Eight friends, A, H, I, K, M, N, S and T are sitting around a circle facing the center, but not necessarily in the same order. A is between H and K. N is not an immediate neighbor of H and I. T is an immediate neighbor of I and K. A is second to the left of S. Which of the following must be true?
(A) M is seated second next to T.
(B) K is seated opposite to I.
(C) S is not seated next to N.
(D) H is seated next to S.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (A) and (D) only
For people sitting round a circle facing the centre, a person’s left is the clockwise direction (seen from above) and the right is anticlockwise. Eight seats make four pairs of opposite seats.
Put S at the bottom:
A is second to the left of S
So A sits two seats clockwise from S, with one seat between them
A is between H and K:
So H and K take the seats on either side of A
One of them is the seat between S and A
T is next to K:
If K sat between S and A, its neighbours would be S and A, leaving no seat for T
So H sits between S and A, and K is on the other side of A
T is next to both K and I, so T takes the seat after K and I the seat after T.
The two seats left, after I and next to S, go to M and N:
N is not next to I
So N sits next to S and M next to I
(A) M is seated second next to T. Correct. Only I sits between T and M, so M is second from T (second to T’s left).
(B) K is seated opposite to I. Incorrect. K and I have only T between them; the seat opposite K is N’s.
(C) S is not seated next to N. Incorrect. N sits in the seat next to S, on S’s right.
(D) H is seated next to S. Correct. H sits between S and A, so H is S’s neighbour on the left.