Statements: The national norm is 100 beds per thousand populations but in this…

Concept

In statement-and-conclusion reasoning, a conclusion 'follows' only if it is a certain, direct inference from the statement alone. A conclusion built on an outside value judgement, an assumption, or information the statement never gives does not follow — however reasonable it may sound.

Application

The statement gives two figures: the national norm is 100 beds per thousand population, while this state actually provides 150 beds per thousand — 50 more than the norm.

• Conclusion I ('the norm is appropriate') requires judging whether 100 is the right benchmark. The statement only reports the figure; it supplies no basis for judging its fairness. So Conclusion I brings in an assumption the statement never makes and does not follow.

• Conclusion II ('adequate care') is confirmed directly: 150 against a norm of 100 is a clear numeric excess, and providing more capacity than the benchmark requires is exactly what 'taking adequate care' means. So Conclusion II follows.

Cross-check

The 'either/or' pattern applies only when two conclusions are complementary alternatives about the same single fact. Here, Conclusion I concerns whether the benchmark itself is fair while Conclusion II concerns the state's actual performance against that benchmark — two separate matters, not a complementary pair — so treating them as 'either/or,' or dismissing both as 'neither,' does not fit the statement.

Therefore, only Conclusion II follows — matching the saved answer.