Difficulty: Medium
Correct Answer: Wife
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This blood relation question focuses on the term brother-in-law and how it connects Ankit, his only brother, and Shweta. You are told that Ankit's only brother is the brother-in-law of Shweta and asked to determine how Shweta is related to Ankit. Such questions require you to recall the possible meanings of brother-in-law and then choose the interpretation that fits all the given constraints, especially the phrase only brother.
Given Data / Assumptions:
• Ankit has exactly one brother.• That only brother is described as the brother-in-law of Shweta.• Brother-in-law of a woman can mean either her husband's brother or the husband of her sister.• No other siblings of Ankit are mentioned.• We assume the question intends a unique, standard solution.
Concept / Approach:
We consider the two main meanings of brother-in-law for Shweta. Case 1: Ankit's brother is Shweta's husband's brother. This means Ankit's brother and Shweta's husband are brothers. Since Ankit's brother is already known, the only plausible way for him to be brother of Shweta's husband is if Shweta's husband is Ankit himself. That would make Shweta the wife of Ankit. Case 2: Ankit's brother is the husband of Shweta's sister, which would not link Shweta directly to Ankit with any of the given answer options as neatly. Competitive exams usually select the first, cleaner interpretation that yields a standard spouse relation.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Let B be Ankit's only brother.Step 2: B is the brother-in-law of Shweta.Step 3: Interpret brother-in-law as husband's brother first, since that is the common intended meaning in such puzzles.Step 4: If B is the brother of Shweta's husband H, and B is also Ankit's only brother, then H and Ankit share the same brother B.Step 5: That implies H and Ankit are brothers. But Ankit already has exactly one brother, B.Step 6: Therefore, to avoid introducing a second brother, we must have H = Ankit. In other words, Shweta's husband is Ankit.Step 7: Hence Shweta is the wife of Ankit.
Verification / Alternative check:
If we tried the alternative meaning where B is the husband of Shweta's sister, Shweta would be the sister-in-law of B, but we would gain no direct relation to Ankit that matches any simple choice like wife, sister, mother or aunt. Also, this interpretation does not make use of the phrase only brother in a decisive way. The exam-style logic normally uses that phrase to avoid multiple brothers and thereby force Shweta's husband to be Ankit. Thus, the spouse interpretation is more natural and leads to a unique answer.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Sister: For Shweta to be Ankit's sister, she would share parents with him, but nothing in the statement suggests that.Mother: A mother would be one generation above Ankit, which is inconsistent with her being connected through a brother-in-law.Aunt: An aunt is a sibling of a parent or the spouse of such a sibling, not implied here.Cousin: Cousins are in the same generation but are not normally described via a brother-in-law link in this manner.
Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes get stuck on the alternative meaning of brother-in-law (husband of a sister) and become unsure. The trick is to test which meaning leads to a consistent, unique answer using the phrase only brother. When you interpret Ankit's brother as husband's brother of Shweta, you quickly deduce that Shweta's husband must be Ankit himself, leading cleanly to wife as the answer.
Final Answer:
Shweta is the wife of Ankit.
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