In each question below is given a statement followed by two conclusions…
2025
In each question below is given a statement followed by two conclusions numbered I and II. You have to assume everything in the statement to be true, then consider the two conclusions together and decide which of them logically follows beyond a reasonable doubt from the information given in the statement.
Statements: Fortune favours the brave.
Conclusions:
I. Risks are necessary for success.
II. Cowards die many times before their death.
- A.
Only conclusion I follows
- B.
Only conclusion II follows
- C.
Either I or II follows
- D.
Neither I nor II follows
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: In statement-and-conclusion reasoning, take the statement as unconditionally true and check whether each conclusion is strictly and necessarily implied by its actual content — not merely similar in theme — judging each conclusion independently unless the two conclusions form a genuine complementary either/or pair.
Application:
Conclusion I — "Risks are necessary for success": bravery inherently involves taking risks, and the statement asserts that this trait is rewarded with being favoured, i.e., with success — so this is a direct restatement of the statement's own claim and stays entirely inside its scope. It follows.
Conclusion II — "Cowards die many times before their death": this introduces an entirely different subject — the experience of cowards facing death — that the statement never mentions or implies. Nothing in "fortune favours the brave" licenses a claim about cowards' deaths. It does not follow.
Cross-check: I and II concern different subjects rather than being two mutually exclusive readings of the same claim, so they do not form a complementary either/or pair; only one of them (I) is actually implied by the statement. Hence the correct combination is that only conclusion I follows.