📌 Section 1 is Logical reasoning specially designed for CAT
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SET 1 — 🔍 CAT Level - CAT 2017
Healthy Bites is a fast-food joint serving three items: burgers, fries and ice cream. It has two employees, Anish and Bani, who prepare the items ordered by clients.
Preparation time for a burger = 10 minutes
Preparation time for an order of ice cream = 2 minutes
An employee can prepare only one item at a time.
The fries are prepared in an automatic fryer which can prepare up to 3 portions of fries at a time and takes 5 minutes irrespective of the number of portions. The fryer does not need an employee to constantly attend to it, and the time taken by an employee to start and stop the fryer can be ignored. Thus, an employee can be engaged in preparing other items while the frying is on.
However, fries cannot be prepared in anticipation of future orders.
Healthy Bites wishes to serve the orders as early as possible. The individual items in any order are served as and when ready; however, the order is considered to be completely served only when all the items in that order are served.
Additional Information
Orders (Presented in Non-Tabular Form)
🔹 Client 1
Time of order: 10:00 AM
Ordered:
1 Burger
3 Portions of Fries
1 Order of Ice Cream
🔹 Client 2
Time of order: 10:05 AM
Ordered:
2 Portions of Fries
1 Order of Ice Cream
🔹 Client 3
Time of order: 10:07 AM
Ordered:
1 Burger
1 Portion of Fries
Question 1
Assume that only one client's order can be processed at any given point of time. So, Anish or Bani cannot start preparing a new order while a previous order is being prepared.
At what time is the order placed by Client 1 completely served?
A. 10:17
B. 10:10
C. 10:15
D. 10:20
Question 2
Assume that only one client's order can be processed at any given point of time. So, Anish or Bani cannot start preparing a new order while a previous order is being prepared.
At what time is the order placed by Client 3 completely served?
A. 10:35
B. 10:22
C. 10:25
D. 10:17
Question 3
Suppose the employees are allowed to process multiple orders at a time, but the preference would be to finish orders of clients who placed their orders earlier.
At what time is the order placed by Client 2 completely served?
A. 10:10
B. 10:12
C. 10:15
D. 10:17
Question 4
Suppose the employees are allowed to process multiple orders at a time, but the preference would be to finish orders of clients who placed their orders earlier.
Also assume that the fourth client came in only at 10:35.
Between 10:00 and 10:30, for how many minutes is exactly one of the employees idle?
A. 7
B. 10
C. 15
D. 23
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✅ Answers & Explanations
Set 1
Q1
Client 1 ordered 1 burger, 3 portions of fries and 1 ice cream at 10:00.
Burger takes 10 minutes.
Ice cream takes 2 minutes.
Fries take 5 minutes in the fryer.
Since both employees can work on the same client’s order, one employee can prepare the burger from 10:00 to 10:10, while the other prepares ice cream from 10:00 to 10:02. The fries can also be prepared in the fryer from 10:00 to 10:05.
The order is complete only when all items are ready. The last item ready is the burger at 10:10.
Answer: B. 10:10
Q2
Since only one client’s order can be processed at a time, Client 2 can be processed only after Client 1 is completed.
Client 1 is completed at 10:10.
Client 2 ordered 2 portions of fries and 1 ice cream.
Fries: 10:10 to 10:15
Ice cream: 10:10 to 10:12
So Client 2 is completed at 10:15.
Now Client 3 can be processed from 10:15.
Client 3 ordered 1 burger and 1 portion of fries.
Burger: 10:15 to 10:25
Fries: 10:15 to 10:20
The last item ready is the burger at 10:25.
Answer: C. 10:25
Q3
Now multiple clients’ orders can be processed at the same time, but earlier orders are given preference.
At 10:00, Client 1’s order starts.
One employee prepares burger from 10:00 to 10:10.
The other prepares ice cream from 10:00 to 10:02.
Fries are prepared in the fryer from 10:00 to 10:05.
At 10:05, Client 2 places the order.
Client 2 ordered 2 portions of fries and 1 ice cream.
The fryer is free at 10:05, so Client 2’s fries can be prepared from 10:05 to 10:10.
One employee is also free, so Client 2’s ice cream can be prepared from 10:05 to 10:07.
Client 2’s ice cream is ready at 10:07.
Client 2’s fries are ready at 10:10.
So Client 2’s order is completely served at 10:10.
Answer: A. 10:10
Q4
We need to find the time between 10:00 and 10:30 when exactly one employee is idle.
From 10:00 to 10:02:
Both employees are busy.
One prepares Client 1’s burger and the other prepares Client 1’s ice cream.
From 10:02 to 10:05:
Client 1’s ice cream is done, but the burger is still being prepared.
So one employee is busy and one employee is idle.
Exactly one employee is idle for 3 minutes.
From 10:05 to 10:07:
Client 2 has arrived.
One employee continues Client 1’s burger.
The other prepares Client 2’s ice cream.
Both employees are busy.
From 10:07 to 10:10:
Client 3 has arrived.
The free employee can start Client 3’s burger.
So both employees are busy.
From 10:10 to 10:17:
Client 1’s burger is done.
Client 3’s burger is still being prepared.
There is no other employee-based work left.
So exactly one employee is idle for 7 minutes.
After 10:17:
All three clients’ employee-based work is over.
Since the fourth client comes only at 10:35, both employees are idle from 10:17 to 10:30.
This is not counted because exactly one employee is not idle; both are idle.
Total time when exactly one employee is idle = 3 + 7 = 10 minutes.
Answer: B. 10
⚡ Brain teasers are not just about getting the right answer — they train you to think differently under pressure.
Stay consistent with your daily practice, challenge your assumptions, and keep sharpening your reasoning skills.
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