At a college party, five girls are sitting in a row. P is to the left of M and to the right of O, and R is sitting to the right of N but to the left of O. Who is sitting exactly in the middle position of the row?

Introduction / Context:
This is a classic linear arrangement puzzle from verbal reasoning. The question tests your ability to interpret positional relationships, visualise a row of people and deduce who occupies a specific position, here the middle seat. Such problems frequently appear in competitive exams to assess logical thinking and careful reading of conditions.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• There are exactly five girls sitting in a single row.
• The girls are P, M, O, R and N.
• P is to the left of M.
• P is to the right of O, so the order is O, then P, then M from left to right.
• R is to the right of N.
• R is to the left of O.
• We assume all five girls occupy distinct positions with no empty seats in between.

Concept / Approach:
In linear arrangement questions, it is helpful to convert each sentence into partial order information. Once we know that O is left of P and P is left of M, we can group them as O P M from left to right. The information about R and N relative to O lets us fit them into the sequence. When all conditions are respected, the complete order clearly reveals who sits in the middle position, which is the third seat in a row of five.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: From P is to the left of M and to the right of O, we obtain the sequence O P M from left to right.Step 2: From R is to the right of N but to the left of O, we obtain N R O in that order from left to right.Step 3: Combine both conditions. If N R O must come in that order and O P M must also appear in order, then the full arrangement is N R O P M from left to right.Step 4: In a row of five seats labelled 1 to 5 from left to right, the middle seat is seat number 3.Step 5: In the sequence N R O P M, the third position is occupied by O.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can test this ordering by reading the conditions back. P is to the right of O and to the left of M in N R O P M, which is correct. R is to the right of N and to the left of O, which is also correct. There is no alternative arrangement with five distinct seats that satisfies both sets of constraints simultaneously. Therefore, N R O P M is the unique valid sequence up to reversal, and the middle position is firmly fixed as O.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
R is in the second position from the left, not the middle.P is in the fourth position from the left, so it is to the right of the middle seat.M is in the fifth position from the left, and cannot be in the middle.N is in the first position from the left and is clearly not in the middle.

Common Pitfalls:
Students often misread left and right or forget that left and right are always judged with respect to a fixed direction for the row, not from the perspective of each person. Another frequent error is to guess the answer without fully combining the two separate sets of conditions, which can lead to choosing P or R incorrectly. Drawing a simple diagram with five boxes and filling them according to the constraints removes most of these mistakes.

Final Answer:
The girl sitting in the exact middle of the row is O.