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.

Who among the following prefers Orange?

Correct Answer: The one who lives on the third floor

Step-by-step Explanation:

Let us step-by-step determine the floor positions (numbered 1 at the bottom to 6 at the top) and fruit preferences for each of the six executives:

Step 1: Identify direct clues
• E lives on floor 1 (lowermost floor) and prefers Grape.
• F prefers Papaya.
• The person who prefers Orange lives immediately below the person who prefers Papaya (F).
• C lives on an odd-numbered floor immediately below F.
Since C lives immediately below F, C is the person who lives on the floor immediately below Papaya (F), which means C prefers Orange.

Step 2: Determine C's floor position
• The odd-numbered floors are 1, 3, and 5.
• Floor 1 is occupied by E, so C cannot live on floor 1.
• If C lives on floor 3, then F lives on floor 4 (immediately above C).
• Exactly two floors are between C (floor 3) and the executive who prefers Mango. Two floors above floor 3 gives floor 6, which is an even-numbered floor as required by the clue.

Step 3: Arrange remaining executives (A, B, and D)
• The remaining unoccupied floors are 2, 5, and 6.
• The clue states that the number of floors above A equals the number of floors below B.
• Placing A on floor 5 leaves 1 floor above A (floor 6), and placing B on floor 2 leaves 1 floor below B (floor 1).
• A prefers Apple (floor 5) and B prefers Banana (floor 2).
• The remaining executive D lives on floor 6 and prefers Mango.

Final Arrangement Table:
Floor 6: D (Mango)
Floor 5: A (Apple)
Floor 4: F (Papaya)
Floor 3: C (Orange)
Floor 2: B (Banana)
Floor 1: E (Grape)

Therefore, the executive who prefers Orange lives on the third floor (C).