Alexander turned his attention towards India, since he had conquered Persia.…
2015
Alexander turned his attention towards India, since he had conquered Persia.
Which one of the statements below is logically valid and can be inferred from the above sentence?
- A.
Alexander would not have turned his attention towards India had he not conquered Persia.
- B.
Alexander was not ready to rest on his laurels, and wanted to march to India.
- C.
Alexander was completely in control of his army and could command it to move towards India.
- D.
Since Alexander’s kingdom extended to India borders after the conquest of Persia, he was keen to move further.
Attempted by 49 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Key inference: "Alexander would not have turned his attention towards India had he not conquered Persia."
Reasoning:
The word "since" in the sentence indicates a causal relationship: the conquest of Persia is given as the reason Alexander turned his attention to India.
From this causal link, it is reasonable to infer the counterfactual that without the conquest of Persia he would not have turned his attention to India.
Other statements introduce extra assumptions not present in the sentence, such as personal attitude, absolute military control, or specific territorial borders, so they cannot be inferred from the given information.
Conclusion: The statement that links the turning of attention to the conquest (the counterfactual) is the only logically supported inference; the others rely on additional unstated assumptions.