There are seven friends — Brian, Paul, Qasim, Rustam, Sam, Tom, Winston — each…
2024
There are seven friends — Brian, Paul, Qasim, Rustam, Sam, Tom, Winston — each likes a different subject among Chemistry, Geography, Physics, Math, Sociology, History, Biology. They are ranked 1 (best) to 7 (worst) in the final exam.
Clues:
Qasim likes Sociology and stands above Tom but below Winston.
Tom gets the worst rank and he likes neither Geography nor History.
Sam likes Physics and stands above both Qasim & Winston but below Paul.
Rustam gets Rank 2 and likes neither Chemistry nor Math.
Paul likes Biology and not the best rank.
The student who likes Math gets the best rank.
Rustam doesn’t like Geography.
Who among the following got the First rank?
- A.
Qasim
- B.
Rustam
- C.
Paul
- D.
Brian
Attempted by 8 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Answer: Brian is Rank 1 (likes Math).
Reasoning:
From the clues we have fixed facts: Tom = Rank 7; Rustam = Rank 2; Qasim likes Sociology; Sam likes Physics; Paul likes Biology and is not Rank 1.
Qasim stands above Tom but below Winston, so the relative order among them is Winston (better) → Qasim → Tom (7).
Sam stands above both Qasim and Winston but below Paul, giving the chain Paul (best among them) → Sam → Winston → Qasim → Tom.
With Rustam fixed at Rank 2 and Tom fixed at Rank 7, the block of four consecutive ranks reserved for Paul, Sam, Winston, Qasim must be Ranks 3–6 (since Paul is not Rank 1 and Rank 2 is taken). Thus: Paul = 3, Sam = 4, Winston = 5, Qasim = 6, Tom = 7.
The student who likes Math is the best (Rank 1). The only person left unassigned to a rank is Brian, so Brian must be Rank 1 and therefore likes Math.
Final ranks (with known subjects): Rank 1 Brian (Math), Rank 2 Rustam, Rank 3 Paul (Biology), Rank 4 Sam (Physics), Rank 5 Winston, Rank 6 Qasim (Sociology), Rank 7 Tom.