Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Interchange the signs first, then apply BODMAS.

1. After swapping: $121\times 6-384÷3+31$
2. $=726-128+31$
3. $=629$

Trick: Rewrite the whole expression with new signs before calculating.

Answer: (C) 629

Concept: Replace letters by signs (P = ÷, Q = ×, R = +, S = −) and evaluate using BODMAS.

1. (C) $96÷16-112+48\times 6$
2. $=6-112+288$
3. $=182$ ✔

Trick: Start with the option whose division gives a whole number ($96÷16=6$).

Answer: (C) 96 P 16 S 112 R 48 Q 6

Concept: "Only X is above Y" fixes Y at position 2 with X at the top; similarly for "below".

1. Only B above G → B = 1 (top), G = 2.
2. Only C between G and E → C = 3, E = 4.
3. Only A below D → A = 7 (bottom), D = 6; remaining F = 5.
4. Below E: F, D, A = 3 boxes.

Trick: "Only one above/below" clues always pin the top two / bottom two positions.

Answer: (A) 3

Concept: Find the backward shift of each letter.

1. EUQF → BPNA: E−3=B, U−5=P, Q−3=N, F−5=A.
2. Check YKKV → VFHQ: Y−3=V, K−5=F, K−3=H, V−5=Q ✔.
3. SAEL: S−3=P, A−5=V, E−3=B, L−5=G → PVBG.

Trick: Pattern $-3,-5,-3,-5$; A−5 wraps around to V.

Answer: (D) PVBG

Concept: Place the towns step by step on a grid.

1. N east of O and P east of O → O, N, P lie on one east–west line.
2. Q is north of P; M is north of N and south-west of Q → M (and so N) is to the west of the P–Q line.
3. Hence N is to the West of P.

Trick: The south-west clue decides the order of N and P on the line.

Answer: (D) West

Concept: A letter common to two words gets the digit common to both codes.

1. HUNT → 3517 and TIME → 2458.
2. Common letter: T. Common digit: 5.
3. So T = 5.

Trick: Match common letters with common digits – order does not matter.

Answer: (D) 5

Concept: Find the rule connecting the three numbers of each set.

1. $(32,47,15)$: $47-32=15$
2. $(56,81,25)$: $81-56=25$
3. So third = second − first. Check (A): $110-92=18$ ✓; (B) $72-17=55\ne 14$; (C) $65-18=47\ne 11$; (D) $84-29=55\ne 10$

Trick: Test the simplest relation first: difference of first two.

Answer: (A) (92, 110, 18)

Concept: Each letter moves back by 7 places (with wrap-around Z → A).

1. E(5)→X(24)→Q(17)→J(10)→C(3)
2. B(2)→U(21)→N(14)→G(7)→Z(26)
3. Y(25)→R(18)→K(11)→D(4)→W(23)

Trick: $-7$ is the same as $+19$; from A go back 7: A→T, C→V, D→W.

Answer: (D) CZW

Concept: Facing north, right = east end. Fix the definite clues first.

1. Only I is to the right of P → P at 6, I at 7.
2. One person between O and P → O at 4. Two between Q and O → Q at 1 (7 is taken).
3. L < K < J (left to right) in places 2, 3, 5 → L = 2, K = 3, J = 5.
4. Between L(2) and J(5): K and O → 2 people.

Trick: 'Only X to the right of Y' fixes Y at the second-last seat immediately.

Answer: (C) Two

Concept: Total $=$ rank from top $+$ rank from bottom $-1$.

1. Total $=19+24-1=42$

Trick: The person is counted twice, so subtract 1.

Answer: (D) 42

Concept: Place the fixed people first (floors 1–6, bottom to top).

1. No one above Z → Z = 6. Two between Z and O → O = 3.
2. P below O but above Y → P = 2, Y = 1.
3. Two between N and P → N = 5. Remaining M = 4.
4. Below M: O, P, Y → 3 people.

Trick: 'No one above' = top floor; start every floor puzzle there.

Answer: (A) Three

Concept: Identify the highest and lowest numbers, then take their second digits.

1. Highest = 670 → second digit 7; lowest = 131 → second digit 3.
2. '7 subtracted from 3' $=3-7=-4$

Trick: 'A subtracted from B' means $B-A$.

Answer: (A) $-4$

Concept: Find a constant shift that works on both sides.

1. Try (B): D(4)+5=I, A(1)+5=F, G(7)+5=L → DAG : IFL is $+5$.
2. Apply $+5$ to KHN: K→P, H→M, N→S → PMS ✓

Trick: The same shift must work on both pairs – check the left pair first.

Answer: (B) # = DAG, % = PMS

Concept: The series increases by a constant 3.1.

1. $22+3.1=25.1$, $25.1+3.1=28.2$, $28.2+3.1=31.3$
2. $31.3+3.1=34.4$; check $34.4+3.1=37.5$ ✓

Trick: Always verify the missing term with the next given term.

Answer: (D) 34.4

Concept: Check each condition on the group 5 3 + 4, then code the rest from the table.

1. First = 5 (odd number), last = 4 (even number) → condition (ii): both become ©.
2. Condition (i) fails (first is not a symbol); (iii) fails (3 and + are not perfect squares).
3. Middle: 3 → C, + → R. Code: © C R ©

Trick: Check the first and last elements first – they trigger most conditions.

Answer: (D) © C R ©

Concept: Track the net east–west and north–south movement from Z.

1. North 7, left (west) 9, right (north) 6, left (west) 7, left (south) 13.
2. North–south: $7+6-13=0$ → A is level with Z.
3. West: $9+7=16$ km → A is 16 km west of Z.
4. So he must drive 16 km towards the east.

Trick: If net N–S is 0, the answer is just the net E–W distance.

Answer: (C) 16 km towards the east

Concept: Look for the pattern: number, symbol, symbol (the middle one is counted).

1. Check every symbol: &(7,3) ✗, Ω(3,4) ✗, @(6,9) ✗, #(9,1) ✗
2. * : preceded by 1, followed by £ ✓
3. & : preceded by 2, followed by % ✓; %, £, $ are preceded by symbols ✗
4. Total = 2

Trick: Scan for 'number–symbol–symbol' triples directly: 1 * £ and 2 & %.

Answer: (A) Two

Concept: Compare each letter of the first cluster with the corresponding letter of the second.

1. QR−TU: Q+3=T, R+3=U; WX−ZA: W+3=Z, X+3=A; DE−GH: D+3=G, E+3=H
2. FG−HL: F+2=H, G+5=L → breaks the $+3$ pattern.

Trick: Write the gaps under each letter; the odd one shows a different gap.

Answer: (B) FG−HL

Concept: Decode each symbol from left to right.

1. M − N: M is the brother of N.
2. N + O: N is the mother of O.
3. O × P: O is the wife of P; P ÷ Q: P is the father of Q → O is Q's mother.
4. So N is Q's mother's mother and M is Q's mother's mother's brother.

Trick: Read the chain backwards from Q: mother (O) → her mother (N) → N's brother (M).

Answer: (B) Mother's mother's brother

Concept: Replace the symbols: + → −, − → ×, × → ÷, ÷ → +, then apply BODMAS.

1. $20\times 4+7-12÷4$
2. $=80+7-3=84$

Trick: Rewrite the full expression first, then solve – don't swap mentally.

Answer: (C) 84