Each of the letters in the word CONTRAST is arranged in alphabetical order. How many letters are there in the English alphabetica…

Question

Each of the letters in the word CONTRAST is arranged in alphabetical order. How many letters are there in the English alphabetical series between the letter that is first from the left and the one that is fifth from the right in the new letter-cluster formed?

1. A. 10
2. B. 13 (Correct answer)
3. C. 15
4. D. 11

Correct Answer

Option B — 13

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is 13.

Key Points

• Arrange CONTRAST alphabetically. Its letters are C, O, N, T, R, A, S, T, giving A, C, N, O, R, S, T, T.
• First from the left is A.
• Fifth from the right: counting back T(1st), T(2nd), S(3rd), R(4th), O(5th).
• Letters between A(1) and O(15) in the alphabet: 15 − 1 − 1 = 13.

Additional Information

• The repeated T must be written twice when sorting; dropping the duplicate shifts every right-hand count by one and produces a different answer.
• Two different orderings are in play — position within the rearranged word, and distance within the English alphabet. Keeping them separate is the whole difficulty.
• Use the formula (higher position − lower position − 1) rather than counting on fingers, and write the sorted word with left and right indices above and below it.

प्रश्न (हिन्दी में)

CONTRAST शब्द के प्रत्येक अक्षर को वर्णमाला क्रम में व्यवस्थित किया गया है। नए अक्षर-समूह में बाएं से पहले अक्षर और दाएं से पांचवें अक्षर के बीच अंग्रेजी वर्णमाला श्रृंखला में कितने अक्षर हैं?

1. A. 10
2. B. 13
3. C. 15
4. D. 11