A word arrangement machine, when given an input line of words, rearranges them step by step following a particular rule. An illustration of an input and its rearrangement is given below.
Input: crane kitchen engine yak rug hedge
Step I: yak crane kitchen engine rug hedge
Step II: yak rug crane kitchen engine hedge
Step III: yak rug kitchen crane engine hedge
Step IV: yak rug kitchen hedge crane engine
Step V: yak rug kitchen hedge engine crane
Step V is the last step of this input.
Input: bead squirrel pocket ladder giraffe wallet
Following the same rule, which of the following will be Step III for this input?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → wallet squirrel pocket bead ladder giraffe
Compare each step of the illustration with the one before it. In each step, the word that comes last in dictionary order among the words not yet arranged moves to the next place from the left end, and all the other words keep their order.
Step I: ‘yak’ comes last in dictionary order among the words left, so it moves to the first place from the left
Step II: ‘rug’ comes last in dictionary order among the words left, so it moves to the second place from the left
Step III: ‘kitchen’ comes last in dictionary order among the words left, so it moves to the third place from the left
Step IV: ‘hedge’ comes last in dictionary order among the words left, so it moves to the fourth place from the left
Step V: ‘engine’ comes last in dictionary order among the words left, so it moves to the fifth place from the left
After Step V every one of the words is in its final place, so the arrangement is complete.
Apply the same rule to the input bead squirrel pocket ladder giraffe wallet.
Step I: ‘wallet’ comes last in dictionary order among the words left, so it moves to the first place from the left, giving wallet bead squirrel pocket ladder giraffe
Step II: ‘squirrel’ comes last in dictionary order among the words left, so it moves to the second place from the left, giving wallet squirrel bead pocket ladder giraffe
Step III: ‘pocket’ comes last in dictionary order among the words left, so it moves to the third place from the left, giving wallet squirrel pocket bead ladder giraffe
So Step III is wallet squirrel pocket bead ladder giraffe.
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (1) wallet squirrel ladder bead pocket giraffe — Incorrect. Here ‘ladder’ has been moved in Step III, but the word to move is ‘pocket’, last in dictionary order among the words left.
Option (2) wallet squirrel bead pocket ladder giraffe — Incorrect. This is Step II; in Step III ‘pocket’ must also move.
Option (4) wallet squirrel pocket ladder bead giraffe — Incorrect. This is Step IV, where ‘ladder’ has also been moved.