UPSC Prelims 2004·GS1·science-and-technology·science and technology

In a Q of a test paper, there are five items each under List-A and List-B. The examinees are required to match each item under List-A with its corresponding correct item under List-B. Further, it is given that: i) no examinee has given the correct answer ii) answers of no two examinees are identical What is the maximum number of examinees who took this test?

Dalvoy logo
Reviewed by Dalvoy
UPSC Civil Services preparation
Last updated 23 May 2026, 3:31 pm IST
  1. A24
  2. B26
  3. C119Correct
  4. D129

Explanation

The question asks for the maximum number of examinees based on two conditions: no one got all matches correct, and every examinee gave a unique set of answers. To find the answer, we first calculate the total number of ways to match five items in List A with five items in List B. This is a permutation problem represented as 5 factorial, which is 5 multiplied by 4 multiplied by 3 multiplied by 2 multiplied by 1, equaling 120. Out of these 120 possible ways to arrange the matches, exactly one arrangement is the perfectly correct answer where all five items are matched correctly. The first condition states that no examinee gave the correct answer. Therefore, we subtract the 1 correct arrangement from the total possible arrangements: 120 minus 1 equals 119. The second condition states that no two examinees gave identical answers. This means each of the 119 incorrect arrangements can be assigned to exactly one student. Thus, the maximum number of examinees who could have taken the test is 119. The correct option is C.
science-and-technology: In a Q of a test paper, there are five items each under List-A and List-B. The examinees are required to match each item

Related questions

More UPSC Prelims practice from the same subject and topic.