UPSC Prelims 2015 · CSAT
Question 20: Logical Reasoning and Mental Ability
All good athletes want to win and all athletes who want to win eat a well-balanced diet; therefore all athletes who do not eat a well-balanced diet are bad athletes. The best conclusion from this statement is that
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).
Write the chain: good athlete leads to wanting to win, which leads to eating a balanced diet. So every good athlete eats a balanced diet, and by contraposition no athlete who skips a balanced diet can be good. That is (b). The other options reverse an arrow: not every athlete who wants to win is good, and eating well does not make an athlete good. Bad athletes are not said to lack the wish to win.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Wrong: bad athletes may also want to win; the statements do not exclude them.
- (b) Right: good athletes all eat a balanced diet, so those who do not cannot be good.
- (c) Wrong: reverses the arrow; eating well is necessary for being good, not sufficient.
- (d) Wrong: reverses the arrow; wanting to win is necessary for being good, not sufficient.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2015, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.