In a certain code language, ‘A + B’ means ‘A is the mother of B’, ‘A – B’ means ‘A is the father of B’, ‘A $ B’ means ‘A is the son of B’, ‘A % B’ means ‘A is the sister of B’, ‘A / B’ means ‘A is the wife of B’ and ‘A * B’ means ‘A is the husband of B’. Which of the following means P is the Son's wife of T? i. T / B – K * P + O ii. T + K * P + B % O iii. K * P + B % T + P iv. P + T * K + B % O

Correct — D. Rule: read each chain left to right in pairs. P is the son's wife of T only if some male child of T is married to P.

Statement i: T / B makes T the wife of B, B - K makes B the father of K, K * P makes K the husband of P. K is B's son and T is B's wife, so K is T's son and P is his wife.

Statement ii: T + K makes T the mother of K, and K * P makes K the husband of P. K is male and T's child, so again P is T's son's wife.

Statements iii and iv both make P a blood relative of T instead. So i and ii both work, which is option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Only ii — Only ii misses statement i, where T is the wife of B and B is the father of K. That makes K a son of T as well, and K * P marries P to him.
• (b)
  iii and iv — In iii the last link T + P makes T the mother of P, so P is T's daughter. In iv the first link P + T makes P the mother of T. Neither places P a generation below T by marriage.
• (c)
  Only i — Only i misses statement ii, where T + K states outright that T is K's mother and K * P makes P his wife — the shortest of the four chains to the required relation.

Symbol-coded relationship items are decoded one pair at a time, left to right. Each symbol joins the letter on its left to the letter on its right, and the shared letter carries the chain forward.

Sex is usually implied rather than stated. A letter that is somebody's husband or father is male, and that is what turns a child into a son.

Son's wife is a two-step relation. You need a son of the person, then that son's wife, and both steps must actually appear in the chain.

Key facts

• A * B and A - B both make A male, since only a male is a husband or a father.
• In statement i, T is B's wife and B is K's father, so K counts as T's son under the usual exam assumption.
• In statement ii, T + K makes T the mother of K directly, with no assumption needed.

Common traps

• Rejecting statement i because the chain never says in so many words that T is K's mother.
• Reading A $ B as A is the father of B rather than the son of B.
• Carrying a symbol meaning over from another paper instead of reading the list printed here.

No directly related past PYQ was found.