In a certain code language, ‘A + B’ means ‘A is the mother of B’; ‘A – B’ means ‘A is the brother of B’; ‘A x B’ means ‘A is the wife of B’ and ‘A ÷ B’ means ‘A is the father of B’. Based on the above, if M + Q – R + K – Y, then how is M related to Y?

Correct — C. Rule: + is mother of, – is brother of, x is wife of, and ÷ is father of — the legend is printed in the question, so read it before the chain.

M + Q -> M is Q's mother
Q – R -> Q is R's brother, so R is another child of M
R + K -> R is K's mother, so R is female
K – Y -> K is Y's brother, so Y is also R's child

M is R's mother and R is Y's mother, so M is two generations above Y on the mother's side — option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Mother — M is two generations above Y, not one. M is mother to Q and to R, and Y belongs to the generation below R.
• (b)
  Father’s mother — R is female: the link R + K makes R the mother of K, so R is Y's mother. The grandparent link therefore runs through Y's mother, not a father.
• (d)
  Brother’s wife — That relation needs the x sign, which the legend defines as wife of, and no x appears anywhere in M + Q – R + K – Y.

SSC codes family links as arithmetic signs and hands you a chain to walk. The only safe method is to convert one sign at a time and write down what it fixes: who is a parent, who is a sibling, and which people therefore stand in the same generation.

Two mechanics do the work. A sibling sign transfers parentage — if M is Q's mother and Q is R's brother, M is also R's mother. And each sign fixes gender: mother of and wife of mark a woman, father of and brother of mark a man.

Key facts

• The legend is defined inside the question — + mother of, – brother of, x wife of, ÷ father of — so nothing can be carried in from another paper.
• A brother or sister sign passes parentage sideways: a parent of one sibling is a parent of the other.
• Mother's mother is the maternal grandmother and father's mother is the paternal grandmother, and SSC prints the relation rather than the label.

Common traps

• Reading + as a plus sign and combining the letters instead of applying the legend.
• Forgetting that a brother sign makes both people children of the same parent, which is what puts R under M.
• Answering Mother because M is female and a parent, without counting the generations.

No directly related past PYQ was found.