The position of how many letters will remain unchanged if all the letters in the word MENTOR are arranged in English alphabetical order?

Correct — B. Write the word out, sort it, then compare slot by slot.

MENTOR reads M E N T O R
Alphabetical order gives E M N O R T

Slot 3 holds N in both strings, so that position is unchanged.

Every other slot moves: M to E, E to M, T to O, O to R, R to T. That is exactly one fixed position, which is option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Three — Only slot 3 survives. Three would need two further letters standing in their own alphabetical place, and M, E, T, O and R every one of them shifts.
• (c)
  Two — A second fixed slot would have to come from M, E, T, O or R. M and E swap, T falls from slot 4 to slot 6, O rises from 5 to 4, R rises from 6 to 5.
• (d)
  None — N is third in MENTOR and third in EMNORT, so at least one position holds and None is ruled out at a glance.

This is a fixed-point question. You are not asked how many letters move — you are asked how many keep the same slot number.

The reliable method is mechanical. Number the letters 1 to n, sort the same letters alphabetically, write the sorted string directly underneath, and compare the two strings position by position.

Counting in your head is where the marks go. Six letters take about fifteen seconds to write out, and a written comparison cannot drift.

Key facts

• MENTOR sorted into English alphabetical order is EMNORT.
• Only the third slot matches: N in MENTOR, N in EMNORT.
• The question counts positions that stay, not letters that stay.

Common traps

• Counting letters that appear in both strings rather than letters standing in the same slot.
• Sorting in your head and placing O before N.
• Reading the answer as a count of the letters that moved.

No directly related past PYQ was found.