Four Boys on Bicycles — Ordering by Speed

Four boys, four bicycle colours, and a handful of positional clues — who wins the race? This question rewards students who slow down, match each rider to their bike, then build the finishing order step by step from the clues. The twist is one clue that hides a name behind a colour description.

Bicycle / colour-coded race ordering questions appear regularly in OC TS exams. They are a favourite because the stem deliberately uses both names and colours interchangeably, forcing students to track both. Missing the "level with" clue is the single most common source of errors.

The examiner is testing whether students can track two attributes (rider name and bicycle colour) simultaneously while building a linear finishing order. The "Marcel is level with the boy on the purple bicycle" clue is the deliberate trap: students must realise the purple bicycle belongs to Ralph, and therefore Marcel = Ralph in finishing position.

Four or five competitors each have a uniquely coloured item (bicycle, hat, bag). The stem gives relative finishing positions using both names and colour descriptions interchangeably. One clue uses a colour description for a rider whose name you already know, requiring you to mentally substitute the name before applying the clue.