In a certain coded language, "hit ka tom" is written as "tie the shoes", "ka lo fod" is written as "shoes of leather" and "lo tin lot" is written as "leather and raxin". Based on this information, how is the word "of" written in that code language?

Introduction / Context:
This question tests understanding of coded language, where entire words are replaced by code words. The aim is to deduce which code corresponds to which English word by comparing overlapping sentences. This type of problem is very common in verbal reasoning and logical deduction sections of competitive exams.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The phrase "hit ka tom" means "tie the shoes".
• The phrase "ka lo fod" means "shoes of leather".
• The phrase "lo tin lot" means "leather and raxin".
• Each English word corresponds to exactly one code word, and that mapping is consistent in all sentences.
• We are asked to find the code for the word "of".

Concept / Approach:
The key idea is to compare coded sentences that share common English words and identify which code words also repeat. Each shared English word must correspond to a shared code word. Once shared words are identified, the remaining unmatched code word in a sentence can be linked to the remaining unmatched English word. This method of intersecting sets is standard in coded language questions.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Compare "hit ka tom" with "tie the shoes". The three English words here are tie, the and shoes. The code words are hit, ka and tom. Step 2: Compare this with the second pair "ka lo fod" which means "shoes of leather". The English words now are shoes, of and leather, and the code words are ka, lo and fod. Step 3: The common English word between the first and second sentences is "shoes". Step 4: The common code word between "hit ka tom" and "ka lo fod" is "ka". Therefore, "shoes" is encoded as "ka". Step 5: Now compare the second and third sentences. "ka lo fod" means "shoes of leather" and "lo tin lot" means "leather and raxin". Step 6: The common English word in these two sentences is "leather". Step 7: The common code word between "ka lo fod" and "lo tin lot" is "lo". Therefore, "leather" is encoded as "lo". Step 8: In the second sentence, we now know "ka" is shoes and "lo" is leather. The remaining English word is "of" and the remaining code word is "fod". Hence "of" is encoded as "fod".

Verification / Alternative check:
We can verify consistency by checking that no other word could reasonably map to "fod". In the second sentence, once shoes and leather have known codes, only the word "of" remains without a code. The only unused code word there is "fod". The third sentence does not contain "of" but is consistent with "lo" mapping to leather. Thus the mapping "of" to "fod" is fully justified by the given data.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
The code "ka" already represents "shoes", so it cannot also represent "of". The combination "lo or fod" is not acceptable because each English word has a unique code in this language. The code word "tin" appears only in the third sentence, which does not contain "of", so there is no basis for linking "tin" with "of". Therefore only "fod" is correct.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to guess based on frequency rather than systematically intersecting the sentences. Another error is to assume one code can represent two different English words, which is not supported here. Carefully matching shared words across sentences and eliminating already assigned codes helps avoid these mistakes.

Final Answer:
The word "of" is written as fod in the given code language.