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Q38·CSAT · Prelims 2023

Data sufficiency - identifying oldest person

DI / DSData SufficiencyData sufficiency● Medium

Question

Consider the following statements:

1A is older than B.
2C and D are of the same age.
3E is the youngest.
4F is younger than D.
5F is older than A.

How many statements given above are required to determine the oldest person/persons?

Options

a

Only two

b

Only three

c

Only four

Answer
d

All five

Explanation

We need to identify the oldest person using the minimum number of statements.

Let's test combinations sequentially:

From Statement 1: A > B
From Statement 5: F > A \implies Combining gives F > A > B
From Statement 4: D > F \implies Combining gives D > F > A > B
From Statement 2: C = D \implies Combining gives C = D > F > A > B

At this stage, we can clearly deduce that C and D are the oldest individuals in the entire group. Let us review which statements we utilized to construct this continuous inequality chain: Statements 1, 2, 4, and 5. Statement 3, which isolates the youngest person (E), is completely redundant for tracking down the oldest tier. Exactly 4 statements are required.

To find the minimum number of data statements needed to locate an extreme tier (oldest/youngest), systematically assemble the inequality chain and isolate any statement dealing purely with the opposite boundary.

Answer: (c).

Question details

Year

2023

Paper

CSAT

Question

Q38

Section

Data Interpretation & Sufficiency

Sub-topic

Data Sufficiency

Type

Data sufficiency

Difficulty

Medium

Source hint

Data sufficiency

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