In a certain code language, X + Y means ‘X is the sister of Y’, X − Y means ‘X is the wife of Y’, X × Y means ‘X is the mother of Y’, X ÷ Y means ‘X is the father of Y’. Based on the above, how is H related to L if ‘H × I − J ÷ K + L’?
- (a)Father’s mother
- (b)Mother
- (c)Mother’s mother
- (d)Father’s sister
Answer
Why
Correct — C.
Rule: read the chain strictly left to right, one link at a time, and draw the family as you go.
H × I: H is the mother of I.
I − J: I is the wife of J.
J ÷ K: J is the father of K.
K + L: K is the sister of L.
K and L are therefore both children of J and I, and I is L's mother.
H is I's mother, which puts H two generations above L: H is L's mother's mother, option (c).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Father’s mother — Father's mother would need H to be the mother of J. H is the mother of I, and I is the wife of J, so H stands on the mother's side of the family.
- (b)Mother — Mother is one generation short. I is L's mother, and H is I's mother, so H sits a further level up.
- (d)Father’s sister — Sister is the wrong link entirely. The symbol printed between H and I is ×, which the stem defines as is-the-mother-of, not is-the-sister-of.
Concept
Symbol-coded blood relations give you four definitions and one chain. The only reliable method is to convert each symbol as you meet it and build the family on paper, generation by generation.
Two habits pay off. Read strictly left to right: in X ÷ Y, X is the father and Y the child, never the reverse.
And mark generations as levels, so a grandparent question resolves by counting levels rather than by re-reading the chain. Here H sits on the top level, I and J on the middle, K and L at the bottom.
The chain does not literally say that I is the mother of K and L. It says I is J's wife and J is their father. These items are read on the ordinary assumption that a father's wife is the mother of his children.
Key facts
- In this question's key, × is is-the-mother-of and ÷ is is-the-father-of.
- K + L makes K and L siblings, so both are children of J.
- H is I's mother and I is L's mother, which places H two generations above L.
Study next
Common traps
- Reading a symbol right to left, which turns J ÷ K into K is the father of J.
- Answering Mother because I sits between H and L, and treating the chain as one hop.
- Assuming the sister link fixes L's gender, which the chain never states.
The four symbol definitions are printed in the stem itself, so read them there rather than from memory. The relation asked for runs upward, from H down to L.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.