Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: When everyone faces the centre, "left" means clockwise and "right" means anticlockwise. Fix one person and place the others step by step.

1. Fix D. Three people between D and C from D's left: C is 4th to the left (clockwise) of D.
2. F is a neighbour of both B and C, so B, F, C are consecutive. With three people between G and B from B's right and E immediately right of G, the only arrangement that works (clockwise) is: A, C, F, B, D, E, G.
3. Immediate left (clockwise next): B → D (Z); E → G (Y); A → C (X); F → B (W).

Trick: Start with the "neighbour of both" clue – it locks three seats at once and halves the cases.

Answer: (A) i-Z, ii-Y, iii-X, iv-W

Concept: We need a pattern symbol – symbol – number; count the middle symbol of every such triple, scanning left to right.

1. Series: @ / 3 & 5 3 9 1 ? % 7 $ \ % 7 $ 6 9 4 ? +
2. Triples found: @ / 3, ? % 7, \ % 7.
3. No other symbol has a symbol on its left and a number on its right. Count $=3$.

Trick: Underline every number first; then only look at the symbol just before each number and check what lies before it.

Answer: (B) Three

Concept: Two negative (No…) statements never give a definite conclusion – from "No A is B" and "No B is C" nothing can be said about A and C.

1. Statements 1 and 2: No biscuit is a wafer, no wafer is a candy. Biscuit and candy may or may not overlap, so (I) "No biscuit is a candy" does not follow.
2. Statements 2 and 3: No wafer is a candy, no candy is a juice. Wafer and juice may still overlap, so (II) does not follow.

Trick: Negative + Negative = No conclusion. Draw the circles apart from the linking set; the two outer circles are free to overlap.

Answer: (D) Neither conclusion (I) nor (II) follows

Concept: Facing the centre, "left of X" is clockwise from X. Fix one person and use the "three people between" clues first.

1. Fix B. Three between B and S from B's left → S is 4th clockwise from B.
2. Two between Q and O from Q's left → O is 3rd clockwise from Q; P is 3rd clockwise from C; R is adjacent to both C and O, so O, R, C are consecutive.
3. Only one arrangement satisfies all this (clockwise): B, O, R, C, S, Q, P.
4. Counting from R's left (clockwise): C, S, Q, P, then B – four people between R and B.

Trick: "Immediate neighbour of both" fixes a block of three; place that block first and the rest falls into place.

Answer: (D) Four

Concept: Number the positions 1 (bottom) to 7 (top), place the fixed box first, then apply the "boxes between" clues.

1. D is 5th from the bottom → D $=5$. Two boxes between D and H → H $=2$ (H $=8$ is impossible).
2. I is above D but below E → I $=6$, E $=7$.
3. Remaining positions 1, 3, 4 for G, F, J. Two boxes between G and F and F not at the bottom → G $=1$, F $=4$. So J $=3$.
4. Bottom to top: G, H, J, F, D, I, E – third from bottom is J.

Trick: With 7 boxes, "two between" means a gap of 3 – write positions as numbers and the choices become obvious.

Answer: (A) J

Concept: Find one rule that turns 12 into 66 and 24 into 276 using whole-number operations, then apply it to 10.

1. $12\times \frac{11}{2}=66$ and $24\times \frac{23}{2}=276$, i.e. $n\to \frac{n(n-1)}{2}$.
2. Check: $\frac{12\times 11}{2}=66$ ✓, $\frac{24\times 23}{2}=276$ ✓.
3. For $10$: $\frac{10\times 9}{2}=45$.

Trick: When the result is about half of $n^2$, test $\frac{n(n\pm 1)}{2}$ – the triangular-number pattern.

Answer: (A) 45

Concept: Find the letter-shift rule from the complete pair, then apply the same rule to fill both blanks.

1. Try option C: KQL → IOJ: K$-2=$I, Q$-2=$O, L$-2=$J. So each letter moves back by 2.
2. Apply to NTO: N$-2=$L, T$-2=$R, O$-2=$M → LRM.
3. Option C gives # $=$ KQL and % $=$ LRM, matching both sides.

Trick: When both blanks are unknown, test the options – the rule must be identical for every letter of both pairs.

Answer: (C) # = KQL, % = LRM

Concept: Place the directly given facts first, then use the "between" and parity clues.

1. T is on floor 1. Only S lives above U → U $=5$, S $=6$.
2. Two people between T and Y → Y $=4$.
3. Z is on an even floor; only floor 2 is left among even floors → Z $=2$, so X $=3$.
4. Between X (3) and T (1) there is only one person (Z on floor 2).

Trick: "Only S lives above U" pins U to the second-highest floor immediately – such clues are the best starting points.

Answer: (D) One

Concept: Treat the letters and the numbers as two separate series.

1. Letters: ADF → DGI → GJL → JMO: each letter moves forward by 3 (A→D→G→J→M, D→G→J→M→P, F→I→L→O→R). Next: MPR.
2. Numbers: $16,27,38,49$ increase by $11$ each → next $=60$.

Trick: Check only the first letter of each cluster first (A, D, G, J → M); it eliminates three options instantly.

Answer: (A) MPR 60

Concept: Facing North, a left turn faces West; facing West, a left turn faces South. Opposite legs of equal length cancel out.

1. $80$ m North, then left → $30$ m West, then left → $80$ m South.
2. The $80$ m North and $80$ m South cancel; net displacement is only the $30$ m West.
3. So Sushma is $30$ m West of the starting point.

Trick: Pair up opposite directions first (N with S, E with W) – whatever is left over is the answer.

Answer: (B) 30 m, West

Concept: Handle letters and numbers separately; here the letters move backwards.

1. First letters: D → X → R → L: each is $6$ back (D$=4$, X$=24$, R$=18$, L$=12$) → next F $(6)$.
2. Second letters: A → U → O → I, also $-6$ → C. Third letters: Z → T → N → H, $-6$ → B. Cluster: FCB.
3. Numbers: $75,87,99,111$ rise by $12$ → $123$.

Trick: Use letter positions (A=1 … Z=26) and subtract; wrap around 26 when you go below 1.

Answer: (D) FCB 123

Concept: We need a symbol whose left neighbour is an even number and whose right neighbour is not an odd number (it may be a symbol or an even number).

1. Series: 8 * 7 ? 5 £ + Ω 1 2 6 $ = @ & 3 ~ 4 # 9 %
2. Symbols with an even number on the left: * (after 8), $ (after 6), # (after 4).
3. * is followed by 7 (odd) ✗; # is followed by 9 (odd) ✗; $ is followed by = (a symbol) ✓.
4. Only one such symbol.

Trick: Filter in two passes – first "even number before", then strike out those with an odd number after.

Answer: (B) One

Concept: Write the gap between consecutive letters of each cluster and compare the patterns.

1. SWB: S$+4=$W, W$+5=$B (wrapping past Z). KOT: K$+4=$O, O$+5=$T. GKP: G$+4=$K, K$+5=$P. All follow $+4,+5$.
2. BFJ: B$+4=$F, F$+4=$J – pattern $+4,+4$, which is different.

Trick: When one cluster wraps around (W→B), count W, X, Y, Z, A, B on your fingers – it is $+5$, not $+4$.

Answer: (A) BFJ

Concept: Find the single whole-number operation linking each pair.

1. $48\times 4=192$ and $52\times 4=208$ – the second number is $4$ times the first.
2. $61\times 4=244$.

Trick: Divide the second number by the first in both pairs; if the quotient is the same, the rule is multiplication.

Answer: (D) 244

Concept: Check the difference between the two numbers of each pair before trying multiplication.

1. $210-148=62$ and $185-123=62$ – the second number is $62$ less than the first.
2. $125-62=63$.

Trick: If both pairs have the same difference, it is a subtraction rule; the same ratio means multiplication.

Answer: (D) 63

Concept: Test each statement alone: can it fix the shortest tree without any extra assumption?

1. Statement I: "L is taller than only two trees" → exactly two trees are shorter than L. M is shorter than L and T is shorter than M, so those two are M and T, with T $<$ M $<$ L. Hence T is the shortest – sufficient.
2. Statement II: V $>$ N tells nothing about L, M, T – not sufficient.

Trick: "Taller than only two" is a strong clue: it fixes the position (3rd from bottom) and caps how many can be below.

Answer: (C) Data in Statement I alone is sufficient to answer the question while data in statement II is not

Concept: Decode the chain one symbol at a time and build the family tree.

1. G − R: G is the mother of R. R + W: R is the daughter of W. So G and W are the parents of R; G is W's wife.
2. W ÷ D: W is the father of D, so D is also G's daughter.
3. D × M: D is the wife of M.
4. G is the mother of M's wife D → G is M's wife's mother (mother-in-law).

Trick: Work from the person asked about (M) backwards: M's wife is D, D's mother is G.

Answer: (B) Wife's mother

Concept: COP30 (Belém, Brazil, November 2025) saw the launch of a UNEP-backed report on methane.

1. The Global Methane Status Report 2025, prepared by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) with UNEP, was released at COP30.
2. It warned that methane concentrations are rising faster than ever and that cutting methane is the quickest way to slow near-term warming.
3. The other names are not real reports.

Yaad rakhein: Methane report → Global Methane Pledge, CCAC + UNEP, COP30 Belém 2025.

Answer: (B) Global Methane Status Report 2025

Concept: In a neutralisation reaction an acid and a base react to form a salt and water.

1. Base + Acid → Salt + Water, e.g. $\text{NaOH}+\text{HCl}\to \text{NaCl}+{\text{H}}_2\text{O}$.
2. Carbon dioxide is formed when an acid reacts with a carbonate, not with a base in general; a metal is never a product here.

Yaad rakhein: Acid + Base = Salt + Water (heat released: exothermic).

Answer: (A) Salt + Water

Concept: The Supreme Court has repeatedly protected the Eco-Sensitive Zones around protected areas.

1. On 13 November 2025 the Supreme Court directed that no mining be allowed within one kilometre of the boundary of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, and that no new mining leases be granted there.
2. This continued the line of its 2022–23 Eco-Sensitive Zone orders (T.N. Godavarman case).

Yaad rakhein: Protected area + mining → 1 km no-go zone (Supreme Court).

Answer: (B) Banned mining activities within one km