High School Placement Test Prep

Category - SHSAT Practice Test Question

Select the answer choice that correctly completes the following:

Some human beings are mortal.
Plato is a human being.
  1. Plato may need a will.
  2. Plato may be mortal.
  3. Some mortals are human beings.
  4. Some human beings are Plato.
Explanation
Answer: B - Plato may be mortal. The first sentence is a major premise and establishes a general principle taken as true-that some human beings are mortal. The second sentence is a minor premise and establishes that a specific person is a human being. In reaching a conclusion, however, the test-taker must recognize that the major premise is not an absolute. Answer B properly connects the major and minor premises by concluding that Plato (a human being) comes within the principle established in the major premise and that conclusion is limited by the same limitation of the major premise.
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