Revelian Test Deductive Reasoning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Either the project is on time or the team is working overtime. The project is on time. What follows?
- The team must be working overtime
- The team may or may not be working overtime (Correct answer)
- The team is definitely not working overtime
- Nothing can be concluded
Correct answer: The team may or may not be working overtime
An inclusive 'or' statement means both conditions can be true simultaneously; knowing one is true doesn't rule out the other.
Question 2: All lawyers have law degrees. Maria does not have a law degree. What can be deduced about Maria?
- Maria is a lawyer
- Maria is not a lawyer (Correct answer)
- Maria may be a lawyer
- Maria has another type of degree
Correct answer: Maria is not a lawyer
By contrapositive, if someone is a lawyer they have a law degree; since Maria lacks one, she cannot be a lawyer.
Question 3: Some athletes are vegetarians. All vegetarians avoid red meat. Which must be true?
- All athletes avoid red meat
- No athletes avoid red meat
- Some athletes avoid red meat (Correct answer)
- Vegetarians are all athletes
Correct answer: Some athletes avoid red meat
The athletes who are vegetarians must avoid red meat, so at least some athletes avoid red meat.
Question 4: If the alarm sounds, everyone must evacuate. The alarm did not sound. What can we conclude?
- Everyone evacuated
- No one evacuated
- People may or may not have evacuated (Correct answer)
- The building is safe
Correct answer: People may or may not have evacuated
The rule only tells us what happens when the alarm sounds; when it doesn't sound, we have no information about evacuation.
Question 5: Every product with a defect is recalled. Product X was not recalled. Which must be true?
- Product X has a defect
- Product X has no defect (Correct answer)
- Product X might have a defect
- Product X was never inspected
Correct answer: Product X has no defect
By contrapositive, if a product was not recalled, it must have no defect.
Question 6: Some doctors are researchers. Some researchers publish papers. Which conclusion is valid?
- Some doctors publish papers
- All doctors publish papers
- No doctors publish papers
- It is possible that some doctors publish papers (Correct answer)
Correct answer: It is possible that some doctors publish papers
While it's possible for some doctors to be researchers who publish, neither 'some' statement guarantees any direct overlap between doctors and paper publishers.
Question 7: All squares are rectangles. All rectangles have four sides. Shape Z is a square. What must be true?
- Shape Z has three sides
- Shape Z has four sides (Correct answer)
- Shape Z is not a rectangle
- Shape Z may or may not have four sides
Correct answer: Shape Z has four sides
Since Z is a square, it is a rectangle, and since all rectangles have four sides, Z must have four sides.
Revelian Test Deductive Reasoning 2
Either the project is on time or the team is working overtime.
The project is on time.
What follows?