Match the computational problem with the most appropriate algorithm that can be used to solve it.

Do two student essays share a common phrase consisting of a sequence of more than 100 letters?
Given the airports at which an airline operates and the distances between those airports, what is the shortest total flight distance between two airports?
Given a sorted array of a company's employee records and an employee's first and last name, what is a specific employee's phone number?

Question

Match the computational problem with the most appropriate algorithm that can be used to solve it.

Do two student essays share a common phrase consisting of a sequence of more than 100 letters?
Given the airports at which an airline operates and the distances between those airports, what is the shortest total flight distance between two airports?
Given a sorted array of a company's employee records and an employee's first and last name, what is a specific employee's phone number?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To tackle this question, I’ll map each described problem to the most appropriate algorithm technique and then evaluate which option aligns with all three mappings.
Option A: "1 - Binary Search, 2 - Shortest Path Algorithm, 3 - Longest Common Substring". For problem 1, binary search is unsuitable for finding a shared phrase between two large texts, since binary search is used on sorted data or to locate a target within a sorted structure, not to compare arbitrary substrings. So this mislabels the first problem. For problem 2, while a shortest path problem could be solved by a shortest path algorithm, option A assigns binary search to the first problem, which is incorrect. For problem 3, binary search could be used to locate a name in a sorted list, which is plausible, but since the first two mappings are already incorrect, this option overall is inconsistent.
Option C: "1 - Shortest Path Algorithm, 2 - Longest Common Substring, 3 - Binary Search". Here problem 1 is incorrectly labeled as Shortest Path Algorithm; that algorithm finds a path in a graph, not common substrings, so this is a wrong match. Problem 2 is labeled as Longest Common Substring, which is irrelevant to finding the shortest path between airports; thus this option is flawed in two places. Problem 3 is correctly labeled Binary Search for looking up a name in a sorted array, but again the other two mistakes invalidate the pairings.
Option D: "1 - Longest Common Substring, 2 - Binary Search, 3 - Shortest Path Algorithm". For problem 1, Longest Common Substring is indeed the right approach to identify a common phrase between two essays, especially for long strings. However, problem 2 is assigned Binary Search here, which is not appropriate for finding the shortest route between airports in a network; a graph-based shortest path algorithm (like Dijkstra or Floyd–Warshall) is needed. Problem 3 is labeled as Shortest Path Algorithm, which has no relevance to binary search on a sorted employee list to retrieve a phone number, so this option is inconsistent as well.
Option B: "1 - Longest Common Substring, 2 - Shortest Path Algorithm, 3 - Binary Search". This combination matches each problem accurately: problem 1 is about identifying a common phrase across large texts, which is best addressed by the Longest Common Substring concept; problem 2 describes finding the minimum-distance route between airports through a network, which is a shortest path problem; problem 3 involves locating a specific employee’s phone number in a sorted list, for which Binary Search is appropriate. The three pairings align with standard algorithmic problem types and data structures.
In summary, the only option that correctly pairs all three problems with their most suitable algorithms is Option B, since it assigns 1) Longest Common Substring, 2) Shortest Path Algorithm, and 3) Binary Search in a coherent and conventional way. The remaining options all misassign at least one problem, either by applying an algorithm that doesn’t fit the task or by reversing the logical roles of the methods involved.

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