Pariksha SaathiStatement and Conclusion Questions with Solutions
A conclusion "follows" only if it’s a direct, inevitable restatement or combination of what the statement already says — nothing borrowed from outside knowledge or common sense. Here’s the approach, four fully worked examples, and a few to try yourself.
The approach, quickly
- Unlike Syllogism (general class relationships like "All A are B") or Statement and Assumption (unstated premises), Statement and Conclusion gives factual statements and asks which conclusions follow directly from them alone.
- A conclusion follows only if it’s a direct, inevitable restatement or combination of what the statement already says — not something merely probable, common-sense, or requiring outside information.
- Be suspicious of conclusions that go beyond the statement’s scope — adding a cause, a comparison, or a generalisation the statement itself never made is the most common trap. The statement saying X happened doesn’t mean it said X happened BECAUSE of Y.
- When multiple statements are given together, check whether the conclusion validly combines them (like chaining two comparisons) rather than assuming a connection the statements never actually established.
Worked examples
1. Statement: "The number of applicants for the exam this year is 20% higher than last year." Conclusions: I. More people are interested in the exam this year than last year. II. The exam has become more difficult this year.
Solution
- I: Applying is a direct measure of interest, so more applicants directly means more interest — this follows.
- II: The statement says nothing about difficulty; that’s an unstated guess about cause, not what was actually said.
Answer: Only conclusion I follows
2. Statement: "All the 50 employees of the company attended the training session held last week." Conclusions: I. The company has 50 employees. II. The training session was held last week.
Solution
- I: Directly stated ("the 50 employees").
- II: Directly stated ("held last week").
Answer: Both conclusions follow
3. Statement: "Company X’s profits increased for three consecutive years, but fell sharply in the fourth year." Conclusions: I. The company faced some problem in the fourth year. II. The company’s management changed in the fourth year.
Solution
- I: A profit fall doesn’t directly prove any specific "problem" — it could result from many things (a one-time policy change, a deliberate price cut), so this isn’t a direct logical derivation.
- II: The statement says nothing about management at all; this is entirely unsupported.
Answer: Neither conclusion follows
4. Statement: "Ramesh is taller than Suresh, and Suresh is taller than Mohan." Conclusions: I. Ramesh is taller than Mohan. II. Mohan is the shortest among the three.
Solution
- I: Combining Ramesh > Suresh > Mohan directly gives Ramesh > Mohan.
- II: Mohan sits at the bottom of the full established order among exactly these three, so Mohan is directly the shortest.
Answer: Both conclusions follow
Try these yourself
Check whether each conclusion is directly stated or combined, not just plausible, then check against the answer.
1. Statement: "The price of petrol has been reduced by the government with effect from Monday." Conclusions: I. The price of petrol was higher before Monday. II. People will buy more petrol from Monday onwards.
Answer: Only conclusion I follows
2. Statement: "Of the 100 students who appeared for the exam, 80 passed." Conclusions: I. 20 students failed the exam. II. All 100 students studied equally hard.
Answer: Only conclusion I follows
3. Statement: "City A receives more annual rainfall than City B, and City B receives more annual rainfall than City C." Conclusions: I. City A receives more rainfall than City C. II. City C receives the least rainfall among the three.
Answer: Both conclusions follow
Where this comes up
Statement and Conclusion is a regular topic in the Reasoning/General Intelligence section of every exam Pariksha Saathi covers — SSC CGL, SSC MTS, SSC CHSL, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO and SBI Clerk.
Practice more Statement and Conclusion questions
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