RAS question
Five friends — A, B, C, D, E — are sitting in a row facing north. C is to the immediate right of A. B is at the extreme left end. E is between D and C. Who is sitting in the middle?
Correct answer: (B) C.
C is sitting in the middle because the only arrangement satisfying all the given conditions is B, A, C, E, D.
Explanation
The question is solved by treating each seating clue as a premise and accepting only an arrangement in which all premises remain true. B is fixed at the extreme left, so B takes position 1. Since C is immediately to the right of A, A and C must sit consecutively in that order. E has to be between D and C, so the only sequence that fits all the conditions is B, A, C, E, D. In a row of five people, the middle seat is the 3rd position, and that position is occupied by C. This is a standard deductive-reasoning move: as NCERT explains, when the premises are true and the argument is valid, the conclusion follows.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) E is not in the middle; in the valid arrangement B, A, C, E, D, E sits at position 4 between C and D.
- (C) A cannot be the middle person because A must sit immediately to the left of C, which places A at position 2 in the only valid order.
- (D) D is not in the middle because the condition that E is between D and C places D at the right end in the sequence B, A, C, E, D.
Concept
This tests linear seating arrangement under Reasoning and Mental Ability. It recurs in RAS because candidates must combine fixed-end, immediate-neighbour and between-position clues without breaking any condition.