A statement is followed by two conclusions I and II. You have to assume everything in the statement to be true, then consider the two conclusions and decide which of them logically follows : Statement : After joining, Municipal Commissioner told to people of city “A’ – “My first and foremost task is to beautify this city like Indore.” Conclusions : I. The people of city “A” are not aware about the present condition of the city. II. The Commissioner has worked in Indore and has good experience of beautifying cities.

Correct — option (1), Neither conclusion I nor conclusion II follows.

Take the statement as true. After joining, the Municipal Commissioner told the people of city “A” that his first and foremost task is to beautify the city like Indore.

What the statement carries: the Commissioner's own priority, and his choice of Indore as the model. A conclusion follows only if these words establish it.

Conclusion I says the people of city “A” are not aware about the present condition of the city. The statement reports what the Commissioner told the people, not what the people know. Announcing a task to someone does not show they are unaware of the problem. I does not follow.

Conclusion II says the Commissioner has worked in Indore and has good experience of beautifying cities. Naming Indore as a model shows only that he regards it as one. The statement says nothing of where he has worked or what experience he has. II does not follow.

With both rejected, the answer is Neither conclusion I nor conclusion II follows.

The idea to remember: a conclusion must be carried by the statement's own words; a back-story about the speaker or the listeners is not.

Why the others are wrong

• (2)
  Both of the conclusions follow. — Option (2) accepts both conclusions, and each fails on its own.

  Conclusion I is about what the people know, which the statement never reports. Conclusion II is about the Commissioner's past work and experience, which the statement never mentions. Both go beyond the statement, so neither can be accepted.

• (3)
  Only conclusion II follows. — Option (3) accepts that the Commissioner has worked in Indore and has good experience of beautifying cities.

  Naming a city as a model is a statement of aim, not a record of service. A person can hold up a city as a model without having worked there, and the statement gives no information about his past posts.

• (4)
  Only conclusion I follows. — Option (4) accepts that the people of city “A” are not aware of the city's present condition.

  The Commissioner is the one speaking, and he speaks about his own priority. An official announcing a task to citizens does not show that the citizens are unaware; the statement is silent on what they know.

In statement-and-conclusions reasoning, the statement is taken as true, and a conclusion follows only if the statement's content establishes it.

A conclusion fails when it adds a fact the statement does not contain, such as a person's past, a group's knowledge or an unstated reason.

A statement of intention, such as "my first task is to…", carries the speaker's aim and, reasonably, that the aim is not yet met. It does not carry why the speaker holds that aim or what the listeners know.

Key facts

• A conclusion follows only if the statement, taken as true, establishes it.
• A conclusion that adds a fact about a person's past or a group's knowledge goes beyond the statement.
• A statement of intention carries the speaker's aim, not the reason for it.
• Deductive reasoning draws what must follow from premises; inductive reasoning generalises from cases; abductive reasoning proposes a likely explanation.
• RPSC's 2023 syllabus lists "Statement and Assumptions" and "Statements and Conclusion" as separate items under Logical Reasoning.

Common traps

• Supplying a back-story. Naming Indore as a model does not show the Commissioner worked there; the statement gives no record of his postings.
• Reading the listeners into the speaker's words. A task announced to citizens says nothing about what the citizens already know.
• Treating every reasonable reading as equal. That city “A” is not yet like Indore can be read from the aim; the people's unawareness and the Commissioner's experience cannot.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2021 here once that paper is published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Statement : At the first staff meeting, the new principal said, “Our first task this year is to raise our school's results to the level of the best school in the district.” Conclusions : I. The school's results are below the level of the best school in the district. II. The principal has taught at the best school in the district.

  • (a)Neither conclusion I nor conclusion II follows.
  • (b)Both of the conclusions follow.
  • (c)Only conclusion II follows.
  • (d)Only conclusion I follows.
  Answer(4) — An aim to raise results to the best school's level carries that they are below it now, so I follows. Nothing in the statement says where the principal has taught, so II does not. Option (1) rejects I, option (2) accepts II, and option (3) keeps only II.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Statement : The new coach told the players, “My first goal is to make this team as fit as the national champions.” Conclusions : I. The players do not know how fit they are. II. The coach has trained the national champions.

  • (a)Neither conclusion I nor conclusion II follows.
  • (b)Both of the conclusions follow.
  • (c)Only conclusion II follows.
  • (d)Only conclusion I follows.
  Answer(1) — The statement gives the coach's aim. It says nothing about what the players know, so I does not follow, and nothing about whom the coach has trained, so II does not follow. Options (2), (3) and (4) each accept at least one conclusion the statement does not carry.