Consider two Statements and a Question : Statement-1 : The last day of the month is a Wednesday. Statement-2 : The third Saturday of the month was the seventeenth day. Question : What day is the fourteenth of the given month ? Which one of the following is correct in respect of the Statements and the Question ?
- (a) Statement-1 alone is sufficient to answer the Question
- (b) Statement-2 alone is sufficient to answer the Question ✓ UPSC's answer
- (c) Both Statement-1 and Statement-2 are required to answer the Question
- (d) Neither Statement-1 alone nor Statement-2 alone is sufficient to answer the Question
Why the answer is (b)
• Statement-2 states that the third Saturday of the month is the 17th.
• If the 17th is a Saturday, the 10th and 3rd are also Saturdays.
• The 14th is three days after the 11th (which is a Sunday, as 17th is Saturday) or simply count back: 17th (Sat) -> 16th (Fri) -> 15th (Thu) -> 14th (Wed).
• Therefore, the 14th is a Wednesday.
• Statement-1 alone is insufficient because knowing the last day is a Wednesday does not fix the specific dates of the week without knowing the total number of days in the month (28, 29, 30, or 31).
• Since Statement-2 provides a fixed anchor date (17th = Saturday), it is sufficient to determine the day of the week for any other date in that month.
Why the other options are wrong
- (a) Statement-1 alone is sufficient to answer the Question
- Statement-1 alone is insufficient because the month could have 28, 29, 30, or 31 days, leading to different days of the week for the 14th.
- (c) Both Statement-1 and Statement-2 are required to answer the Question
- Statement-2 alone is sufficient to determine the day of the week for the 14th, so Statement-1 is not required.
- (d) Neither Statement-1 alone nor Statement-2 alone is sufficient to answer the Question
- Statement-2 alone is sufficient to answer the question, so it is incorrect to say neither statement is sufficient.
Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2021, held on 10 October 2021. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.