Question : Among T, V, B, E and C, who is the third from the top when arranged…

Concept: A statement is sufficient in a data-sufficiency ranking question only when it pins down the position of the entity asked about with no ambiguity left — even if the mutual order of some other, unasked-about entities stays undetermined. So the test for each statement alone is: does it leave exactly one possible position for the entity in question, across every arrangement consistent with it?

Application — checking Statement I alone:

1. Statement I gives: B is heavier than T, B is heavier than C, and V is heavier than B — so V > B > T and V > B > C.

2. Statement I also says V is NOT the heaviest. Since T, B and C are all already below V, the only person left who could be heavier than V is E — so E must be the heaviest.

3. This fixes the top three positions completely: E > V > B, with only T and C's mutual order (below B) left open.

4. Whichever way T and C are ordered between themselves, B's position from the top does not change — Statement I alone therefore fully determines who is third from the top.

Application — checking Statement II alone:

1. Statement II says C is heavier than only T — this places C directly above T and no one else.

2. It gives no comparison at all between B, V and E, so their relative order — and hence who is third from the top — cannot be fixed from Statement II alone.

Cross-check: the two orders consistent with Statement I are E > V > B > T > C and E > V > B > C > T. In both, B occupies the third position from the top, confirming Statement I's sufficiency does not depend on resolving the T–C tie.

Result: Statement I alone is sufficient, while Statement II alone is not sufficient.