The position of how many letters will remain unchanged if each of the letters in the word ‘DRAFTING’ is arranged in the English alphabetical order?

Correct — A. Rule: write the word, write its letters sorted beneath it, then compare the two strings position by position.

DRAFTING is D, R, A, F, T, I, N, G.
Sorted alphabetically it is A, D, F, G, I, N, R, T.

Position 1 holds D against A, position 2 R against D, position 3 A against F, position 4 F against G.

Position 5 holds T against I, position 6 I against N, position 7 N against R, position 8 G against T.

Every one of the eight positions differs, so the number that keeps its place is None — option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  One — One would need a single position to survive the sort, and none does. Position 4 comes closest, holding F against G — adjacent letters, but not the same letter.
• (c)
  Three — Three fixed points are impossible here. All eight comparisons differ: D/A, R/D, A/F, F/G, T/I, I/N, N/R and G/T.
• (d)
  Two — Two would need the sorted string to repeat the original at two indices. Sorting moves every letter — D slides from position 1 to position 2 and G climbs from 8 to 4.

This item asks for fixed points: positions at which the alphabetically sorted word shows the same letter as the original word.

The reliable method is mechanical rather than visual. Write the word out, write the sorted letters directly beneath, and compare index by index.

Judging by eye fails because a letter that merely lands near its old place still counts as moved, and because the eye tends to check the first three or four letters and infer the rest.

Key facts

• DRAFTING sorted alphabetically is ADFGINRT.
• Comparing DRAFTING with ADFGINRT gives no matching position.
• The word has eight distinct letters, so its sorted order is unambiguous.
• The nearest near-miss is position 4, where F faces G.

Common traps

• Sorting the first few letters and assuming the tail settles the same way
• Counting a letter as unchanged because it stays in the same half of the word
• Answering the opposite question and reporting how many letters moved

No directly related past PYQ was found.