About Statement and Conclusion
A statement and conclusion question gives one or two facts and asks which of four conclusions follows from them. The recorded answer follows whether or not it is interesting, and it is usually weaker than the statement rather than stronger, which is what candidates find hardest about the topic. One answer is recorded for each question, and the explanation gives the reason.
What you need to understand
- A conclusion follows from a statement when it must be true if the statement is true. That is the whole test, and it is stricter than it sounds.
- A statement about some things cannot support a conclusion about all of them. Some students study history, and every one of those studies geography, gives some students study geography and nothing more.
- The same holds in the other direction. The statement that every candidate who passed had sixty marks supports the conclusion that somebody with fewer than sixty did not pass, and not the conclusion that everybody with sixty passed.
- A conclusion may be less interesting than the statement. Options in these questions are often deliberately dull, and the dull one that follows is the answer.
- A conclusion about the future does not follow from facts about the present, however likely the reader thinks it is.
- A conclusion about a cause does not follow from two things happening together, and it does not follow from a comparison between two groups either.
- A conclusion about something the statement never mentions cannot follow from it, and the mentioning of an unrelated subject is what makes such an option tempting.
- A restatement of the statement is not a conclusion, because it follows trivially and adds nothing.
- Careful reading of quantifiers is most of the work: every, some, none, most and at least one each support different conclusions, and options are written to exploit the difference.
- Contrapositive reasoning is legitimate and is often the answer: if every dish containing nuts is marked, and no dessert is marked, then no dessert contains nuts.
- Where the statement fixes a quantity and a rate, conclusions about counts follow only if both are given. The same output with twice the defect rate means twice as many defective items.
- Where a statement names an exception, the conclusion must respect it: three of four factories reported a fall, so some factories did and not all of them did.
- The safest conclusion is the one that says least while still going beyond a restatement.
How to work through these questions
- Read the statement once and mark its quantifiers. Most wrong options turn on one of them.
- For each option, ask what would have to be different in the statement for the option to be false. If nothing would, the option follows.
- Reject first the options that claim more than the statement does, especially those with all, every, never or always.
- Reject the options about subjects the statement does not touch: cost, motive, the future, other towns.
- Reject the options the statement contradicts, which are written to catch a careless reading of one word.
- When two options remain, prefer the weaker one. A conclusion that follows is often the more modest of the two.
Mistakes that cost marks
- Choosing the interesting option rather than the one that follows.
- Turning some into all, or all into some, at the point where it matters.
- Accepting a conclusion about the future because it seems likely.
- Accepting a conclusion about a cause from two facts that merely occurred together.
- Accepting a conclusion about something the statement never mentions, which is often the most concrete option on the page.
- Treating a restatement of the statement as a conclusion.
- Reversing the direction of an implication: passing guarantees sixty marks does not mean sixty marks guarantees passing.
- Forgetting exceptions the statement itself names, such as the fourth factory that reported no change.
Worked example
Statement: Every bus on the airport route leaves the city centre at ten minutes past the hour, and the journey to the airport takes forty minutes. Which of these conclusions follows from the statement?
- The statement gives two things: a fixed departure time and a fixed journey time. Together they fix the arrival time.
- A conclusion about a bus that arrives at the airport having come from the city centre claims that all airport buses come from the centre, which the statement does not say.
- A conclusion comparing the punctuality of this route with other routes makes a comparison the statement never makes.
- A conclusion about how busy the route is concerns something the statement never mentions.
- What remains is that a bus leaving at ten past the hour reaches the airport at fifty past, which follows directly from the two facts given. That is the answer.
Answer: A bus leaving at ten past the hour reaches the airport at fifty past
Practice questions with answers
A few Statement and Conclusion questions with the full solution shown, so you can see
how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.
Question 1
Statement: The company's new depot handles only goods that arrive by rail, and all the cement the company receives arrives by road.
Which of these follows from the statement given?
-
A
All the goods the company receives by road are cement.
-
B
The new depot handles more goods than the old one did.
-
C
The company receives no goods by rail at all.
-
D
The cement is not handled at the new depot.
Answer: Option D — with explanation
The depot takes only rail goods and the cement arrives by road, so the cement is not handled there. The other options reverse a claim or compare things the statement does not compare.
A conclusion has to follow from the statement, and the safest conclusions are the weaker ones, because a statement about some things cannot support a conclusion about all of them. Test each option by asking what in the statement would have to be different for the option to be false.
Common mistakes
- "All the goods the company..." - the statement makes a claim about cement and not about road goods in general: All the goods the company receives by road are cement.
- "The new depot handles more..." - no comparison between the two depots is given: The new depot handles more goods than the old one did.
- "The company receives no goods..." - the depot handles goods arriving by rail, which says nothing about how many there are: The company receives no goods by rail at all.
Question 2
Statement: No member of the club who has not paid the subscription may use the tennis courts.
Which of these can be concluded from the statement?
-
A
The subscription is the club's only source of income.
-
B
A member who uses the tennis courts has paid the subscription.
-
C
Every member who has paid the subscription uses the tennis courts.
-
D
Members who have not paid are removed from the club.
Answer: Option B — with explanation
The rule denies the courts to those who have not paid, so a member on the courts must have paid. The others turn permission into a duty, or invent a consequence the rule does not have.
A conclusion has to follow from the statement, and the safest conclusions are the weaker ones, because a statement about some things cannot support a conclusion about all of them. Test each option by asking what in the statement would have to be different for the option to be false.
Common mistakes
- "Members who have not paid..." - the statement bars such members from the courts and says nothing more: Members who have not paid are removed from the club.
- "Every member who has paid..." - paying allows the courts to be used and does not require it
- "The subscription is the club's..." - the statement says nothing about the club's income: The subscription is the club's only source of income.
Question 3
Statement: The library lends books for three weeks, and every book borrowed must be returned or renewed by the date it is due.
Which of these conclusions is supported by the statement?
-
A
Every borrower renews the books they borrow.
-
B
The library lends nothing except books.
-
C
A book must be returned or renewed within three weeks.
-
D
A book returned after three weeks is never lent out again.
Answer: Option C — with explanation
The two facts together give the conclusion: books are lent for three weeks, and every book must be returned or renewed by the due date. The other options describe policies the library has not been said to have.
A conclusion has to follow from the statement, and the safest conclusions are the weaker ones, because a statement about some things cannot support a conclusion about all of them. Test each option by asking what in the statement would have to be different for the option to be false.
Common mistakes
- "Every borrower renews the books..." - the statement allows for renewal as one of two possibilities: Every borrower renews the books they borrow.
- "A book returned after three..." - the statement says nothing about what happens to books that are returned: A book returned after three weeks is never lent out again.
- "The library lends nothing except..." - the statement describes the lending of books and says nothing about anything else: The library lends nothing except books.
Question 4
Statement: No member of the club who has not paid the subscription may use the tennis courts.
Which of these follows from the statement given?
-
A
Every member who has paid the subscription uses the tennis courts.
-
B
A member who uses the tennis courts has paid the subscription.
-
C
Members who have not paid are removed from the club.
-
D
The subscription is the club's only source of income.
Answer: Option B — with explanation
The rule denies the courts to those who have not paid, so a member on the courts must have paid. The others turn permission into a duty, or invent a consequence the rule does not have.
A conclusion has to follow from the statement, and the safest conclusions are the weaker ones, because a statement about some things cannot support a conclusion about all of them. Test each option by asking what in the statement would have to be different for the option to be false.
Common mistakes
- "Members who have not paid..." - the statement bars such members from the courts and says nothing more: Members who have not paid are removed from the club.
- "Every member who has paid..." - paying allows the courts to be used and does not require it
- "The subscription is the club's..." - the statement says nothing about the club's income: The subscription is the club's only source of income.
Question 5
Statement: Some of the students in the class study history, and every student who studies history also studies geography.
Which of these can be concluded from the statement?
-
A
Some students in the class study geography.
-
B
Some students study geography but not history.
-
C
Every student in the class studies geography.
-
D
History and geography are taught by the same teacher.
Answer: Option A — with explanation
Those who study history also study geography, and there is at least one of them, so some study geography. The others claim the whole class, or a group the statement does not establish, or a fact about teaching.
A conclusion has to follow from the statement, and the safest conclusions are the weaker ones, because a statement about some things cannot support a conclusion about all of them. Test each option by asking what in the statement would have to be different for the option to be false.
Common mistakes
- "Some students study geography but..." - the statement does not show that anybody studies one of the two without the other: Some students study geography but not history.
- "Every student in the class..." - the statement says that some study history, which does not cover the whole class: Every student in the class studies geography.
- "History and geography are taught..." - the statement says nothing about who teaches either subject: History and geography are taught by the same teacher.
Frequently asked questions
Why are the right answers usually the unexciting ones?
Because a conclusion has to follow from the statement, and the more an option claims, the less likely it is that the statement supports all of it. The interesting options in these questions are written to claim too much.
How is this different from the logical deduction topic?
Logical deduction applies a rule to a case - all clerks are graduates, this person is a clerk, therefore this person is a graduate. Here the statement is a fact or an announcement and the conclusion is what can be said on the strength of it. The site covers both, and the deduction topic has the syllogisms.
Can two conclusions both follow?
They can, which is why these questions are written so that only one of the four follows. Where two seem to, the difference is almost always in what each claims: one is a weaker version of the other and the stronger one is the one that does not follow.
What should I do when the statement contains figures?
Write down what the figures do and do not establish. A rate and a total together give a count; a rate alone does not, and a total alone does not.
Where does this topic appear in a paper?
In the reasoning sections of bank, SSC and state government papers, and in the general test papers of several management entrance examinations.
