Logic Shmogic
I just got home from my last Stanford Achievement Test (SAT, but not the SAT) ever! It went pretty well, and I finished all the tests in good time. However, on the Otis-Lennon Test (a kind of IQ test), I found a question that really stumped me. I wrote it down and brought it home to see if anyone else could figure it out, and so far nobody has. Why don't you give it a try?
Here it is:
No A's are B's
All B's are C's
Some C's are D's
It follows that:
a) no B's are D's
b) some C's are A's
c) some A's are D's
d) all D's are either B's or C's
e) no A's are C's
If anyone can figure it out, please leave the answer and an explanation in my comments.
Another interesting question that puzzled me a bit was one in the "Bible" section:
Statistics show that which of these is the primary cause of financial instablility among newly married couples?
a) Life insurance
b) Buying a new house
c) Credit cards
d) Multiple bank accounts
The answer can be found in Methuselah 7:29.
(Just kidding about the Methuselah part: at least they weren't THAT bad ; )
7 comments:
huh, no wonder my bible has felt a little light lately. that book must have fallen out :-)
My goodness, what heresies is this place putting forth?
I would have said b) or c) could be the "best answer." Don't they say to choose the best answer, not necessarily the true one? I don't think any of them are given, but some are more likely than others.
I did a google search and found that these types of things are used a lot in psychology studies, to see how people respond within certain parameters (if they are given positive words like "all," they choose answers with positive words; if the words are mixed like "no" and "all" people choose an answer with a negative word.) Could there be a psychology aspect to this question? Don't ask me how that fits into your IQ, but it's an idea.
My guess:
c) Credit cards
Debt is the only one of those options prohibited in scripture. Granted, it's not the greatest question for a Bible test, but I think they're taking an extremely round-about way of testing your knowledge of Biblical principles as they relate to modern-day life.
I'm assuming the part about Methuselah is your own clever addendum, not part of the original question.
You assumed rightly, Asaphat. And I hope you're right with your answer for the second problem, because credit cards is the answer I chose. You may also be right that the question was intended to test my Biblical knowledge in a round-about way, but it did say "Statistics show...": not "Which is the easiest way..." or "Which should couples be most careful with..."
About the logic problem, I hope you're wrong: I chose answer E, basing my decision on the hope that they meant "All B's are C's" to be a reciprocal function, in which case E is the only definite choice (C would be the only other possibility). I can assure you, however, that there was nothing to do with probability. The way I presented the problem is exactly the way it was written.
Oh, I just got what you meant about the psychology aspect. I thought you were saying that I should be trying to use psychology to figure out what the test-makers were thinking when they thought up the question, and I was a bit annoyed. But NOW I get it, and I wonder if psychology does have anything to do with it. I looked the test on it's website briefly, and this is all I came up with:
Assesses student's thinking/reasoning skills using verbal, quantitative, and non-verbal communication/symbols
Measures abilities necessary to learn and succeed in school
Can reveal what to expect of a student and why a certain subject area may be challenging
Haha! You proved right the psychology tests I read about! My first choice was E, too, but then I read about the psych studies and they say if people are given mixed words (All..., Some..., No...) they will choose a negative answer, so I decided to reevaluate and choose something else. That's not to say it's wrong... I convinced myself it was E, then unconvinced myself...it's pretty much up in the air.
I'm pretty firmly convinced it's E, psych websites disregarding.
A =/= B.
B = C
(C could also be equal to letters such as G or H)
C =sometimes= D
(when D is part of C, D might possibly be B, since B = C)
Therefore,
a) might be false because B can equal D.
b) might be false. If A does not equal the value of B and B equals the value of C, then A must not equal C. (Transitive property)
c) can be true. D does not always equal C. When D does not equal C, then D might equal A.
d) is false. When D does not equal C, then D does not equal B, because B is part of C.
e) can be true.
[Hypothetical situation where E would be false:
A =puppies
B =dolphins
C =mammals
D =aquatic animals (fish, whales, etc)
puppies are not dolphins.
dolphins are mammals.
(mammals could also be mice and elephants)
mammals are sometimes composed of aquatic animals (such as the platypus).
(when aquatic animals are mammals, aquatic animals might be dolphins, because dolphins are mammals)
In this case, puppies are mammals. (A=C).]
Heeheehee. To be contrary, I'm going to submit "C" as the answer because it equally plausible, in my opinion, as "E".
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