12 November 2025 · Shift 3

Statement and conclusions A conclusion follows only if the statement itself carries it; anything stronger than the statement must be rejected. Conclusion I says online learning 'always' reduces quality, but the statement reports difficulties only for 'some students', so this sweeping claim does not follow. Conclusion II is stated directly — schools 'have reduced classroom expenses and saved on physical infrastructure', which is exactly saving money. Conclusion III is stated as well — studies suggest a blended model can combine the advantages of online and in-person education effectively. So II and III follow, and the answer is option (d).

Situation judgement In a situation-judgement item, choose the response that protects the important interests on both sides instead of sacrificing one of them. Rohit has two interests here: the money the franchise offers, and the personal touch that keeps his regular customers coming. Selling 70% hands over control, so option (a) secures the money but destroys the very thing that makes the café popular. Option (b) saves the character of the café but throws away a genuine chance to grow, and option (d) shuts down a business that is already successful. Negotiating a smaller stake lets Rohit take part of the investment and still run the café his own way, so option (c) is the best course of action.

Symbol substitution Put the real signs in place of the symbols: the dollar symbol stands for a minus sign and '@' stands for a multiplication sign. The expression therefore becomes $30-4\times 5\times 5$. By BODMAS the multiplication is carried out first: $4\times 5\times 5=100$. So the value is 30-100=-70. Hence the answer is option (d).

Situation judgement A situation-judgement question is answered by the response that removes the cause of the upset and keeps the team working together. The teammate is upset because the change was sudden and unexplained, not because the work itself is wrong. Options (a) and (c) simply write the person off, and option (b) attacks them personally; none of the three repairs the working relationship. Talking calmly, giving the reason for the reassignment and bringing them into future planning removes the cause of the resentment and restores cooperation. So option (d) is the most appropriate way to handle the situation.

Ranking in a queue Both ranks must be counted from the same end before they can be compared. Formula: $\mathrm{position}\mathrm{from}\mathrm{front}=\mathrm{total}-\mathrm{position}\mathrm{from}\mathrm{rear}+1$. For Raju: 50-18+1=33, so Raju is 33rd from the front. Ram is 14th from the front, so the people standing between them occupy the 15th to the 32nd places. Number of people between =33-14-1=18. Hence the answer is option (c).

Statement and course of action A course of action follows when it attacks the cause named in the statement or prevents the harm the statement describes. The statement names one cause: the poor quality of education is driving children out of rural primary schools. Course of action I builds basic facilities and offers incentives, which improves the school itself and gives families a reason to send the children back, so it follows. Course of action II checks each child's learning progress regularly, which is the standard way of finding weak teaching and correcting it, so it follows as well. The two actions work on the same problem from different sides and do not rule each other out, so both follow and the answer is option (c).

Letter series Write the position number of each letter and look at the gap between one letter and the next. $C\left(3\right)\to F\left(6\right)\to I\left(9\right)\to L\left(12\right)$, so every letter moves 3 places forward. The next position is 12+3=15, and the 15th letter of the alphabet is O. Hence the answer is option (a).

Logical judgement When every candidate is equal on one measure, the choice has to be made on the quality that the post itself demands. All the students already have good academic records, so marks cannot separate them and option (a) is of no help. A class monitor has to keep order, take responsibility and help classmates, not win competitions or serve long years, so options (b) and (d) have nothing to do with the duty. Only one student is described as disciplined, responsible and helpful, which is exactly the profile a monitor needs. So option (c) is the correct judgement.

Word formation List the letters available in ENVIRONMENT: E, N, V, I, R, O, N, M, E, N, T — there are two E's, three N's and no A at all. IRON needs I, R, O, N and TONE needs T, O, N, E; every one of those letters is present. METER needs M, E, T, E, R, and since ENVIRONMENT contains two E's this word can also be formed. RAIN needs R, A, I, N, but the letter A does not occur in ENVIRONMENT. Hence RAIN is the word that cannot be formed, and the answer is option (d).

Mirror image The mirror AB stands vertically beside the figure, so the image is a left-to-right reversal; nothing moves up or down and nothing is rotated. The shaded triangular flag lies to the left of the vertical line and points left, so in the image it must lie to the right of that line and point right. The plain Z-shaped outline lies in the lower right of the circle, so in the image it must lie in the lower left and appear as a reversed Z. The slanting chord runs from the top right down to the lower left, so in the image it must run from the top left down to the lower right. Option (c) shows all three changes together and keeps every part at the same height, so it is the required mirror image. Option (d) merely repeats the question figure, option (b) turns the shaded flag instead of reflecting it, and in option (a) the reversed Z does not stand where the reflection places it.

Problem solving In a clash of this kind the best solution is the one that treats both sides fairly and still lets the event take place. Option (a) rewards one team only because it reached the ground first, and option (c) cancels one team's programme altogether — both are unfair to a team that has done nothing wrong. Option (d) leaves the decision to chance, which settles the clash but gives the losing team no reason it can accept. Dividing the available time between the two teams and fixing a schedule gives each of them the main ground and removes the overlap completely. So the event coordinator should do what option (b) says.

Problem solving A problem-solving item is answered by the option that removes the cause of the problem, not by one that merely reacts to it. The cause here lies in the way the collection is organised: the route does not match where the waste actually is, so the trips run late and some areas are never reached. Redesigning the route according to the density of each area and the shortest paths lets the same trucks cover every area within the time available. Raising fines punishes residents who are not the cause, keeping the old schedule leaves the problem exactly as it is, and adding trucks without planning raises the cost while the faulty route remains. Hence option (a) is the most logical improvement.

Letter pair analogy Write the position number of every letter and compare the two members of the given pair one by one. $S\left(19\right)\to Q\left(17\right)$ is a step of -2, while $U\left(21\right)\to W\left(23\right)$ is a step of +2. Apply the same two steps to VW: V(22)-2=T(20) and W(23)+2=Y(25). So the required pair is TY, which is option (d).

Number series First take the gaps between consecutive terms: 19-7=12, 67-19=48 and 259-67=192. Each gap is 4 times the one before it, since $12\times 4=48$ and $48\times 4=192$, so the next gap is $192\times 4=768$. The same rule can be written as one operation on each term: $\mathrm{term}\times 4-9$, because $7\times 4-9=19$ and $19\times 4-9=67$. So the missing term is $259\times 4-9=1036-9=1027$. Hence the answer is option (b).

Odd pair out Check what joins the two numbers of each pair by writing both of them as perfect squares. $4=2^2$ and $9=3^2$, and 2 and 3 are consecutive numbers. $9=3^2$ with $16=4^2$, and $49=7^2$ with $64=8^2$ — in both pairs the roots are again consecutive. $81=9^2$ and $121={11}^2$, but 9 and 11 are not consecutive, so this pair breaks the pattern. Hence the odd pair is 81, 121, which is option (d).

Paper folding and punching The first fold is made along the diagonal that runs from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner, and the second fold along the other diagonal, so the folded paper is one quarter of the sheet and is 4 layers thick. Every punch therefore prints 4 times when the sheet is opened out, and every notch cut on a crease opens into one shape that straddles that crease symmetrically. Three holes are punched, so the open sheet shows $3\times 4=12$ holes; the two notches, one on each crease, open into 2+2=4 notch shapes. Because the two creases are the two diagonals, the finished pattern must look the same when it is reflected in either diagonal: a pair of holes near each corner, four holes round the centre, and one notch sitting astride each diagonal. Option (d) carries all twelve holes and places the four notches symmetrically across the two diagonals, so it is the required figure. In options (a) and (b) one of the notches is turned the wrong way round, and option (c) shows only six holes instead of twelve.

Embedded figure First break the question figure into the parts that must all be found again: a slant rising from the left towards the right, a horizontal line at the top, a long vertical line at the extreme right, a long horizontal line lower down, and a short upright standing on that lower line. Rotation is not allowed, so each of these five parts has to appear in the option figure in the same direction and at the same relative distance from the others. In option (b) the slant, the top horizontal, the long right-hand vertical, the lower horizontal and the short upright on it all lie together exactly as in the question figure, so the figure is hidden there. In option (a) the slant and the right-hand vertical fall on blank space instead of on drawn lines, and in option (c) the upright on the lower line is far too short to reach the required height. Option (d) has no set of lines standing at these distances at all.

Number matrix The grid holds three numbers one below the other in each column: Read each column from the top: the middle number is three times one more than the top number. First column: $3\times \left(4+1\right)=3\times 5=15$. Third column: $3\times \left(6+1\right)=3\times 7=21$. So for the second column the missing number is $3\times \left(7+1\right)=3\times 8=24$. The bottom row confirms the pattern, since it is always $8\times \left(\mathrm{top}\right)+12$: $8\times 4+12=44$, $8\times 6+12=60$ and $8\times 7+12=68$.

Venn diagram counting The triangle stands for the rabbits, the circle for the lions and the rectangle for the deers. Rabbits that are neither lions nor deers must lie inside the triangle but outside the circle and outside the rectangle at the same time. Only one region satisfies all three conditions — the lowest part of the triangle, which hangs below the rectangle and clear of the circle. That region carries the number 8, so 8 rabbits are neither lions nor deers. The 6 just above it is still inside the rectangle, so those rabbits are deers as well and must not be counted.

Class relationship diagram A bear eats both plants and flesh, so every bear is an omnivore; the class 'Bear' lies wholly inside the class 'Omnivore'. Cattle are grazing animals that eat only plants, so no head of cattle is an omnivore and none is a bear. The diagram therefore needs a small circle drawn completely inside a larger circle, with a third circle standing entirely apart from both. Option (b) shows exactly this arrangement, so it is the correct diagram. Option (a) puts both smaller circles inside the big one, which would make cattle omnivores, and option (d) keeps all three apart, which would deny that a bear is an omnivore.

Dictionary order All five words begin with 'Ast', so compare the fourth letter first. Only Asteroid has 'e' there, and 'e' comes before 'r', so Asteroid (3) is first. The rest begin with 'Astro'. Compare the sixth letter: 'l' of Astrologer and Astrological comes before 'n' of Astronaut and Astronomy. Astrologer and Astrological agree up to 'Astrolog'; then 'e' comes before 'i', so Astrologer (2) precedes Astrological (4). Astronaut and Astronomy agree up to 'Astron'; then 'a' comes before 'o', so Astronaut (5) precedes Astronomy (1). The order is therefore 3, 2, 4, 5, 1.

Completing a pattern The drawing is an eight-sided figure whose centre is the centre of the square, with a straight line joining the centre to each of its eight corners. In every quarter the same three things appear: the two sides of the octagon, the line from the centre to the slanting corner, and a short line running from the corner on the vertical mid-line to the mid-point of that slanting line. The missing quarter is the bottom-right one, so its top-left corner is the centre of the square, the point on its top edge is the octagon corner lying on the horizontal mid-line, and the point on its left edge is the octagon corner lying on the vertical mid-line. The piece must therefore show a line starting exactly at its top-left corner and running down to the slanting corner, two more lines from that corner to the marked points on the top edge and on the left edge, and a short line from the point on the left edge to the middle of the first line. Option (a) draws all four of these lines with the slanting line beginning exactly at the corner of the piece, so it completes the pattern. In option (c) that slanting line does not reach the corner of the piece, in option (d) the upper line runs to the corner of the square instead of to the octagon corner, and in option (b) no line touches the left edge at all.

Figure analogy Compare the first two figures part by part. The line carrying the two short arms is upright in the first figure and horizontal in the second, while the plain crossing line turns the other way, from horizontal to upright. The arm that pointed to the right at the top now points downwards at the right-hand end, and the arm that pointed to the left at the bottom now points upwards at the left-hand end. Both changes together are exactly a quarter turn of the whole figure in the clockwise direction, so figure 2 = figure 1 turned through ${90}^{\circ }$ clockwise. The third figure is a circle with a plain upright line inside it; a quarter turn leaves the circle unchanged and lays that line flat. So the answer is a circle with a plain horizontal line, which is option (a); option (c) merely repeats the third figure, while options (b) and (d) add short arms that the third figure never had.

Figure series Track each corner from one box to the next instead of looking at the symbols one at a time. The symbol in the top-right corner moves to the top-left corner, the symbol in the bottom-left corner moves to the top-right corner, and the symbol in the top-left corner moves to the bottom-right corner. The symbol that was in the bottom-right corner leaves the box altogether, and a brand-new symbol enters at the bottom-left corner. The fourth box holds + at the top-left, ? at the top-right, > at the bottom-left and O at the bottom-right. So in the fifth box the top-left is ?, the top-right is >, the bottom-right is + and O disappears, while the fresh symbol = takes the bottom-left corner. Only option (c) has ? , > , + and = standing in exactly these four places.

Letter coding Write the place value of every letter of the first pair: C(3) U(21) K(11) T(20) and G(7) Y(25) O(15) X(24). Each letter has moved forward by exactly 4 places. The second pair obeys the same rule: B(2)→F(6), S(19)→W(23), E(5)→I(9), U(21)→Y(25). Apply +4 to every letter of AGSV: A(1)→E(5), G(7)→K(11), S(19)→W(23), V(22)→Z(26). So AGSV is coded as EKWZ.