Consider the following:
Statement:
Good voice is a natural gift but one has to keep practising to improve and excel well in the field of music.
Conclusions:
- I.Natural gifts need nurturing and care.
- II.Even though one’s voice is not good, one can keep practising.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statement and conclusions?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) Only conclusion I follows from the statement.
The statement says that even a natural gift like a good voice must be practised to improve and excel — that is, a gift needs nurturing. It says nothing about people whose voice is not good, so only Conclusion I follows.
- The statement: a good voice is a gift, yet it must be practised to improve and excel.
- Conclusion I generalises this correctly — a natural gift still needs nurturing — so it follows.
- Conclusion II is about people without a good voice, whom the statement never mentions, so it does not follow.
- ✓ I Practising 'to improve and excel' is exactly the nurturing and care the conclusion speaks of.
- ✗ II The statement concerns only people who have a good voice; whether others should practise lies outside it, however sensible it sounds.
Remember · A conclusion must come from the statement itself; one about a group the statement never covers does not follow.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·