GRE Sample Questions

Analytical Section: Logical Reasoning Questions (GRE)

Question 11

All roads are poles. No pole is a house.

Sentences:

1. Some roads are houses
2. Some houses are poles

Answer: (d)

Clarification: As both the premises are complete and one premise is negative, the sentence should be universal negative. So, neither 1 nor 2 follows.

Question 12

All fish are tortoise. No tortoise is a crocodile.

Sentences:

1. No crocodile is a fish
2. No fish is a crocodile

Answer: (e)

Clarification: As both of the premises are universal and one particular premise is negative, the conclusion should be universal negative. As well as, the conclusion must not have the middle term. So, both 1 and 2 follows; 1 is the opposite of 2 and therefore it also holds.

Question 13

No gentleman is poor. All gentlemen are rich.

Sentences:

1. No poor man is rich
2. No rich man is poor

Answer: (d)

Clarification: You can see that first premise is an E-type proposition. So, the center term 'gentleman' is the subject, which is distributed. And the second premise is an A-type proposition. Since the center term is dispersed two times, the sentence cannot be universal. As one premise is negative, the conclusion will be negative. Therefore, it follows that 'Some rich men are not poor'. Thus, neither 1 nor 2 sentences follow.

Question 14

Some swords are sharp. All swords are rusty.

Sentences:

1. Some rusty things are sharp
2. Some rusty things are not sharp

Answer: (a)

Clarification: As one premise is particular, the conclusion should be particular and should not have the center term. So, 1 follows. As both the premises are positive, the conclusion cannot be negative. Therefore, 2 do not follow.

Question 15

All fishes are grey in color. Some fishes are heavy.

Sentences:

1. All heavy fishes are grey in color
2. All light fishes are not grey in color

Answer: (a)

Clarification: As one premise is particular, the conclusion should be particular and it should not have the middle term. So, it follows that 'Some heavy things are grey in color'. 1 is a collective result of this conclusion and the first premise. Thus, only 1 holds.

Question 16

All good athletes win. All good athletes eat well.

Sentences:

1. All those who eat well are good athletes
2. All those who win eat well

Answer: (d)

Clarification: As the middle term “good athletes” is distributed two times in the premises, the conclusion should be particular and should not have the middle term. So it follows as 'Some of those who win, eat well'.

Question 17

All film stars are playback singers. All film directors are film stars.

Sentences:

1. All film directors are playback singers
2. Some film stars are film directors

Answer: (e)

Clarification: As both the premises are universal and positive, the conclusion should be universal positive and should not have the middle term. So, both 1 & 2 follow. As, 2 is the opposite of the second premise it also holds.

Question 18

All hill stations have a sun-set point. X is a hill station.

Sentences:

1. X has a sun-set point.
2. Places other than hill stations do not have sun-set points.

Answer: (a)

Clarification: As both the premises are universal and positive, the conclusion should be universal positive and should not have the middle term. So, only 1 follows.

Question 19

Some dreams are nights. Some nights are days.

Sentences:

1. All days are either nights or dreams
2. Some days are nights

Answer: (b)

Clarification: As both the premises are particular, no exact conclusion follows. Though, 2 is the opposite of the second premise, thus it holds.

Question 20

All jungles are tigers. Some tigers are horses.

Sentences:

1. Some horses are jungles
2. No horse is jungle

Answer: (c)

Clarification: As the middle term 'tigers' is not distributed even at least once in the premises, no exact conclusion follows though, 1 and 2 involve only the extreme terms and make an opposite pair. So, either 1 or 2 follows.