Introduction / Context:
This question is about a word arranging device that reorders the words of a sentence systematically. You are given one fully worked example and then asked about the final step for a different input using the same rule. Such problems test your ability to detect non-trivial patterns in rearrangements across multiple steps.
Given Data / Assumptions:
- Example input: but going for crept te light sir.
- Example steps:
- Step 1: crept but going for te light sir
- Step 2: crept going light but for te sir
- Step 3: crept going light but for sir te (final)
- New input: more fight cats cough sough acts idea.
- We must determine the final step for the new input.
Concept / Approach:
From analysis (and as is standard in such patterns), the rule is:
- The machine arranges words with the maximum number of letters in decreasing order of length and also alphabetically among words of the same length.
For the example, “crept”, “going” and “light” all have 5 letters and are placed one by one at the beginning in alphabetical order, followed by handling the remaining shorter words in a similar controlled way. We apply this same logic to the new input.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: List words in the new input: more, fight, cats, cough, sough, acts, idea.
Step 2: Count letters: “cough” (5), “fight” (5), “sough” (5), “more” (4), “cats” (4), “acts” (4), “idea” (4).
Step 3: Among five-letter words, arrange in alphabetical order: cough, fight, sough.
Step 4: Among four-letter words, alphabetical order is: acts, cats, idea, more.
Step 5: The device moves one word at a time to build this combined target order: cough, fight, sough, acts, cats, idea, more.
Step 6: According to the known detailed solution for this pattern, the steps are:
Step I: cough more fight cats sough acts idea
Step II: cough fight more cats sough acts idea
Step III: cough fight sough more cats acts idea
Step IV: cough fight sough acts more cats idea
Step V: cough fight sough acts cats more idea
Step VI: cough fight sough acts cats idea more
Step 7: Step VI has all words in the intended order and is therefore the final step.
Verification / Alternative check:
We can verify by checking that in Step VI the three five-letter words come first in alphabetical order (“cough fight sough”), followed by the four-letter words in alphabetical order (“acts cats idea more”). No further rearrangement is needed and the pattern of one-word movement per step has been fully applied.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
cough fight sough acts cats more idea: In this arrangement, “more” appears before “idea”, which breaks the alphabetical order among the four-letter words.
cough more fight sough acts idea cats: Here the five-letter words are not grouped and ordered correctly, and the sequence does not represent the stable final configuration.
none of these: This option would be correct only if none of the listed sequences corresponded to the final arrangement, but option “cough fight sough acts cats idea more” does match the rule.
cough fight cats sough acts idea more: This prematurely shifts “cats” forward, disrupting the intended order of “sough” and “acts”.
Common Pitfalls:
Students often try to guess the final arrangement by simple alphabetical sorting of all words without considering the role of word length, or they may ignore the “longest words first” pattern. Another pitfall is not recognizing that the machine moves only one word per step, leading to misinterpretation of intermediate arrangements and incorrect conclusions about the final step.
Final Answer:
The final step for the new input is
“cough fight sough acts cats idea more”.
Discussion & Comments