Poets and writers — Syllogisms Aptitude Question
Poets and writers: Statements: All poets are writers. Some writers are journalists. Conclusions: I. Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Syllogisms
- Section: Logical Reasoning
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 75 seconds
Question
Statements:
- All poets are writers.
- Some writers are journalists.
Conclusions: I. Some poets are journalists. II. Some journalists are writers.
Which conclusion follows?
Options
- Only I
- Only II
- Both
- Neither
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: B. Only II
Worked solution
- The writers who are journalists may all lie outside the poets, so I does not follow.
- 'Some writers are journalists' reverses to 'some journalists are writers': II follows.
Answer: Only II.
The idea
'Some' statements are symmetric and may always be reversed. 'All' statements never may.
Shortcut. The shared term (writers) is the larger class in the 'all' premise, so the journalist writers can sit entirely outside the poets — I fails. II just swaps the terms of a 'some', which is always valid.
Common trap. "Both" — chaining poets → writers → journalists as if the link passed through; the writers who are journalists need not include a single poet.