In a certain code language, A + B means ‘A is the son of B’, A − B means ‘A is the sister of B’, A × B means ‘A is the brother of B’ and A ÷ B means ‘A is the mother of B’. Based on the above, how is T related to P if ‘P ÷ Q × R − M + T’?
- (a)Brother
- (b)Husband
- (c)Father
- (d)Son
Answer
Why
Correct — B. Rule: read the string in pairs, left to right, and every symbol describes the letter on its left.
P ÷ Q means P is the mother of Q.
Q × R means Q is the brother of R.
R - M means R is the sister of M.
M + T means M is the son of T.
Q, R and M are therefore three siblings, and P is the mother of all three.
M is the son of T, so T is a parent of M as well. P is already the mother, which leaves T as the father — that is, P's husband, option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Brother — A sibling link would need a - or a × placed directly between T and P, and the two are never joined. T reaches P only through M, the child they share.
- (c)Father — T is the father of M, not of P. The string gives T exactly one relationship, and it is to M, who is P's son.
- (d)Son — M + T reads as M is the son of T, which puts T in the older generation. Reversing that arrow would contradict the code the question supplies.
Concept
A coded blood-relation string is read strictly left to right, and each operator describes the person immediately before it. P ÷ Q is a statement about P, not about Q.
Two habits do most of the work. Sketch the generations as you read, parents above children, and fix each person's gender the moment a symbol reveals it — son, sister and brother all do.
The answer then falls straight out of the sketch: P and T are the two adults standing above the same three children.
The chain never states that P and T are married. It states that both are parents of the same child, and SSC's convention on these items treats two parents of one child as husband and wife.
Key facts
- In this code A + B means A is the son of B, so each symbol describes the letter on its left.
- Q is male as a brother, R is female as a sister, and M is male as a son.
- P is the mother of Q, R and M, and T is their father.
Study next
Common traps
- Reading P ÷ Q as Q is the mother of P, which inverts the whole family.
- Answering with M's relation to P instead of T's.
SSC prints the full symbol dictionary inside the question every time it sets this format, so the marks lie in reading discipline rather than in memory. The gender clues carried by son, sister and brother are what close the puzzle.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.