Why (E) is right: combining two universal claims
A Inference explanation from our free library. The question below is original, written for this page. Then the full breakdown: why the right answer is right, and why each wrong answer is wrong.
The question
Every painting in the gallery is by a living artist. No work by a living artist is in the permanent collection.
If the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true?
- Some paintings in the gallery will one day enter the permanent collection.
- The gallery has no permanent collection.
- All living artists have work in the gallery.
- The gallery's paintings are all recent works.
- No painting in the gallery is in the permanent collection. Correct
Why (E) is correct
Take any painting in the gallery. By the first statement, its artist is living. By the second statement, no work by a living artist is in the permanent collection. So that painting is not in the permanent collection.
Since this holds for any painting you pick, (E) must be true. Inference answers are often this plain: just the two premises combined, with nothing added. The wrong answers all add something: the future, the whole collection, a reversed arrow, or a new concept like "recent."
Why the wrong answers are wrong
(A) Too strong
The statements are about now. What happens after an artist dies is not covered. "Will" makes a future claim the premises cannot support.
(B) Too strong
The premises say no living artist's work is in the collection, not that the collection is empty. It could hold work by artists who have died.
(C) Reversed
The premise goes gallery paintings to living artists. This flips it to living artists to gallery paintings. The arrow only points one way.
(D) Out of scope
'Recent' never appears in the premises. Living artists can make old works, and the statements say nothing about age.
Last updated October 12, 2026