Seven people, F, J, M, L, R, V and X, are sitting in a row, facing north. Only two people sit between F and L. Only M sits to the right of J. Only one person sits between L and J. R sits at some place to the right of V but at some place to the left of X.

How many people sit to the left of R?

The correct option is 2.

Let's break down the arrangement step-by-step to find the position of each person. Since all seven people (F, J, M, L, R, V, and X) are sitting in a row facing north, their right side corresponds to our right, and their left side corresponds to our left.

We represent the seven positions from left to right as follows:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Step 1: Use the position of J and M.
The problem states: "Only M sits to the right of J."
This means that J must be at the second position from the right, and M must be at the extreme right position. Thus:
Position 6 = J
Position 7 = M

Step 2: Find the position of L.
The problem states: "Only one person sits between L and J."
Since J is at Position 6, the person sitting one position away from J to the left must be L (as the only space to the right of J is occupied by M). Therefore, L must be at Position 4:
Position 4 = L

Step 3: Find the position of F.
The problem states: "Only two people sit between F and L."
Since L is at Position 4, we count two places to the left to find F's position. This places F at Position 1:
Position 1 = F

Step 4: Arrange the remaining people (R, V, and X).
The remaining unoccupied positions are 2, 3, and 5.
The problem states: "R sits at some place to the right of V but at some place to the left of X."
This means the relative order of these three from left to right must be V, then R, and then X. Thus, we assign them to the remaining positions in that order:
Position 2 = V
Position 3 = R
Position 5 = X

Final Arrangement:
From left to right (positions 1 to 7), the arrangement is:
F, V, R, L, X, J, M

Conclusion:
Now we look at R, who is at Position 3. The people sitting to the left of R are F and V. Therefore, there are exactly 2 people sitting to the left of R.