Directions for the following 3 (three) items: Read the following information and answer the three items that follow:
Six students A, B, C, D, E and F appeared in several tests. Either C or F scores the highest. Whenever C scores the highest, then E scores the least. Whenever F scores the highest, B scores the least.
In all the tests they got different marks; D scores higher than A, but they are close competitors; A scores higher than B; C scores higher than A.
If E is ranked third, then which one of the following is correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) C gets more marks than E
E third means E is not last, so C cannot be first; F is first and B last. D and A must sit together in places 4 and 5, leaving place 2 for C — above E.
- E is third, so E is not last; hence C is not first (C first forces E last).
- So F is first and B is sixth.
- Places 2, 4 and 5 remain for C, D and A, with D immediately above A.
- D and A take places 4 and 5; C takes place 2.
- Order: F, C, E, D, A, B — C scores more than E; A is fifth and D fourth, so (c) and (d) fail.
Remember · Use each 'whenever' rule in reverse too: if E is not last, C cannot be first.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·