"Jayant could not reach Pune from Mumbai on last Saturday day because of non-availability of tickets". Which of the following, if true, would support and strengthen this statement? (i) Last Friday evening, he had booked a luxury car for 3 days for going to a picnic spot near Vasal for his boss. (ii) He was seen at railway reservation counter requesting for a ticket for Pune on Saturday morning. (iii) His secretary had contacted several travel agents to get a seat for Jayant on last Thursday, Friday and even Saturday morning. (iv) Jayant attended a dinner party last Saturday evening. (v) Jayant's wife was reluctant to go to Pune last week

Here (i) weakens the statement whereas (ii) and (iii) support and strengthen the statement. But (iv) and (v) neither weaken nor strengthen the statement. In order to decide whether a statement strengthens(or weakens) an argument, follow these steps.
Step I: Break up the argument mentally. See what is the supporting premise, what is the assumption and what is the conclusion.
Step II: If a suggested statement supports any of the three it would be a strengthening statement. If it contradicts any of the three it would be a weakening statement. In order to decide which statement strengthens (or weakens) an argument the most, follow an additional step:
Step III: If a suggested statement supports (or weakens) the basic assumption of an argument, it would be the most strengthening (weakening) argument. Or If a suggested statement provides a very strong proof (or contradictory proof) in favour of (or in contradiction to) the conclusion of the argument, it would be the most strengthening (or weakening) statement.