Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Break the series into equal blocks and compare letters position-wise.

1. Make 4-letter groups: _XRL | Q_PJ | OT_H | MRL_ | KPJ_.
2. 1st letters: _, Q, O, M, K fall by 2 each time, so first blank = S.
3. 2nd letters: X, _, T, R, P → blank = V; 3rd letters: R, P, _, L, J → blank = N.
4. 4th letters: L, J, H, _, _ → F and D.
5. Filled series: SXRL QVPJ OTNH MRLF KPJD.

Trick: Count total length (20) and try block size 4 — every block then has exactly one blank, a strong sign the split is right.

Answer: (B) SVNFD

Concept: Track each position of the 3-letter clusters separately.

1. 1st letters: D(4) → G(7) → J(10) → M(13): +3 each time → next P(16).
2. 2nd letters: U → S → Q → O: −2 → next M.
3. 3rd letters: T → R → P → N: −2 → next L.

Trick: The 2nd and 3rd letters stay consecutive (UT, SR, QP, ON) — so the answer must end in a reverse pair like ML. Only PML fits.

Answer: (B) PML

Concept: Fix the person with a definite position first, then place the rest.

1. Two people to the left of S → S is 3rd from left.
2. Two between S and F → F is 6th; one between F and C → C is 4th.
3. D immediately left of E needs two adjacent free seats → D = 1st, E = 2nd; B = 5th.
4. Order: D E S C B F → only F is to the right of B.

Trick: “Only n people to the left” = seat n + 1 from the left; start every such puzzle from that line.

Answer: (B) One

Concept: In figure series, track each small element's movement step by step.

1. The ellipse is split into six parts; the ring and the dot occupy alternate parts.
2. At each step both marks shift two parts anticlockwise, so figure 4 repeats figure 1.
3. Applying one more shift: the ring comes to the small lower part and the dot moves just right of the vertical line.
4. Only option (A) shows this; in (B) the dot is on the wrong side of the line.

Trick: If the cycle length is 3, the 5th figure equals the 2nd figure — just match it with the options.

Answer: (A)

Concept: Find separate rules for each letter and for the number.

1. RN 20 → SI 4: R+1 = S, N−5 = I, 20−16 = 4.
2. Check MK 5 → NF −11: M+1 = N, K−5 = F, 5−16 = −11 ✓.
3. QV 3: Q+1 = R, V−5 = Q, 3−16 = −13 → RQ −13.

Trick: Use the number first: 3 − 16 = −13 appears only in option (C).

Answer: (C) RQ -13

Concept: Look at the differences between consecutive terms.

1. Differences: $30-4=26$, $82-30=52$, $160-82=78$, $264-160=104$.
2. These are $26\times 1$, $26\times 2$, $26\times 3$, $26\times 4$ → next $26\times 5=130$.
3. Missing term = $264+130=394$.

Trick: All differences end in an even number and grow by 26 — just add $104+26$ to the last term.

Answer: (B) 394

Concept: Letters between two letters = difference of positions − 1.

1. Sorted letters of LANGUID: A, D, G, I, L, N, U.
2. 3rd from left = G (7); 1st from right = U (21).
3. Letters between = 21 − 7 − 1 = 13.

Trick: Remember EJOTY (5, 10, 15, 20, 25): U = T+1 = 21, G = E+2 = 7.

Answer: (D) 13

Concept: A vertical mirror swaps left and right; top and bottom stay the same.

1. In the figure, one beam lies outside the triangle on the right and one inside on the left of the vertical line.
2. In the image these sides swap: outer beam goes to the left, inner beam to the right, both at the same height.
3. Option (C) alone shows this; (A), (B), (D) keep the outer beam on the right.

Trick: Reject any option that looks identical to the question figure on the left-right axis — the mirror must flip it.

Answer: (C)

Concept: Find the gap pattern between consecutive letters of each cluster.

1. MOL: M→O (+2), O→L (−3).
2. OQN: +2, −3; HJG: +2, −3.
3. YXV: Y→X (−1), X→V (−2) — different pattern.

Trick: In three clusters the middle letter is the largest; in YXV the first letter is the largest — odd one spotted in 5 seconds.

Answer: (B) YXV

Concept: When codes are small even numbers, test the letter count.

1. MCOPT has 5 letters → $5\times 4=20$ ✓.
2. VSB has 3 letters → $3\times 4=12$ ✓.
3. JIGETY has 6 letters → $6\times 4=24$.

Trick: $\frac{20}{5}=\frac{12}{3}=4$ — same ratio means $\text{code}=4\times (\text{number of letters})$.

Answer: (A) 24

Concept: Swap the given pair and evaluate with BODMAS until LHS = 160.

1. Original LHS = $150+60-33+44-22=199$ (≠ 160).
2. After swapping 3 and 2, the terms become: $50\times 2$ → 100, $66÷3$ → 22 (others unchanged: 60, 44, 22).
3. Now LHS = $100+60-22+44-22=160$ ✓.

Trick: Needed drop = $199-160=39$. Swapping 3 and 2 cuts $50\times 3$ by 50 but raises the subtracted part by only $22-33=-11$ → net −39. Check the gap first.

Answer: (A) 3 and 2

Concept: Two 'All' statements with the same subject give a definite 'Some' between their predicates.

1. All cucumbers are carrots and all cucumbers are beans → cucumbers sit in both carrots and beans → some beans are carrots. (II) follows.
2. 'Some beans are apples' may refer to beans outside cucumbers, so apples need not touch cucumbers. (I) does not follow.

Trick: All A are B + All A are C ⇒ Some B are C (always true). A 'Some' link through a middle term gives no definite result.

Answer: (D) Only conclusion (II) follows.

Concept: Items with no common member are shown as separate, non-touching circles.

1. Pizza, pasta and noodles are three different food items.
2. None of them is a type of another, and nothing belongs to two of them at once.
3. So we need three independent circles — option (D).

Trick: Ask “Can X be Y?” for every pair. If all answers are No, choose three separate circles.

Answer: (D)

Concept: Compare letter positions term by term.

1. ESAW → GVCZ: E+2, S+3, A+2, W+3.
2. TIPD → VLRG: same +2, +3, +2, +3 ✓.
3. Apply to XUNC: X→Z, U→X, N→P, C→F, giving ZXPF.

Trick: X+2 must be Z — only option (C) starts with Z.

Answer: (C) ZXPF

Concept: Decode each symbol pair and note the gender it reveals.

1. U * F → U is mother of F.
2. F − L → F is father of L, so F is male (U's son).
3. L # M → L is brother of M, so L is male.
4. L is the son of U's son → U's son's son (grandson).

Trick: 'Brother' and 'father' symbols fix gender; mark males with + in your diagram to avoid son/daughter traps.

Answer: (B) Son's son

Concept: Start from the clue that gives an exact seat.

1. Two people to the right of G → G is 5th from left; M immediately left → M is 4th.
2. Two between G and L → L is 2nd; two between E and M → E is 1st.
3. K–H must be adjacent: seats 6, 7 → K 6th, H 7th; F gets 3rd.
4. Order: E L F M G K H.

Trick: In a row of 7, “only 2 to the right” = 5th from left (7 − 2 = 5).

Answer: (A) F

Concept: Check whether differences form a geometric pattern.

1. Differences: 10, 20, 40, 80 — each is twice the previous.
2. Next difference = 160.
3. Missing term = $174+160=334$.

Trick: Pattern is $\times 2-14$: $24\times 2-14=34$, $174\times 2-14=334$. Either way, answer ends in 4.

Answer: (C) 334

Concept: Two faces that are both adjacent to the same pair of faces in two views are opposite each other.

1. View 1: P and M are next to T.
2. View 2: the same P and M are next to I.
3. Only two faces of a cube can touch both P and M, and those two are opposite → T is opposite I.
4. Remaining pair: A opposite D.

Trick: Two common faces in both views ⇒ the remaining (uncommon) faces are opposite.

Answer: (C) T

Concept: Common letters in two words share common digits in their codes.

1. HIDS = 1273, DISK = 3210.
2. Common letters I, D, S ↔ common digits 1, 2, 3.
3. Extra letter H ↔ 7; extra letter K ↔ 0.

Trick: Strike out the common digits from the second code — the leftover digit belongs to the leftover letter K.

Answer: (B) 0

Concept: Each fold doubles the holes; on unfolding, holes appear as mirror images across the crease.

1. The sheet is folded once along the vertical line, so it has two layers.
2. Each punch makes a hole on both halves, mirrored across the centre line.
3. Two punches → four holes: one pair at each height, on both sides of the centre line.
4. Only option (B) shows this symmetry.

Trick: Holes = punches × 2^folds; first count holes in each option and reject the wrong counts.

Answer: (B)