Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Arrange events in time order: preparation → weekday practice → weekend long runs → race day.

1. P: diet and water to prepare the body – the start.
2. R: weekday short runs to build endurance.
3. Q: long weekend runs pushing limits.
4. S: finish line on race day – the end.

Trick: S (race day) must be last – only (A) and (B) end with S; P must start → (B).

Answer: (B) P, R, Q, S

Concept: Topic sentence first; a pronoun like 'This' must follow the idea it refers to.

1. P introduces the park's transformation – opener.
2. S: residents and shops supplied flowers, seats, equipment.
3. Q: 'This … effort' refers to that joint work in S.
4. R: result – the park became a popular spot.

Trick: Spot the link 'This effort' → it must come right after S (S–Q pair).

Answer: (A) P, S, Q, R

Concept: Parlour = a sitting room in a house.

1. Clues: shades closed, a lamp shining – an indoor space.
2. So parlour ≈ Room.
3. Balcony and garden are outdoors; a tunnel is a passage.

Trick: Beauty parlour / ice-cream parlour – always a room or shop, never outdoors.

Answer: (C) Room

Concept: Homophones sound alike but differ in meaning and spelling.

1. Blank 1 (a ring): signet ring = seal ring.
2. Blank 2 (paddled in a pond): cygnet = young swan.
3. Symbol (sign) and cymbal (instrument) do not fit.

Trick: Cygnet starts with 'cy' like 'cygnus' (swan constellation); signet ~ 'sign'.

Answer: (B) signet, cygnet

Concept: Greek root 'theos' = god; prefix tells how many.

1. poly = many → Polytheist: believes in many gods.
2. mono = one → Monotheist; a = without → Atheist.
3. Agnostic: says God's existence cannot be known.

Trick: mono-1, poly-many, a-none, agnostic-'not sure'.

Answer: (B) Polytheist

Concept: Replace symbols with real signs, then solve by BODMAS.

1. @ = ÷, # = ×, $ = +, * = − → $32÷4\times 3+10-6$
2. ÷ and × left to right: $32÷4=8,8\times 3=24$
3. $24+10-6=$ 28

Trick: Write the converted expression first – most errors come from wrong substitution, not arithmetic.

Answer: (B) 28

Concept: Between (no overlap) = Total − (left rank + right rank).

1. Karan 20th from left + Arjun 12th from right = 32
2. 32 < 60, so they don't overlap.
3. Between = 60 − 32 = 28

Trick: Total − sum of ranks = number in between (when the sum is smaller than the total).

Answer: (B) 28

Concept: Between = Total − (rank from left + rank from right), when sum is less than total.

1. 15 + 12 = 27 (less than 50)
2. Cars between = 50 − 27 = 23
3. Check: B is 50 − 12 + 1 = 39th from left; 39 − 15 − 1 = 23 ✓

Trick: Total − sum of the two ranks – one-line answer.

Answer: (D) 23

Concept: Find which operations make both examples true.

1. 169 and 13: $169÷13=13;940-13=927$ ✓ → # = −, ~ = ÷
2. Check: $289÷17=17;625-17=608$ ✓
3. $755-252÷18=755-14=$ 741

Trick: $169={13}^2,289={17}^2$ – the divisor is a hint for division.

Answer: (A) 741

Concept: Convert letters to positions and find the gap.

1. B(2), F(6), J(10), N(14) → each +4
2. Next: 14 + 4 = 18 = R

Trick: EJOTY: E5, J10, O15, T20, Y25 – R is just before T (20 − 2 = 18).

Answer: (C) R

Concept: Each number of a valid pair = (consecutive square) − 1.

1. $8=3^2-1,15=4^2-1;24=5^2-1,35=6^2-1;48=7^2-1,63=8^2-1$
2. 36 : 48 → 36 is a perfect square itself, not (square − 1).
3. So 36 : 48 is the odd one.

Trick: Add 1 to each number: 9:16, 25:36, 49:64 are square pairs; 37:49 is not.

Answer: (D) $36:48$

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

1. 10:11, 24:25, 19:18 → difference 1 (consecutive numbers).
2. 15 : 15 → difference 0.
3. So 15 : 15 is the odd pair.

Trick: Spot the pair with identical numbers – it breaks any 'difference' rule.

Answer: (C) 15 : 15

Concept: Vacant and Empty are synonyms, so find a synonym of Sedate.

1. Sedate = quiet, composed, unhurried.
2. Synonym → Calm.
3. Nervous, Noisy, Fast are nearly opposite.

Trick: 'Sedative' medicine calms you – sedate = calm.

Answer: (B) Calm

Concept: Compare digits place by place.

1. 1→3, 3→5, 2→4: each digit +2.
2. 643 → 8, 6, 5 = 865

Trick: Only the units digit needs checking: 3 + 2 = 5 → options (B) and (C); hundreds 6 + 2 = 8 → (B).

Answer: (B) 865

Concept: Find how 72 gives 125.

1. $7-2=5$, and $5^3=125$ ✓
2. 84: $8-4=4,4^3=$ 64

Trick: 125 is a cube – look for a 5 hidden in 72 ($7-2$).

Answer: (C) 64

Concept: Treat letters and numbers as two separate series.

1. Letters: C(3), F(6), I(9), L(12) → +3 → 15 = O
2. Numbers: 24, 20, 16, 12 → −4 → 8
3. Next term = O8

Trick: Letters are multiples of 3 (C, F, I, L, O) – a quick check.

Answer: (A) O8

Concept: Check the gap inside each group and between first letters.

1. Inside: D→G (+3)→I (+2); J→M→O; P→S→U.
2. First letters: D(4), J(10), P(16) → +6 → V(22).
3. V(22) +3 = Y(25), +2 = 27 → 27 − 26 = 1 = A → VYA

Trick: Inside pattern +3, +2 alone fixes it: only VYA has V→Y→A.

Answer: (B) VYA

Concept: Match every character, case and punctuation mark.

1. (A) comma after Zurich instead of semicolon.
2. (C) 'Cet.' instead of 'CET.'
3. (D) extra dot in '12.th'.
4. (B) matches exactly.

Trick: Check punctuation and capital letters first – that's where options differ.

Answer: (B) Zurich; January 12th, 14:20 CET.

Concept: Compare each option with 'London_05 Nov_2024, 18:45 GMT.' symbol by symbol.

1. (A) uses a hyphen 'London-05' instead of an underscore.
2. (C) has a small 'g' in 'gMT'.
3. (D) puts a full stop after 2024 instead of a comma.
4. (B) is identical to the reference.

Trick: Scan in three blocks: separators (_ , .), digits, then capitals.

Answer: (B)London_05 Nov_2024, 18:45 GMT.

Concept: Count small triangles first, then triangles made by two adjacent slant lines.

1. 5 columns, each cut by one slant line → $5\times 2=10$ small triangles.
2. Each 'V' or inverted 'V' formed by two neighbouring slant lines with the top/bottom edge → 4 larger triangles.
3. Total = $10+4=$ 14

Trick: For n columns in a zig-zag: $2n+(n-1)=3n-1\to 3\times 5-1=14$.

Answer: (D) 14