Directions: Read the information and answer the given questions. Fourteen…
2025
Directions: Read the information and answer the given questions.
Fourteen persons are seated in two parallel rows, with seven persons each. H, I, J, K, L, M, and N in Row 1 and facing South, while P, Q, R, S, T, U, and V in Row 2 and facing North, but not necessarily in the same order.
J is the neighbour of the person who faces the one seated second to the left of T. I sits second to the left of N. R is seated opposite the person who is immediately left of N, who doesn't sit opposite Q. M sits diagonally opposite to P, who sits third to the left of S. The one who sits second to the left of Q sits opposite to M. Q is seated three places away from U, who occupies one of the extreme ends. T sits to the right of S but is not an immediate neighbor of Q. S is seated opposite the person who is immediately to the right of K. L and P are not seated directly opposite to each other, and also don't sit at the ends.
How many persons sit between T and R in Row 2?
- A.
0
- B.
1
- C.
2
- D.
3
- E.
4
Attempted by 5 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: E
Concept: When two rows of seats face each other, the person directly across from you is the one in the same column, and "diagonally opposite" means the seat one column to either side of that. Because the two rows face opposite compass directions, each named person's own left and right must be read from that person's own facing side, never from a fixed page direction.
To track this precisely, number each row's seats 1 to 7 starting from T's end of the row, so that seat i in one row sits directly opposite seat i in the other row.
U sits at one end of Row 2, and Q is seated exactly three places from U; only seat 4 keeps Q inside the row from either end, so Q's seat is fixed first.
The seat two places to the left of Q — seat 6 — sits directly opposite M in Row 1, fixing M at seat 6.
P sits diagonally opposite M, at seat 5 or seat 7, and also three places to the left of S; seat 7 would force S onto Q's own seat 4, so P must be at seat 5, which places S at seat 2.
T sits to the right of S (seat 2), which leaves only seat 1 for T, at the row's far end — a seat that is also not Q's immediate neighbour, as required.
Q, S, P, and T now occupy seats 4, 2, 5, and 1. Since U must sit at one of the row's two extreme seats (1 or 7), and seat 1 already belongs to T, U is fixed at seat 7 — leaving only seats 3 and 6 open, for R and V.
S (seat 2) sits opposite the Row 1 person immediately to the right of K; here, 'right of K' means one seat higher in number, so K is fixed at seat 1.
In Row 1, I sits two places to the left of N, and R — seated opposite the Row 1 person immediately to N's left — must land on one of the two open Row 2 seats, 3 or 6. This narrows N to seat 4 or seat 7:
N at seat 4 would put I at seat 2 and R at seat 3 — but J, who must sit next to the Row 1 person facing the one seated two places to the left of T (that person is at seat 3), would then need seat 2 or seat 4, both already taken by I and N themselves. No legal seat remains for J.
N at seat 7 puts I at seat 5 and R at seat 6, leaving seats 2, 3, and 4 free for H, J, and L — J can take seat 2 or seat 4, next to the Row 1 person at seat 3, and L can take whichever of those J does not, staying clear of both ends of the row. This is the only case that works.
N is therefore fixed at seat 7, R at seat 6, and V — the only Row 2 seat left — at seat 3, giving Row 2's full order: seat 1 T, seat 2 S, seat 3 V, seat 4 Q, seat 5 P, seat 6 R, seat 7 U.
Cross-check: R's seat (6) is exactly the seat already identified in step 2 as directly opposite M — the Q-based route and the N-based route agree, confirming the arrangement rather than assuming it.
Result: Counting the seats between T (seat 1) and R (seat 6) gives seats 2, 3, 4, and 5 — S, V, Q, and P — four people in all, so four persons sit between T and R.