Each of the questions given below consists of a statement and/or a question…
2024
Each of the questions given below consists of a statement and/or a question and two statements numbered I and II given below it. You have to decide whether the data provided in the statement(s) is/are sufficient to answer the given question.
Read both the statements and Give answer
What day is 14th of a month?
I. 2nd last day of the month is Tuesday
II. 3rd Saturday of the month is seventeenth
- A.
the data in Statement I alone is sufficient to answer the question, while the data in Statement II alone is not sufficient to answer the question.
- B.
if the data in Statement II alone is sufficient to answer the question, while the data in Statement I alone is not sufficient to answer the question.
- C.
if the data in each Statement I and Statement II alone is sufficient to answer the question.
- D.
if the data even in both Statements I and II together are not sufficient to answer the question.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept: A statement is sufficient only if the information it gives fixes a single, unambiguous value for whatever is asked -- here, the day of the week for the 14th. Day-of-week problems reduce to modulo-7 arithmetic: moving n days forward or backward from a known weekday shifts that weekday by n mod 7 places, and this shift holds however many days the month itself has.
Checking Statement I:
Statement I says the 2nd-last day of the month is Tuesday. But the date-number of the '2nd-last day' depends on how many days the month has (28, 29, 30, or 31), which is unknown.
If the month has 31 days, the 2nd-last day is the 30th, so the 30th is Tuesday; counting back 16 days to the 14th (16 mod 7 = 2) makes the 14th a Sunday.
If the month has 30 days, the 2nd-last day is the 29th, so the 29th is Tuesday; counting back 15 days (15 mod 7 = 1) makes the 14th a Monday.
If the month has 29 days, the 2nd-last day is the 28th, so the 28th is Tuesday; counting back 14 days (14 mod 7 = 0) makes the 14th a Tuesday itself.
If the month has 28 days, the 2nd-last day is the 27th, so the 27th is Tuesday; counting back 13 days (13 mod 7 = 6) makes the 14th a Wednesday.
Since the day changes with the (unknown) month length, Statement I alone does not fix one unique day for the 14th.
Checking Statement II:
Statement II says the 3rd Saturday of the month is the 17th, i.e. Saturdays fall on 3, 10, 17, 24 (and possibly 31) -- fixed regardless of month length.
The 14th is exactly 3 days before the 17th.
Shifting Saturday back by 3 (mod 7) gives Wednesday, so the 14th is Wednesday -- a result independent of the month's length.
So Statement II alone fixes the 14th's day uniquely.
Cross-check: counting forward instead confirms it -- from the 14th (Wednesday) to the 17th is 3 days forward (Wed to Thu to Fri to Sat), landing on Saturday, matching Statement II. So the 14th is indeed Wednesday.
Conclusion: Statement II alone is sufficient to answer the question, while Statement I alone is not sufficient.