Question given below has a problem and two statements numbered I and II giving…
2025
Question given below has a problem and two statements numbered I and II giving certain information. You have to decide if the information given in the statements is sufficient to answer the question: Who is the father of M?
I. A and B are brothers.
II. B's wife is the sister of M's wife.
- A.
The data either in Statement I or II alone are sufficient to answer the question.
- B.
The data in Statement II alone are sufficient to answer the question.
- C.
The data in Statement I alone are sufficient to answer the question.
- D.
The data even in both the statements together are not sufficient to answer the question.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
CONCEPT: In a data-sufficiency question, a statement (or a combination of statements) is sufficient only when it lets you pin down one unambiguous answer to the exact question asked. A statement that merely states a family relationship between two people (siblings, in-laws, etc.) is sufficient for a parentage question only if it also fixes a parent-child link to the person named in the question — a fact about who is whose sibling or in-law does not by itself establish parentage.
APPLICATION: Statement I only says A and B are brothers — a fact about A and B, with no mention of M or of any parent at all. Statement II says B's wife is the sister of M's wife — this links B and M through marriage (their wives are sisters, making B and M related by marriage) but again says nothing about who fathered M. Combining I and II adds no generational information: together they tell us A and B are siblings and B and M are connected through their wives, but neither fact, nor their combination, ever supplies a parent-child link to M. Different people could still be M's father while remaining fully consistent with both statements.
CROSS-CHECK: Since no statement, alone or together, supplies any fact about who fathered M, the posed question cannot be answered from the given data — confirming that both statements together remain insufficient.
CONTRAST:
Either I or II alone sufficient: fails because neither single statement mentions parentage at all.
Statement II alone sufficient: fails because II only links the wives as sisters, not M's parent.
Statement I alone sufficient: fails because I only states a sibling relation between A and B, unrelated to M's parentage.
Both statements together not sufficient: holds because the combined facts describe sibling and in-law connections only, never a parent-child link to M.