Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Items in a list must be the same part of speech, sharing one preposition and one noun.

1. efficient, reliable, secure – all adjectives qualifying 'manner'.
2. Write 'in' and 'manner' only once: in an efficient, reliable, and secure manner.
3. (A) mixes a phrase; (C) and (D) mix adverbs with adjectives.

Trick: Read it as 'in an ___ manner' – each word in the list must fit the blank on its own.

Answer: (B) in an efficient, reliable, and secure manner

Concept: 'Who/whom' refers to people; 'which' refers to things. Plural antecedent → plural verb.

1. Antecedent = patents (things) → 'of which', not 'of whom'.
2. 'many' (of the patents) is plural → 'are licensed'.
3. Correct: of which many are licensed to competitors.

Trick: Two checks in 5 seconds: thing → which; many → are. Only (B) passes both.

Answer: (B) of which many are licensed to competitors

Concept: Modal + V1 becomes modal + be + V3; an interrogative stays interrogative.

1. Object 'the assignment' → new subject.
2. can complete → can be completed.
3. Question form: Can + subject + be + V3 …? → Can the assignment be completed by the students?

Trick: A question must begin with the helping verb – only (B) starts with 'Can'.

Answer: (B) Can the assignment be completed by the students?

Concept: Reverse the backshift: past perfect continuous → present perfect continuous, past continuous → present continuous, past perfect → simple past.

1. they had been attempting → we have been attempting
2. was proving → is proving
3. he had initially thought → I initially thought
4. Remove 'that', add inverted commas.

Trick: (C) just copies the indirect tenses and (D) mixes 'have been' with 'was' – both inconsistent; (A) uses the wrong 'were attempting'.

Answer: (B) He said to her, "The challenging puzzle we have been attempting since morning is proving to be more difficult than I initially thought."

Concept: Opener introduces the topic; pronouns and 'however'/'this' link to earlier sentences.

1. Q introduces early alchemists and their experiments → opener.
2. R: 'Their goal' – 'their' = alchemists → Q-R.
3. P: 'The results, however' – outcome of the experiments → R-P.
4. S: 'This lack of systematic methodology' sums up P → last.

Trick: Only (A) and (C) start with Q; 'Their ultimate goal' must sit next to Q, so Q-R → (A).

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

Concept: $\text{Distance}=\text{Speed}\times \text{Time}$, with time converted to hours when speed is in km/hr.

1. $40\text{ min}=\frac{40}{60}\text{ hr}=\frac{2}{3}\text{ hr}$.
2. Distance = $84\times \frac{2}{3}=56$ km.

Trick: 84 km/hr = 84 km in 60 min → 1.4 km per minute; $1.4\times 40=56$ km.

Answer: (B) 56 km

Concept: For the same distance at speeds x and y, average speed = $\frac{2xy}{x+y}$.

1. $x=50$, $y=30$.
2. Average = $\frac{2\times 50\times 30}{50+30}=\frac{3000}{80}=37.5$ km/hr.

Trick: Average speed for equal distances is always a little below the simple mean (40) – only 37.5 fits just under it.

Answer: (B) $37.5\mathrm{km}/\mathrm{hr}$

Concept: Remaining length = total length − length cut.

1. 12 − 4.5 = 7.5 m.

Trick: Make it whole: 12 − 5 = 7, then add back 0.5 → 7.5.

Answer: (B) 7.5 meters

Concept: LCM = product of the highest powers of all prime factors.

1. $8=2^3$, $24=2^3\times 3$, $40=2^3\times 5$.
2. $\text{LCM}=2^3\times 3\times 5=120$.

Trick: 8 and 24 both divide 24, so LCM(8, 24, 40) = LCM(24, 40); check multiples of 40: 40, 80, 120 → $120÷24=5$ ✔.

Answer: (C) 120

Concept: Accept an inference only if it follows from the statement or the stated purpose of the action.

1. I: 'declining profits' = financial trouble → follows.
2. II: nothing is said about the staff's performance → does not follow.
3. III: the cut is a response to falling profits, so the company clearly expects it to improve profits → follows.

Trick: Reject any inference that brings in a new reason (like 'underperformance') not present in the statement.

Answer: (D) If both I and III follow

Concept: Find the rule that turns 11 into 1000, then apply it to 6.

1. $1000={10}^3$ and $10=11-1$ → rule: $(n-1{)}^3$.
2. 6 → $(6-1{)}^3=5^3=125$.

Trick: 1000 is a perfect cube – whenever a big number is a cube/square, test $(n\pm 1)$.

Answer: (A) 125

Concept: Check differences between consecutive terms.

1. $12-4=8$, $28-12=16$ → differences double.
2. Next: $28+32=60$; check $60+64=124$ ✔.

Trick: Also $\times 2+4$: $4\times 2+4=12$, $12\times 2+4=28$, $28\times 2+4=60$, $60\times 2+4=124$.

Answer: (C) 60

Concept: Treat first and second numbers of the pairs as two separate series.

1. First: 5, 8, 11, __, 17 → +3 → 14.
2. Second: 9, 14, 19, __, 29 → +5 → 24.
3. Missing pair = (14, 24).

Trick: In every pair, second = first + a growing gap (4, 6, 8, 10, 12) → 14 + 10 = 24.

Answer: (A) $(14,24)$

Concept: Differences form a pattern; the term that breaks it is wrong.

1. 88→69→52→37: −19, −17, −15 (odd numbers falling by 2).
2. Next should be −13: 37 − 13 = 24, not 23.
3. 24 − 11 = 13, 13 − 9 = 4 ✔ – the rest fits.

Trick: When one term is wrong, two consecutive differences go off pattern (here −14 and −10) – the shared term (23) is the culprit.

Answer: (D) 23

Concept: Classify each device by the direction of data flow.

1. Mouse, Keyboard, Scanner → send data into the computer (input).
2. Monitor → displays results (output).

Trick: Ask 'does it feed the computer or show me something?' – the 'show' device is odd.

Answer: (D) Monitor

Concept: Three numbers are prime; find the composite one.

1. 31, 37, 41 – no divisor other than 1 and itself.
2. $65=5\times 13$ → composite.

Trick: Any number ending in 5 (other than 5) is divisible by 5 – spot it instantly.

Answer: (D) 65

Concept: Find the pattern in the gaps.

1. Gaps: 1.5, 2, 2.5 → each +0.5.
2. Next gap = 3 → 18 + 3 = 21.

Trick: Double every term to remove decimals: 24, 27, 31, 36 → gaps 3, 4, 5 → next 42 → halve: 21.

Answer: (C) 21

Concept: Split the 16-letter string into blocks of 4 and look for a repeating unit.

1. Blocks: a_cd / _cba / _bcd / dc_a.
2. Pattern: abcd, dcba, abcd, dcba.
3. Blanks: b, d, a, b → bdab.

Trick: Fill the first blank from the likely unit 'abcd' (→ b); only option (B) starts with b.

Answer: (B) bdab

Concept: Solve the letter part and the number part separately.

1. Letters: X(24), V(22), T(20), R(18), P(16) → next 14 = N.
2. Numbers: $3^2,5^2,7^2,{11}^2,{13}^2$ → next prime ${17}^2=289$.
3. Next term: N289.

Trick: All options end in 289, so only the letter matters: two steps back from P is N.

Answer: (B) N289

Concept: Convert letters to alphabet positions and check gaps.

1. Positions: 3, 5, 8, 12, 17 (for C, E, H, L, Q).
2. Gaps +2, +3, +4, +5 → next +6.
3. 17 + 6 = 23 = W.

Trick: Use EJOTY (5, 10, 15, 20, 25): 23 is two before Y(25) → W.

Answer: (D) W