State is logical order of the argument that follows from any three of the given five statements. A) Traffic congestion increases carbon monoxide in the environment. B) Traffic congestion is hazardous to health. C) Some traffic congestion does not cause increased carbon monoxide. D) Increase in carbon monoxide is hazardous to health. E) Some traffic congestion is not hazardous to health.

The answer is C (DAB). Read the statements as categorical propositions: A says all traffic congestion is carbon monoxide increase, B says all traffic congestion is hazardous, C says some traffic congestion does not increase carbon monoxide, D says all carbon monoxide increase is hazardous, and E says some traffic congestion is not hazardous.

D, A and B form a valid syllogism in the Barbara form. D (All CO increase is hazardous) is the major premise, A (All traffic congestion is CO increase) is the minor premise, and B (All traffic congestion is hazardous) is the conclusion.

• A (ABC): A says all traffic congestion increases CO, while C says some traffic congestion does not. These two directly contradict each other, so they cannot form a valid argument.
• B (BDE): B says all traffic congestion is hazardous, while E says some is not. Again a direct contradiction.
• D (DBA): B and A share the subject 'traffic congestion' but do not link in a chain. D and B have no common middle term, so the order fails.

The core concept is the syllogism and the distribution of the middle term. The middle term must be distributed in at least one premise, and it is CO increase in D and A. This is the same reasoning used in Mains GS-II for cause-effect arguments and in environmental policy analysis.

Trap: Aspirants pick DBA because B and A look adjacent in the list. Always check that the middle term connects the premises before choosing the order.