Difficulty: Medium
Correct Answer: 2
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This alphabet test question asks you to divide the word STAINLESS into independent meaningful words without rearranging any letters. The idea is similar to splitting a long compound or combined word into familiar smaller words while maintaining the original sequence. Many reasoning books use such examples to check whether you can quickly spot common words embedded inside longer ones.
Given Data / Assumptions:
1) The word under consideration is STAINLESS.2) The letter order must remain exactly as in STAINLESS.3) Each letter can be used only once; you are partitioning the word, not repeating letters.4) Independent words must be standard English words known in ordinary usage.
Concept / Approach:
The approach is to scan for obvious smaller words at the beginning or end of STAINLESS. A common pattern in English is that longer words are formed by combining two shorter words, especially where each shorter word is already familiar. Here, the structure suggests that STAIN and LESS may be candidates, because both appear frequently as separate words and together they form a meaningful concept related to being without stains. Once you find such a split, verify that no other partition produces a greater number of valid words and that each part is meaningful on its own.
Step-by-Step Solution:
1) Write STAINLESS and look for known words from the left. The first five letters S T A I N spell STAIN, which is a common word meaning a mark or discolouration.2) Remove STAIN from the beginning. The remaining letters are L E S S, which spell LESS, another very common word meaning a smaller amount or degree.3) Check that both STAIN and LESS are independent English words with clear meanings.4) Confirm that together they use all letters of STAINLESS exactly once, without changing order or leaving any letter unused.5) Consider whether a different partition such as STAINL and ESS produces meaningful words. STAINL is not a word, and ESS is mainly the name of the letter S, which is not usually counted in such reasoning questions.6) Check for any three way split with shorter meaningful words, but there is no natural three word division that uses all letters while preserving order and producing common vocabulary.7) Therefore, the most appropriate partition is STAIN and LESS, giving two independent words.
Verification / Alternative check:
Verify by using the resulting words in sentences. You can say “There is a stain on the shirt” and “She wants less sugar in her tea”. Both STAIN and LESS function independently and are clearly part of everyday language. When combined in the original word STAINLESS, they form an adjective describing something free from stains, which confirms that the longer word naturally breaks into exactly these two parts. Reasoning reference materials that discuss this question list STAIN and LESS as the two independent words, supporting the conclusion that the answer is two.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
1 is wrong because the word can be split into two smaller meaningful words, not just treated as one whole.3 or 4 would require a partition into three or four standard words, which is not possible here without forcing unnatural abbreviations.None of these is incorrect because the correct count of independent words is already available as 2.
Common Pitfalls:
Some candidates overthink the problem and search for unusual splits instead of recognising the obvious STAIN and LESS combination. Others incorrectly consider technical fragments or letter names as independent words. In exam settings, prefer familiar, commonly accepted dictionary words and avoid abstractions that standard solutions are unlikely to accept. Always reread the condition about preserving letter order, as rearranging to form words like TIN or LENS would violate the rules.
Final Answer:
The word STAINLESS can be divided into exactly two independent English words, STAIN and LESS, without changing the order of letters.
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