The question below is followed by two statements numbered I and II. Decide whether the data given in the statements are sufficient to answer the question.
In a certain code language, which word means ‘flower’?
I. ‘de fu la pane’ means ‘rose flower is beautiful’, and ‘pane quiz’ means ‘beautiful tree’.
II. ‘de la chin’ means ‘red rose flower’, and ‘pa chin’ means ‘red tea’.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Neither statement I nor statement II is sufficient, even together.
In code questions, a word common to two sentences takes the code word common to both codes. A code is found only when one word and one code word are left together.
Statement I alone:
‘beautiful’ is common to both sentences and ‘pane’ to both codes, so pane = beautiful
‘flower’ is then one of de, fu, la: not sufficient
Statement II alone:
‘red’ is common, and ‘chin’ is common, so chin = red
‘flower’ is then de or la: not sufficient
Both together:
‘rose’ and ‘flower’ appear in both statements, and de and la appear in both codes
The two words share the same two code words, so de and la cannot be told apart: not sufficient even together