13 November 2025 · Shift 2

Letter coding Compare COHERENCE with its code FRKHUHQFH letter by letter. C→F, O→R, H→K, E→H — every letter has moved three places forward in the alphabet, so the rule is +3. Apply the same +3 shift to EVENNESS: E→H, V→Y, E→H, N→Q, N→Q, E→H, S→V, S→V. The code is therefore HYHQQHVV, i.e. option (a).

Letter coding Check the first pair: A→B, C→D, C→D, I→J, D→E, E→F … every letter moves one place forward. The second pair follows the same rule, so the coding rule is simply +1 for each letter. Apply +1 to ACCOUNTABILITY: A→B, C→D, C→D, O→P, U→V, N→O, T→U, A→B, B→C, I→J, L→M, I→J, T→U, Y→Z. The code is BDDPVOUBCJMJUZ; note that the last three letters come from T, Y giving U, Z. Hence option (c) is correct.

Letter coding In PHYSICS → QIZTJDT: P→Q, H→I, Y→Z, S→T, I→J, C→D, S→T. Every letter has moved exactly one place forward, and BIOLOGY → CJPMPHZ obeys the same +1 rule. Apply +1 to SCIENCE: S→T, C→D, I→J, E→F, N→O, C→D, E→F. The code is TDJFODF, i.e. option (a).

Statement and conclusions A conclusion follows only if the statement itself contains it; anything wider or stronger than the statement must be rejected. Conclusion I is directly supported: the statement gives the gains (efficiency, innovation) and also the problems (job displacement, data misuse, no accountability). Conclusion II is stated almost word for word — experts emphasise the need for regulations and responsible use of AI. Conclusion III demands that AI be stopped completely, which the statement never suggests; it asks for regulation, not for a ban. So only I and II follow, and the answer is option (b).

Situational judgement A team lead has to remove the cause of the delay, not merely react to the person causing it. Option (c) does both halves of that job: a private talk brings out why the deadlines are slipping, and a realistic plan makes the next ones achievable. Public criticism (a) humiliates the member and damages the morale of the whole team while leaving the cause untouched. Ignoring the problem (b) only hides it, and the same delay will return in the next cycle. Going straight to senior management (d) skips the corrective step a leader is expected to take first. Hence option (c) is the most appropriate action.

Symbol substitution First replace every symbol of the expression by the arithmetic sign it stands for. So 15 % 11 ★ 14 % 16 becomes 15-11+14-16. Only addition and subtraction are left, so by BODMAS they are worked from the left: 15-11=4. 4+14=18, and then 18-16=2. Hence the required value is 2, i.e. option (b).

Symbol substitution Put the real sign in place of each symbol before doing any arithmetic. So 6 % 15 ? 11 S 16 becomes $6-15+11\times 16$. By BODMAS the multiplication is done first: $11\times 16=176$. The expression is now 6-15+176, and 6+176=182. 182-15=167, so the value is 167, i.e. option (a).

Social intelligence Social intelligence means reading the other person's discomfort correctly and then reducing it. The colleague is new and withdrawn, so what he lacks is confidence and a link with the group. Option (b) supplies exactly that: private encouragement removes the fear of judgement, and help in connecting brings him into the team. Avoiding him (a) leaves him isolated for longer, and pointing out his behaviour in a meeting (c) makes him still more self-conscious. Reporting him to management (d) treats an adjustment difficulty as misconduct. Hence option (b) is the best response.

Ranking in a row Both positions must first be counted from the same end. Rule: position from the beginning = total - position from the end $+1$. For Kavita: 60-28+1=33, so she stands 33rd from the beginning. Geeta is 25th and Kavita is 33rd, so the children strictly between them number 33-25-1=7. Hence there are 7 children between Geeta and Kavita, option (a).

Position in a row For one item in a row of n: position from the left + position from the right =n+1, because the lamp itself is counted twice. Here n=40 and the position from the left is 19, so the position from the right =40-19+1=22. The 19th lamp from the left is therefore the 22nd lamp from the right, i.e. option (b).

Course of action A course of action follows only if it removes the cause named in the statement and is practical. The cause is clearly stated — there are no trained teachers and no proper guidance. Course of action I appoints trained mathematics teachers and adds remedial classes, which supplies exactly what is missing, so it follows. Course of action II shuts the school down; that punishes the students for a shortage that is not theirs and destroys their schooling instead of improving it, so it does not follow. Hence only I follows, option (a).

Statement and arguments An argument is strong when it bears directly on the question asked and points to a real, substantial consequence of the decision. Argument I names the chief gain claimed for permanent work-from-home — a better work-life balance and higher productivity — and that is exactly the ground on which such a policy is judged, so it is strong. Argument II names the matching practical risk: with day-to-day supervision gone, the freedom can be misused and output can fall, which would defeat the very purpose of the policy. Both therefore speak to the merits of the proposal itself rather than to something outside it, and a company deciding the question must weigh both. Hence both I and II are strong, option (c).

Letter series Write the alphabetical position of each letter: D =4, H =8, M =13, S =19. The gaps are 8-4=4, 13-8=5 and 19-13=6, so the jump itself grows by one each time. The next jump must be +7, giving 19+7=26. The 26th letter of the alphabet is Z, so the answer is option (a).

Letter series Take the alphabetical positions: V =22, R =18, N =14, J =10. Each term is 4 less than the one before it, so the rule is -4 throughout. The next position is 10-4=6, and the 6th letter of the alphabet is F. Hence the missing letter is F, option (b).

Logical judgement When one limited budget must serve several demands, the demand that touches health and safety is settled first. The only complaint actually reported is about unsafe drinking water, which can make students ill straight away. So installing additional drinking water facilities is the immediate need and the correct judgement. Upgrading the computer labs (a) and renovating the playground (b) are genuine improvements, but no harm follows if they wait for the next budget. A cultural fest (c) is optional spending and cannot come before a health hazard. Hence option (d) is correct.

Word formation from letters MANUSCRIBE is built from the letters M, A, N, U, S, C, R, I, B, E, and each of these letters appears in it exactly once. So a word can be formed only if every letter it needs is present, and no letter is needed more than once. MANURE (M, A, N, U, R, E), NURSE (N, U, R, S, E) and SCRIBE (S, C, R, I, B, E) satisfy both conditions, so all three can be formed. ERASER needs the letter R twice and the letter E twice, but MANUSCRIBE supplies only one R and only one E. Hence ERASER cannot be formed, and option (a) is correct.

Course of action A sound course of action must first establish the facts and then remove the cause, without punishing anyone before proof and without harming the innocent. Option (c) does exactly that: investigating the complaint and checking the attendance and route records shows whether the bus is really late and where the delay is created, so a fair remedy can follow. Option (a) suspends the driver before any inquiry, which is punishment without evidence; option (b) simply ignores a loss of teaching time that the school is answerable for. Option (d) cancels the bus service permanently and so penalises every student for one person's alleged fault. Hence the appropriate course of action is (c).

Letter-pair analogy Compare the letters of the first pair with those of the second: V → T and W → U. In the alphabet V is the 22nd letter and T the 20th, W is the 23rd and U the 21st, so each letter moves 2 steps backward. Apply the same shift to RS: R (18)-2= P (16) and S (19)-2= Q (17). So RS : PQ, and option (b) is correct.

Vowel-based letter analogy Look at the first letter of each pair: E, I, O — these are the vowels taken in their natural order. In every pair the vowel is followed by the letter that comes immediately after it in the alphabet: E → F, I → J, O → P. The vowel that comes after O is U, and the letter immediately after U is V. So the required pair is UV, and option (c) is correct.

Number series Take the differences of consecutive terms: 81-66=15, 98-81=17, 117-98=19. These differences 15, 17, 19 are consecutive odd numbers, so the next difference is 19+2=21. Required term =117+21=138. Hence option (c) is correct.

Cube-based series Each term is one less than a perfect cube: $7=2^3-1$, $26=3^3-1$, $63=4^3-1$, $124=5^3-1$. The cubes used are those of 2, 3, 4, 5, so the next term uses the cube of 6. Required term $=6^3-1=216-1=215$. Hence option (c) is correct.

Number series Take the differences of consecutive terms: 16-3=13, 42-16=26, 94-42=52. Each difference is double the one before it, since $13\times 2=26$ and $26\times 2=52$. So the next difference is $52\times 2=104$. Required term =94+104=198. Hence option (a) is correct.

Odd number pair In each option find the gap between the two numbers of the pair. 36-27=9, 54-45=9 and 72-63=9, so in three pairs the second number is 9 more than the first. In the remaining pair 89-81=8, which breaks the rule (it should have been 81 : 90). Hence the odd pair is 81 : 89 and option (d) is correct.

Dictionary order All five words begin with 'De', so the third letter decides the first grouping: Dea… , Deb… , Dec… . That puts Deathwatch(1) first and Decahedral(5) last, with the three 'Deb' words in between. Among the 'Deb' words the fourth letter decides: Debasement (a), Debilities (i), Debouching (o), and a < i < o. So the dictionary order is Deathwatch(1), Debasement(4), Debilities(2), Debouching(3), Decahedral(5), i.e. 1, 4, 2, 3, 5. Hence option (c) is correct.

Dictionary order The six words are Madam(1), Medal(2), Media(3), Mewed(4), Modon(5) and Moody(6); all begin with M, so the second letter groups them as Ma… , Me… , Mo… . Madam is the only 'Ma' word, so it stands first, and the two 'Mo' words stand last. Among the 'Me' words, Medal and Media share 'Med' and the fourth letter gives a < i, so Medal comes before Media; Mewed follows both because w comes after d. Among the 'Mo' words, Modon has 'Mod' and Moody has 'Moo', and d < o, so Modon comes before Moody. So the order is Madam(1), Medal(2), Media(3), Mewed(4), Modon(5), Moody(6), i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Hence option (a) is correct.