circle of kettles lies inside the circle of pots
“No kettle is a jar”: the circles of kettles and jars do not touch; the pots that are not kettles may or may not be jars
Conclusion I: No pot is a jar. — Does not follow on its own. In case 2 some pots (not kettles) are jars, so it is false there.
Conclusion II: Some pots are jars. — Does not follow on its own. In case 1 the pots and jars do not meet, so it is false there.
Pots and jars either meet or they do not; there is no third case. So in every diagram exactly one of I and II is true: either conclusion I or conclusion II follows.