In the word WEBPAGE, each vowel is substituted by the next letter in the English alphabetical series and each consonant is substituted by the letter immediately preceding it in the alphabet. After this substitution, which of the following letters appears exactly three times in the resulting sequence?

Difficulty: Medium

Correct Answer: F

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This question combines knowledge of vowels and consonants with a simple letter substitution rule. You must transform each letter of the word WEBPAGE into a new letter and then count how many times each resulting letter appears. Such alphabet test questions are common in competitive exams because they measure attention to detail, the ability to follow rules and basic counting skills.


Given Data / Assumptions:

    The original word is WEBPAGE.
    Vowels are A, E, I, O and U and must be replaced with the next letter in the alphabet.
    Consonants are all other letters and each consonant must be replaced by the immediately preceding letter in the alphabet.
    We need to find which single letter appears exactly three times in the transformed version of the word.


Concept / Approach:
The solution requires us to classify each letter of WEBPAGE as vowel or consonant, apply the appropriate substitution, and then count the frequency of each resulting letter. The next letter in the alphabet means adding one step, for example E becomes F and A becomes B. The previous letter means subtracting one step, for example W becomes V and B becomes A. Once all letters are transformed, a simple frequency count tells us which letter appears three times.


Step-by-Step Solution:

Step 1: Write WEBPAGE as separate letters: W, E, B, P, A, G, E. Step 2: Identify vowels. Here the vowels are E, A and the second E. The consonants are W, B, P and G. Step 3: Replace vowels with the next letter. E becomes F, A becomes B, and the last E becomes F. Step 4: Replace consonants with the previous letter. W becomes V, B becomes A, P becomes O and G becomes F. Step 5: The transformed sequence becomes V, F, A, O, B, F, F. Counting occurrences, F appears three times, while the other letters appear fewer than three times.


Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify quickly by listing the new letters and making a small tally. V occurs once, A occurs once, O occurs once, B occurs once and F occurs three times. No other letter is repeated exactly three times in the sequence. Therefore any option that names a letter other than F cannot be correct. This frequency count provides a clear and reliable confirmation of the correct answer.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:

    G does not appear at all in the final transformed sequence, because the original G is converted to F instead of staying as G.
    Q never appears in the new sequence, so it obviously cannot be the letter that appears three times.
    V appears only once, coming from the original W, so it fails the requirement of appearing three times in the resulting sequence.


Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes forget to treat each occurrence of a vowel separately and may miss the second E in WEBPAGE. Another common mistake is to accidentally move vowels backward or consonants forward, reversing the rule. Writing all transformations step by step and then counting carefully prevents these errors. It is also important to remember that A as a vowel becomes B, not Z, because we only move one step forward, not backward around the alphabet.


Final Answer:
After performing the specified substitutions, the letter that appears exactly three times in the resulting sequence is F.

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