Read the following information and answer the question below. (Questions 21 to…

2024

Read the following information and answer the question below. (Questions 21 to 23 in this set are based on the same seating arrangement.)

  1. P, Q, R, S, T, U and V are seven friends sitting in a circle, facing the centre.

  2. V is second to the left of S, and V is a neighbour of both T and U.

  3. S is not a neighbour of R or T.

  4. P is a neighbour of both Q and R.

Which of the following pairs has the second person sitting to the immediate right of the first person?

  1. A.

    QU

  2. B.

    VU

  3. C.

    TR

  4. D.

    PT

Attempted by 2 students.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B

Concept: In a circular seating puzzle where everyone faces the centre, first fix the direction convention — moving clockwise around the table is each person's immediate left, and moving anticlockwise is each person's immediate right. Once this convention is fixed from one clue, place people one fixed relationship at a time (starting with any clue that gives an exact offset), then slot in the rest using the neighbour clues — never by guessing.

  1. Clue (ii) fixes V two seats to the left of S, and also fixes V's two neighbours as T and U.

  2. Since V is two seats from S, one of T/U sits between V and S (and is therefore also next to S), while the other sits on V's outer side. Clue (iii) says S is not a neighbour of T, so T cannot be the person between V and S — that middle seat must be U. So U is immediately to V's right, T is immediately to V's left, and S is immediately to U's right.

  3. That leaves three seats — going further right from S, then back around to T — for the remaining three friends, P, Q and R. Clue (iv) says P is a neighbour of both Q and R, so P must sit directly between Q and R. The only way to fit Q, P and R into these three seats is Q immediately right of S, then P, then R, then back to T.

  4. This gives the unique seating, reading immediate-right neighbours in order: T, V, U, S, Q, P, R, and back to T.

Cross-check against every clue: V's neighbours are T and U (clue ii, holds); S's neighbours are U and Q — not R or T (clue iii, holds); P's neighbours are Q and R (clue iv, holds). All four clues are satisfied, so this seating is confirmed.

Now check each offered pair for “is the second person the immediate right-hand neighbour of the first?”: Q's immediate right-hand neighbour is P, not U, so the Q-U pair fails. V's immediate right-hand neighbour is U, so the V-U pair holds. T's immediate right-hand neighbour is V, not R, so the T-R pair fails. P and T are not even neighbours, so the P-T pair fails. Only the V-U pair satisfies the condition.

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