Question

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it.

An employee has been assigned the task of allotting offices to six of the staff members. The offices are numbered 1 to 6. The offices are arranged in a row and they are separated from each other by six foot high dividers. Hence voices, sounds and cigarette smoke flow easily from one office to another.

Miss Ruby needs to use the telephone quite often throughout the day. Mr. Minhas and Mr. Brar need adjacent offices as they need to consult each other often while working. Miss Harsha is a senior employee and has to be allotted office number 5, having the biggest window. Mr. Dongre requires silence in the offices next to his. Mr. Tanjore, Mr. Minhas and Mr. Dongre are all smokers. Miss Harsha finds tobacco smoke allergic and consequently the offices next to hers are to be occupied by non-smokers. Unless specifically stated, all the employees maintain an atmosphere of silence during office hours.

The three employees who are smokers should be seated in the offices:

• A. 1, 2 and 4
• B. 2, 3 and 6
• C. 1, 2 and 6
• D. 1, 2 and 3

Hint:

Use the same seating worked out for the office allotment passage: Dongre, Tanjore and Minhas are the smokers, so note which office numbers they land in.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Recall the fixed points of the seating.
Miss Harsha sits in office 5, since she is senior and gets the biggest window. Because she is allergic to smoke, offices 4 and 6 must hold non-smokers, and the only non-smokers left after placing Harsha are Miss Ruby and Mr. Brar.

Step 2: Fix Brar and Ruby using the Minhas-Brar rule.
Mr. Minhas must sit right next to Mr. Brar. If Brar sat in office 6, Minhas would need office 5 or office 7, and neither is available, so Brar must be in office 4 instead, which puts Ruby in office 6. Minhas then takes office 3, the only free slot next to Brar.

Step 3: Place the last two people.
Offices 1 and 2 remain for Mr. Dongre and Mr. Tanjore. Dongre needs quiet next to him, so he is placed in the end office 1, away from the Minhas-Brar pair, leaving Tanjore in office 2.
Full layout: 1 = Dongre, 2 = Tanjore, 3 = Minhas, 4 = Brar, 5 = Harsha, 6 = Ruby.

Step 4: Identify the smokers by name, then read off their offices.
The passage states the smokers are Mr. Tanjore, Mr. Minhas and Mr. Dongre. From the layout above, Dongre is in office 1, Tanjore is in office 2, and Minhas is in office 3.

Final Answer:
The three smokers occupy offices 1, 2 and 3. \[ \boxed{1, 2, 3} \]