In each question below is given a statement followed by two conclusions…
2024
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: A large majority of the work force in India is unorganised. Most of them earn either the minimum or uncertain wages while others are engaged in sundry jobs.
Conclusions:
i. The workers in the organised sector get better facilities and stay longer in their jobs.
ii. Some workers in the unorganised sector of the work force have a regular and fixed income.
- 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: B
In Statement-Conclusion reasoning, a conclusion “follows” only when it can be derived strictly from the exact wording of the statement — no outside assumption, general knowledge, or fact about a group the statement never mentions may be used. Each conclusion must be checked separately against what the statement actually says.
Conclusion I claims workers in the organised sector get better facilities and longer job tenure. The statement talks only about the unorganised sector's wage situation and gives no information at all about the organised sector's facilities or tenure. With no premise to draw on, Conclusion I cannot be deduced.
Conclusion II claims some unorganised-sector workers have a regular and fixed income. The statement splits unorganised workers into those earning a “minimum or uncertain” wage and those in “sundry jobs”. A minimum wage is, by definition, a set fixed rate — distinct from an uncertain wage. So the workers earning the minimum wage do have a regular, fixed income, and Conclusion II is supported.
“Only conclusion I follows” fails because the statement supplies no fact whatsoever about the organised sector, so no conclusion about it can be drawn.
“Either I or II follows” fits only when two conclusions are mutually exclusive alternatives about the same fact. Conclusion I concerns a sector the statement never addresses, while Conclusion II concerns a wage feature within the sector the statement does describe — they are not alternative readings of one shared fact, so pairing them as an either/or misapplies that rule.
“Neither I nor II follows” would only hold if the statement gave no basis to evaluate either conclusion; but each conclusion must be checked separately, and one conclusion failing does not mean the other is unsupported too.
So only Conclusion II follows from the statement.