If ‘A + B’ means ‘A is the husband of B’, ‘A – B’ means ‘A is the daughter of B’ and ‘A × B’ means ‘A is the son of B’, then in the expression W + X – Y × Z, how is W related to Y?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Son-in-law
Read the expression one symbol at a time. The husband of one’s daughter is one’s son-in-law.
W + X: W is the husband of X
X – Y: X is the daughter of Y
Y × Z: Y is the son of Z, so Y is a male
W is the husband of Y’s daughter X: W is Y’s son-in-law
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (1) Son — Incorrect. W is married to Y’s daughter; he is not Y’s child.
Option (2) Brother-in-law — Incorrect. W is the husband of Y’s daughter, one generation below Y.
Option (3) Father-in-law — Incorrect. Y is the father of W’s wife, so Y is W’s father-in-law, not the other way round.