Consider the four words AND, FOR, THE and BIG SUM written in capital letters. If in each word the second alphabet is changed to the next alphabet in the English alphabetical order, how many of the resulting words contain exactly two vowels?

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: Two

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This problem checks your ability to manipulate letters inside given words and then to apply the concept of vowels and consonants. Such questions are very typical in alphabet test and verbal reasoning sections, which assess attention to detail and speed of basic mental operations.


Given Data / Assumptions:

    The given words are AND, FOR, THE, BIG and SUM.
    Only the second letter of each word is changed to the next alphabet in normal A to Z order.
    Vowels in English are A, E, I, O and U; all other letters are consonants.
    We must count how many transformed words contain exactly two vowels.


Concept / Approach:
The approach is to transform each word according to the rule and then count vowels in each new word. The next alphabet after a given letter means moving one step forward in the sequence A, B, C, D, and so on. Once each new word is obtained, simply scan each letter and count how many are vowels, then tally the words that have exactly two vowels.


Step-by-Step Solution:

Step 1: AND becomes AOD because N moves one step to O. A and O are vowels, D is a consonant, so there are 2 vowels. Step 2: FOR becomes FPR because O becomes P. F, P and R are all consonants, so there are 0 vowels. Step 3: THE becomes TIE because H becomes I. I and E are vowels, T is a consonant, so there are 2 vowels. Step 4: BIG becomes BJG because I becomes J. B, J and G are consonants, so there are 0 vowels. Step 5: SUM becomes SVM because U becomes V. S, V and M are consonants, so there are 0 vowels.


Verification / Alternative check:
List the transformed words again: AOD, FPR, TIE, BJG and SVM. Mark vowels clearly. AOD has A and O as vowels, TIE has I and E as vowels, the remaining three words have no vowel at all. Therefore, exactly two words meet the condition of having two vowels. This confirms the count without any doubt.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:

    None is wrong because at least AOD and TIE satisfy the condition, so the count is not zero.
    One is wrong because there are two distinct words, not just one, with exactly two vowels after transformation.
    Three is wrong because only two transformed words qualify; adding any more would require miscounting vowels in FPR, BJG or SVM.


Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes misidentify Y as a vowel in such questions, but here Y does not appear. Another frequent mistake is to change the wrong letter position instead of always changing the second letter. Also, careless reading can lead to counting total vowels across all words rather than the number of words that have exactly two vowels. Reading the question carefully and working word by word avoids these issues.


Final Answer:
The number of words that contain exactly two vowels after the specified change is Two.

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