Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: claim/say + to have + V3: both verbs turn passive.

1. Object 'an ancient city' becomes the subject.
2. claimed → was claimed; to have discovered → to have been discovered.
3. (B) loses the perfect infinitive, (C) stays active, (D) has no 'was'.

Trick: 'to have + V3' in active = 'to have been + V3' in passive.

Answer: (A) An ancient city was claimed to have been discovered by the archaeologists beneath the desert sands.

Concept: Reverse the back-shift of tense, pronouns and time words.

1. had visited → have you visited; had opened → opened; previous month → last month.
2. felt → do you feel; was → is; had been visiting → have been visiting; they → we.
3. Only option (D) makes all the changes.

Trick: Look for 'last month' + 'we' + present tense together – that removes A, B, C fast.

Answer: (D) "Have you visited the museum that opened last month, and do you feel it is larger than the gallery we have been visiting for years?' he asked her.

Concept: told … that → said to; undo tense back-shift; 'that week' → 'this week'.

1. they (researchers) → you; 'must' stays 'must'.
2. contained → contains; had been missing → has been missing.
3. Option (A) has all these; (B) keeps past forms, (C) uses 'We', (D) uses 'had to'.

Trick: Pronoun first: listeners 'they' → 'you'. Then time word 'this week' – one option remains.

Answer: (A) "You must publish the findings this week, because it contains the evidence that has been missing from the archives for decades," the professor said to the researchers.

Concept: Compliment = praise; complement = something that completes/suits.

1. She 'received a lovely ___' → praise → compliment.
2. Dress chosen to suit her eye colour → complement.

Trick: complIment – 'I like your dress' (praise); complEment – complEtes.

Answer: (A) compliment, complement

Concept: Proscribe = ban; prescribe = lay down/recommend.

1. Hazardous materials in toys → to be banned → proscribe.
2. Safer standards → to be laid down → prescribe.

Trick: PRO-scribe = PROhibit; PRE-scribe = a doctor's PREscription (recommend).

Answer: (A) proscribe, prescribe

Concept: Each letter is written as the position of its opposite letter (27 − position).

1. PEN = positions 16, 5, 14 → opposites 11, 22, 13 ⇒ 112213 ✔
2. INK = positions 9, 14, 11 → opposites 18, 13, 16 ⇒ 181316 ✔
3. BOOK = positions 2, 15, 15, 11 → opposites 25, 12, 12, 16 ⇒ 25121216

Trick: Opposite pairs add to 27 (A+Z = 1+26). B→25 alone matches options A, C, D; O→12 leaves only A and C; K→16 picks A.

Answer: (A) 25121216

Concept: Every letter is replaced by the next letter of the alphabet.

1. SCIENTIST → TDJFOUJTU (each +1); BIOLOGIST → CJPMPHJTU (same).
2. GEOLOGIST +1 each: GEO → HFP, LOGIST → MPHJTU ⇒ HFPMPHJTU.

Trick: 'LOGIST' is common to BIOLOGIST and GEOLOGIST, so its code 'MPHJTU' can be copied directly – only GEO→HFP is new.

Answer: (B) HFPM PHJTU

Concept: A good leader resolves technical disputes on merit, with team agreement.

1. Hear both members, weigh pros and cons of each idea, reach a team-agreed middle path – option (C).
2. (A) runs away from the problem, (B) decides by seniority not merit, (D) passes the leader's own job upward.

Trick: In leadership questions, pick the option that is fair to all, solves the issue and keeps team spirit – avoid 'escape', 'side-taking' and 'complain' options.

Answer: (C) Listen patiently to the views of both, discuss their positive and negative aspects and find a middle path with the consensus of the team.

Concept: Address the root cause (personal stress) with empathy, not punishment.

1. Speak to him privately, understand his problem and offer help – this protects his dignity and improves work.
2. Public exposure (A), immediate warning/report (B) and removal (D) only punish the symptom.

Trick: Cause known + human problem ⇒ the empathetic, private-talk option is almost always right.

Answer: (C) Talk personally, understand the situation and offer cooperation

Concept: Decode the phrase from the end: 'my mother's father' first.

1. Gita's mother's father = Gita's maternal grandfather (nana).
2. His only daughter = Gita's mother.
3. Man's mother = Gita's mother, and he is male ⇒ brother.

Trick: 'Only daughter of my mother's father' is just a long way of saying 'my mother'.

Answer: (B) Brother

Concept: $\%\text{ increase}=(\text{increase}÷\text{original})\times 100$.

1. Increase = $1060-700=$ ₹360.
2. $\%=\frac{360}{700}\times 100=\frac{360}{7}=51.42\dots \%$

Trick: $\frac{360}{7}$: $7\times 51=357$, remainder 3 → $\frac{3}{7}\approx 0.43$, so ≈ 51.4% – only option A starts with 51.

Answer: (A) $51.42\%$

Concept: $\text{Average speed}=\text{total distance}÷\text{total time}$.

1. Distance = $80\times 3+70\times 4=240+280=520$ km.
2. Time = $3+4=7$ h.
3. Average = $\frac{520}{7}\approx$ 74.28 km/h.

Trick: When times are given, average speed is a weighted mean: $70+\frac{10\times 3}{7}=70+4.28=74.28$.

Answer: (B) 74.28 km/h

Concept: Positions decrease by 3 each step.

1. P(16), M(13), J(10), G(7) – each −3.
2. Next: 7 − 3 = 4 → D.

Trick: Skip two letters backward each time: P (o n) M (l k) J (i h) G (f e) D.

Answer: (B) D

Concept: Find which operations make both given equations true ($ = +, ! = ÷).

1. $789+42÷14=789+3=792$ ✔
2. $797+80÷10=797+8=805$ ✔
3. $399+45÷15=399+3=$ 402

Trick: Result is only a little more than the first number ⇒ '+ small quotient'. 42 and 14 → 3 hints at ÷.

Answer: (B) 402

Concept: Positions decrease by 4 each step.

1. T(20), P(16), L(12), H(8) – each −4.
2. Next: 8 − 4 = 4 → D.

Trick: All positions are multiples of 4 (20, 16, 12, 8) → next multiple 4 = D.

Answer: (B) D

Concept: Differences are consecutive odd numbers.

1. Differences: 3, 5, 7, 9.
2. Next difference 11 ⇒ $31+11=$ 42.

Trick: Terms = $n^2+6$ (1+6, 4+6, 9+6, 16+6, 25+6) → $36+6=42$.

Answer: (C) 42

Concept: AP: $T_n=a+(n-1)d$.

1. $a=22$, $d=4$.
2. $T_{50}=22+49\times 4=22+196=$ 218.

Trick: $T_n=4n+18$ here, so $T_{50}=200+18=218$. Also, every term is even and leaves remainder 2 on ÷4 – only 218 fits.

Answer: (B) 218

Concept: Each letter moves 10 places forward.

1. D(4)→N(14), H(8)→R(18), L(12)→V(22): +10 each.
2. HLP: H(8)→18 R, L(12)→22 V, P(16)→26 Z ⇒ RVZ.

Trick: The second term of the first pair (H) begins the second pair, so its answer starts with what H became – R. Only RVZ starts with R.

Answer: (B) RVZ

Concept: The code is the word written backwards.

1. DELHI reversed = IHLED ✔
2. PATNA reversed = ANTAP.

Trick: Check only the last letter of the word: PATNA ends in A and starts with P → code must be A…P; then middle T-N reversed = N-T.

Answer: (D) ANTAP

Concept: Each group = 4 consecutive letters; first letters jump +6.

1. Starting letters: B(2), H(8), N(14) → +6 each.
2. Next start = 20 → T; group = TUVW (in order).

Trick: Gap between groups is always 2 letters (F G, L M, R S) – after Q skip R, S → start at T.

Answer: (B) T U V W