Question

The eighth person present, Jackie, must be:
I. the host
II. Seated to Shobha’s right
III. Seated opposite Urmila

• A. I only
• B. III only
• C. I and II only
• D. II and III only

Hint:

In arrangement puzzles, always test each statement against the seating logic — even if plausible, it must be inevitable to be “must be true.”

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Let us break down the seating arrangement step-by-step using the information from the passage:
1. There are 8 people: Host, Hostess, Maqbool, Ratan, Dhirubhai, Jackie, Madhuri, Urmila, Shobha, Monisha. Men: Maqbool, Ratan, Dhirubhai, Jackie. Women: Madhuri, Urmila, Shobha, Monisha.
2. Host and hostess sit at opposite ends of the rectangular table, with three seats on each long side.
3. Maqbool is opposite Shobha — this fixes two opposite seats. Since Shobha is not the hostess, Maqbool is not the host either.
4. Monisha is to the hostess’s right, next to Dhirubhai — this fixes part of one side.
5. Ratan has a woman on his right and is opposite a woman — this further constrains placement.
6. One person is between Madhuri and Urmila (Urmila not hostess) — adds another constraint.
7. Since the table is rectangular with host/hostess at the ends, and given that Jackie is the only person not yet fixed by the earlier clues, we check each condition:
- I. Jackie is the host — This cannot be confirmed; no direct evidence links Jackie to the host seat.
- II. Jackie seated to Shobha’s right — Not necessarily true; Shobha’s seating is not fully mapped yet.
- III. Jackie seated opposite Urmila — This can be deduced because after placing others according to the constraints, Jackie falls into the seat opposite Urmila to maintain gender alternation and fulfill all seating clues.
Therefore, only statement III is certainly correct.