Directions : Read the following information carefully and answer the following…

2020

Directions : Read the following information carefully and answer the following questions.

Eight persons P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, and W lives in a building of eight floors such that the topmost floor is numbered as 8 and the lowermost floor is numbered as 1 but not necessarily in the same order. They shops on eight different e-commerce websites viz. Flipkart, Ajio, Myntra, Jabong, Amazon, Shopclues, Jiomart, and Tata Cliq but not necessarily in the same order.
The one who shops on Flipkart lives immediately above the one who shops on Shopclues. Neither V nor P shops on Flipkart, Tata Cliq and Myntra. Three persons live between V and S, who lives below V. Only three persons live between W and R, who shops on Amazon. R lives on one of the even numbered floor above W and Q, who does not shops on Flipkart and Myntra and also does not live on the second floor. Two persons live between Q and the one who shops on Jabong. Three persons live between the one who shops on Jabong and the one who shops on Ajio. The number of persons living between the one who shops on Jabong and R is same as the number of persons living between the one who shops on Ajio and P. T lives on one of the floors below U. Both W and Q live on the even numbered floor.

Who among the following lives on the fourth floor?

  1. A.

    S

  2. B.

    Q

  3. C.

    The one who shops on Shopclues

  4. D.

    U

  5. E.

    Both Q and the one who shops on Shopclues

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C

In floor/level arrangement puzzles, a clue of the form "n persons live between A and B" fixes the floor-gap between A and B at (n + 1); parity constraints (even/odd floors) combine with a "the two person-counts are equal" clue to eliminate every placement but one, after which adjacency and exclusion clues about the attribute (here, the shopping website) lock the final layout onto that unique arrangement.

  1. Three persons live between V and S (S below V) fixes a floor-gap of 4, so S = V minus 4.

  2. Only three persons live between W and R also gives a gap of 4, with R above W; since R, W and Q are all on even floors and R sits above both W and Q, only two placements keep this gap: W on floor 2 with R on floor 6, or W on floor 4 with R on floor 8.

  3. Testing W = 2 and R = 6 forces Q onto floor 4. Working out the Jabong and Ajio shoppers' floors from there, the clue that the person-count between the Jabong shopper and R must equal the person-count between the Ajio shopper and P cannot be met by any open floor - every floor it would require is already taken by R, W or Q. This placement is dropped.

  4. So W = 4 and R = 8; Q, an even floor below R that is not floor 2 or floor 4, must be floor 6.

  5. Two persons between Q and the Jabong shopper then puts the Jabong shopper on floor 3, and three persons between the Jabong shopper and the Ajio shopper puts the Ajio shopper on floor 7. Matching the person-count between the Jabong shopper and R (which is 4) to the person-count between the Ajio shopper and P places P on floor 2.

  6. The floors 1, 3, 5 and 7 remain for S, T, U and V. The floor-gap of 4 between S and V, together with T lives below U, allows two possible fits: S = 1, V = 5, T = 3, U = 7, or S = 3, V = 7, T = 1, U = 5.

  7. Testing the first fit: V and P must both take Shopclues or Jiomart (from the exclusion in the next step), so Shopclues sits on V's floor (5) or P's floor (2); the adjacency clue would then need Flipkart on floor 6 or floor 3 - but floor 6 belongs to Q, who is barred from Flipkart, and floor 3 belongs to the Jabong shopper. Neither works, so this fit is dropped.

  8. So the second fit holds: S = 3 (the Jabong shopper's floor), V = 7 (the Ajio shopper's floor), T = 1, U = 5.

  9. R (floor 8) shops on Amazon; the floor-3 resident shops on Jabong; the floor-7 resident shops on Ajio - all fixed from the steps above.

  10. Neither V nor P shop on Flipkart, Tata Cliq or Myntra; V already shops on Ajio, so this constraint now applies only to P, leaving Shopclues or Jiomart open to P.

  11. Checking that the Flipkart shopper lives immediately above the Shopclues shopper against the remaining floors (1, 2, 4, 5, 6), the only pair that fits without breaking any earlier clue is Shopclues on floor 4 and Flipkart on floor 5.

  12. With Shopclues taken, P (barred from Flipkart, Tata Cliq and Myntra) must be Jiomart; the floor-6 resident, who does not shop on Flipkart or Myntra, is left with only Tata Cliq; and the last floor takes Myntra.

With every floor now fixed, floor four is occupied by the resident who shops on Shopclues, consistent with every clue in the puzzle.

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