Deductive reasoning: Practice 1 (Foundation)

10 original teaching questions with answers and explanations.

Instructions for this set

Treat all premises as true. Select the one conclusion or arrangement required by the supplied rules; use no outside assumptions.

Feedback mode has no time limit or negative marking. The optional timed challenge allows 15 minutes and uses the scoring shown on its rules screen. Those settings are not official assessment rules.

Practise with feedback Optional timed challenge

  1. 1. Every priority shipment is tracked. Parcel K is not tracked. Which conclusion must be true?
    1. K is priority
    2. K is not priority
    3. K is delayed
    4. All tracked parcels are priority

    Reference: q-60deff4e-92 · Report this question

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    Answer: B. K is not priority

    A priority parcel must be tracked. K is not tracked, so it cannot be priority. Delay is not mentioned.
  2. 2. Only supervisors may approve refunds. Nia approved a refund. What follows?
    1. Nia is a supervisor
    2. Every supervisor approves refunds
    3. Nia is the only supervisor
    4. Nia approved all refunds

    Reference: q-1dee9dce-75 · Report this question

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    Answer: A. Nia is a supervisor

    Approval requires supervisor status. The rule does not require every supervisor to approve a refund.
  3. 3. A briefing occurs before a demonstration. The demonstration occurs before a review. Which event must be first among these three?
    1. Review
    2. Demonstration
    3. Briefing
    4. Cannot determine

    Reference: q-4697502c-129 · Report this question

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    Answer: C. Briefing

    The order is briefing, demonstration, review.
  4. 4. Exactly one of the servers P and Q is offline. P is online. What must be true?
    1. Q is online
    2. Q is offline
    3. Both are offline
    4. Neither is offline

    Reference: q-79c455b8-79 · Report this question

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    Answer: B. Q is offline

    Exactly one must be offline. Because P is not, Q must be.
  5. 5. A permit requires both training and an ID check. Omar has training but no ID check. Under this rule, is Omar eligible for the permit?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. Only if he requests it
    4. Eligibility follows from training alone

    Reference: q-34568f2d-134 · Report this question

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    Answer: B. No

    Both requirements are necessary. The missing ID check prevents eligibility.
  6. 6. All audit files are encrypted. Some encrypted files are archived. Must some audit files be archived?
    1. Yes, necessarily
    2. No; the overlap is not established
    3. Yes, if encryption is secure
    4. All audit files must be archived

    Reference: q-e63443ae-101 · Report this question

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    Answer: B. No; the overlap is not established

    The archived encrypted files may all be non-audit files. Membership in a wider encrypted group does not prove this overlap.
  7. 7. Three lockers contain 2, 4 and 6 folders respectively, one total per locker. Locker A has more folders than B. Locker B has more than C. How many are in B?
    1. 2
    2. 3
    3. 4
    4. 6

    Reference: q-69542d66-156 · Report this question

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    Answer: C. 4

    The strict descending order forces A = 6, B = 4 and C = 2.
  8. 8. No temporary badge opens the lab. Badge R opens the lab. What follows?
    1. R is temporary
    2. R is not temporary
    3. R opens every room
    4. R belongs to a manager

    Reference: q-54778ec4-71 · Report this question

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    Answer: B. R is not temporary

    A lab-opening badge cannot be in the temporary category. Ownership and other rooms are unspecified.
  9. 9. If a task is urgent, it is assigned today. Task M was assigned today. Must M be urgent?
    1. Yes
    2. No; non-urgent tasks might also be assigned today
    3. Yes, because today is a workday
    4. No task can be urgent

    Reference: q-edaf5830-88 · Report this question

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    Answer: B. No; non-urgent tasks might also be assigned today

    The rule runs from urgent to assigned today, not the reverse.
  10. 10. Four speakers A, B, C and D speak once each. A is first, C is after B, and D is last. Who is second?
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D

    Reference: q-bc1cebd2-101 · Report this question

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    Answer: B. B

    With first and last fixed, B and C occupy the middle positions. B must precede C, so B is second.

Review your method

Return to the deductive reasoning lesson and identify the reasoning step behind each mistake before repeating the set.

Choose your practice difficulty

Difficulty labels describe the steps needed in these teaching sets; they are not validated ability bands. Start with foundation practice and move on after you can explain your method.

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