In an 8-week course, a professor administered a test at the end of each week. Each of the eight tests was scored out of 4 marks, and a student could only receive a non-negative integer score. Two students, Ravi and Sumana, took the eight tests.
In the first test, Ravi and Sumana scored the same marks. From the second to eighth tests, Ravi scored the exact same non-zero marks. Sumana scored the same marks as Ravi from the fifth test onwards. Ravi’s total marks in the first three tests was the same as Sumana’s total marks in the first two tests. Also, Sumana’s marks in the first test, total marks of the first two tests, and total marks of the eight tests are in a geometric progression.
To solve this problem, we need to analyze the information given about the test scores of Ravi and Sumana over the eight weeks.
Step 1: Understand Ravi's Scores
Step 2: Linking Ravi and Sumana's Scores
Let us denote Ravi's score in the second and third tests as x.
Step 3: Analyzing Sumana's Scores
Sumana’s marks in the first test, the total of the first two tests, and the total of the eight tests form a geometric progression.
Sumana repeated scores of x from the fifth test to the eighth test, thus:
Given that these are in a geometric progression:
Solve for x:
\frac{4 + 2x}{4} = \frac{4 + 6x}{4 + 2x} implies:
Conclusion:
The correct answer is 3.
To find the maximum possible value of Sumana’s total marks, we need to carefully analyze the given conditions.
Let's denote by \(x\) Ravi’s score in the first test and by \(y\) his score from the second to eighth tests:
Let's assume:
From Sumana’s and Ravi's first three tests:
Given Sumana’s score from fifth to eighth is \( 4y \) since she scored \( y \) from each test in these weeks, Sumana’s total score can be expressed as:
\( a + (ar) + 4y = ar^2 \)
However, it's evident this setup relies on specific values for \(a, ar, ar^2,\) and actual scores to derive any conclusions about limits on marks.
With insufficient constraints on values or more concrete test scores to start, the solution indicates that precise determination of Sumana's maximum possible mark total is:
Cannot be uniquely determined from the given information.





Light Chemicals is an industrial paint supplier with presence in three locations: Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The sunburst chart below shows the distribution of the number of employees of different departments of Light Chemicals. There are four departments: Finance, IT, HR and Sales. The employees are deployed in four ranks: junior, mid, senior and executive. The chart shows four levels: location, department, rank and gender (M: male, F: female). At every level, the number of employees at a location/department/rank/gender are proportional to the corresponding area of the region represented in the chart.
Due to some issues with the software, the data on junior female employees have gone missing. Notice that there are junior female employees in Mumbai HR, Sales and IT departments, Hyderabad HR department, and Bengaluru IT and Finance departments. The corresponding missing numbers are marked u, v, w, x, y and z in the diagram, respectively.
It is also known that:
a) Light Chemicals has a total of 210 junior employees.
b) Light Chemicals has a total of 146 employees in the IT department.
c) Light Chemicals has a total of 777 employees in the Hyderabad office.
d) In the Mumbai office, the number of female employees is 55.

Business schools’ (B schools) curriculums are filled with group assignments and case competitions. Even when students have just joined the B schools, corporate houses try 38 to catch good talent early by promising them internships based on case competitions. These competitions involve solving the problems presented by the organizations, analyzing the challenges they currently face, and presenting solutions in a manner that convinces the organizations’ representatives.
For students who are just joining a B school, the capability to actually solve such problems is quite limited. Because of that, the corporate houses generally are more focused on the presentations made by groups. Hence, the groups that communicate better, most often, win these competitions.
Abirami joins MBS, a B school. As a fresher, she believes she needs to learn a lot about how organizations work and wants to work with others who have joined MBS and have work experience.