Read the following statement carefully and identify the conclusion that follows. Statement: All pens are books. Some books are novels. Conclusions: I. Some pens are novels. II. All novels are books.
- (a)Only I follows
- (b)Only II follows
- (c)Both I and II follow
- (d)Neither I nor II follows
Answer
Why
Correct — B.
Rule: a conclusion follows only if every arrangement the statements allow makes it true.
Conclusion I fails that test. Pens sit inside books and novels overlap books, but nothing puts the novels among the pens. Some pens are novels is possible, not certain.
Conclusion II, All novels are books, is true of real novels, and SSC's key credits it: Only II follows → option (b). The statement itself gives only 'Some books are novels' (see the note on this key).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Only I follows — Some pens are novels is not certain: the novels may overlap only the books that are not pens. Conclusion I fails on any reading, so Only I cannot be right.
- (c)Both I and II follow — Both needs Conclusion I as well, and I fails because the pens and the novels need not meet. Whatever is decided about II, this option is out.
- (d)Neither I nor II follows — SSC's key rejects Neither because it credits Conclusion II, All novels are books, as true of real novels. The note on the key records why a strict reading differs.
Concept
Draw the smallest picture the statements allow: the pens circle inside the books circle, and a novels circle that overlaps books somewhere, possibly outside the pens. Pens and novels need not meet, so Some pens are novels is not certain.
'Some books are novels' converts to Some novels are books. Conclusion II claims more, All novels are books, a statement true of real novels, and SSC's key credits it (see the note on the key).
Unlike 16 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.23, this stem does not add the rider telling you to treat the statements as true 'even if they appear contrary to known facts'.
Every real novel is a book, so II is true in the world. It is still not derived from the two statements, and the standard method judges conclusions on the statements alone.
Key facts
- 'Some A are B' converts to 'Some B are A', never to 'All B are A'.
- 'All A are B' with 'Some B are C' gives no definite link between A and C.
- In the standard method a conclusion must follow from the statements, not from real-world knowledge.
Study next
Common traps
- Accepting a conclusion because it is true in real life rather than because the statements give it
- Linking pens to novels through books, when the novels may overlap only books that are not pens
17 Sep 2025, 12:30, Reasoning Q.12 uses the same premise shape, All plants are living beings and Some living beings are animals, and keys Neither: Some plants are animals is rejected as Conclusion I is here.
16 Sep 2025, 16:00, Reasoning Q.11 rejects All wild are animals from two Some statements (keyed Neither).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.