Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Every letter of each term moves +2 to form the next term.

1. EKP → GMR → IOT → KQV: each letter +2
2. K+2 = M, Q+2 = S, V+2 = X ⇒ MSX

Trick: Within each term the letters are at gaps of 6 (E–K–P): a quick check that MSX fits (M–S–X).

Answer: (A) MSX

Concept: Test whether each statement alone fixes the shortest pole.

1. Statement I: S is taller than only two ⇒ S is 3rd from bottom; F < S and I < F ⇒ I < F < S ⇒ I is the shortest. Sufficient.
2. Statement II: C > L says nothing about the others. Not sufficient.

Trick: For 'shortest/tallest' questions, a statement is sufficient as soon as one element is pinned to the bottom (or top).

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

Concept: Vowels → previous letter, consonants → next letter; then count repeats.

1. I G N I T I O N → H H O H U H N O
2. H appears 4 times (more than twice); O appears twice

Trick: Three I's all become H and G also becomes H — that is why H dominates.

Answer: (B) H

Concept: Vowels → next letter, consonants → previous letter; then count letters appearing exactly twice.

1. F A N T A I L → E B M S B J K
2. Only B (from the two A's) appears twice ⇒ one letter

Trick: Repeated source letters (A, A) give the only repeat; all other letters are distinct.

Answer: (B) One

Concept: Decode: B @ Z (B is husband of Z), Z − E (Z is daughter of E), E $ Q (E is father of Q).

1. Z is E's daughter and Q is E's child ⇒ Z is Q's sister
2. B is Z's husband ⇒ B is Q's sister's husband (brother-in-law)

Trick: Q's gender is unknown, so options naming Q's role ('Brother's wife', 'Son's wife') cannot be fixed; only the relation through Z works.

Answer: (C) Sister’s husband

Concept: Common letters get common digits; the unique letter gets the unique digit.

1. AIDS → 7192, DASH → 9215; common letters A, D, S ⇒ common digits 9, 1, 2
2. I = 7 (only in AIDS); H = 5 (only in DASH)

Trick: Find the digit present in DASH's code but absent from AIDS's code: 5.

Answer: (D) 5

Concept: Number positions 1 (bottom) to 7 (top) and place boxes from the most definite clue.

1. G = 3; two boxes between G and C ⇒ C = 6
2. Only F below B ⇒ F = 1, B = 2
3. E immediately below A in the remaining 4, 5, 7 ⇒ E = 4, A = 5, D = 7
4. Top to bottom: D, C, A, E, G, B, F ⇒ 4th from top = E

Trick: 'Only F is below B' pins two boxes at once (F bottom, B second) — use such clues first.

Answer: (B) E

Concept: Each letter moves one step back (−1).

1. VZNT → UYMS: V−1=U, Z−1=Y, N−1=M, T−1=S; RJKS → QIJR likewise
2. AFLM: A−1=Z (wrap), F−1=E, L−1=K, M−1=L ⇒ ZEKL

Trick: A−1 wraps to Z. Option B (ZGML) tempts with Z but G is F+1, not F−1.

Answer: (C) ZEKL

Concept: Common letters ↔ common digits.

1. CADS → 4689, DASH → 6985; common letters A, D, S ⇒ common digits 6, 8, 9
2. C = 4; H = 5

Trick: The digit that appears only in DASH's code (5) is H's code.

Answer: (C) 5

Concept: Check each number: symbol on its left AND symbol on its right?

1. Numbers in the series: 9, 5, 5, 2, 3
2. @ 9 # ✓; & 5 5 ✗ (5 follows); 5 5 2 ✗; 5 2 > ✗ (5 precedes); > 3 (end) ✗
3. Count = 1

Trick: Adjacent numbers (5 5 2) kill each other's chances; only an isolated number between symbols counts.

Answer: (B) One

Concept: Replace letters by operators and apply BODMAS.

1. $198-89+(72÷2)-3\times 4$
2. $=198-89+36-12=133$

Trick: Compute $72÷2=36$ and $3\times 4=12$ first; then $198-89=109$, $109+36=145$, $145-12=133$.

Answer: (A) 133

Concept: Differences double each time.

1. $12\to 13$ (+1), $13\to 15$ (+2), $15\to 19$ (+4), $19\to 27$ (+8)
2. Next: $27+16=43$

Trick: Differences $1,2,4,8,16$ are powers of 2 — a very common CBT series.

Answer: (C) 43

Concept: Alternating differences: +19, −5, +19, −5, …

1. $25+19=44$, $44-5=39$, $39+19=58$, $58-5=53$
2. Next: $53+19=72$

Trick: Up-down-up-down pattern ⇒ alternate terms form their own series: $25,39,53,67$ and $44,58,72$ (each +14).

Answer: (A) 72

Concept: Common letters ↔ common digits.

1. CROW → 7513, WORM → 7613; common letters R, O, W ⇒ common digits 7, 1, 3
2. C = 5; M = 6

Trick: 6 appears only in WORM's code, so it is M's code.

Answer: (A) 6

Concept: Check whether each statement alone identifies the shortest stick.

1. Statement II: only one stick shorter than E ⇒ E is 2nd from bottom; J < E ⇒ J is the shortest. Sufficient.
2. Statement I: K > C alone fixes nothing about the shortest. Not sufficient.

Trick: 'Only one is shorter than E' plus 'J is shorter than E' names that one ⇒ J. Statement I is a distractor.

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

Concept: Find the shift from the first cluster to the second in each pair.

1. GJ–FI: −1, −1; JK–IJ: −1, −1; CA–BZ: C−1=B, A−1=Z (wrap) — all (−1, −1)
2. KD–HB: K−3=H, D−2=B — different

Trick: Don't be fooled by the wrap-around in CA–BZ; it still follows −1. The pair with uneven shifts (−3, −2) is the odd one.

Answer: (C) KD – HB

Concept: Number positions 1 (bottom) to 7 (top).

1. Two boxes below F ⇒ F = 3; M third from top ⇒ M = 5
2. L immediately above M ⇒ L = 6; D immediately above L ⇒ D = 7
3. N above E above G in the remaining 1, 2, 4 ⇒ N = 4, E = 2, G = 1
4. Top to bottom: D, L, M, N, F, E, G ⇒ second from bottom = E

Trick: Chain clues (D above L above M) lock three consecutive positions at once — place the chain, then fill the gaps.

Answer: (D) E

Concept: Find one rule that maps both given pairs, treating numbers as wholes.

1. $6\times 5+2=32$ ✓ and $2\times 5+2=12$ ✓
2. $9\times 5+2=47$

Trick: Try $n\times k+c$ first: $(32-12)÷(6-2)=5$ gives the multiplier, then $c=2$.

Answer: (D) 47

Concept: Facing the centre: 'left' is clockwise, 'right' is anticlockwise. Fix A and place others.

1. G is 2nd to the left of A ⇒ G is 2 places clockwise from A; A is 3rd to the left of F ⇒ A is 3 places clockwise from F, i.e. F is 3 places anticlockwise from A. Clockwise so far: A, _, G, _, F, _, _
2. G is immediate right of E ⇒ E is just clockwise after G: A, _, G, E, F, _, _
3. B immediate left of D ⇒ D then B clockwise in the last two: A, C, G, E, F, D, B
4. F is immediately clockwise after E ⇒ F is to the immediate left of E

Trick: Draw a circle of 7 dots and mark 'L = clockwise' once; then every clue is a simple count.

Answer: (C) Immediate left

Concept: Common letters ↔ common digits.

1. PACE → 8471, CAMP → 7412; common letters P, A, C ⇒ common digits 7, 4, 1
2. E = 8 (only in PACE); M = 2 (only in CAMP)

Trick: The digit unique to CAMP's code (2) is M's code.

Answer: (B) 2