A family of two generations consisting of six members P, Q, R, S, T and U has three males and three females. There are two married couples and two unmarried siblings. U is P's daughter and Q is R's mother-in-law. T is an unmarried male and S is a male. Which one of the following is correct?
- (a) R is U's husband.
- (b) R is S's wife. ✓ UPSC's answer
- (c) S is unmarried.
- (d) None of the above
Why the answer is (b)
• U is P's daughter, so U is female. Q is R's mother-in-law, so Q is female.
• There are three males; T and S are two of them. U and Q are female, so the third male is P or R.
• With only two generations, P (U's parent) and Q (R's mother-in-law) must be the older generation, and R, S, T, U the younger one.
• The married couples are then P–Q and one couple in the younger generation. T is unmarried, so R's spouse is S; this makes R female and P the third male.
• So P (male) and Q (female) are the parents of S, T and U; S is married to R; T and U are the two unmarried siblings.
• Therefore R is S's wife — option (b). Option (a) is wrong because U is unmarried, and (c) is wrong because S is married.
Why the other options are wrong
- (a) R is U's husband.
- R is female and married to S, not U (who is female and unmarried).
- (c) S is unmarried.
- S is male and married to R, so he is not unmarried.
- (d) None of the above
- Option (b) is correct, so 'None of the above' is incorrect.
Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2020, held on 4 October 2020. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.