UPSC Prelims 2014 CSAT Paper II · Q78 of 65 Comprehension medium

Passage

Directions for the following 3 (three) items : Read the passage given below and answer the items that follow. A, B, C, D, E, F are members of a family. They are engineer, stenographer, doctor, draughtsman, lawyer and judge (not in order). A, the engineer is married to the lady stenographer. The judge is married to the lawyer. F, the draughtsman is the son of B and brother of E. C, the lawyer is the daughter-in-law of D. E is the unmarried doctor. D is the grandmother of F. There are two married couples in the family.

What is the profession of B ?

  1. (a) Judge ✓ UPSC's answer
  2. (b) Lawyer
  3. (c) Draughtsman
  4. (d) Cannot be determined

Why the answer is (a)

• Identify the two married couples: Couple 1 is A (Engineer) and the lady Stenographer; Couple 2 is the Judge and the Lawyer.

• Determine the gender and role of C: C is the Lawyer and is the daughter-in-law of D, so C is female and married to the Judge.

• Determine the identity of the Judge: Since C (Lawyer) is married to the Judge, and the only other male in the family besides A is B (as F is the son of B and E is the unmarried doctor, implying E is likely female or the remaining male, but let's look at family structure), we must place the males. Males are A, B, F. Females are C, D, E (or one of B/E is female? No, F is son of B, so B is parent. E is brother of F, so E is male. Thus Males: A, B, E, F. Females: C, D, and the Stenographer).

• Re-evaluate genders: A (M, Engineer), B (M, Parent of F), C (F, Lawyer), D (F, Grandmother), E (M, Doctor, Brother of F), F (M, Draughtsman). The remaining profession is Stenographer, which must be held by a female. The females are C, D, and one more? Wait, there are 6 people. A, B, C, D, E, F. Males: A, B, E, F. Females: C, D. Who is the 6th? The prompt says 'A, B, C, D, E, F'. Let's check professions: Engineer (A), Stenographer (Lady), Doctor (E), Draughtsman (F), Lawyer (C), Judge (B).

• Since C is the Lawyer and is married to the Judge, and C is the daughter-in-law of D, the Judge must be C's husband. The available males are A, B, E, F. A is married to the Stenographer. E is unmarried. F is the son of B. Therefore, the Judge must be B.

• Thus, B is the Judge.

Why the other options are wrong

(b) Lawyer
C is explicitly identified as the lawyer in the passage.
(c) Draughtsman
F is explicitly identified as the draughtsman in the passage.
(d) Cannot be determined
The profession of B can be definitively determined as the Judge based on the marriage and family relationships.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2014, held on 24 August 2014. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

Reading the answer is not the same as getting it right under a clock. Practise this question with UPSC's negative marking, and anything you miss goes into an error notebook until you get it right twice.

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