Question Numbers (31 to 34): Answer the questions
on the basis of the information given below.
A shopping mall has a large basement parking lot with
parking slots painted in it along a single row. These
slots are quite narrow; a compact car can fit in a single
slot but an SUV requires two slots. When a car arrives,
the parking attendant guides the car to the first available
slot from the beginning of the row into which the car can
fit.
For our purpose, cars are numbered according to the
order in which they arrive at the lot. For example, the
first car to arrive is given a number 1, the second a
number 2, and so on. This numbering does not indicate
whether a car is a compact or an SUV. The configuration
of a parking lot is a sequence of the car numbers in
each slot. Each single vacant slot is represented by
letter V.
For instance, suppose cars numbered 1 through 5 arrive
and park, where cars 1, 3 and 5 are compact cars and
2 and 4 are SUVs. At this point, the parking lot would
be described by the sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. If cars 2 and
5 now vacate their slots, the parking lot would now be
described as 1, V, V, 3, 4. If a compact car (numbered
6) arrives subsequently followed by an SUV (numbered
7), the parking lot would be described by the sequence
1, 6, V, 3, 4, 7.
Answer the following questions INDEPENDENTLY of
each other.
Initially cars numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4 arrive among
which 1 and 4 are SUVs while 2 and 3 are compact
cars. Car 1 then leaves, followed by the arrivals of
car 5 (a compact car) and car 6 (an SUV). Car 4
then leaves. Then car 7 (an SUV) and car 8
(a compact car) arrive. At this moment, which among
the following numbered car is parked next to car 3?
Solution:
According to the question, cars 1, 4, 6 and 7 are
SUVs and cars 2, 3, 5 and 8 are compact cars.
Now, their arrival and departure are described in
the following steps.
I. 1, 2, 3, 4
II. V, V, 2, 3, 4
III. 5, V, 2, 3, 4
IV. 5, V, 2, 3, 4, 6
V. 5, V, 2, 3, V, V, 6
VI. 5, V, 2, 3, 7, 6
VII. 5, 8, 2, 3, 7, 6
Clearly, car 7 is parked next to car 3.