Logical Reasoning Set-29 (Level-2)

aptitude and reasoning questions: Aptitude and Reasoning questions to improve your analytical skills for the exams

In order to excel in the logical section of the exams, you need to understand what is being tested. To proceed with this solve aptitude and reasoning questions. This will not only sharpen your abilities to perform well but will also improve your speed and consistency. Cover all the topics relevant to respective exams by attempting aptitude and reasoning questions after getting thorough with the concepts, on which these questions are based on. Solving past year aptitude and reasoning questions from different exams will also help you connect with the past paper trends and question varieties and will give an upper edge to your preparation.

Directions for the question set:
Answer the questions based on the following information.
A leading newspaper decided to organize a ‘discussion over tea’ and has invited a few of the prominent figures from the field of politics. Only the two heads (one male and one female) were sitting at the opposite ends of a rectangular table, with three persons along each side. The prerequisite for the seating arrangement was that each person must be seated such that at least on one side it has a person of opposite sex. Mr. Mansoor is opposite of Mrs. Savitri, who is not the hostess. Mr. Ratanlal has a woman on his right and is sitting opposite of a woman. Miss. Monika is sitting to the hostess’s right, next to Mr. Dhirulal. One person is seated between Mrs. Mahima and Miss. Urshita, who is not the hostess. The only other person is Mr. Jagindra.

Question 1: The eighth person present, Jagindra, must be :
I. the host
II. seated to Savitri’s right.
III. seated opposite of Urshita
(a) I only
(b) III only
(c) I and II only
(d) II and III only

Question 2: Which of the following persons is definitely not seated next to a person of the same sex ?
(a) Mansoor
(b) Mahima
(c) Jagindra
(d) Savitri

Question 3: If Ratanlal would have exchanged seats with a person four places to his left, which of the following would have been true after the exchange ?
(i) No one was seated between two persons of the opposite sex (e.g., no man was seated between two women.)
(ii) One side of the table consisted entirely of persons of the same sex.
(iii) Either the host or the hostess changed their seats.
(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) I and II only
(d) II and III only

Question 4: If each person is placed directly opposite of her spouse, which of the following pairs must be married ?
(a) Ratanlal and Monika
(b) Mahima and Dhirulal
(c) Urshita and Jagindra
(d) Ratanlal and Mahima

Answers and Explanations: Click the down arrow to expand

Common solution for the set: From the given clause that ‘each person must be seated such that at least on one side it has a person of opposite sex’, we can conclude that a man cannot be seated in between 2 men and neither can a woman be seated between 2 women. Let us assume the hostess at the right end of the table and the host at the left end. This will give us a definite position of Miss. Monika. and Mr. Dhirulal. As the left end is a host (Man), the position between him and Dhirulal will be occupied by a Woman following the clause mentioned in the statement. It is given that Mr. Mansoor and Miss. Savitri occupy opposite positions, therefore Miss. Savitri will occupy the position between Dhirulal and host to satisfy this condition. So far, we have fixed the positions of Monika, Dhirulal, Savitri and Mansoor. Let us proceed further. It is given that Mr. Ratanlal has a woman to his right, therefore, he cannot be the host as Mansoor is to the right of the host. This helps us pin down the position of Mr. Ratanlal. The only man left is Mr. Jagindra who by default becomes the host. 6 positions can hence be determined based on the given information, and we are still unclear of the positions of Urshita and Mahima. All this can be summed up in the diagram shown below: From the information given in the question, it becomes evident that Jagindra is the host and is sitting to Savitri’s right.

Answers 1: (c) Hence, Jagindra is the host and seated next to Savitri. The correct option is (c).

Answers 2: (d) Savitri is sitting next to Jagindra and Dhirulal. Hence, she is the person who can be determined as not seated next to a person of the same sex. The correct option is (d).

Answers 3: (a) If Ratanlal would have exchanged seat with a person four places to his left, i.e., Savitri then option (I) would become the right choice. The correct option is (a).

Answers 4: (a) From the options given Ratanlal and Monika are defintely sitting opposite to each other, hence they are the one who would be married. The correct option is (a).

Extra tips for aptitude and reasoning questions:
• Solve as many as aptitude and reasoning questions as you can, covering all the concepts and chapters.
• While solving aptitude and reasoning questions, it often happens that there are multiple possibilities in the initial steps. Make sure you account for those and do not miss considering any case.
• Do not jump to the solutions of questions without giving a fair a chance of attempt. This will give you confidence even if you are able to solve the problem partially.