DIRECTIONS for questions : Read the information given below and answer the question that follows.

At InnovateX, six employees, Asha, Bunty, Chintu, Dolly, Eklavya, and Falguni, were split into two groups of three each: Elite led by Manager Kuku, and Novice led by Manager Lalu.

At the end of each quarter, Kuku and Lalu handed out ratings to all members in their respective groups. In each group, each employee received a distinct integer rating from 1 to 3.

The score for an employee at the end of a quarter is defined as their cumulative rating from the beginning of the year. At the end of each quarter the employee in Novice with the highest score was promoted to Elite, and the employee in Elite with the minimum score was demoted to Novice. If there was a tie in scores, the employee with a higher rating in the latest quarter was ranked higher.

1. Asha, Bunty, and Chintu were in Elite at the beginning of Quarter 1. All of them were in Novice at the beginning of Quarter 4.

2. Dolly and Falguni were the only employees who got the same rating across all the quarters.

3. The following is known about ratings given by Lalu:

• Bunty received a rating of 1 in Quarter 2.
• Asha and Dolly received ratings of 1 and 2, respectively, in Quarter 3.

How many employees changed groups more than once up to the beginning of Quarter 4?

The correct answer is 0.

Let's break down the logical reasoning step-by-step to understand why.

Step 1: Identify the initial group members
At the beginning of Quarter 1, the groups are divided as follows:
Elite: Asha, Bunty, and Chintu (3 employees)
Novice: Dolly, Eklavya, and Falguni (3 employees)

Step 2: Understand the quarterly group movements
According to the rules, at the end of each quarter, exactly one employee is demoted from Elite to Novice, and exactly one employee is promoted from Novice to Elite. Since we are evaluating the state up to the beginning of Quarter 4, we must consider the movements that occur at the end of Quarter 1, Quarter 2, and Quarter 3.

Over these three quarters, there will be exactly 3 promotions and 3 demotions in total.

Step 3: Analyze the final state at the start of Quarter 4
The first condition states that Asha, Bunty, and Chintu were all in Novice at the beginning of Quarter 4. Because each group always contains exactly 3 members, the Novice group at the start of Quarter 4 must consist exclusively of Asha, Bunty, and Chintu. By process of elimination, the Elite group must consist exclusively of Dolly, Eklavya, and Falguni.

Step 4: Deduce the number of group changes
For Asha, Bunty, and Chintu to completely transfer from Elite to Novice, there must have been 3 separate demotions. For Dolly, Eklavya, and Falguni to completely transfer from Novice to Elite, there must have been 3 separate promotions.

Because there were only 3 quarters (and therefore exactly 3 demotions and 3 promotions available), every single demotion must have been utilized to move Asha, Bunty, and Chintu. Similarly, every single promotion must have been utilized to move Dolly, Eklavya, and Falguni.

If any employee had changed groups more than once (for example, being demoted and then promoted back, or promoted and then demoted), it would require extra moves that simply did not happen. Therefore, each of the six employees changed groups exactly once.

Conclusion:
Since every employee changed groups exactly one time, the number of employees who changed groups more than once is exactly 0.