Given below are two statements 1 and 2, and two conclusions I and II.…
2021
Given below are two statements 1 and 2, and two conclusions I and II.
Statement 1: All bacteria are microorganisms.
Statement 2: All pathogens are microorganisms.
Conclusion I: Some pathogens are bacteria.
Conclusion II: All pathogens are not bacteria.
Based on the above statements and conclusions, which one of the following options is logically CORRECT?
- A.
Only conclusion I is correct
- B.
Only conclusion II is correct
- C.
Either conclusion I or II is correct.
- D.
Neither conclusion I nor II is correct.
Attempted by 62 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Correct conclusion: Neither conclusion I nor II is correct.
Given premises:
1) All bacteria are microorganisms.
2) All pathogens are microorganisms.
Key idea: Both bacteria and pathogens are subsets of the class "microorganisms."
Because the premises only place both groups inside a larger class, they do not specify how the two subsets relate to each other.
Possible scenarios consistent with the premises:
They overlap partially (some pathogens are bacteria) — makes conclusion I true but not II.
They are disjoint (no pathogen is a bacterium) — makes conclusion II true but not I.
One subset contains the other (all pathogens are bacteria or all bacteria are pathogens) — which would make one of the conclusions true, but this is not guaranteed by the premises.
Conclusion: Since the premises do not determine the relationship between bacteria and pathogens, neither "some pathogens are bacteria" nor "no pathogens are bacteria" necessarily follows. Therefore, neither conclusion I nor conclusion II is logically correct.
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