The following table shows the number of males (M) and females (F) (in thousands) in Towns X and Y during the five years from 2018 to 2022. Based on the data in the table, answer the questions 1-5

Year wise numbers of Males and Females in two Towns (in thousands)

Table X			Table Y
Year	Number of Males	Number of Females	Number of Males	Number of Females
2018	50	49	53	53
2019	52	49	54	52
2020	55	52	55	54
2021	53	53	58	56
2022	55	52	62	55

In which of the following pairs of years, the difference in the number of males and females is maximum for town Y and minimum for Town X respectively?

The correct answer is Option 3: 2022 and 2021.

This question asks us to find two things simultaneously:

1. The year in which the difference between the number of males and females is maximum for Town Y.

2. The year in which the difference between the number of males and females is minimum for Town X.

Let us calculate the absolute difference (|Males - Females|) for each year in both towns using the table data.

Step 1: Calculate the difference for Town X each year

$\text{Difference}=|\text{Males}-\text{Females}|$

• 2018: |50 - 49| = 1
• 2019: |52 - 49| = 3
• 2020: |55 - 52| = 3
• 2021: |53 - 53| = 0
• 2022: |55 - 52| = 3

The minimum difference for Town X is 0, which occurs in the year 2021 (when both males and females were equal at 53 thousand each).

Step 2: Calculate the difference for Town Y each year

• 2018: |53 - 53| = 0
• 2019: |54 - 52| = 2
• 2020: |55 - 54| = 1
• 2021: |58 - 56| = 2
• 2022: |62 - 55| = 7

The maximum difference for Town Y is 7, which occurs in the year 2022 (Males = 62 thousand, Females = 55 thousand).

Step 3: Match with the options

We found:
- Maximum difference for Town Y → 2022
- Minimum difference for Town X → 2021

This directly corresponds to the pair "2022 and 2021", confirming that Option 3 is the correct answer.