Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Look at the gaps between consecutive letters inside each cluster.

1. CEH: C→E $+2$, E→H $+3$. PRU: P→R $+2$, R→U $+3$.
2. JLO: J→L $+2$, L→O $+3$.
3. UWX: U→W $+2$, W→X $+1$ – the second gap is different.

Trick: Pattern (+2, +3) in three clusters; UWX has (+2, +1), so it is the odd one.

Answer: (C) UWX

Concept: All face north, so left and right are the same as ours. Number the seats 1 (left) to 7 (right).

1. No one to the right of I → I = 7. Two people between I and K → K = 4.
2. K is to the immediate left of W → W = 5. Three people between H and W → H = 1.
3. Z is immediately right of J → J, Z need adjacent seats among 2, 3, 6 → J = 2, Z = 3; Y = 6.
4. Between Y (6) and Z (3): K and W → two people.

Trick: Fix the end person first ("no one to the right of I"), then work inward with "n people between" clues.

Answer: (D) Two

Concept: Replace the signs as instructed, then apply BODMAS (÷ and × before + and −).

1. After interchange: $2814÷7+3\times 75-5$.
2. $2814÷7=402$; $3\times 75=225$.
3. $402+225-5=622$.

Trick: Do the division and multiplication first; the big number divided by 7 gives a clean 402, which is the signal you are on track.

Answer: (B) 622

Concept: Apply the rule to each digit separately: odd digit $+2$, even digit $-2$.

1. 7213546 → 7+2 = 9, 2−2 = 0, 1+2 = 3, 3+2 = 5, 5+2 = 7, 4−2 = 2, 6−2 = 4.
2. New number: 9 0 3 5 7 2 4.
3. Third digit from the left = 3.

Trick: Only the asked position matters – third digit is 1 (odd) → 1+2 = 3; no need to convert the whole number.

Answer: (D) 3

Concept: Arrange the letters alphabetically, pick the required letters and count the letters strictly between them in the alphabet.

1. GUILDER → D, E, G, I, L, R, U.
2. Fourth from left = I (9); second from right = R (18).
3. Letters between I and R in the alphabet: J K L M N O P Q = $18-9-1=8$.

Trick: Letters between two letters = difference of positions $-1$.

Answer: (A) 8

Concept: Draw a Venn diagram: 'All eggs are squares' puts the eggs circle inside squares; 'Some crows are eggs' makes crows overlap eggs.

1. The crows that are eggs lie inside squares, so some squares are crows – Conclusion (I) follows.
2. 'All eggs are crows' is not forced: eggs may exist outside the crows circle – Conclusion (II) does not follow.

Trick: All A are B + Some C are A ⇒ Some B are C (definite); a 'Some' statement never yields an 'All' conclusion.

Answer: (B) Only conclusion (I) follows

Concept: In sentence coding, a word common to two sentences has the code common to both.

1. 'eagle gum novel' → fq ko hz; 'novel fresh zebra' → ko ef ni.
2. Common word: novel; common code: ko.
3. Hence novel = ko.

Trick: Match the overlap of words with the overlap of codes – no other step needed.

Answer: (D) ko

Concept: Substitute A = ÷, B = ×, C = +, D = − and evaluate each option with BODMAS.

1. Option D: $404÷4-15+50\times 8=101-15+400=486$ ✓.
2. Option A: $404÷4+15-50\times 8=101+15-400=-284$.
3. Option B: $404-4-15+50÷8=385+6.25=391.25$; Option C: $404\times 4-15+50÷8=1607.25$.

Trick: $404÷4=101$ and $50\times 8=400$ add up near 486 – test the option that has A with 4 and B with 8 first.

Answer: (D) 404 A 4 D 15 C 50 B 8

Concept: Track the position with coordinates, taking A as origin, North as $+y$ and East as $+x$. A left turn rotates N → W → S → E → N.

1. North 9: (0, 9). Left → West 13: (−13, 9). Left → South 19: (−13, −10).
2. Left → East 44: (31, −10). Left → North 10: (31, 0) = P.
3. P is 31 km due east of A, so he must drive 31 km towards the West to reach A.

Trick: Net N–S: $9-19+10=0$; net E–W: $-13+44=31$ km east → go back 31 km west.

Answer: (C) 31 km to the West

Concept: When neighbouring terms rise and fall alternately, split the series into two alternate sub-series.

1. Odd places: 43, 31, 19 → each $-12$.
2. Even places: ?, 67, 79 → each $+12$, so ? $=67-12=55$.
3. Check: 43, 55, 31, 67, 19, 79 – alternate differences $-12$ and $+12$ hold.

Trick: Zig-zag series → read alternate terms; both chains here use the same step 12.

Answer: (D) 55

Concept: Compare the shift of each letter from the first cluster to the second.

1. HC–GB: H→G $-1$, C→B $-1$. NI–MH: N→M $-1$, I→H $-1$. LG–KF: L→K $-1$, G→F $-1$.
2. JE–MK: J→M $+3$, E→K $+6$ – different pattern.
3. Also, within every first cluster the gap is 5 (H–C, J–E, N–I, L–G), but in MK it is only 2.

Trick: Three pairs are simply "each letter one step back"; the one that moves forward is the odd one.

Answer: (B) JE - MK

Concept: For people facing the centre, 'left' means clockwise and 'right' means anticlockwise. Fix one person and place the others.

1. Fix Ej. Bg is third to the right (3 places anticlockwise); Gv is third to the left (3 places clockwise) – in a circle of 7 they sit next to each other opposite Ej.
2. Fm is a neighbour of Bg (the seat not taken by Gv), and Cf is Fm's other neighbour → going clockwise from Ej: Ej, _, _, Gv, Bg, Fm, Cf.
3. Dn is not Ej's neighbour → Dn takes the seat two places from Ej, Ar sits immediately left of Ej.
4. From the left of Fm (clockwise) to Ar: Cf, Ej, then Ar → two people between.

Trick: Facing centre: left = clockwise. 'Third to right' and 'third to left' of the same person in a 7-seat circle are adjacent seats.

Answer: (C) Two

Concept: Compare words letter by letter from the left; the first differing letter decides the order.

1. All start with 'Br'. Third letters: Brain (a), Bread (e), Break (e), Bright (i), Bring (i).
2. a < e < i → Brain first; among Bread/Break the fourth letters match (a), fifth: d < k → Bread, Break.
3. Bright vs Bring: fourth letter g = g, fifth: h < n → Bright, Bring.
4. Order: Brain (5), Bread (3), Break (4), Bright (1), Bring (2).

Trick: Move to the next letter only when the current letters tie; vowels order a < e < i < o < u helps quick sorting.

Answer: (A) 5, 3, 4, 1, 2

Concept: Find the shift of each letter in the given pairs and apply it to the new cluster.

1. LHLP → TPTX: L(12)+8 = T(20), H(8)+8 = P(16), L+8 = T, P(16)+8 = X(24) → every letter $+8$.
2. Check DZDH → LHLP: D+8 = L, Z(26)+8 = 34−26 = 8 = H, D+8 = L, H+8 = P ✓.
3. JFJN: J(10)+8 = R(18), F(6)+8 = N(14), J+8 = R, N(14)+8 = V(22) → RNRV.

Trick: The 1st and 3rd letters are identical in every cluster, so the answer must have identical 1st and 3rd letters – only RNRV does.

Answer: (D) RNRV

Concept: 'All carrots are onions' and 'All onions are peas' give nested circles: carrots inside onions inside peas.

1. Conclusion (I) 'All peas are carrots' reverses the inclusion – peas may exist that are not carrots, so it does not follow.
2. Conclusion (II) 'Some onions are carrots': since all carrots are onions, the carrots are onions too, so some onions are definitely carrots – follows.

Trick: All A are B ⇒ Some B are A (always true); but All A are B never gives All B are A.

Answer: (B) Only conclusion (II) follows

Concept: The 1991 reforms (LPG – Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation) opened the Indian economy to foreign capital.

1. India faced a severe balance-of-payments crisis in 1991; foreign exchange reserves were enough for barely two weeks of imports.
2. To bring in foreign capital and technology, the government offered tax incentives and concessions to foreign investors and raised FDI limits.
3. Options A, B and D go against the very aim of liberalisation.

Yaad rakhein: 1991 reforms = LPG; tax holidays for foreign investors were part of "Globalisation".

Answer: (C) To attract foreign investment

Concept: PCB = Printed Circuit Board – the board on which electronic components are mounted and connected by etched copper tracks.

1. The motherboard, RAM modules and graphics cards are all PCBs.
2. Copper "tracks" are printed/etched on an insulating board – hence "Printed".

Yaad rakhein: Motherboard = the main PCB of a computer.

Answer: (B) Printed Circuit Board

Concept: The Environment Protection (Management of Contaminated Sites) Rules, 2025 were notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

1. They lay down a step-wise process: identification of probable contaminated sites, investigation/determination, and remediation with cost recovery under the "polluter pays" principle.
2. State Pollution Control Boards and district authorities are made responsible for identification and remediation plans.
3. The other options are not notified rules dealing with contaminated sites.

Yaad rakhein: "Contaminated sites" → Environment Protection (Management of Contaminated Sites) Rules, 2025.

Answer: (C) Environment Protection (Management of Contaminated Sites) Rules, 2025

Concept: BIRSA 101 is India's first indigenous CRISPR-Cas9 based gene therapy for Sickle Cell Disease.

1. It was launched in November 2025 on Janjatiya Gaurav Divas (15 November, birth anniversary of Birsa Munda) – hence the name BIRSA.
2. Developed under CSIR (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology) with industry partners, it supports the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (target 2047).

Yaad rakhein: BIRSA 101 → Birsa Munda → tribal-dominated areas where sickle cell disease is most common.

Answer: (B) BIRSA 101

Concept: Ashoka's edicts and Kharavela's Hathigumpha inscription are in Prakrit, the people's language of the time.

1. Ashokan edicts: Prakrit language, mostly Brahmi script (Kharoshthi in the north-west; Greek/Aramaic at Kandahar).
2. Kharavela (Kalinga, 1st century BCE): Hathigumpha inscription at Udayagiri, Odisha – Prakrit in Brahmi script.
3. Sanskrit inscriptions become common later (e.g., Rudradaman's Junagadh inscription, 150 CE).

Yaad rakhein: Ashoka → Prakrit + Brahmi; first major Sanskrit inscription → Rudradaman (Junagadh).

Answer: (D) Prakrit