Comprehension: Directions — Study the following statements carefully and…
2025
Comprehension: Directions — Study the following statements carefully and answer the given question.
Following are the conditions for selecting a candidate for MBA in a top college. The candidate must:
Be not more than 25 years of age on 1 August 2017.
Be a 10th pass with a minimum of 80% marks.
Be a 12th pass in any discipline with a minimum of 70% marks.
Have secured a minimum of 70% in Group Discussion.
Have secured a minimum of 60% in Personal Interview.
In the case of a candidate who fulfils all the conditions except:
At (iii) above, but has secured at least 60% in class 12th and had Science in class 12th — his/her case is to be referred to the department head of MBA.
At (v) above, but has secured at least 50% in Personal Interview — his/her case is to be referred to the admissions committee.
In each question below, details of one candidate are provided. You have to take one of the above courses of action based on the conditions given and the information provided, and mark the number of that course of action as your answer. You are not to assume anything other than the information provided. All these cases are given to you as on 1 August 2017.
Manuja Kothari scored 69% in twelfth and 87% in 10th class. She scored 62% in Personal Interview and 74% in Group Discussion. She was born on 13th December 1992.
- A.
Data provided are inadequate to take a decision.
- B.
Candidate is not to be selected.
- C.
Candidate is to be selected.
- D.
Case is to be referred to department head of MBA.
Attempted by 3 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
In a selection decision-table question, a candidate is checked against every mandatory condition one by one. If every condition is met, select the candidate; if exactly one condition fails, check whether a listed exception can override that specific failure. An exception applies only when ALL of its own stated criteria are confirmed by the data given — if even one required exception-detail is missing from the candidate's data, the case cannot be resolved as either a referral or a rejection, and "data inadequate" is the correct outcome.
Condition (i) — age: Born 13 December 1992, so as of 1 August 2017 she is still 24 (her 25th birthday falls later, in December 2017). This satisfies "not more than 25 years".
Condition (ii) — 10th class: She scored 87%, above the 80% minimum. Satisfied.
Condition (iii) — 12th class: She scored 69%, below the 70% minimum. This condition FAILS.
Condition (iv) — Group Discussion: She scored 74%, above the 70% minimum. Satisfied.
Condition (v) — Personal Interview: She scored 62%, above the 60% minimum. Satisfied.
Since only condition (iii) fails, check exception (a): it requires BOTH at least 60% in class 12th AND that the candidate studied Science in class 12th. Her 69% clears the first part, but her stream in class 12th is never stated in the question, so the second part cannot be confirmed.
Exception (b) is not relevant here — condition (v) is already satisfied, so there is no failure at (v) for that exception to override.
Because the one fact needed to confirm exception (a) — her stream in class 12th — is missing, neither "referred to department head of MBA" (true only if she studied Science) nor "not selected" (true only if she did not) can be established from the given data; both remain equally possible. Everything else about her profile is fully known — only this single tie-breaking fact is withheld — which is exactly the signature of a data-inadequate case.
Therefore, the data provided are inadequate to take a decision.