The position of how many letters will remain unchanged if each of the letters in the word DEVELOP is arranged in alphabetical order?

Correct — A.
Rule: sort the letters, then compare slot by slot.

DEVELOP → D E V E L O P
Sorted → D E E L O P V

Slots 1 and 2 match: D and E.
Slots 3 to 7 all differ: V/E, E/L, L/O, O/P, P/V.

Two letters keep their place → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Four — Four needs matches beyond slot 2, and there are none: V/E, E/L, L/O, O/P and P/V all differ.
• (c)
  Three — Three counts the second E as staying put. Slot 4 holds E in DEVELOP but L once sorted, so that E has moved.
• (d)
  Five — Five is the number of letters that move, slots 3 to 7. The question asks how many stay unchanged.

Write the word, write its letters in A-to-Z order underneath, and count the columns where the same letter sits in both rows.

Repeated letters need care. DEVELOP has two E's, and after sorting they fill slots 2 and 3. The first E was already in slot 2, so it stays. Slot 4 held the second E and now holds L, so that E moves.

Key facts

• DEVELOP sorted alphabetically is DEELOPV.
• D and the first E keep their slots, and the other five letters move.
• Letters that stay plus letters that move equals the word's length: 2 + 5 = 7.

Common traps

• Answering Five, the count of letters that move
• Treating both E's as fixed because E appears near its old slot after sorting

No directly related past PYQ was found.