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: rocket ink basket mat dolphin chair
Step I: basket rocket ink mat dolphin chair
Step II: basket chair rocket ink mat dolphin
Step III: basket chair dolphin rocket ink mat
Step IV: basket chair dolphin ink rocket mat
Step V: basket chair dolphin ink mat rocket
Step V is the last step of this input.
Input: wheel candle bridge pillow anchor marble
Following the same rule, which word will be third from the right end in Step II for this input?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → candle
Compare each step of the illustration with the one before it. In each step, the word that comes first 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: ‘basket’ comes first in dictionary order, so it moves to the first place from the left
Step II: ‘chair’ comes first in dictionary order, so it moves to the second place from the left
Step III: ‘dolphin’ comes first in dictionary order, so it moves to the third place from the left
Step IV: ‘ink’ comes first in dictionary order, so it moves to the fourth place from the left
Step V: ‘mat’ comes first in dictionary order, so it moves to the fifth place from the left
After Step V the words stand in dictionary order, so the arrangement is complete.
Apply the same rule to the input wheel candle bridge pillow anchor marble.
Step I: ‘anchor’ comes first in dictionary order, so it moves to the first place from the left, giving anchor wheel candle bridge pillow marble
Step II: ‘bridge’ comes first in dictionary order, so it moves to the second place from the left, giving anchor bridge wheel candle pillow marble
Counting from the right end of anchor bridge wheel candle pillow marble: marble (first), pillow (second), candle (third).
So the word third from the right end is candle.