← General Intelligence & Reasoning · RRB JE CBT-1

Chapter 10 of 15

Conclusions and Decision-Making

In the RRB JE CBT-1 syllabus under General Intelligence & Reasoning · 2 parts

Statement & Conclusions / Courses of Action · Critical Thinking, Judgement & Decision Making

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📑 Contents (11 sections)

Part 1 of 2

Statement & Conclusions / Courses of Action

Last reviewed 22 Sept 2026 · 5 min read

The only question being asked

"Does this conclusion follow from the statement?" means: reading only the statement, and nothing you happen to know about the world, is the conclusion necessarily true?

Three tests dispose of most options:

Is it stated or forced? If the statement leaves it open, it does not follow.
Is it too strong? Words such as all, never, only, always, must usually go beyond a statement that was modest.
Is it too wide? A statement about one city does not support a conclusion about the country.

Exam TipThe restatement trap

An option that merely repeats the statement in other words is not a conclusion — it adds nothing. Exam keys treat such options as not following, unless the paper's own instructions say otherwise.

Conclusion, inference, assumption

Term	Where it sits	Test
Conclusion	after the statement	must be true if the statement is true
Inference	after the statement	probably true, drawn from it
Assumption	before the statement	taken for granted by the writer

An assumption is what the speaker must already believe for their sentence to make sense; a conclusion is what a reader may take away from it. Confusing the two is the commonest error in the whole topic.

Courses of action

A course of action is a step suggested to deal with a problem in the statement. It follows only if it passes all three tests:

Relevance — it addresses the problem actually stated.
Practicality — it can be done by the body that would have to do it.
Proportion — it is not an extreme step where a mild one would do, and not a mild one where the statement describes an emergency.

Actions that are punitive for their own sake, or that ban an activity wholesale, are usually rejected; actions that inform, regulate, repair or investigate are usually accepted.

Worked examples

Worked ExampleExample 1 — too strong

Statement: Most of the students in the class passed the examination. Conclusion: All the students studied hard.

Solution. "Most" does not give "all", and studying hard is nowhere in the statement → does not follow.

Worked ExampleExample 2 — forced

Statement: All the trains from this station run to the east. Conclusion: No train from this station runs to the west.

Solution. Forced by the statement → follows.

Worked ExampleExample 3 — too wide

Statement: The sale of electric scooters in Delhi rose 40% last year. Conclusion: Electric scooters are becoming popular across India.

Solution. One city does not settle a country → does not follow.

Worked ExampleExample 4 — two conclusions

Statement: The company has decided to raise the salaries of its workers from next month. Conclusions: I. The workers were dissatisfied with their salaries. II. The company can afford the rise.

Solution. I is a guess about the reason → does not follow. II is implied by the decision to make it → only II follows.

Worked ExampleExample 5 — an assumption, not a conclusion

Statement: "Use our detergent for whiter clothes" — an advertisement. Which is an assumption? (a) People want whiter clothes. (b) The detergent is cheap.

Solution. (a) — the advertisement makes no sense unless whiteness is wanted. Price is not taken for granted anywhere.

Worked ExampleExample 6 — a course of action

Statement: A large number of road accidents on the highway occur at night at one particular curve. Courses: I. The curve should be re-designed and lit. II. The highway should be closed at night.

Solution. I is relevant, practical and proportionate → follows. II is disproportionate → only I follows.

Worked ExampleExample 7 — both follow

Statement: A sudden outbreak of a water-borne disease has been reported in a locality. Courses: I. The water supply of the locality should be tested at once. II. Residents should be advised to boil drinking water until further notice.

Solution. Both are relevant, practical and immediate → both follow.

Worked ExampleExample 8 — neither follows

Statement: Many students of the school scored poorly in mathematics this year. Courses: I. The mathematics teacher should be dismissed. II. Mathematics should be removed from the syllabus.

Solution. I is punitive before any enquiry; II is absurd → neither follows. (A remedial class would have followed.)

Part 2 of 2

Critical Thinking, Judgement & Decision Making

Last reviewed 22 Sept 2026 · 5 min read

Eligibility questions

A set of conditions is given — age, qualification, experience, marks — along with exceptions of the form "however, if a candidate satisfies everything except (i), the case may be referred to the General Manager". Each candidate's details follow, and one of five decisions is to be chosen.

FormulaHow to work them

Rule out on the main conditions first, one at a time, in the order printed.
Note which condition fails, and check whether an exception covers exactly that one.
Apply the exception only if every other condition is met.
If information needed for a condition is missing, the answer is "data inadequate", not rejection.

The five standard options are: selected; not selected; data inadequate; refer to the higher authority named in exception (i); refer to the one named in exception (ii). The commonest error is rejecting a candidate whose single failure is exactly what an exception forgives.

Situation judgement

A workplace or public situation is described and several responses offered. A good response is:

Safe — it removes danger first.
Honest — it does not conceal or mislead.
Procedural — it follows the rules and informs whoever must be informed.
Proportionate — neither ignoring the problem nor escalating it wildly.

Responses that are kind but ineffective, or decisive but improper, both fail. Where a person is in danger, the response that protects them comes before the one that reports the matter.

Cause and effect

Two statements are given and you must say whether one caused the other, whether both are effects of a common cause, or whether they are independent.

A cause must come before its effect.
Two statements about the same subject need not be causally linked — a common third cause is very often the intended answer.
A measure taken because of a problem is an effect of the problem, not its cause.

Assertion and reason

Two statements, A and R, with options such as: both true and R explains A; both true but R does not explain A; A true and R false; A false and R true.

Judge truth first, separately, and only then ask whether R explains A. A true reason that happens to be irrelevant is the most common answer, and the one most often missed.

Worked examples

Worked ExampleExample 1 — eligibility

A post requires: (a) age 21–30, (b) a degree with at least 55%, (c) two years' experience. Exception: a candidate meeting all but (c) may be referred to the Director. Candidate: 26 years, degree with 60%, no experience.

Solution. Only (c) fails, and the exception covers exactly that → refer to the Director.

Worked ExampleExample 2 — data inadequate

Same rules. Candidate: 24 years, three years' experience, degree percentage not stated.

Solution. Condition (b) cannot be checked → data inadequate.

Worked ExampleExample 3 — two failures

Same rules. Candidate: 32 years, degree with 50%, three years' experience.

Solution. Two conditions fail and no exception covers both → not selected.

Worked ExampleExample 4 — situation judgement

You notice a live wire hanging over a footpath near a school. Responses: I. Photograph it and post it online. II. Keep people away and call the electricity department at once.

Solution. II — it removes the danger and informs the authority; I does neither.

Worked ExampleExample 5 — a kind but weak response

A colleague repeatedly submits incorrect measurements. Responses: I. Correct them quietly each time without telling anyone. II. Point out the errors to the colleague and, if they continue, inform the supervisor.

Solution. II — I is kind but hides a fault that will recur; II is proportionate and follows procedure.

Worked ExampleExample 6 — cause and effect

Statement I: The municipality has banned parking on the main road. Statement II: Traffic jams on the main road had become severe.

Solution. II is the cause and I the effect — the ban was a measure taken because of the jams.

Worked ExampleExample 7 — a common cause

Statement I: Vegetable prices have risen sharply this week. Statement II: Several trucks carrying vegetables were stranded by floods.

Solution. II caused I. (Had the statements instead been "prices rose" and "supply fell", a common third cause — the floods — would have been the answer.)

Worked ExampleExample 8 — assertion and reason

A: Concrete is reinforced with steel. R: Concrete is weak in tension.

Solution. Both are true, and R explains A.

Worked ExampleExample 9 — a true but irrelevant reason

A: The bridge was closed for repairs. R: Steel is stronger than concrete in tension.

Solution. Both statements are true, but R does not explain A.

Worked ExampleExample 10 — proportion

A junior points out a mistake in your calculation, in front of others. Responses: I. Check the calculation and correct it if the junior is right. II. Tell the junior not to question seniors publicly.

Solution. I — the work comes before the manner in which the point was made.

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