Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Check each symbol: the element just before it and just after it must both be numbers.

1. Series: € 3 © 3 $ % % 5 5 £ € 4 * € 3 7 5 & 8 2 5 *
2. 3 © 3 → number-symbol-number ✔
3. 5 & 8 → number-symbol-number ✔
4. All others fail ($ is followed by %, £ by €, * by €, etc.).

Trick: Scan only for the pattern "number – symbol – number"; ignore everything else.

Answer: (A) 2

Concept: Facing the centre, "right" means anticlockwise and "left" means clockwise.

1. Fix L; K is 4th to the right of L.
2. N sits between R and I. Only one placement works: L, R, N, I, K, J, M going anticlockwise (J is 3rd to the left of R; I is 3rd to the left of M).
3. From N, move to the left (clockwise): R, L, M, J, then K.
4. People between them: R, L, M, J = 4.

Trick: Place the fixed pair (L–K) first, then test the "N between R and I" block in the empty seats.

Answer: (B) Four

Concept: Track the position on a coordinate grid, taking B as origin.

1. South 4 → $(0,-4)$; left turn = east 7 → $(7,-4)$.
2. Right turn = south 7 → $(7,-11)$; left = east 9 → $(16,-11)$.
3. Left = north 11 → A $=(16,0)$.
4. A is 16 km east of B, so he must drive 16 km towards the west.

Trick: Net N–S: $-4-7+11=0$; net E–W: $7+9=16$ east → return 16 km west.

Answer: (B) 16 km towards the west

Concept: A person who is a plumber, a hairdresser and a judge lies in the common region of all three circles.

1. Plumber ∩ Hairdresser only = 13 (not judges).
2. Plumber ∩ Judge only = 12; Hairdresser ∩ Judge only = 11.
3. Region common to all three = 19.

Trick: "Also A and B" with three sets = the central region only.

Answer: (D) 19

Concept: Track each letter position separately.

1. 1st letters: G, I, K, M, O ($+2$ each).
2. 2nd letters: E, G, I, K, M ($+2$).
3. 3rd letters: B, D, F, H, J ($+2$).
4. Next term = OMJ.

Trick: Every letter of each term is +2 from the previous term: MKH + 2 → OMJ.

Answer: (A) OMJ

Concept: Apply the rule digit by digit, then read the required positions.

1. 2614759: even digits +2 (2→4, 6→8, 4→6); odd digits −1 (1→0, 7→6, 5→4, 9→8).
2. New number: 4 8 0 6 6 4 8.
3. 6th from left = 4; 1st from right = 8.
4. Sum $=4+8=12$

Trick: Transform only the two digits you need: 6th digit 5 → 4, last digit 9 → 8.

Answer: (C) $12$

Concept: Swap the signs first, then solve using BODMAS.

1. $127÷5+707\times 7-38$ becomes $127\times 5-707÷7+38$
2. $=635-101+38$
3. $=572$

Trick: Rewrite the whole expression with new signs before calculating — most errors come from swapping only some signs.

Answer: (A) $572$

Concept: Number floors 1 (bottom) to 6 (top) and place definite clues first.

1. Only one person above D → D on floor 5; X above D → X on 6.
2. Only A below P → A on 1, P on 2.
3. E on an even floor: only 4 is left → E = 4, so N = 3.
4. Below N: P and A = 2 people.

Trick: "Only one above" and "only one below" clues fix the top and bottom immediately.

Answer: (A) Two

Concept: Check every condition for the given group, apply only the one that fits.

1. Codes: E = @, P = 9, T = $, F = 7, U = %.
2. Cond. 1: last letter U is a vowel ✗. Cond. 2 and 4: 2nd letter P is a consonant ✗.
3. Cond. 3: 3rd T and 4th F are consonants ✔ → both get the code of T = $.
4. Code: @ 9 $ $ %

Trick: Check the vowel/consonant pattern of positions 1, 2, 3, 4 and last at once: E P T F U = V C C C V.

Answer: (C) @ 9 $ $ %

Concept: Find the change in each part: 1st letter, 2nd letter and the number.

1. UB 15 → SF 11: U $-2$ = S, B $+4$ = F, $15-4=11$.
2. IO 8 → GS 4: I $-2$ = G, O $+4$ = S, $8-4=4$ ✔.
3. EL 3 → E $-2$ = C, L $+4$ = P, $3-4=-1$ → CP −1.

Trick: Check the number first: $3-4=-1$ already leaves only option (A).

Answer: (A) CP −1

Concept: Look for the pattern number – number – symbol.

1. Series: 9 8 3 1 4 6 # 6 4 6 * % & $ @ 9 1 % 1 % # £
2. 4 6 # ✔
3. 4 6 * ✔
4. 9 1 % ✔ (the next 1 is preceded by %, so ✗)

Trick: Find each symbol and check the two elements just before it.

Answer: (D) 3

Concept: Decode each symbol and draw the family tree, then trace from Q to M.

1. M – N: M is the brother of N.
2. N + O: N is the mother of O.
3. O ÷ P: O is the father of P; P × Q: P is the wife of Q.
4. From Q: wife (P) → her father (O) → his mother (N) → her brother (M).

Trick: Read the chain backwards from Q and add one relation word per link.

Answer: (B) Wife's father's mother's brother

Concept: Look for even number – symbol – odd number.

1. Series: 8 $ 7 & 3 Ω 9 # 1 8 £ 6 @ & % 4 6 @ * 4 5
2. 8 $ 7 → even – symbol – odd ✔
3. Others fail: 7 & 3, 3 Ω 9, 9 # 1 have odd before; 8 £ 6 has even after; the @ after 6 is followed by a symbol.

Trick: First list only symbols preceded by an even number (only $, £, @, @), then check what follows.

Answer: (C) One

Concept: A word common to two sentences takes the code common to both.

1. eat healthy food → xy zd uv
2. food is essential → uv aq bc
3. Common word "food" ↔ common code "uv".

Trick: Just find the code appearing in both lines.

Answer: (C) uv

Concept: Test each option: the rule from # to LQT must also take ZEH to %.

1. Option (C): OTW → LQT: O $-3$ = L, T $-3$ = Q, W $-3$ = T.
2. ZEH → WBE: Z $-3$ = W, E $-3$ = B, H $-3$ = E ✔.
3. Other options do not give one consistent rule.

Trick: Check only the first letter: Z $-3$ = W appears only in option (C).

Answer: (C) # = OTW, % = WBE

Concept: Look at the differences between consecutive terms.

1. $201-1=200$, $200-3=197$, $197-5=192$, $192-7=185$
2. Subtracted numbers are consecutive odd numbers; next is 9.
3. $185-9=176$

Trick: Term $=201-(n-1{)}^2$: $201-25=176$.

Answer: (A) $176$

Concept: Find the rule from # to KSM and apply it from OWQ to %.

1. Option (C): LTN → KSM: each letter $-1$ (L→K, T→S, N→M).
2. OWQ → NVP: each letter $-1$ ✔.
3. (A) LTM → KSL, not KSM ✗; (B) and (D) give NUP / NVO, not $-1$ of OWQ ✗.

Trick: # is KSM shifted $+1$ = LTN; % is OWQ shifted $-1$ = NVP.

Answer: (C) # = LTN, % = NVP

Concept: Facing the centre, right = anticlockwise, left = clockwise.

1. Fix Q; R is 3rd to the left of Q. U and P sit on either side of Q.
2. P is 2nd to the left of T: works only with P on Q's right; then T is two seats further right, and U is on Q's left.
3. Two seats remain for S and V; V is not next to R, so S sits beside R. Order (anticlockwise): Q, P, V, T, R, S, U.
4. From T moving left: V, P, Q, then U → 3 people between.

Trick: Try both positions of P beside Q; the wrong one makes T clash with U.

Answer: (A) 3

Concept: Each letter moves $+7$ positions (wrapping Z → A).

1. 1st letters: I → P → W → D → K ($+7$; W$+7$ wraps to D).
2. 2nd letters: P → W → D → K → R.
3. 3rd letters: K → R → Y → F → M.
4. Next term = KRM.

Trick: Add 7 to every letter of DKF: D → K, K → R, F → M.

Answer: (C) KRM

Concept: The Damodar is a rift-valley river of eastern India.

1. It rises in the Chhotanagpur Plateau (Palamu, Jharkhand) and flows east through Jharkhand into West Bengal to join the Hooghly.
2. Its valley is rich in coal, making it the core of India's coal belt (Damodar Valley Corporation, 1948).
3. Malwa and Deccan plateaus lie far to the west/south.

Yaad rakhein: Damodar = 'Sorrow of Bengal' – flows through the Chhotanagpur Plateau.

Answer: (D) Chhotanagpur Plateau