Question

Directions: A circular field, with inner radius of 10 meters and outer radius of 20 meters, was divided into five successive stages for ploughing. The ploughing of each stage was handed over to a different farmer.

1. Farmers are referred to by the symbols F1, F2, F3, F4, F5.
2. The points between different stages are referred to by the symbols P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, not necessarily in that order.
3. Farmer F5 was given the work of ploughing the stage starting at point P4.
4. The stage from point P5 to point P3 was not the first stage.
5. Farmer F4 was given the work of the fourth stage.
6. Stage 3 finished at point P1, and the work of which was not given to farmer F1.
7. Farmer F3 was given the work of the stage ending at point P5.

For which farmer was P2 a finishing point?

• A. F1
• B. F2
• C. F3
• D. F5

Hint:

Pin down the full loop of points using clues 6 and 4 first, then check which stage starts at P4, since clue 3 ties that stage to farmer F5.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

We can answer this by noting which point each farmer's stage actually ends at, once the arrangement is pinned down from the clues, and matching that against the options.

1. F1: F1 ends up ploughing stage 2 (P5 to P3), since clue 6 rules out F1 for stage 3 and every other stage is already claimed by another farmer. Stage 2 finishes at P3, not P2, so this is wrong.
2. F2: F2 is left with stage 3 (P3 to P1), since F1 cannot take it. Stage 3 finishes at P1, not P2, so this is wrong.
3. F3: By clue 7, F3's stage ends at P5. That is stage 1 (P2 to P5), which finishes at P5, not P2, so this is wrong.
4. F5: By clue 3, F5's stage starts at P4. Once the loop is filled in, that stage (stage 5) runs P4 to P2, so it finishes at P2. This matches the question.

So the farmer whose stage finishes at P2 is F5.

Let's summarize:

• Once the five stages are pinned to specific points using clues 6 and 4, clues 3, 5, and 7 hand out the farmers one by one.
• Checking each farmer's finish point directly against P2 confirms the answer without redrawing the whole loop each time.

The correct answer is F5.