Directions : In each of the following questions a statement is given, followed…

Concept: In statement-and-conclusion reasoning, a conclusion “follows” only when it can be deduced from the statement alone, taking the statement as true, without importing outside assumptions, motives, or general knowledge that the statement itself does not state.

Application: The statement contrasts the present with the past using “unlike in the past”: modern man influences his destiny through the choices he makes, and this was not so earlier. Since influencing destiny by choice presupposes having choices to make, the statement's own contrast directly entails that fewer such choices existed in the past — this is Conclusion I, and it is a necessary consequence of the wording, not an assumption. Conclusion II, in contrast, talks about people's desire or motivation to influence destiny in the past; the statement says nothing about inner intent, only about the choice-driven influence itself, so Conclusion II brings in information the statement never gives.

Cross-check: Checking the remaining options against the same rule:

• “Only conclusion II follows” fails because it rests on an assumption about past desire/motivation that the statement never makes.

• “Either conclusion I or II follows” fails because an either/or reading applies only to two mutually exclusive branches of one uncertainty; here the two conclusions address separate, independent dimensions (past choice-availability vs. past desire), so they cannot be paired as alternatives.

• “Neither conclusion follows” fails as a blanket rejection because it does not test each conclusion independently against the statement — a valid “neither” verdict requires every offered conclusion to fail the deduction test on its own terms, not a single combined dismissal.

Hence, only Conclusion I is a necessary, assumption-free consequence of the statement.