Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: To name the tallest among 5, the data must place one tree above all four others.

1. Statement I: T > M > L – nothing about N and V. Statement II: N > L > V – nothing about T and M.
2. Together: T > M > L > V and N > L > V. Both T and N are above L, but T vs N is not compared, so the tallest is still undecided.

Trick: In ordering questions, check whether the top candidates of the two chains are ever compared with each other; if not, "not sufficient".

Answer: (A) Both statements I and II together are NOT sufficient to answer the question

Concept: Place the fixed days first, then fit the block N–F–O (three consecutive days) and finally the conditional pair I, M.

1. G = Thursday, H = Saturday. N, F, O are consecutive; the only free run of 3 days is Mon–Wed → N Mon, F Tue, O Wed.
2. Remaining days Fri and Sun for I and M; M is after I → I Fri, M Sun.
3. Between O (Wed) and M (Sun): Thu, Fri, Sat → three people.

Trick: A block of consecutive people cannot straddle a fixed person – that alone pins N–F–O to Mon–Wed.

Answer: (D) Three

Concept: When two coded words share letters, the shared letters get the shared digits; the leftover letter takes the leftover digit.

1. CARD → 6135, DRAW → 1765.
2. Common letters: A, R, D. Common digits: 6, 1, 5.
3. In CARD the extra letter is C → extra digit 3. In DRAW the extra letter is W → extra digit 7.

Trick: Do not try to match positions — just cancel the common letters and common digits; what remains on each side pairs up.

Answer: (C) 7

Concept: Arrange the numbers in order first, then pick the required digits.

1. Numbers: 187, 167, 173, 257, 199. Ascending: 167 < 173 < 187 < 199 < 257.
2. Second highest = 199 → second digit = 9.
3. Second lowest = 173 → third digit = 3.
4. Sum $=9+3=12$.

Trick: Write the sorted list once on rough paper; every sub-question of this type is then a 5-second lookup.

Answer: (D) 12

Concept: Plot the path on a grid; the final distance is the straight line from start to end.

1. North 6 km → position $(0,6)$.
2. Left of North = West, 3 km → $(-3,6)$.
3. Left of West = South, 6 km → $(-3,0)$ – back on the starting line.
4. Left of South = East, 6 km → $(3,0)$. Distance from origin $=3$ km.

Trick: Three left turns bring you back facing East; the North and South legs cancel, so only the East–West difference remains: $6-3=3$ km.

Answer: (A) 3 km

Concept: Find one rule that works for both given pairs, then test the options.

1. $14\times 5-1=69$ ✓ and $18\times 5-1=89$ ✓. Rule: second $=5\times$ first $-1$.
2. Option A: $22\times 5-1=109$ ✓.
3. B gives 108 (wrong), C: $21\times 5-1=104$, D: 104 ≠ 109.

Trick: Difference of firsts $=4$, difference of seconds $=20$ → multiplier $=20÷4=5$; then fix the constant.

Answer: (A) 22, 109

Concept: Facing the centre, "left" is clockwise-opposite: moving left = anticlockwise, right = clockwise. Place the fixed pairs first.

1. P is 3rd to the left of S; one person between R and P counted from R's right.
2. C is neighbour of both R and S → R, C, S sit together; this fixes R–C–S–?–?–P in order.
3. O is 3rd to the left of B → B and O fill the remaining seats so that O sits next to P and R; the last seat (between B and P) is Q.
4. Anticlockwise order: B, Q, P, O, R, C, S. From Q's right: B, S, then C → two people between Q and C.

Trick: Start with the clue that fixes three people together (C between R and S) – it cuts the cases to almost nothing.

Answer: (B) Two

Concept: Compare each letter of the first cluster with the corresponding letter of the second using place values (A=1 … Z=26).

1. VR−QM: V(22)→Q(17) $=-5$, R(18)→M(13) $=-5$.
2. UQ−PL: U(21)→P(16) $=-5$, Q(17)→L(12) $=-5$.
3. CY−XT: C(3)→X(24) $=-5$ (cyclic: 3−5 = −2 → 24), Y(25)→T(20) $=-5$.
4. BX−VU: B(2)→V(22) $=-6$ (cyclic), X(24)→U(21) $=-3$ – breaks the pattern.

Trick: When one pair looks odd, check it cyclically (Z wraps to A) before deciding – here CY−XT is fine cyclically, BX−VU is not.

Answer: (B) BX−VU

Concept: Treat letters and numbers as separate series.

1. 1st letters: G→N→U→B→? each $+7$ → B(2)+7 = I.
2. 2nd letters: H→O→V→C→? $+7$ → J. 3rd letters: B→I→P→W→? $+7$ → D.
3. Numbers: 10, 9, 8, 7, ? → 6.
4. Required term: IJD 6.

Trick: Each cluster is itself "letter, letter+1, letter−6" (GHB, NOI, UVP …), so the answer must look like I, J, D – only option D fits.

Answer: (D) IJD 6

Concept: Sort the numbers, then read off the required digits.

1. Numbers: 351, 417, 211, 159, 294. Highest = 417, lowest = 159.
2. Second digit of 417 = 1; third digit of 159 = 9.
3. Sum $=1+9=10$.

Trick: Only the extremes are asked – spot the biggest and smallest by their first digit (4 and 1) and ignore the rest.

Answer: (A) 10

Concept: Draw the Venn diagram and accept only a conclusion that is true in every possible diagram.

1. All horses are donkeys; all monkeys are donkeys; some cats are monkeys (so some cats are donkeys).
2. (I) "All cats are donkeys" – only some cats are known to be monkeys/donkeys; the rest may lie outside. Does not follow.
3. (II) "Some horses are monkeys" – horses and monkeys are both inside donkeys but nothing links them; they may be disjoint. Does not follow.

Trick: Two "All X are Z" statements never connect X with each other – both sit inside Z independently.

Answer: (C) Neither conclusion (I) nor (II) follows.

Concept: Replace the letters by the given signs, then apply BODMAS.

1. 12 A 4 B 6 C 8 D 2 → $12÷4\times 6+8-2$.
2. Division and multiplication left to right: $12÷4=3$, $3\times 6=18$.
3. $18+8-2=24$.

Trick: Do ÷ and × first (left to right), then + and −; never add before multiplying.

Answer: (C) 24

Concept: Find how the middle number comes from the outer two.

1. $(37,1361,8)$: ${37}^2-8=1369-8=1361$ ✓.
2. $(47,2185,24)$: ${47}^2-24=2209-24=2185$ ✓. Rule: middle $=(\text{first}{)}^2-\text{third}$.
3. Option B: ${12}^2-3=144-3=141$ ✓. (A: $2500-24=2476$; C: $841-11=830$; D: $16-5=11$ – all fail.)

Trick: Middle number is just below the square of the first ($1361\approx {37}^2=1369$) – subtract the third.

Answer: (B) (12, 141, 3)

Concept: Look at the differences between consecutive terms.

1. $14-10=4$, $22-14=8$, $34-22=12$, $50-34=16$.
2. Differences are multiples of 4: 4, 8, 12, 16 → next 20.
3. $50+20=70$.

Trick: Each term $=2n^2+8$ … or simply: differences rise by 4 each time.

Answer: (B) 70

Concept: Fix the definite clue first, then fit the "immediately before" pair into the remaining consecutive slots.

1. D = Tuesday. Two people between B and D → B = Friday (Monday side impossible).
2. Free days: Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat. C immediately before F → the only consecutive pair is Wed–Thu: C = Wed, F = Thu.
3. A is not Saturday → A = Mon, E = Sat.
4. Wednesday → C.

Trick: After placing fixed people, list the free days – a "C just before F" clue needs two adjacent free days, which usually appear only once.

Answer: (D) C

Concept: The same letter-shift must turn # into NRL and GKE into %.

1. Test option D: PTN → P−2 = N, T−2 = R, N−2 = L → NRL ✓.
2. Apply the same −2 to GKE: G−2 = E, K−2 = I, E−2 = C → EIC ✓ (matches option D).
3. Other options: LTN→NRL would need +2, −2, −2 (not uniform); MKN and IUN also fail.

Trick: Work from the known pair (GKE → %) in each option first – only EIC is a uniform shift (−2) of GKE.

Answer: (D) # = PTN, % = EIC

Concept: A negative conclusion about a bigger set cannot follow from a negative statement about a smaller set inside it.

1. Malls ⊂ Halls ⊂ Walls; Falls are outside Malls only.
2. (I) "No hall is a fall" – falls may overlap the part of halls that is not malls. Does not follow.
3. (II) "No wall is a fall" – likewise falls may overlap walls. Does not follow.

Trick: "No A is C" + "All A are B" gives nothing definite about B and C (except "some B are not C").

Answer: (B) Neither conclusion I nor II follows.

Concept: Savitribai Phule (1831–1897), with Jyotirao Phule, opened the first school for girls in Pune (1848) and is remembered as the Mother of Indian Feminism.

1. She was India's first woman teacher and fought for women's education, widow remarriage and against caste discrimination.
2. Pandita Ramabai and Rukhmabai were also pioneers, but the title "Mother of Indian Feminism" is popularly given to Savitribai Phule.

Yaad rakhein: Savitribai Phule – Bhide Wada girls' school, Pune, 1848; her birthday (3 Jan) is observed as Balika Din in Maharashtra.

Answer: (D) Savitribai Phule

Concept: Rani Karnaa (1939–2018) was a renowned Kathak dancer of the Lucknow and Jaipur gharanas, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2014.

1. She trained under Pt. Birju Maharaj among others and ran the Samskritiki Shreyaskar institute in Kolkata.
2. Kathak is the classical dance of North India (Uttar Pradesh); the other options are southern/eastern styles.

Yaad rakhein: Kathak exponents – Birju Maharaj, Sitara Devi, Shovana Narayan, Rani Karnaa.

Answer: (B) Kathak

Concept: The Mahad Satyagraha (20 March 1927) was led by Dr B. R. Ambedkar to assert the right of Dalits to draw water from the Chavdar tank at Mahad, Maharashtra.

1. Later in Dec 1927 at Mahad he publicly burnt the Manusmriti.
2. K. Kelappan led the Vaikom/Guruvayur temple movements in Kerala; Periyar (E. V. Ramaswami) was linked with Vaikom Satyagraha.

Yaad rakhein: Mahad 1927 (water) and Kalaram Temple, Nashik 1930 – both Ambedkar.

Answer: (C) B R Ambedkar