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?
- A.
QU
- B.
VU
- C.
TR
- 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.
Fix a reference: place S at position 0 and number the remaining six seats 1–6 going clockwise.
Clue (ii): V is second to the left of S, so V sits two seats clockwise from S — V is at position 2.
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.
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.
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.
Position 6 is also a neighbour of S, so by clue (iii) it cannot be R — hence position 6 = Q and position 4 = R.
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.