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: dew pineapple goose iceberg tortoise needle
Step I: pineapple dew goose iceberg tortoise needle
Step II: pineapple tortoise dew goose iceberg needle
Step III: pineapple tortoise iceberg dew goose needle
Step IV: pineapple tortoise iceberg needle dew goose
Step V: pineapple tortoise iceberg needle goose dew
Step V is the last step of this input.
Step II of an input is: watermelon scorpion nail grain sweater tunnel
Following the same rule, which of the following can be that input?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → nail scorpion grain watermelon sweater tunnel
Compare each step of the illustration with the one before it. In each step, the longest of the words not yet arranged moves to the next place from the left end, and all the other words keep their order.
Step I: ‘pineapple’ has 9 letters, the most among the words left, so it moves to the first place from the left
Step II: ‘tortoise’ has 8 letters, the most among the words left, so it moves to the second place from the left
Step III: ‘iceberg’ has 7 letters, the most among the words left, so it moves to the third place from the left
Step IV: ‘needle’ has 6 letters, the most among the words left, so it moves to the fourth place from the left
Step V: ‘goose’ has 5 letters, the most 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.
With this rule, the first two steps bring ‘watermelon’ and ‘scorpion’ to the front, and every other word keeps the order it had in the input. So in the input, the words nail grain sweater tunnel must stand in this order. Only Option (2) has them in this order. Check it:
Step I: ‘watermelon’ has 10 letters, the most among the words left, so it moves to the first place from the left, giving watermelon nail scorpion grain sweater tunnel
Step II: ‘scorpion’ has 8 letters, the most among the words left, so it moves to the second place from the left, giving watermelon scorpion nail grain sweater tunnel
This is the given Step II, so the input is nail scorpion grain watermelon sweater tunnel.
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (1) nail sweater tunnel grain scorpion watermelon — Incorrect. With this input the rule gives Step II as watermelon scorpion nail sweater tunnel grain, which is not the given line.
Option (3) nail grain scorpion tunnel watermelon sweater — Incorrect. With this input the rule gives Step II as watermelon scorpion nail grain tunnel sweater, which is not the given line.
Option (4) nail tunnel scorpion watermelon sweater grain — Incorrect. With this input the rule gives Step II as watermelon scorpion nail tunnel sweater grain, which is not the given line.