Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Draw the least-overlap diagram; a conclusion follows only if it is true in every possible case.

1. Paragraphs ⊂ Essays, and Essays have nothing common with Stories.
2. (I) Paragraphs lie inside Essays, so they can never touch Stories → (I) is false.
3. (II) Only some words are paragraphs; the other words may lie outside Essays → 'All words are essays' is not certain.

Trick: 'All A are B' + 'No B is C' ⇒ 'No A is C' is definite, so 'Some A are C' is always rejected.

Answer: (B) Neither conclusion (I) nor (II) follows.

Concept: Check which pairs overlap and which pairs are completely separate.

1. Some tables are wooden → Table overlaps Wood.
2. Some tables are of steel → Table overlaps Steel.
3. Wood and steel are different materials → these two circles never meet.
4. So Table sits in the middle, cutting both, with Wood and Steel apart – the three-circle chain in option (B).

Trick: Common link in the middle + two unrelated items on the sides = chain of three circles.

Answer: (B)Chain of three circles with Table in the middle.

Concept: Letters common to both words take the digits common to both codes; the leftover letter gets the leftover digit.

1. AUNT → 8793, NUTS → 3598.
2. Common letters U, N, T ↔ common digits 8, 9, 3.
3. NUTS has S left over; 3598 has 5 left over → S = 5.
4. (Similarly A = 7.)

Trick: Cancel the common letters and common digits – whatever remains pairs up directly.

Answer: (C) 5

Concept: Find the shift applied to each letter and repeat it.

1. R→U, S→V, T→W: every letter +3.
2. Check: W→Z, X→A, Y→B (Z wraps to A).
3. FGHF +3 → F→I, G→J, H→K, F→I = IJKI.

Trick: First and last letters are the same in FGHF, so the answer must also start and end with the same letter and have three different letters in the middle – only IJKI fits.

Answer: (C) IJKI

Concept: Look at the differences between consecutive terms.

1. Gaps between terms: 7, 5, 7, 5 (they alternate).
2. So the next gap is 7.
3. 56 + 7 = 63.

Trick: Every alternate term grows by 12 (32, 44, 56 and 39, 51, ?) → 51 + 12 = 63.

Answer: (D) 63

Concept: Convert letters to positions (A=1 … Z=26) and compare the steps.

1. GZS: 7→26→19 = −7, −7 (cyclic).
2. OHA: 15→8→1 = −7, −7.
3. IBU: 9→2→21 = −7, −7 (cyclic).
4. FYT: 6→25 = −7, but 25→20 = −5 → odd one.

Trick: Going back 7 is the same as going forward 19; just check each cluster's second-to-third step – FYT breaks it.

Answer: (C) FYT

Concept: Common letters ↔ common digits; the leftover letter takes the leftover digit.

1. HAMS → 5607, MASK → 0578.
2. Common letters A, M, S ↔ common digits 5, 0, 7.
3. MASK has K left; 0578 has 8 left → K = 8.
4. (Also H = 6.)

Trick: Strike out what is common in both words and both codes – the unpaired ones match.

Answer: (C) 8

Concept: Facing the centre: left = clockwise, right = anticlockwise. Number 7 seats clockwise 0–6.

1. G = 0; I is 3 seats to G's right → I = 4.
2. H is 3 seats from I; seat 0 is taken → H = 1.
3. K is 4 seats from G; seat 4 is taken → K = 3.
4. Free: 2, 5, 6. M on J's immediate left → J = 5, M = 6; L = 2.
5. From L going right (anticlockwise): H, G, then M → 2 people between.

Trick: Settle the fixed people (G, I, H, K) first; the adjacent pair (J–M) always goes to the only two neighbouring empty seats.

Answer: (A) Two

Concept: Swap the signs first, then solve using BODMAS.

1. − ↔ ÷ and × ↔ +: $19+24-6\times 8÷6$ becomes $19\times 24÷6+8-6$.
2. $19\times 24=456$; $456÷6=76$.
3. $76+8-6=78$.

Trick: Simplify $24÷6=4$ first: $19\times 4=76$, then +2 → 78.

Answer: (B) 78

Concept: Link each person generation by generation.

1. Q and R are both children of P → siblings (Q is male).
2. R is S's wife and T is S's son → R is T's mother.
3. Q = brother of T's mother.

Trick: Mother's brother = maternal uncle (mama). Q is one generation above T, so 'Brother' is ruled out at once.

Answer: (B) Mother's brother

Concept: Facing north, left end = seat 1, right end = seat 7. Fix definite people first.

1. No one left of X → X = 1. Four between X and N → N = 6.
2. Three to the right of L → L = 4.
3. M immediately left of W: only adjacent free seats are 2–3 → M = 2, W = 3.
4. O not next to L → O ≠ 5 → O = 7, Y = 5.
5. Row: X M W L Y N O → right end is O.

Trick: 'Only k people to the right' means seat number = 7 − k; here L = 7 − 3 = 4.

Answer: (D) O

Concept: The exact figure, same size and same orientation, must be traceable inside the option.

1. Break the figure into its parts: long base, tall right vertical, short step at the top, a slant rising to the right above the step, and a small slant at the bottom-left.
2. (B) and (D) have no full base joined to a right vertical → rejected.
3. In (A) the top slant runs the wrong way; in (C) every stroke appears with the correct direction.

Trick: Pick the most unusual stroke (here the slant above the step) and check its direction in each option first – this removes wrong options quickly.

Answer: (C)Option (c)

Concept: Find the differences; check if they change by a fixed amount.

1. Gaps: 55, 52, 49, 46.
2. Each gap is 3 less than the previous → next gap 43.
3. 133 − 43 = 90.

Trick: Second-level difference is constant (−3): just continue 55, 52, 49, 46, 43.

Answer: (B) 90

Concept: A face touches four faces; the one face never seen beside it is its opposite.

1. View 1: E with G and K. View 2: E with L and N.
2. E is adjacent to G, K, L, N.
3. Only H is left → H is opposite E.

Trick: The letter appearing in both views often reveals its opposite at once: list its four neighbours, the missing letter is the answer.

Answer: (A) E

Concept: Rewrite the letters Z→A and compare position by position.

1. CABLEWAY has 8 letters, with A appearing twice.
2. Arranged from Z to A: Y, W, L, E, C, B and then the two A's at places 7 and 8.
3. Original: C A B L E W A Y. Matching place by place, only position 7 has the same letter (A) in both.

Trick: In reverse order the two A's must take the last two places; CABLEWAY has A at place 7 → that one stays. Count = 1.

Answer: (D) One

Concept: Each letter moves a fixed number of places (cyclic).

1. E(5)→L(12): +7; W(23)→D(4): +7 cyclic; R→Y, T→A also +7.
2. GYTV → NFAC confirms +7.
3. BTOQ: B→I, T→A, O→V, Q→X = IAVX.

Trick: Check only the first two letters: B+7 = I and T+7 = A → only 'IAVX' and 'IAXV' remain; O+7 = V gives IAVX.

Answer: (D) IAVX

Concept: The face never seen next to a given face is its opposite.

1. View 1: J with B and H. View 2: J with A and V.
2. Neighbours of J: B, H, A, V.
3. The only face not touching J is N → N is opposite J.

Trick: Take the letter common to both views, write its four neighbours – the missing sixth letter is its opposite.

Answer: (D) J

Concept: Track each column of letters separately.

1. 1st letters: C, F, I, L → +3 → next O.
2. 2nd letters: Z, Y, X, W → −1 → next V.
3. 3rd letters: V, U, T, S → −1 → next R.
4. Next term = OVR.

Trick: First letters alone decide it: L+3 = O, and only OVR / ORV start with O; second letter W−1 = V → OVR.

Answer: (A) OVR

Concept: Follow each shape separately and note how many cells it moves per step.

1. Both the trapezium and the star move one row up each step.
2. After the top row, a shape restarts at the bottom of the next column.
3. In figure 5 the trapezium reaches the top of the middle column and the star the middle of the same column, directly below it – only option (d) shows this.

Trick: Predict the position of just one shape (trapezium → top-middle) and eliminate; then confirm with the second shape.

Answer: (D)Option (d)

Concept: 20 places → split into five blocks of 4 and read column-wise.

1. Blocks: _DHL / I_JN / KH_P / MJN_ / OLP_.
2. Column 1: _, I, K, M, O (+2) → G. Column 2: D, _, H, J, L → F.
3. Column 3: H, J, _, N, P → L. Column 4: L, N, P, _, _ → R, T.
4. Blanks: G F L R T.

Trick: First blank alone: column I, K, M, O steps +2, so it is G → only GDLST or GFLRT; second blank F settles it.

Answer: (D) GFLRT