In a telephone directory arranged in standard English alphabetical order, which of the following names — Mahinder, Mahender, Mahindra, Mahendra and Mohinder — will appear last in the list?

Introduction / Context:
This question tests your understanding of how words are ordered in a telephone directory, which follows standard English alphabetical or dictionary order. In many competitive exams, questions on alphabetical order appear frequently because they check careful observation of each letter and how even a small change in spelling can affect ordering. Here, you must compare similar looking names that share the same starting letters and decide which one will be listed last when arranged alphabetically.

Given Data / Assumptions:
1) The names given are Mahinder, Mahender, Mahindra, Mahendra and Mohinder.2) The directory uses standard English alphabetical order, exactly like a dictionary.3) Comparison is done from left to right, letter by letter.4) If initial letters are the same, the first position where they differ decides the order.

Concept / Approach:
In alphabetical order, you compare words letter by letter from the left. The first point where two words differ determines their relative position. If all letters up to a point are identical, the shorter word comes first. When deciding which name comes last, you effectively ask which spelling is alphabetically greatest among the options once you reach the first differing character. Since all names here begin with Ma or Mo, the difference between h and higher letters is crucial.

Step-by-Step Solution:
1) Write each name clearly: Mahinder, Mahender, Mahindra, Mahendra, Mohinder.2) Compare the first two letters of all names. All begin with M, then a, so they are equal up to Ma.3) Look at the third letter. For Mahinder, Mahender, Mahindra and Mahendra, the third letter is h. For Mohinder, the third letter is o.4) In the alphabet, h comes before o, because h is the 8th letter and o is the 15th letter.5) When comparing Mah… versus Moh…, any word starting with Moh is alphabetically later than words starting with Mah.6) Therefore, among all five names, Mohinder will appear after all Mah… names in the directory.7) Hence, Mohinder is the last name in alphabetical order.

Verification / Alternative check:
Another reliable way is to list the names as they would appear in dictionary order: Mahender, Mahendra, Mahinder, Mahindra, Mohinder. You can refine the internal order of Mah… names by continuing letter by letter, but regardless of their internal order, every Mah… word still comes before Moh… because h is earlier than o in the alphabet. Observing this confirms that Mohinder will be at the end of the list. This cross check verifies that the conclusion is consistent with dictionary rules.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Mahinder, Mahendra and Mahindra all begin with Mah and therefore must appear before Mohinder, which begins with Moh.Mahender also begins with Mah, so it cannot go after a name beginning with Moh.None of these is incorrect because one of the listed names, Mohinder, clearly satisfies the condition of coming last.

Common Pitfalls:
Candidates sometimes compare only the first different vowel sound they hear, or they may get influenced by commonness of the name rather than strict alphabetic position. Some may incorrectly believe that Mahindra should come last because it has more letters, forgetting that word length decides order only when all earlier letters are identical. Others may try to compare based on the last few letters, but alphabetical order always starts comparison from the first letter and moves rightwards.

Final Answer:
The name that will appear last in a telephone directory arranged in standard English alphabetical order is Mohinder.