In the word "MISFORTUNE", the first and second letters are interchanged, the third and fourth letters are interchanged, the fifth and sixth letters are interchanged, and so on in pairs. After all these swaps, which letter will be the eighth letter when counted from the left in the new word?

Introduction / Context:
This word based reasoning question asks you to perform pairwise swaps of letters in "MISFORTUNE" and then identify a specific letter by position. It combines simple operations on strings with accurate counting, which is an essential skill in many logical reasoning tests.

Given Data / Assumptions:
• The original word is "MISFORTUNE".
• Swaps occur between letters in pairs: positions (1,2), (3,4), (5,6), (7,8) and (9,10).
• The word has 10 letters, so all letters are included in some pair.
• After forming the new word through these swaps, we need the eighth letter from the left.

Concept / Approach:
The concept is straightforward adjacent swapping. Rather than mentally juggling all changes, we can write the original word with positions and then swap each pair step by step. Finally, we read off the letter at the required position from the left. Because the question asks for the eighth letter from the left side, no conversion from right side positions is needed.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Write the original word and label positions: 1 M, 2 I, 3 S, 4 F, 5 O, 6 R, 7 T, 8 U, 9 N, 10 E.Step 2: Swap positions 1 and 2: I, M, S, F, O, R, T, U, N, E.Step 3: Swap positions 3 and 4: I, M, F, S, O, R, T, U, N, E.Step 4: Swap positions 5 and 6: I, M, F, S, R, O, T, U, N, E.Step 5: Swap positions 7 and 8: I, M, F, S, R, O, U, T, N, E.Step 6: Swap positions 9 and 10: I, M, F, S, R, O, U, T, E, N.Step 7: The final arrangement is "IMFSROUTEN". Now locate the eighth letter from the left.Step 8: Counting: 1 I, 2 M, 3 F, 4 S, 5 R, 6 O, 7 U, 8 T. So the eighth letter is T.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify by writing "IMFSROUTEN" and simply counting letters from left to right. To be doubly sure, re check at least one of the swaps, for example that the pair T and U indeed became U and T, and that N and E became E and N. This confirms that the transformation is consistent and that the eighth character is correctly identified as T.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
• O: O appears at position 6 from the left, not at position 8.
• F: F appears at position 3 after the swaps and therefore does not satisfy the required position.
• I: I appears at position 1; it is not the eighth letter.
• M: M appears at position 2, again too early in the word.

Common Pitfalls:
Some candidates accidentally skip one of the pairs or swap the wrong positions. Another common mistake is to stop the swapping process too early and then count positions based on a partially transformed word. A neat way to avoid this is to mark every pair explicitly and tick off each swap as you complete it. That ensures the final arrangement is correct before you identify the requested position.

Final Answer:
After all adjacent pairs in "MISFORTUNE" are swapped, the eighth letter from the left in the resulting word is T.