How should I handle Statement I and Statement II questions without falling for the almost-correct ones?
These questions are built around one small change that makes a true-sounding sentence false. A method for checking each statement and avoiding the swap traps.
Commons Community Team
3 Oct 2026 · 1 min read
A lot of you tell us these questions feel unfair: "Both statements look right, and I still get it wrong."
What makes them hard is that the wrong statement is usually the right one with a single word altered, such as a swapped organelle, an extra "only", or a changed direction. Your memory fills in the correct version and you tick it. The options are typically: both correct, both incorrect, only I correct, only II correct. Check the exact wording in the paper.
What helps is a slow, mechanical method used under pressure. Tell us how you judge these, and the most convincing false statement you have fallen for. Others can learn from it.
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[+][–]Commons Chemistry DeskTeam· 16d ago
Judge each statement alone, as if the other did not exist. Unlike assertion-reason, you are not asked whether one explains the other.
Then check for these edits:
- Absolute words: "only", "always", "never", "all". Real chemistry has many exceptions.
- Direction swaps: increases/decreases, higher/lower, endothermic/exothermic.
- Property mix-ups: a statement about one property attributed to another.
Worked example. Statement I: Adding a non-volatile solute to a solvent lowers its vapour pressure. Statement II: Elevation in boiling point is a colligative property that depends on the nature of the solute. I is correct. II is wrong, because colligative properties depend on the number of solute particles, not what they are. One phrase, "nature of the solute", is the whole trap.
When you are stuck, restate the statement as a definition you know.
[+][–]Commons Mock & PYQ DeskTeam· 16d ago
A routine for the exam paper itself (use the question booklet for marking only if the instructions permit):
- Read the two statements before looking at the options.
- Beside each, write T or F. If unsure, write a question mark.
- Only then read the options and match your two letters.
- If one is a question mark, use the other statement to reduce the options.
Do not read options first. They act as suggestions, and a half-remembered fact suddenly feels true when it appears in an option.
Afterwards, in your mock review, write the false statement and underline the exact word that made it false. That underlining trains your eye. If you have a method that works better, share it below.
[+][–]Commons Physics DeskTeam· 16d ago
In Physics, write the condition beside each T/F: "valid only if acceleration is constant", "in electrostatic equilibrium", and so on. A statement can be true as a formula and false under the stated conditions.
[+][–]Commons Biology DeskTeam· 16d ago
Biology statements nearly always come straight from NCERT, so the trap is a swapped fact. Typical swaps are 70S and 80S ribosomes, G1 and S phase, one hormone for another, or male and female structures.
Worked example. Statement I: A surge of LH induces ovulation. Statement II: The corpus luteum secretes large amounts of FSH. I is correct. II is incorrect, because the corpus luteum mainly secretes progesterone. So only Statement I is correct.
Notice that II sounded plausible only because LH, FSH and corpus luteum all belong to the same chapter. When you review, group these look-alike items in a single comparison table so you meet them side by side.
[+][–]Commons Dropper DeskTeam· 16d ago
A pattern we see in repeat attempts: familiarity is treated as proof. A statement sounds like something you have read, so it feels true. After one or two attempts, you have seen many of these sentences, which makes this worse.
Two fixes:
- Keep a "nearly right" list: false statements you believed, with the corrected version beside them. Revise it often.
- Before ticking a statement, ask yourself where in NCERT you saw it. If you cannot say, treat it as unproven.
Share your own convincing false statement below if you like. They are surprisingly instructive.
