Tips on cracking Reasoning Questions on Statements & Conclusions

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5 TIPS on cracking Reasoning Questions on
Conclusions and Course of Action
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Tip 1 Conclusion drawn on the basis of data not
provided in the statement(s) does not hold
Statements  In a one day cricket match, the
total runs made by a team were 200. Out of these
160 runs were made by spinners. Conclusions (I)
80 of the team consists of spinners.
(II) The opening batsmen were spinners. A. Only
conclusion I follows B. Only conclusion II
follows C. Either I or II follows D. Neither I
nor II follows E. Both I and II follow Solution
Nothing has been said in the statements about
the number of spinners or the batsmen. So both
conclusions do not follow. Hence the correct
option is D. Statement Any student who does not
behave properly while in the school brings bad
name to himself and also for the
school. Conclusions (I) Such student should be
removed from the school. (II) Stricter
discipline does not improve behavior of the
students. A. Only conclusion I follows B. Only
conclusion II follows C. Either I or II
follows D. Neither I nor II follows E. Both I
and II follow Solution The statement mentions
nothing about disciplinary action against
misbehaving students, so none of the conclusions
follows. The correct answer is D.
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Tip 2 Conclusions with definitive qualifiers
(all, no one, at least) require stringent support
to be valid

• Statements A forest has as many sandal trees as
  it has Ashoka trees. Three-fourth of the trees
  are old ones and half of the trees are at the
  flowering stage.
• All Ashoka trees are at the flowering stage.
• All sandal trees are at the flowering stage.
• At least one-half of the Ashoka trees are old.
• One-half of the sandal trees are at the flowering
  stage.
• None of these
• Solution
• Conclusions A, B, C do not hold because of the
  presence of definitive words all and at
• least when the statements do not provide such
  definite information. D does not follow
• because nothing has been said about the fraction
  of sandal trees in flowering stage. Thus,
• the answer is E.
• Statement Money plays a vital role in politics.
• Conclusion (I) The poor cannot become
  politicians. (II) All rich men take part in
  politics.
• A. Only conclusion I follows B. Only
  conclusion II follows
• C. Either I or II follows D. Neither I nor II
  follows E. Both I and II follow
• Solution
• None of the conclusions follows since they are
  definitive whereas the given statement is
• not. Hence the correct answer is D.

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Tip 3 Conclusion should not contradict your
common sense and general knowledge

• Statements Our securities investments carry
  market risk. Consult your investment advisor or
  agent before investing.
• Conclusions (I) One should not invest in
  securities.
• (II) The investment advisor can
  reasonably estimate the market risk
• A. Only conclusion I follows B. Only
  conclusion II follows
• C. Either I or II follows D. Neither I nor II
  follows
• E. Both I and II follow
• Solution
• Investment in securities involves risk but this
  does not mean that one should not invest in
• securities. So I does not follow. Since the
  statement advises one to consult investment
• advisor before investing, so II follows. Thus the
  correct answer is B.
• Statements Soldiers serve their country.
• Men generally serve their country.
• Those who serve their country are soldiers.
• Some men who are soldiers serve their country.
• Women do not serve their country because they are
  not soldiers.
• Solution
• Conclusion A does not follow since it is
  ambiguous. Again, B does not hold since soldiers
• are not the only people serving their country.
  Conclusion D does not hold because it contradicts
  the fact that women can also be soldiers. C is
  the answer.

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Tip 4 There must be no extremity involved in
the course of action

• Statement The members belonging to two local
  societies occasionally fight with each other on
  the main highway and traffic is jammed always.
• Courses of Action
• The local police station should immediately
  deploy policemen round the clock on the main
  highway.
• Those involved in fighting should be identified
  and put behind bars.
• Local authority should cease the management of
  the two societies with immediate effect.
• A. Only I and II B. Only I and III C. Only II and
  II D. All of I, II, III E. None
• Solution 
• To stop the fighting, the police must deploy
  troops and the culprits must be put behind bars
  to deter them from causing such scenes in the
  future, so I and II follow. The 3rd course of
  action would be extreme. So the answer is A.

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Tip 5 The course of action should be justified
based on the statement

• Statement The Company X has rejected the first
  load of valves supplied by Company A and has
  cancelled its entire huge order quoting use of
  inferior quality material and poor craftsmanship.
• Courses of Action
• The Company A needs to investigate functioning of
  its purchase, production and quality control
  departments.
• The Company A should inspect all the valves
  rejected by Company X.
• The Company A should inform Company X that steps
  have been taken for improvement and renegotiate
  schedule of supply.
• A. Only I and II B. Only I and III C. Only II and
  II D. All of I, II, III E. None
• Solution
• First of all, company A should inspect the
  rejected valves to ensure if they are really sub
• standard. If so, it should scrutinize its working
  thoroughly and fix its quality issues. III is
• not justified from the statement, because the
  quality errors have not been fixed and issuing a
  statement to Company X to that effect would be a
  lie. The answer is A.

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  Reasoning Questions on Conclusion Course of
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