Read the following information carefully and answer the question that follows.…

2024

Read the following information carefully and answer the question that follows.

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

  • V is second to the left of S and is a neighbour of T and U.

  • S is not a neighbour of R or T.

  • P is a neighbour of 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 58 students.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B

Concept: In a circular seating puzzle where everyone faces the centre, left and right are reversed relative to viewing the circle from outside — moving clockwise (as seen from above) from a person is that person's LEFT, and moving counter-clockwise is that person's RIGHT. “X is second to the left of Y” fixes X two seats clockwise from Y; “neighbour of” clues fix direct adjacency regardless of this convention.

  1. Fix a reference: place S at position 0 and number the remaining six seats 1–6 going clockwise.

  2. Clue (ii): V is second to the left of S, so V sits two seats clockwise from S — V is at position 2.

  3. Clue (ii) also says V's neighbours are T and U, so positions 1 and 3 (on either side of V) are T and U, in some order.

  4. S's own neighbours are positions 1 and 6. Clue (iii) forbids R or T from being next to S, so position 1 cannot be T — which forces position 1 = U and position 3 = T.

  5. Positions 4, 5 and 6 remain for P, Q and R. Clue (iv) needs P adjacent to BOTH Q and R; only position 5 has both its neighbours (4 and 6) inside this trio, so P is at position 5.

  6. Position 6 is also a neighbour of S, so by clue (iii) it cannot be R — hence position 6 = Q and position 4 = R.

  7. The finished clockwise order is: S(0) – U(1) – V(2) – T(3) – R(4) – P(5) – Q(6) – back to S.

Cross-check: for a pair (First, Second) to satisfy “Second sits immediately to First's right”, Second must occupy the seat one step counter-clockwise from First. V is at position 2; one step counter-clockwise from V is position 1, which is U. So U indeed sits immediately to V's right, confirming the pair V–U. Checking the others the same way: T's immediate right is position 2 (V, not R); Q's immediate right is position 5 (P, not U); P's immediate right is position 4 (R, not T) — none of them match, leaving V–U as the only pair that satisfies the condition.

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