In a class of 60 students, where the number of girls is twice that of boys, Kamal, a boy, ranked seventeenth from the top. If there are 9 girls ahead of Kamal, the number of boys in rank after him is:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 12
The class has 20 boys and 40 girls. Of the 16 students ahead of Kamal, 9 are girls, so 7 are boys. Leaving out Kamal himself, 20 − 7 − 1 = 12 boys rank below him.
- Girls = 2 × boys and the total is 60, so boys = 20 and girls = 40.
- Kamal is 17th: 16 students are ahead; 9 are girls, so 7 are boys.
- Boys after Kamal = 20 − 7 − 1 = 12.
Remember · In ranking items, split the people ahead by group, then subtract them and the person himself from his group's total.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·