Seven persons P, Q, R, S, T, U and V participate in and finish all the events of a series of swimming races. There are no ties at the finish of any of the events. V always finishes somewhere ahead of P. P always finishes somewhere ahead of Q. Either R fin

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Q: 142 (IAS/1997)
Seven persons P, Q, R, S, T, U and V participate in and finish all the events of a series of swimming races. There are no ties at the finish of any of the events. V always finishes somewhere ahead of P. P always finishes somewhere ahead of Q. Either R finishes first and T finishes last or S finishes first and U or Q finishes last. If in a particular race V finished fifth, then which one of the following would be true ?

question_subject: 

Logic/Reasoning

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,3,5,3,3,1,1

keywords: 

{'swimming races': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'finish': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'events': [8, 7, 11, 18], 'ties': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'series': [0, 1, 1, 0]}

The question sets up a set of conditional rules for the order of swimmers finishing a race. V must always finish ahead of P, and P must always finish ahead of Q. This means V cannot finish beyond fifth place, as there must be at least two places for P and Q beyond V`s placement.

Let`s scrutinize each option:

1. S finishes first: This statement doesn`t contradict any previous conditions and therefore it is possible. Suppose if S comes first then U or Q can come last which satisfies the condition. Hence this statement is true.

2. R finishes second: This statement doesn`t align with the given conditions as either R has to finish first or S finishes first.

3. T finishes third: The conditions specify that if R finishes first, then T finishes last. So, T cannot finish third.

4. R finishes fourth: As already discussed in the explanation of the second and third options, it`s either first or not for R according to the conditions provided.

Therefore, the answer is option 1, "S finishes first".

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