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Seven children, Aarav, Bina, Chirag, Diya, Eshan, Farhan, and Gaurav, are sitting in a circle facing inside (not necessarily in the same order) and playing a game of 'Passing the Buck'.

The game is played over 10 rounds. In each round, the child holding the Buck must pass it directly to a child sitting in one of the following positions:

  • Immediately to the left;
  • Immediate to the right;
  • Second to the left; or
  • Second to the right.

The game starts with Bina passing the Buck and ends with Chirag receiving the Buck. The table below provides some information about the pass types and the child receiving the Buck. Some information is missing and labelled as '?'.

Figure for CAT 2025 2025 Slot 3 DILR question 14 (Logical Reasoning)

Who is sitting immediately to the right of Bina?

Solution

✅ Correct Option: 3
Slide 1/10

Number the seven seats 0,1,2,3,4,5,60,1,2,3,4,5,6 around the circle so that one move to the left adds 11 and one move to the right subtracts 11, with everything taken modulo 77.

Each pass type becomes a displacement Δ\Delta:

immediately to the left =+1= +1

second to the left =+2= +2

immediately to the right =−1= -1

second to the right =−2= -2

The buck starts with Bina and, after 1010 passes, reaches Chirag. Place Bina at seat 00 as the reference.

The table records the pass type, its displacement Δ\Delta, the receiver, and the seat the buck lands on each round.

RoundPass TypeΔ\DeltaReceiverSeat
Start——Bina
1??
2?Diya
3Second to the leftFarhan
4??
5?Aarav
6Second to the rightEshan
7Second to the rightGaurav
8Second to the rightChirag
9Immediately to the leftDiya
10?Chirag

Goal: fix every child's seat, then see which pass-type totals and which receive totals are forced.

RoundPass TypeΔ\DeltaReceiverSeat
Start——Bina00
1??
2?Diya
3Second to the left+2+2Farhan
4??
5?Aarav
6Second to the right−2-2Eshan
7Second to the right−2-2Gaurav
8Second to the right−2-2Chirag
9Immediately to the left+1+1Diya
10?Chirag

The displacements of rounds 3,6,7,8,93,6,7,8,9 are read straight from their given pass types: +2,−2,−2,−2,+1+2,-2,-2,-2,+1.

Bina is fixed at seat 00.

RoundPass TypeΔ\DeltaReceiverSeat
Start——Bina00
1??
2?Diya
3Second to the left+2+2Farhan
4??
5?Aaravxx
6Second to the right−2-2Eshanx−2x-2
7Second to the right−2-2Gauravx−4x-4
8Second to the right−2-2Chirag
9Immediately to the left+1+1Diya
10?Chirag

Round 55 delivers to Aarav; call Aarav's seat xx.


Round 66 has Δ=−2\Delta=-2, so Eshan sits at x−2x-2.

Round 77 has Δ=−2\Delta=-2, so Gaurav sits at x−4x-4.

RoundPass TypeΔ\DeltaReceiverSeat
Start——Bina00
1??
2?Diya
3Second to the left+2+2Farhan
4??
5?Aaravxx
6Second to the right−2-2Eshanx−2x-2
7Second to the right−2-2Gauravx−4x-4
8Second to the right−2-2Chiragx+1x+1
9Immediately to the left+1+1Diyax+2x+2
10?Chirag

Continuing the chain:

Round 88, Δ=−2\Delta=-2: Chirag at x−6≡x+1x-6 \equiv x+1.

Round 99, Δ=+1\Delta=+1: Diya at x+2x+2.

RoundPass TypeΔ\DeltaReceiverSeat
Start——Bina00
1??
2?Diyax+2x+2
3Second to the left+2+2Farhanx+4x+4
4??
5?Aaravxx
6Second to the right−2-2Eshanx−2x-2
7Second to the right−2-2Gauravx−4x-4
8Second to the right−2-2Chiragx+1x+1
9Immediately to the left+1+1Diyax+2x+2
10Immediately to the right−1-1Chiragx+1x+1

Diya is also the round-22 receiver, so round 22 lands on x+2x+2.

Round 33 has Δ=+2\Delta=+2 from Diya, so Farhan sits at x+4x+4.


Round 1010 runs from Diya (x+2)(x+2) to Chirag (x+1)(x+1), a displacement of −1-1, so its pass type is immediately to the right.

RoundPass TypeΔ\DeltaReceiverSeat
Start——Bina00
1??
2?Diya33
3Second to the left+2+2Farhan55
4??
5?Aarav11
6Second to the right−2-2Eshan66
7Second to the right−2-2Gaurav44
8Second to the right−2-2Chirag22
9Immediately to the left+1+1Diya33
10Immediately to the right−1-1Chirag22

The six children Aarav, Chirag, Diya, Gaurav, Farhan, Eshan occupy seats x, x+1, x+2, x+3, x+4, x+5x,\,x+1,\,x+2,\,x+3,\,x+4,\,x+5 (since x−4≡x+3x-4\equiv x+3 and x−2≡x+5x-2\equiv x+5) — six consecutive seats.

The only remaining seat is x+6≡x−1x+6\equiv x-1, which must be Bina.

Bina =0=0 gives x−1≡0x-1\equiv 0, so x=1x=1.


Seating (seat : child):

00 Bina, 11 Aarav, 22 Chirag, 33 Diya, 44 Gaurav, 55 Farhan, 66 Eshan.

The fixed-round seats are filled in accordingly.

RoundPass TypeΔ\DeltaReceiverSeat
Start——Bina00
1?+1/+2/−2+1/+2/-2Aarav/Chirag/Farhan1/2/51/2/5
2?+2/+1/−2+2/+1/-2Diya33
3Second to the left+2+2Farhan55
4??
5?Aarav11
6Second to the right−2-2Eshan66
7Second to the right−2-2Gaurav44
8Second to the right−2-2Chirag22
9Immediately to the left+1+1Diya33
10Immediately to the right−1-1Chirag22

Rounds 11 and 22 carry the buck from Bina (0)(0) to Diya (3)(3) through seat1_1.

seat1_1 must be within two of 00: {1,2,5,6}\{1,2,5,6\}, and within two of 33: {1,2,4,5}\{1,2,4,5\}.

The overlap is {1,2,5}\{1,2,5\}, so the round-11 receiver is Aarav (1)(1), Chirag (2)(2) or Farhan (5)(5).

The matching displacement pairs (Δ1,Δ2)(\Delta_1,\Delta_2) are (+1,+2), (+2,+1), (−2,−2)(+1,+2),\,(+2,+1),\,(-2,-2) — none is −1-1.

RoundPass TypeΔ\DeltaReceiverSeat
Start——Bina00
1?+1/+2/−2+1/+2/-2Aarav/Chirag/Farhan1/2/51/2/5
2?+2/+1/−2+2/+1/-2Diya33
3Second to the left+2+2Farhan55
4?+2/−2/+1+2/-2/+1Bina/Diya/Eshan0/3/60/3/6
5?+1/−2/+2+1/-2/+2Aarav11
6Second to the right−2-2Eshan66
7Second to the right−2-2Gaurav44
8Second to the right−2-2Chirag22
9Immediately to the left+1+1Diya33
10Immediately to the right−1-1Chirag22

Rounds 44 and 55 carry the buck from Farhan (5)(5) to Aarav (1)(1) through seat4_4.

seat4_4 must be within two of 55: {6,0,4,3}\{6,0,4,3\}, and within two of 11: {0,2,6,3}\{0,2,6,3\}.

The overlap is {0,3,6}\{0,3,6\}, so the round-44 receiver is Bina (0)(0), Diya (3)(3) or Eshan (6)(6).

The displacement pairs (Δ4,Δ5)(\Delta_4,\Delta_5) are (+2,+1), (−2,−2), (+1,+2)(+2,+1),\,(-2,-2),\,(+1,+2) — again none is −1-1.

RoundPass TypeΔ\DeltaReceiverSeat
Start——Bina00
1?+1/+2/−2+1/+2/-2Aarav/Chirag/Farhan1/2/51/2/5
2?+2/+1/−2+2/+1/-2Diya33
3Second to the left+2+2Farhan55
4?+2/−2/+1+2/-2/+1Bina/Diya/Eshan0/3/60/3/6
5?+1/−2/+2+1/-2/+2Aarav11
6Second to the right−2-2Eshan66
7Second to the right−2-2Gaurav44
8Second to the right−2-2Chirag22
9Immediately to the left+1+1Diya33
10Immediately to the right−1-1Chirag22

Counting displacements:

The value −1-1 (immediately to the right) occurs only in round 1010; neither free window can produce it.

So the immediately-to-the-right total is exactly 11 and is forced.

+1+1 (round 99 plus windows), +2+2 (round 33 plus windows) and −2-2 (rounds 6,7,86,7,8 plus windows) all shift with the window choices, so their totals are not forced.

RoundPass TypeΔ\DeltaReceiverSeat
Start——Bina00
1?+1/+2/−2+1/+2/-2Aarav/Chirag/Farhan1/2/51/2/5
2?+2/+1/−2+2/+1/-2Diya33
3Second to the left+2+2Farhan55
4?+2/−2/+1+2/-2/+1Bina/Diya/Eshan0/3/60/3/6
5?+1/−2/+2+1/-2/+2Aarav11
6Second to the right−2-2Eshan66
7Second to the right−2-2Gaurav44
8Second to the right−2-2Chirag22
9Immediately to the left+1+1Diya33
10Immediately to the right−1-1Chirag22

Counting receivers:

The fixed rounds give Bina 00, Aarav 11, Chirag 22, Diya 22, Gaurav 11, Farhan 11, Eshan 11.

Round 11 adds one to whichever of Aarav/Chirag/Farhan it hits; round 44 adds one to whichever of Bina/Diya/Eshan it hits.

Gaurav lies in neither window, so his total stays at exactly 11 — the only forced receive total. Every other child's total can move by 11.

Final seating: 00 Bina, 11 Aarav, 22 Chirag, 33 Diya, 44 Gaurav, 55 Farhan, 66 Eshan. The seats are fully fixed; only the round-11 and round-44 receivers (with their linked displacements) stay interchangeable.


Bina sits at seat 00. "Immediately to the right" is the displacement −1-1, landing on seat 0−1≡60-1 \equiv 6. Seat 66 is Eshan. Hence Eshan is immediately to the right of Bina — option 3.

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