Question

The ideal candidate to occupy the office furthest from Mr. Brar would be

• A. Miss Harsha
• B. Mr. Minhas
• C. Mr. Tanjore
• D. Mr. Dongre
• A. 1,2 and 4
• B. 2,3 and 6
• C. 1,2 and 6
• D. 1,2 and 3
• A. Mr. Dongre quitting smoking
• B. The installation of a noisy teletype machine by Miss Harsha in her office.
• C. Miss Ruby needs silence in the office (s) next to her own.
• D. Mr. Tanjore taking over the duties formerly taken care of by Miss Ruby.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understand the question
We are asked: Who should occupy the office furthest from Mr. Brar? To answer this, we must carefully analyze the conditions given in the passage, especially the restrictions involving adjacency, smoking habits, silence requirements, and Miss Harsha’s fixed office number.

Step 2: Fix the immovable condition
Miss Harsha, being a senior employee, must be allotted office number 5. Also, since she is allergic to tobacco smoke, offices 4 and 6 must be occupied by non-smokers.

Step 3: Place smokers logically
The smokers are Mr. Tanjore, Mr. Minhas, and Mr. Dongre. They cannot be placed in offices 4 or 6 because those must be non-smokers (due to Harsha’s allergy). This means the smokers must be fitted into offices 1, 2, and 3. This automatically pushes non-smokers like Ruby and Brar into offices 4 and 6. (Harsha is already in 5).

Step 4: Adjacency of Brar and Minhas
Brar and Minhas must be in adjacent offices. Since Brar is a non-smoker, he can only be in office 4 or 6. If Brar is in 4, Minhas could only be in 3 (which is a smoker’s position). If Brar is in 6, Minhas could only be in 5, but 5 is already taken by Harsha. So the only workable placement is Brar in 4 and Minhas in 3.

Step 5: Silence condition for Dongre
Dongre requires silence in the adjacent offices. If Dongre is placed on the extreme end, i.e., office 1, then only office 2 needs to be silent. This is easier to manage because Ruby, who uses the telephone frequently, should not be next to him. Ruby can be placed in office 6 instead, far away from Dongre.

Step 6: Identify the "furthest" office from Brar
Since Brar is in office 4, the furthest office in the row is office 1 (because offices are numbered in a line from 1 to 6). And the best candidate for office 1, as we reasoned, is Mr. Dongre. His need for silence is respected since Ruby is placed at the opposite end in office 6, and smokers like Tanjore can be positioned near him without conflict.

Step 7: Conclusion
Therefore, the ideal candidate to occupy the office furthest from Mr. Brar is Mr. Dongre.

Final Answer: The correct option is (D): Mr. Dongre

Answer 2

Step 1: Recall the smokers
From the passage, the three smokers are Mr. Tanjore, Mr. Minhas, and Mr. Dongre. These are the only staff members who smoke, so they must be carefully placed considering Miss Harsha’s condition and other restrictions.

Step 2: Restriction due to Miss Harsha
Miss Harsha must be in office number 5. Since she is allergic to smoke, the offices immediately next to hers (offices 4 and 6) must be occupied by non-smokers. This immediately rules out placing any smoker in office 4 or 6.

Step 3: Remaining offices for smokers
The only remaining offices are 1, 2, and 3. These are far from Miss Harsha and do not violate the smoking restriction placed on offices adjacent to her.

Step 4: Check consistency with other conditions
- Mr. Minhas and Mr. Brar need adjacent offices. If Minhas (smoker) is placed in office 3, Brar (non-smoker) can be in office 4. This condition is satisfied.
- Mr. Dongre requires silence around him. If he is in office 1, only office 2 is adjacent to him, which can be assigned to Tanjore (a smoker who otherwise keeps silent). This condition is also satisfied.
- Miss Ruby, who uses the telephone often, can safely be placed in office 6, far from Dongre.

Step 5: Conclusion
Thus, the three smokers, Mr. Tanjore, Mr. Minhas, and Mr. Dongre, must occupy offices 1, 2, and 3 respectively. This arrangement respects all restrictions in the passage.

Final Answer: The correct option is (D): 1, 2 and 3

Answer 3

Step 1: Understand the question
We need to identify the situation that would force at least one employee to request a change of office allocation. The original arrangement is designed carefully to respect conditions about smoking, silence, adjacency, and Miss Harsha’s allergy. Any disruption to these delicate balances could create a conflict, leading to a request for change.

Step 2: Recall Ruby’s special requirement
Miss Ruby needs to use the telephone frequently. Because of this, she was placed away from Mr. Dongre, who requires silence. Specifically, Ruby was allocated to office 6, ensuring her telephone use does not disturb Dongre, who was placed at the opposite end (office 1).

Step 3: Consider the proposed change
If Mr. Tanjore, who is a smoker, takes over the duties formerly handled by Miss Ruby, then he would now need to use the telephone frequently. But unlike Ruby, Tanjore is a smoker and is already assigned an office in 1, 2, or 3. This would create two issues:
1. His telephone use would conflict with Mr. Dongre’s need for silence if he is near him.
2. Being a smoker, he cannot simply be shifted into Ruby’s old position (office 6) because office 6 must be a non-smoker’s office due to Miss Harsha’s allergy.

Step 4: Impact of this change
The dual requirement of Tanjore (smoker + frequent telephone user) would clash with the existing restrictions. To resolve this, either Mr. Dongre would have to move away or Harsha’s allergy condition would be violated if a smoker sits near her. In both cases, the original arrangement collapses, and at least one employee would inevitably request a change of office.

Step 5: Conclusion
Therefore, the occurrence that would force a change in office allocation is if Mr. Tanjore were to take over the duties of Miss Ruby.

Final Answer: The correct option is (D): Mr. Tanjore taking over the duties formerly taken care of by Miss Ruby.