Refer to the following letter and symbol series and answer the question.…
2026
Refer to the following letter and symbol series and answer the question.
Counting to be done from left to right only.
(Left) * I $ @ K @ M & Q L L * I V & L # E Z * & E (Right)
How many such letters are there, each of which is immediately preceded by a letter and also immediately followed by a symbol?
Answer: B. 3 — Concept — In a letter-and-symbol series, every element is either a letter or a symbol, and a condition placed on an element is tested against its two…
- A.
4
- B.
3
- C.
5
- D.
2
Attempted by 65 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept — In a letter-and-symbol series, every element is either a letter or a symbol, and a condition placed on an element is tested against its two immediate neighbours: the element one place to its left (the "immediately preceded by" side) and the element one place to its right (the "immediately followed by" side). When two such conditions are joined by "and", both must hold at the very same element; an element sitting at either end of the series is missing one neighbour, so it can never satisfy a two-sided condition.
Application — Reading left to right as the instruction requires, a letter can qualify at all when a letter stands immediately to its left, so collect those letters first and then test what stands immediately to their right.
Letter | Element to its left | Element to its right |
|---|---|---|
L (10th place) | Q | L |
L (11th place) | L | * |
V | I | & |
Z | E | * |
L at the 10th place: the element to its left is Q, a letter, but the element to its right is another L, which is also a letter, so the two conditions are not met together.
L at the 11th place: the element to its left is L, a letter, and the element to its right is *, a symbol, so both conditions are met together.
V: the element to its left is I, a letter, and the element to its right is &, a symbol, so both conditions are met together.
Z: the element to its left is E, a letter, and the element to its right is *, a symbol, so both conditions are met together.
Three letters meet both conditions together, so the required count is 3.
Cross-check — The same result comes from scanning directly for the three-element pattern letter-letter-symbol: L L *, I V & and E Z * are the three places where it occurs. Every other letter fails the left-hand test, because I, K, M, Q, the L standing before #, the E standing before Z and the E at the far right each sit immediately after a symbol, and the E at the far right has no element to its right at all. The stated direction matters: scanning from right to left would instead pick out Q, I and the E standing before Z.