Directions: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions given below.

Six executives – A, B, C, D, E, and F – live on different floors of a six-storey building where the lowermost floor is numbered as 1, the floor immediately above it is numbered as 2, and so on up to the topmost floor numbered as 6. Each of them prefers a different fruit among Apple, Banana, Grape, Mango, Orange, and Papaya, but not necessarily in the same order.

E lives on the lowermost floor and prefers Grape. C lives on an odd-numbered floor immediately below F. Exactly two floors are between C and the one who prefers Mango, who lives on an even-numbered floor. F prefers Papaya. The one who prefers Orange lives immediately below the one who prefers Papaya. The number of floors above A is equal to the number of floors below B. A prefers Apple, while B prefers Banana.

What is the sum of the floor numbers of executive A and executive B?

The correct answer is 7.

Step 1: Analyze the given information and fixed positions.
There are 6 floors numbered 1 to 6 from bottom to top.
• Executive E lives on the lowermost floor (Floor 1) and prefers Grape.
• Executive F prefers Papaya.
• The executive who prefers Orange lives immediately below F.
• Executive C lives on an odd-numbered floor immediately below F. Therefore, C prefers Orange and lives directly below F.

Step 2: Determine the positions of C, F, and the executive who prefers Mango.
Since C lives on an odd-numbered floor and Floor 1 is occupied by E, C must live on Floor 3 or Floor 5:
• Case 1: If C lives on Floor 5, F lives on Floor 6 (Papaya). Exactly two floors are between C (Floor 5) and Mango, placing Mango on Floor 2 (an even-numbered floor).
• Case 2: If C lives on Floor 3, F lives on Floor 4 (Papaya). Exactly two floors are between C (Floor 3) and Mango, placing Mango on Floor 6 (an even-numbered floor).

Step 3: Calculate the sum of the floor numbers of Executive A and Executive B.
We are given that the number of floors above A is equal to the number of floors below B.
Let Floor(A) be the floor number of executive A and Floor(B) be the floor number of executive B.

The number of floors above A is:

$6-\text{Floor(A)}$

The number of floors below B is:

$\text{Floor(B)}-1$

Equating the two expressions:

$6-\text{Floor(A)}=\text{Floor(B)}-1$

Rearranging the terms gives:

$\text{Floor(A)}+\text{Floor(B)}=6+1=7$

Conclusion:
Regardless of whether A and B occupy Floors 3 and 4 or Floors 2 and 5, the sum of the floor numbers of executive A and executive B is always 7.