Consider the following statements: H is the son of P and M is son of S. S is…
2024
Consider the following statements: H is the son of P and M is son of S. S is the mother of N who is a sister of P. Based on the above, which of the following are correct?
A. S is maternal grandmother of P
B. P is sister of M
C. M is maternal uncle of H
D. H is maternal grandson of S
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer: C. B, C and D only — Concept In a blood-relation chain every gender-bearing word — son, sister, mother — fixes both a link and a person's sex, so the family tree is built one such…
- A.
A and B only
- B.
B and C only
- C.
B, C and D only
- D.
B and D only
Attempted by 6 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
In a blood-relation chain every gender-bearing word — son, sister, mother — fixes both a link and a person's sex, so the family tree is built one such word at a time. Two people described as brother or sister of each other share the same parents, so a parent link proved for one sibling extends to the other, while the prefix maternal routes a relationship through the mother's side and can be claimed only when the connecting parent is female. When the wording leaves one person's sex unstated, that sex cannot be settled by the very statements under test; it is settled instead by the answer format, because the item promises that one of the offered combinations is correct, so any reading that would leave every combination false is ruled out.
Application
S is the mother of N, so S stands one generation above N.
N is a sister of P, so N and P are siblings and share the same mother; the parent link therefore extends and S is the mother of P as well.
M is the son of S, so M is a male child of S and hence a brother of both N and P.
H is the son of P, so H stands one generation below P, and P is the only person through whom H connects upward to S and sideways to M.
The stem never states P's sex: being called the parent of a son leaves P as either the father or the mother, and being a sibling of N does not make P female either. Statement B needs P to be female, and the prefix maternal in statements C and D needs P to be the mother of H, so B, C and D stand or fall together on that one unstated fact.
Statement A already fails on the generation count alone, so if P were male every offered combination would be false, which the single-correct-answer format rules out. P is therefore female and is the mother of H, which makes S the mother of H's mother and M the brother of H's mother.
Person | Position in the family |
|---|---|
S | Mother of N, of P and of M |
N | Daughter of S, sister of P |
P | Daughter of S, mother of H |
M | Son of S, brother of N and of P |
H | Son of P, one generation below P |
Cross-check
A asks for two generations between S and P, but the tree places S exactly one generation above P as her mother, so A fails whatever P's sex is.
B asks for a sibling link between P and M: both are children of S, and with P female that link is a sister link.
C asks M to be the brother of H's mother, which is exactly what maternal uncle means; M is the brother of P and P is the mother of H.
D asks S to be the mother of H's mother, which makes S the maternal grandmother of H and H her maternal grandson.
Statements B, C and D therefore hold together on the family tree while A is the single statement the tree contradicts, so the correct selection is B, C and D only.
The silence about P's sex is a genuine looseness in the original paper; the examining body's official key for this question is the combination B, C and D only, which is also the only reading on which any offered combination can be correct.