A dance programme is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Some students are participating in the programme and they need to come an hour earlier than the start of the event. These students should be accompanied by a parent. Other students and parents should come in time for the programme. The instruction you think that is appropriate for this is: A. Students should come at 9:00 a.m. and parents should come at 10:00 a.m. B. Participating students should come by 9:00 a.m. accompanied by a parent, and other parents and students should come by 10:00 a.m. C. Students who are not participating should come by 10:00 a.m. and they should not bring their parents. Participating students should come by 10:00 a.m. and they should bring their parents. All others should come at 10:00 a.m. D. Participating students should come before 9:00 a.m. Parents who accompany them should come at 9:00 a.m. All others should come at 10:00 a.m.

GATE 2014 · General Aptitude · Passage Reading · medium

Answer: Option B is correct. It precisely captures the instruction: participating students and their accompanying parents come by 9:00 a.m., while all other students and parents come by 10:00 a.m.

1. Extract the three rules: Rule 1: Participating students arrive at 9:00 a.m. (one hour before 10:00 a.m.). Rule 2: Participating students must be accompanied by a parent (so that parent also comes at 9:00 a.m.). Rule 3: All other students and parents come at 10:00 a.m.
2. Evaluate option A: Option A says 'students come at 9:00 a.m. and parents come at 10:00 a.m.' — this incorrectly says ALL students come at 9:00 a.m. (only participating ones should) and sends parents to 10:00 a.m. even though participating students' parents must come at 9:00 a.m.
3. Evaluate option B: Option B says 'Participating students should come by 9:00 a.m. accompanied by a parent, and other parents and students should come by 10:00 a.m.' This correctly captures all three rules: participating students at 9:00 a.m. with a parent, everyone else at 10:00 a.m.
4. Evaluate option C: Option C says non-participating students 'should not bring their parents', which is not stated in the passage — parents of non-participating students are free to attend. It also incorrectly says participating students come by 10:00 a.m. (they should come at 9:00 a.m.).
5. Evaluate option D: Option D says participating students come 'before 9:00 a.m.' and parents accompany them at 9:00 a.m. The passage says one hour before 10:00 a.m. = 9:00 a.m., not before 9:00 a.m. Also, the parent and student should come together, not the student before the parent.