Question

Is the distance from the office to home less than the distance from the cinema hall to home?
I. The time taken to travel from home to office is as much as the time taken from home to the cinema hall, both distances being covered without stopping.
II. The road from the cinema hall to home is bad and speed reduces, as compared to that on the road from home to the office.

• A. If the question can be answered with the help of statement I alone.
• B. If the question can be answered with the help of statement II alone.
• C. If both statements I and II are needed to answer the question.
• D. If the question cannot be answered even with the help of both statements.

Hint:

In data sufficiency problems, focus on whether a statement directly answers the "comparison" question without extra assumptions. Equal travel times with constant speed directly imply equal distances.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

We are being asked whether: \[ \text{Distance (Office to Home)}<\text{Distance (Cinema Hall to Home)} \ ? \]
Step 1: Analyse Statement I
Statement I says: The time taken from home to office is the same as the time from home to cinema hall, both without stopping.
If travel times are the same and speed is constant for both journeys (implied by "without stopping"), then the distances must be equal.
From this, we can conclude: \[ \text{Distance (Office to Home)} = \text{Distance (Home to Cinema Hall)} \] Since the distances are equal, the answer to “Is one distance less than the other?” is clearly No. Therefore, Statement I alone is sufficient to answer the question.

Step 2: Analyse Statement II
Statement II talks only about the road condition from the cinema hall to home being bad, causing reduced speed compared to the road from home to office.
This affects travel time but not necessarily the distance. Bad road conditions cannot determine whether the physical distance is more or less — only the time changes.
Thus Statement II alone is insufficient.

Step 3: Combined Information
Since Statement I alone is already sufficient, combining with Statement II is unnecessary.
Hence the correct answer is (a).