5 February 2025 · Shift 2

Paper folding and punching The first fold brings the top half down on to the bottom half; the second fold brings the left half on to the right half, so the punch was made in the bottom-right quarter of the sheet. In that quarter the curved cut opens towards the outer right edge with the round hole beyond the curve, and the short upright nick at its inner end hangs from the BOTTOM arm. Unfolding reverses the folds: mirror that quarter left-right to get the bottom-left one, then mirror the whole bottom half top-bottom to get the two upper ones - so in the two upper quarters the nick must hang from the TOP arm instead. Option (b) turns every cut inwards and option (d) points all four the same way, so neither shows any mirroring. Option (a) mirrors left-right only - its nick hangs from the bottom arm in all four quarters. Only option (c) flips top to bottom as well, so (c) is the answer.

Coded blood relation Break the chain 'P + Q ÷ R × S - T' into single links and read each symbol from the code. 'P + Q' - P is the daughter of Q; 'Q ÷ R' - Q is the father of R; 'R × S' - R is the wife of S; 'S - T' - S is the brother of T. Q is the father of both P and R, and both are female (P is a daughter, R is a wife), so P and R are sisters. Now start at T: S is T's brother, R is that brother's wife, and P is that wife's sister. So P is T's brother's wife's sister, which is option (a).

Letter-cluster analogy Compare DSXL with FUZN letter by letter: D→F, S→U, X→Z, L→N, so every letter moves 2 places forward in the alphabet. The second pair obeys the same rule: G→I, M→O, U→W, B→D. Apply +2 to TFON: T→V, F→H, O→Q, N→P. The required cluster is VHQP, so the answer is option (b).

Interchange of signs Interchange the signs exactly as the question asks: every '+' becomes '-', every '-' becomes '+', every '×' becomes '÷' and every '÷' becomes '×'. The expression $19+55\times 5-7÷3$ therefore becomes $19-55÷5+7\times 3$. By BODMAS, do the division and the multiplication first: $55÷5=11$ and $7\times 3=21$. 19-11+21=29. So the question mark stands for 29, option (c).

Parallel row seating Draw the two rows one above the other and number the four facing pairs as columns 1 to 4. Row 2 faces north, so for P, Q, R and S the right hand points towards column 4; row 1 faces south, so for L, M, N and O the right hand points towards column 1. Q sits immediately to the right of S, so S and Q take consecutive columns, and R sits at neither end, so R must be in column 2 or 3. The only arrangement that allows this is S in 1, Q in 2, R in 3 and P in 4. Only two people sit between L and M, so L and M occupy columns 1 and 4; since S faces L, L is in column 1 and M in column 4. The one who faces N sits immediately to the left of P, that is in column 3, and column 3 holds R, so N is in column 3 and the remaining seat, column 2, goes to O. Column 2 has O in row 1 and Q in row 2, so O is faced by Q, which is option (d).

Number series Write the terms separately and take the difference of consecutive terms. 880-878=2, 884-880=4, 890-884=6, 898-890=8. The differences are 2, 4, 6, 8 - they grow by 2 each time, so the next difference is 10. 898+10=908, so the missing term is 908, option (c).

Venn diagram of classes Take the three classes two at a time. Some married people are women and some are not, so Married and Women overlap partly. Some women are doctors and some doctors are men, so Women and Doctors overlap partly; in the same way a doctor may or may not be married. No class lies wholly inside another, and no two of them are completely separate. The picture must therefore be three circles that cut one another, which is option (a).

Letter to number coding Write the alphabetical position of each letter of MRGF: M = 13, R = 18, G = 7, F = 6. Its code is 15-20-9-8, and 13+2=15, 18+2=20, 7+2=9, 6+2=8, so the rule is position + 2. YDXB confirms it: 25+2=27, 4+2=6, 24+2=26, 2+2=4, giving 27-6-26-4. For JWAS: J = 10, W = 23, A = 1, S = 19, so the code is 12-25-3-21. The answer is option (c).

Letter-cluster analogy Compare DKSO with CIPK position by position: D→C is -1, K→I is -2, S→P is -3, O→K is -4. LAPZ obeys the same rule: L→K is -1, A→Y is -2, P→M is -3, Z→V is -4. Apply -1, -2, -3, -4 to EYGN: E→D, Y→W, G→D, N→J. The required cluster is DWDJ, so the answer is option (b).

Figure series Each frame carries three things: a small down-arrow inside the square, a small circle inside the square and an arrow that points outwards from the border. The down-arrow moves one corner anticlockwise at every step - top-left, bottom-left, bottom-right, top-right - so in the fifth figure it is back at the top-left corner. The circle is always one corner ahead of it on the same anticlockwise round - bottom-left, bottom-right, top-right, top-left - so in the fifth figure it returns to the bottom-left corner. The outward arrow also travels anticlockwise round the border: bottom side, right side, top-right corner, top-left corner; the next stop is the left side. So the missing figure has the down-arrow at the top-left, the circle at the bottom-left and the outward arrow on the left side, which is option (d).

Alphabetical rearrangement Write the word and then its letters in alphabetical order, one below the other. SCRAMBLE rearranged alphabetically is ABCELMRS. Now compare the two rows place by place: S-A, C-B, R-C, A-E, M-L, B-M, L-R, E-S. No place has the same letter in both rows, so the answer is None, option (b).

Number series Take the difference of consecutive terms. 95-83=12, 108-95=13, 122-108=14, 137-122=15. The differences 12, 13, 14, 15 rise by 1 each time, so the next difference is 16. 137+16=153, so the missing term is 153, option (b).

Dice - opposite faces The face E is visible in both positions, so use E as the fixed face and note what touches it. In the first position E touches L (top) and T (right); in the second position the same E touches C (top) and U (right). So E is adjacent to L, T, C and U - four of the five other faces. The only face left, A, cannot touch E, so A and E are opposite each other. Hence the face opposite A is E, option (b).

Syllogism All three statements are of the 'All A are B' type, so they form a chain: cars inside rabbits, rabbits inside bananas, bananas inside lamps. Conclusion (I): the chain gives all cars are rabbits, all rabbits are bananas and all bananas are lamps, so every car is a lamp; (I) follows. Conclusion (II): all rabbits are lamps, and rabbits certainly exist in the diagram, so at least those lamps are rabbits; 'Some lamps are rabbits' is the valid converse and (II) follows. Both conclusions follow, so the answer is option (c).

Linear seating All seven face north, so number the seats 1 to 7 from the left end to the right end and read 'to the right of' as the next higher seat number. F sits immediately right of G and immediately left of D, so G, F and D are together in that order; as G is at an end, G takes seat 1, F seat 2 and D seat 3. E is immediately right of D, so E takes seat 4, and A is second to the right of E, so A takes seat 6. C must be at the other end, seat 7, and B second to the left of C is seat 5. The order is G, F, D, E, B, A, C, so between B and C sits A, which is option (c).

Letter series completion The series has 20 places, so try a block of five letters repeated four times. The letters that are already printed fit the block ASGFD: A_ _FD / _SGF_ / A_ _FD / AS_ _D. Fill the blanks block by block: S and G in the first block, A and D in the second, S and G in the third, G and F in the fourth. Reading the filled letters from left to right gives SGADSGGF, which is option (c).

Letter-cluster series Look down each column of the clusters GID, KMH, OQL, SUP. First letters: G, K, O, S - each is 4 places after the one before, so the next is W. Second letters: I, M, Q, U - again +4 each time, so the next is Y. Third letters: D, H, L, P - again +4 each time, so the next is T. The missing cluster is WYT, option (c).

Odd one out - letter clusters In each cluster compare the first letter with the other two. GKI: G to K is +4 and G to I is +2. MQO: M to Q is +4 and M to O is +2. SWU: S to W is +4 and S to U is +2. KON: K to O is +4 but K to N is only +3, which breaks the pattern. So KON does not belong to the group, and the answer is option (d).

Embedded figure Figure (X) is a four-sided piece: a long straight base, a tall slanting side rising to the right, a short slanting cut at the top and a vertical side coming straight down to the base. Since rotation is not allowed, look for the same piece standing the same way up in each option. In option (b) the lower right part of the square gives exactly that piece - part of the bottom edge is its base, part of the right edge is its vertical side, and the two slanting lines meeting near the top form the tall side and the short cut. In the other three options every such region either has the slant on the wrong side or misses the short cut at the top. So figure (X) is embedded in option (b).

Number coding Count the letters of each coded word instead of looking at the letters themselves. 'WEDS' has 4 letters and its code is 3; 'MAIUFQX' has 7 letters and its code is 6. So the code is (number of letters) - 1. 'GIQRBZLA' has 8 letters, so its code is 8-1=7. The answer is option (a).