This question is based on the following words. VOW APE NOT RIP How many…
2026
This question is based on the following words.
VOW APE NOT RIP
How many letters are there in the English alphabetical order between the third letter of the third word from the right and the first letter of the first word from the left?
Answer: A. 16 — Concept An ordinal position must always be counted from the end that the question names: the third word from the left is reached by counting inward from the…
- A.
16
- B.
17
- C.
15
- D.
18
Attempted by 20 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept
An ordinal position must always be counted from the end that the question names: the third word from the left is reached by counting inward from the leftmost word, while the third word from the right is reached by counting inward from the rightmost word. Separately, if two letters stand at alphabet positions p and q with q greater than p, the number of letters lying strictly between them is q − p − 1, because both endpoint letters are themselves excluded from the count.
Application
Word | Position from the left | Position from the right |
|---|---|---|
VOW | 1 | 4 |
APE | 2 | 3 |
NOT | 3 | 2 |
RIP | 4 | 1 |
Counting from the right gives RIP, then NOT, then APE, so the third word from the right is APE.
The third letter of APE is E, which stands at position 5 in the alphabet.
The first word from the left is VOW, and its first letter is V, which stands at position 22 in the alphabet.
The letters lying strictly between them therefore number 22 − 5 − 1 = 16.
Cross-check
Writing the letters out after E and before V gives F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U — exactly 16 letters, which confirms the arithmetic. Note that the question asks only for the letters between the two, so neither E nor V is itself counted.