Example 1
It is the school lunch break. Freya, Amie, John, Markus and Dev are queuing for lunch. Freya and Dev are in Year 2. John, Markus and Amie are in Year 3.
There are two Year 3 students between Year 2 students.
Markus and John are further in front of the queue compared to Dev.
There are three people between Markus and Dev.
Amie is closer to the back of the queue than the front.
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Which of the following must be true?
A. Freya is at the front of the queue
B. There are two people between Markus and Amie
C. Markus is third from the front
D. Amie is at the back of the queue
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Example 1 Answer
For ease we will work with each student’s name using the first letter only. There are two Year 3 students between Year 2 students, which means:
[Front of queue] F or D / J or M or A / J or M or A / F or D
At this stage we do not whether there is a Year 3 student at the front of the queue or at the back of the queue. Markus and John are further in front of the queue compared to Dev. From this we can deduce that Freya must be further in front the queue than Dev.
[Front of queue] F / J or M or A / J or M or A / D
There are three people between Markus and Dev, so Markus must be at the front of the queue.
[Front of queue] M / F / J or A / J or A / D
Amie is closer to the back of the queue than the front so the final order must be:
[Front of queue] M / F / J / A / D
The only statement that is in keeping with this order is statement B.