Logical Reasoning is 9 of the 180 MDCAT marks — 5% of the paper. It is the newest section, the least familiar to FSc students, and the one most often prepared for incorrectly.
The incorrect preparation is worth naming, because it wastes a great deal of time. Many MDCAT guides and coaching handouts import topics from general aptitude tests — blood relations, direction sense, coding-decoding, seating arrangements, number series, data sufficiency. None of these are in the PMDC curriculum. The official 2026 syllabus specifies six areas: Critical Thinking, Logical Deductions, Logical Problems, Cause and Effect, Course of Action, and Letter and Symbol Series. Every question on this page comes from those six and nothing else.
What the section actually tests is whether you can evaluate an argument: does the conclusion follow from the premises, is a stated cause sufficient, is a proposed course of action justified by the situation described. These are questions about validity, not about knowledge. You cannot revise facts for them, but you can learn the recurring shapes — and the shapes repeat.
The most common error is answering from plausibility rather than from the passage. A conclusion can be true in the world and still not follow from the premises given, and MDCAT distractors are built on exactly that distinction. The explanations below make the reasoning explicit for each question.
40 free Logical Reasoning MCQs with answers
Before choosing an option, state to yourself what the passage actually establishes. Most errors in this section come from importing outside knowledge into a question that supplies everything it needs.
Cause and Effect
Q1. Statement I: Heavy rainfall occurred in the region. Statement II: The rivers are flooded. Which is correct?
Answer: B — Heavy rainfall causes rivers to flood. Statement I is the cause and Statement II is the effect.
Causal Reasoning
Q2. Statement I: The price of petrol increased. Statement II: Transportation costs increased. Which is correct?
Answer: D — Increased petrol prices directly lead to higher transportation costs.
Causal Reasoning
Q3. Statement I: The government increased taxes. Statement II: Consumer spending decreased. What is the relationship?
Answer: D — Increased taxes reduce disposable income, leading to decreased consumer spending.
Causal Reasoning
Q4. Statement I: A new shopping mall opened in the city. Statement II: A famous actor visited the city. What is the relationship?
Answer: A — These are likely independent events with no causal connection between them.
Rejecting False Beliefs
Q5. Statement I: India won the cricket match. Statement II: Stock market prices rose. These events are most likely:
Answer: A — A cricket match result and stock market movements are generally independent events.
Rejecting False Beliefs
Q6. Statement I: The school introduced a new curriculum. Statement II: A new restaurant opened near the school. These are:
Answer: B — A school's curriculum change and a restaurant opening are unrelated events.
Rejecting False Beliefs
Q7. Statement: 'Whenever I study at night, I get better grades.' Conclusion: 'Night studying causes better grades.' This argument is:
Answer: B — The effect may result from total study time or other factors; personal observation cannot establish causation.
Valid Arguments
Q8. Statement: Every time unemployment rises, crime rates rise. Which conclusion is valid?
Answer: A — Consistent co-occurrence establishes correlation/association; causation requires further evidence.
Valid Arguments
Q9. Statement: In controlled trials, Drug A significantly reduced blood pressure compared to placebo. Conclusion: Drug A is effective in treating hypertension. This conclusion is:
Answer: A — Randomised controlled trials provide the highest level of evidence for causal claims in medicine.
Valid Arguments
Course of Action
Q10. Statement: Traffic accidents have increased at a particular intersection. Course of Action: A traffic signal should be installed.
Answer: B — Installing a traffic signal is a reasonable and practical response to increasing accidents at an intersection.
Argument Evaluation
Q11. Statement: 'Smoking should be banned in public places.' Argument: 'Passive smoking harms non-smokers.' This argument is:
Answer: C — This is a strong argument because it highlights a direct health impact on innocent bystanders, which is a valid reason for the ban.
Argument Evaluation
Q12. Statement: 'The government should make education free for all.' Argument: 'Free education will burden the economy.' This argument is:
Answer: A — The economic impact is a legitimate concern that directly relates to the feasibility of the proposal, making it a strong argument.
Argument Evaluation
Q13. Statement: Heavy rains have caused flooding. Course of Action I: Residents should be evacuated. Course of Action II: The city should improve drainage systems.
Answer: B — Both immediate evacuation for safety and long-term drainage improvement are appropriate responses to flooding.
Course of Action Evaluation
Q14. Statement: A school notices a significant drop in student attendance. Course of Action I: Investigate reasons for low attendance. Course of Action II: Expel all absent students.
Answer: A — Investigating reasons is logical. Expelling absent students is extreme and counterproductive.
Course of Action Evaluation
Q15. Statement: A company's sales have dropped for three consecutive quarters. Course of Action I: Conduct market research. Course of Action II: Immediately close down.
Answer: A — Market research to understand declining sales is reasonable. Closing down immediately is extreme and premature.
Information Gathering
Q16. Statement: A new virus has been detected in a neighboring country. Course of Action I: Screen at all entry points. Course of Action II: Permanently seal all borders.
Answer: C — Screening at entry points is proportionate and practical. Permanently sealing borders is extreme and impractical.
Information Gathering
Critical Thinking
Q17. Which of the following is a logical fallacy?
Answer: D — Attacking the person instead of the argument is an 'ad hominem' fallacy, which is a well-known logical fallacy.
False Beliefs Identification
Q18. 'Everyone I know likes pizza, so everyone in the world must like pizza.' This is an example of:
Answer: D — Generalizing from a small personal sample to the entire world population is a hasty generalization fallacy.
False Beliefs Identification
Q19. 'This medicine is good because a famous cricketer endorses it.' This reasoning is flawed because:
Answer: B — A cricketer is not a medical authority; using a celebrity endorsement is an appeal to irrelevant authority.
False Beliefs Identification
Q20. All cats are animals. All animals need food. Which conclusion is valid?
Answer: B — This is a simple syllogism: if all cats are animals and all animals need food, then all cats need food.
Logical Arguments
Q21. Statement: 'If it rains, the ground gets wet.' The ground is wet. Which of the following is true?
Answer: A — The ground being wet does not necessarily mean it rained; other causes could make the ground wet. Affirming the consequent is a logical fallacy.
Logical Arguments
Q22. All doctors are educated. Some educated people are rich. Which conclusion follows?
Answer: C — From 'All doctors are educated' and 'Some educated people are rich,' we cannot determine which educated people are rich, so no definite conclusion follows about doctors.
Logical Arguments
Q23. If all A are B, and all B are C, then:
Answer: A — This is a transitive syllogism: All A are B and all B are C, therefore all A are C.
True/False Evaluation
Q24. Premise 1: If it is a holiday, the office is closed. Premise 2: The office is open. Conclusion?
Answer: B — By modus tollens: if holiday then office closed; office is not closed (open), therefore it is not a holiday.
True/False Evaluation
Q25. Which of the following is a valid argument form?
Answer: A — Option B is modus tollens, a valid argument form: If P then Q; not Q; therefore not P.
True/False Evaluation
Letter and Symbol Series
Q26. What comes next in the series: 2, 4, 6, 8, ?
Answer: C — This is an arithmetic series with common difference 2. The next term is 8 + 2 = 10.
Arithmetical Operations
Q27. What comes next: 5, 10, 15, 20, ?
Answer: B — Arithmetic series with common difference 5. Next term: 20 + 5 = 25.
Arithmetical Operations
Q28. What is the next term in: 2, 6, 18, 54, ?
Answer: A — Geometric progression with common ratio 3. Next: 54 x 3 = 162.
Geometrical Progression
Q29. Find the next term: 5, 20, 80, 320, ?
Answer: C — Geometric progression with common ratio 4. Next: 320 x 4 = 1280.
Geometrical Progression
Q30. What comes next: A, C, E, G, ?
Answer: A — Alternate letters of the alphabet (skip one): A(+2)C(+2)E(+2)G(+2)I.
Sequential Orders
Q31. What comes next in the series: Z, Y, X, W, ?
Answer: D — The alphabet in reverse order. After W comes V.
Sequential Orders
Logical Deductions
Q32. Statement: All players in the team are over 20 years old. Statement: Raza is a player in the team. Conclusion: Raza is over 20 years old. The conclusion is:
Answer: A — Since all players are over 20 and Raza is a player, Raza must be over 20. The conclusion follows necessarily.
Passage-based Deductions
Q33. A is the father of B. B is the sister of C. C is the husband of D. How is A related to D?
Answer: D — A is B's father. B is C's sister, so A is also C's father. C is D's husband, making A the father-in-law of D.
Predicting Relations
Q34. Pointing to a photograph, a woman says, 'He is the son of my father's only daughter.' How is the person in the photo related to her?
Answer: A — The woman's father's only daughter is the woman herself. So the person is her son.
Predicting Relations
Q35. In a row of children, Ali is 8th from the left and 12th from the right. How many children are in the row?
Answer: D — Total = 8 + 12 - 1 = 19.
Structured Thinking
Q36. In a queue, Sana is 10th from the front and 15th from the back. How many people are in the queue?
Answer: D — Total = 10 + 15 - 1 = 24.
Structured Thinking
Logical Problems
Q37. If all Bloops are Razzies and all Razzies are Lazzies, then all Bloops are definitely:
Answer: D — By transitive reasoning: all Bloops are Razzies, all Razzies are Lazzies, so all Bloops are Lazzies.
Deductive Reasoning Puzzles
Q38. Ahmad is taller than Bilal. Bilal is taller than Chaudhry. Dawood is taller than Ahmad. Who is the tallest?
Answer: A — Dawood > Ahmad > Bilal > Chaudhry. Dawood is the tallest.
Deductive Reasoning Puzzles
Q39. A man facing north turns 90 degrees clockwise, then 180 degrees anticlockwise, then 45 degrees clockwise. Which direction is he facing?
Answer: B — North + 90 CW = East. East + 180 ACW = West. West + 45 CW = North-West.
Multi-step Problem Solving
Q40. A man starts at point A, walks 4 km East, 3 km North, 4 km West. How far is he from point A?
Answer: B — He walked East 4 then North 3 then West 4. He is directly 3 km North of start.
Multi-step Problem Solving
Where to go next
These questions are a sample. The full Logical Reasoning question bank is available in the topic-wise Logical Reasoning practice tool, which lets you filter by chapter and tracks which questions you have already answered. If a question here exposed a gap, the MDCAT notes section covers the underlying theory chapter by chapter, and a full-length timed mock test is the best way to find out whether you can hold that accuracy under exam conditions.
Frequently asked questions
How many Logical Reasoning questions are on the MDCAT 2026?
Logical Reasoning accounts for 9 of the 180 MCQs — 5% of the paper.
Are blood relations, coding-decoding and seating arrangement on the MDCAT?
No. Those topics belong to general aptitude tests and are not in the PMDC MDCAT curriculum. The official syllabus covers Critical Thinking, Logical Deductions, Logical Problems, Cause and Effect, Course of Action, and Letter and Symbol Series.
Can Logical Reasoning be prepared for at all?
Yes, though differently from the science sections. There are no facts to memorise, but the argument structures repeat, and practice makes them recognisable under time pressure.