Question

A, B, C, D and E sit on a long bench. C does not sit next to A or E. A and E have three persons sitting between them.
Who is sitting in the middle of the bench?

• A. B
• B. C
• C. D
• D. None of these

Hint:

Three people between A and E forces them to the two ends of the bench, then use the no-neighbour clue to place C.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Set up the five seats.
Five people sit on a bench, so number the seats 1 to 5 from one end to the other.
Step 2: Use the clue about three people between A and E.
For exactly three people to sit between A and E on a bench of only five seats, A and E must occupy the two ends of the bench, seat 1 and seat 5, since only then do the three middle seats, 2, 3 and 4, fall strictly between them. A and E can be in either order at the two ends.
Step 3: Identify the remaining seats.
B, C and D occupy seats 2, 3 and 4 in some order.
Step 4: Apply the clue that C does not sit next to A or E.
Since A and E sit at seats 1 and 5, their immediate neighbours are seat 2, next to seat 1, and seat 4, next to seat 5. C cannot sit at seat 2 or seat 4, because both seats are adjacent to either A or E.
Step 5: Place C in the only seat left.
Among seats 2, 3 and 4, the only seat that is not next to A or E is seat 3, so C must sit at seat 3.
Step 6: Confirm seat 3 is the middle seat.
In a row of five seats, seat 3 is exactly the middle position, with two seats on either side.
Step 7: Check the options.
B and D fill seats 2 and 4 in either order, but neither is fixed to the middle seat, so options B and D do not hold for certain. None of these is wrong because C fits consistently as the middle occupant. Therefore C is the person sitting in the middle of the bench.