RAS question
Which Venn diagram best represents the relationship among: Dogs, Pets, Animals?
Correct answer: (D) Dogs and Pets are both inside Animals, with Dogs and Pets overlapping.
The correct Venn diagram places Dogs and Pets as overlapping circles entirely inside Animals, because all dogs and all pets are animals, but the two groups are not identical.
Explanation
Britannica defines a pet as an animal kept mainly for pleasure, giving examples such as a dog, cat, bird or fish. Pets therefore belongs inside Animals. Dogs also belongs inside Animals, because all dogs are animals. The key is that Dogs and Pets are related but not the same set. Some dogs are pets, so the two circles must overlap. But not every dog is a pet, because stray dogs exist, and not every pet is a dog, because cats and birds can also be pets. Therefore the only accurate diagram is two overlapping subsets, Dogs and Pets, fully contained within the larger set Animals.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) It wrongly separates Pets from Animals, even though a pet is itself an animal kept mainly for pleasure.
- (B) It wrongly puts all Dogs inside Pets, whereas stray dogs are dogs but not pets.
- (C) It wrongly makes all three sets separate, although Dogs and Pets both fall within Animals and some dogs are also pets.
Concept
This tests set relations in Venn diagrams: subset, superset and partial overlap. RAS reasoning questions often use everyday categories to check whether candidates can separate 'all', 'some' and 'not all' relationships without overgeneralising.