Two men, Anil and David, and two women, Shabnam and Rekha are in a sales group. Only two speak Tamil. The other two speak Marathi. Only one man and one woman can drive a car. Shabnam speaks Marathi. Anil speaks Tamil. Both Rekha and David can drive. Which of the following statements is true ?
- (a) Both the Tamil speakers can drive a car.
- (b) Both the Marathi speakers can drive a car.
- (c) Both of those who can drive a car speak Marathi.
- (d) One of those who can drive a car speaks Tamil. ✓ UPSC's answer
Why the answer is (d)
• Anil is a man who speaks Tamil, and Shabnam is a woman who speaks Marathi.
• Since only two speak Tamil and Anil is one, the other Tamil speaker must be either David or Rekha.
• Since only two speak Marathi and Shabnam is one, the other Marathi speaker must be the person who is not the second Tamil speaker.
• Both Rekha and David can drive, but only one man and one woman can drive in total.
• If Rekha (woman) drives, she must be the only woman driver; if David (man) drives, he must be the only man driver.
• Anil (Tamil) cannot drive because only one man drives and David is a man who can drive (implying David is the designated man driver or Anil is excluded by the 'only one man' constraint combined with the specific pairing logic). Actually, simpler logic: We know Anil (Tamil) and Shabnam (Marathi). The remaining are David and Rekha. One speaks Tamil, one speaks Marathi. Both David and Rekha can drive. However, the constraint is 'Only one man and one woman can drive'. This means exactly one of {Anil, David} drives and exactly one of {Shabnam, Rekha} drives. We are told 'Both Rekha and David can drive'. This implies they are *capable*, but the group constraint limits who *does* drive. Wait, the question asks what is true based on the facts. Let's re-evaluate. Facts: Anil (M, Tamil), Shabnam (W, Marathi). Remaining: David (M), Rekha (W). Languages: 2 Tamil, 2 Marathi. Anil is Tamil. Shabnam is Marathi. So one of David/Rekha is Tamil, the other is Marathi. Driving: Only 1 Man and 1 Woman drive. David and Rekha *can* drive. This usually implies they are the ones who drive in the context of such puzzles, or at least they are the candidates. If David drives, he is the man driver. If Rekha drives, she is the woman driver. Anil cannot drive if David is the man driver (since only 1 man drives). Shabnam cannot drive if Rekha is the woman driver. So the drivers are David and Rekha. One of David/Rekha speaks Tamil, the other speaks Marathi. Therefore, one of the drivers speaks Tamil and one speaks Marathi. Thus, 'One of those who can drive a car speaks Tamil' is true.
Why the other options are wrong
- (a) Both the Tamil speakers can drive a car.
- Only one of the two drivers (David or Rekha) speaks Tamil, as the other speaks Marathi.
- (b) Both the Marathi speakers can drive a car.
- Only one of the two drivers (David or Rekha) speaks Marathi, as the other speaks Tamil.
- (c) Both of those who can drive a car speak Marathi.
- One of the drivers speaks Tamil, so it is not true that both drivers speak Marathi.
Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2015, held on 23 August 2015. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.