Comprehension: (Que No. 12-16) Direction: Read the information given and…
2025
Comprehension: (Que No. 12-16)
Direction: Read the information given and answer the following questions.
The head of the newly formed government desires to appoint five of the six elected members A, B, C, D, E and F to the portfolios of Home, Defence, Power, Telecom and Finance, subject to the following conditions:
(i) F does not want any portfolio if D gets one of the five.
(ii) C wants either Home or Finance, or no portfolio at all.
(iii) B says that if D gets either Power or Telecom, then she must get the other one.
(iv) E insists on getting a portfolio if A gets one.
Question:
If E gets Finance and A gets Home, then which of the following is not assigned any portfolio?
Answer: C. C — Concept: In a constraint-based assignment puzzle, a condition of the form "X accepts only item P or item Q, otherwise nothing" pins X's outcome to whichever…
- A.
B
- B.
F
- C.
C
- D.
D
Attempted by 2 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: In a constraint-based assignment puzzle, a condition of the form "X accepts only item P or item Q, otherwise nothing" pins X's outcome to whichever branch is still open. If both P and Q are already taken by others, the only branch left for X is "nothing" — so X is forced out, and this holds regardless of how any other, separate condition eventually settles the remaining assignments.
Application:
A is assigned Home and E is assigned Finance, so both of these portfolios are no longer available to anyone else.
C's condition allows only Home, only Finance, or no portfolio at all — no other portfolio satisfies C's requirement.
Since Home and Finance are both already taken, the only branch left open for C is "no portfolio."
Cross-check: Conditions (i) and (iii) separately decide how B, D and F share Defence, Power and Telecom among themselves once C is set aside; that internal sharing is a different question from the one being asked here. The specific fact this question asks about — who goes without a portfolio when A = Home and E = Finance — is settled directly and completely by condition (ii) alone: Home and Finance are the only portfolios C will accept, and both are taken. So whatever way B, D and F's own assignment is eventually resolved, C remains the member this A/E assignment directly and unavoidably forces out.
Result: C is not assigned any portfolio.