Explanation:

This is a coding-decoding problem where we need to find the code word for 'drivers' by comparing the given statements. **Step 1: Write down the given statements with their codes and meanings.** * (I) mer fer ber ger = buses are always late * (II) ger der cer per = drivers were always scolded * (III) ber cer ver rer = drivers stopped all buses **Step 2: Identify the word 'drivers' in the statements.** * The word 'drivers' appears in statement (II) and statement (III). **Step 3: Find the common code word(s) in the codes of statements (II) and (III).** * Codes for (II): 'ger', 'der', 'cer', 'per' * Codes for (III): 'ber', 'cer', 'ver', 'rer' * The only common code word between these two sets of codes is 'cer'. **Step 4: Conclude the code for 'drivers'.** * Since 'drivers' is the common word between statements (II) and (III), and 'cer' is the only common code word, 'cer' must represent 'drivers'. **Step 5: (Optional) Further deductions for verification.** * From the previous question (or by comparing (I) and (II)), we can deduce that 'ger' = 'always'. * From (I) and (III), the common code is 'ber', and the common word is 'buses'. So, 'ber' = 'buses'. * Now, let's look at statement (II): 'ger der cer per' = 'drivers were always scolded'. * We know 'ger' = 'always' and 'cer' = 'drivers'. * So, 'der per' = 'were scolded'. * Let's look at statement (III): 'ber cer ver rer' = 'drivers stopped all buses'. * We know 'ber' = 'buses' and 'cer' = 'drivers'. * So, 'ver rer' = 'stopped all'.\nAll deductions are consistent. \nTherefore, the letter code for 'drivers' is 'cer'. * **Option 1 (per):** 'per' is present in statement (II) but not (III). It cannot be the code for 'drivers'. So, this is incorrect. * **Option 2 (cer):** 'cer' is present in both statement (II) and (III), and 'drivers' is the common word. So, this is the correct answer. * **Option 3 (der):** 'der' is present in statement (II) but not (III). It cannot be the code for 'drivers'. So, this is incorrect. * **Option 4 (ver):** 'ver' is present in statement (III) but not (II). It cannot be the code for 'drivers'. So, this is incorrect.