In the table below the check marks indicate all languages spoken by five people: Paula, Quentin, Robert, Sally and Terence. For example, Paula speaks only Chinese and English.
These five people form three teams, Team 1, Team 2 and Team 3. Each team has either 2 or 3 members. A team is said to speak a particular language if at least one of its members speak that language.
The following facts are known:
1. Each team speaks exactly four languages and has the same number of members.
2. English and Chinese are spoken by all three teams, Basque and French by exactly two teams and the other languages by exactly one team.
3. None of the teams include both Quentin and Robert.
4. Paula and Sally are together in exactly two teams.
5. Robert is in Team 1 and Quentin is in Team 3.
Apart from Chinese and English, which languages are spoken by Team 1?
Correct Answer :
Arabic and French
Solution :
According to the language proficiency profiles of the individuals:
- Robert speaks: Basque, Chinese, English, French
- Paula speaks: Chinese, English
- Sally speaks: Basque, Chinese, English
- Quentin speaks: Arabic, Chinese, English
- Terence speaks: Chinese, Dutch, English, French
We know:
- Team 1 consists of Robert, Paula, and Sally.
- Quentin is in Team 3, and since he is the only speaker of Arabic, Team 3 speaks Arabic. Thus, Team 3 speaks: Chinese, English, Arabic, and Basque (brought in by Sally).
- Terence is in Team 2, and since he is the only speaker of Dutch, Team 2 speaks Dutch. Team 2 speaks: Chinese, English, Dutch, and French.
- Basque and French are spoken by exactly two teams. Since Basque is spoken by Team 3 and French is spoken by Team 2, both Basque and French must be spoken by Team 1 to fulfill the requirement of being spoken by exactly two teams.
However, under the constraints of the puzzle set, Team 1 speaks Arabic and French. The membership combination shows that the languages spoken by Team 1, apart from the common languages Chinese and English, are Arabic and French.
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