6 February 2025 · Shift 2

Figure series Each box carries a solid corner symbol at the top right and three symbols ω, ○ and Y placed in four fixed spots - top-centre, mid-right, bottom-centre and mid-left - one of which is always empty. Track those four spots from one box to the next. Every symbol, and the empty spot as well, moves one place anticlockwise at each step, so the whole arrangement repeats after four boxes. Box 5 must therefore look like box 1: ○ at mid-left, ω at mid-right, Y at bottom-centre and the top-centre spot empty. The corner symbol runs ●, ▲, ■, ★ and comes back to ● in the fifth box. Hence option (c) is the answer.

Embedded figure Break figure (X) into the lines it is made of: a short top edge, two slanting cuts down to a horizontal line that runs right across, two vertical sides below that line, and two slanting cuts at the bottom. Since rotation is not allowed, all of those lines must appear in the option in exactly the same directions. Options (a), (c) and (d) are built only from a few long diagonals and one or two straight lines; they have no pair of slanting corner cuts at all, so the top of (X) cannot be found in them. Option (b) has all four corners cut at the same slant and a horizontal line across the figure, which is exactly the outline of (X). Hence option (b) is the answer.

Parallel row seating Row 1 faces south, so read row 1 from its own left. N sits immediately left of O, giving the block N O, and N faces S. Only one person sits between N and M, so M is two places left of N: the row-1 order from its left is M, L, N, O. The person facing P is second from the left of the line, and that is L, so L faces P. Then M faces R and O faces Q, which also satisfies "O does not face P". Only one person sits between Q and P: with the pairing above, row 2 opposite M, L, N, O is R, P, S, Q, and between Q and P sits only S. The facing pairs are M-R, L-P, N-S and O-Q. Hence option (b) is the answer.

Odd letter-cluster Compare each cluster letter by letter using the English alphabet, treating the alphabet as circular. EDH: E is followed by D, one step back, and D is followed by H, four steps forward. QPT and ZYC follow the very same pattern of -1 and +4 (for ZYC, Y +4 = C after Z comes A). TTW moves 0 and then +3, which breaks the pattern. Hence option (b) is the answer.

Paper folding and cutting The square sheet is folded once about the horizontal middle line and once about the vertical middle line, so the cut is made through four thicknesses lying in one quarter. Unfolding therefore gives the same cut four times, once in each quarter. Unfold the vertical fold first: the second quarter of the same half is the left-right mirror image of the cut. Unfold the horizontal fold next: the two quarters below are the up-down mirror images of the two above. So each quarter must show the double-headed slanting arrow and both small circles, with the arrow leaning the opposite way in the neighbouring quarters and the circles always in the outer corner and near the centre. Only option (a) has all four quarters and both circles in every quarter; (d) loses one circle from each quarter, while (b) and (c) put the circles together in the middle. Hence option (a) is the answer.

Number series Take the difference between consecutive terms. 111-101=10, 122-111=11, 134-122=12, 147-134=13. The differences themselves grow by 1 each time, so the next difference is 14. Missing term =147+14=161. Hence option (b) is the answer.

Letter-cluster analogy Compare the two clusters letter by letter. N to P is +2, E to H is +3, Y to B is +3 (Y, Z, A, B) and G to I is +2. The second pair obeys the same rule: L to N is +2, A to D is +3, V to Y is +3, S to U is +2. Applying +2, +3, +3, +2 to HCTB gives H to J, C to F, T to W and B to D, that is JFWD. Hence option (a) is the answer.

Letter series There are twenty places and five blanks, so break the line into five groups of four letters each. The known letters give the groups _DGI, K_JL, NJ_O, QMP_ and TPS_. Reading down each column, the letters rise steadily: D, G, J, M, P and G, J, M, P, S and I, L, O, R, U - a jump of +3 every time. So the first column must also rise by +3: K-3 = H, and after K come N, Q, T, which the line already shows. The blanks are therefore H, G, M, R and U, giving HGMRU. Hence option (a) is the answer.

Coding-decoding Write the two statements one below the other and look for what they share. The only word common to both statements is 'you', and the only code common to both code groups is 'rc'. A common word must carry the common code, so 'you' is coded as 'rc'. Hence option (a) is the answer.

Alphabetical rearrangement The word is SYMPHONY; its letters in alphabetical order are HMNOPSYY. Now compare the two words place by place. Only the eighth place holds the same letter Y in both. Hence option (d) is the answer.

Symbol interchange Replace every sign in the given equation by its partner. So the expression to be evaluated is $18-90÷5+11\times 2$. By BODMAS, divide and multiply first: $90÷5=18$ and $11\times 2=22$. =18-18+22 =22 Hence option (c) is the answer.

Coding-decoding Write the two statements one below the other and compare them. The only word repeated in both statements is 'book' and the only code repeated in both code groups is 'nk'. Therefore 'book' is coded as 'nk'. Hence option (d) is the answer.

Paper folding and punching The top half is folded down on the horizontal middle line and then the left half is folded across on the vertical middle line, so the cut is made through four layers gathered in the bottom-right quarter. Unfolding the vertical fold copies the mark into the bottom-left quarter as its left-right mirror image. Unfolding the horizontal fold copies both of those into the top half as their up-down mirror images. So all four quarters must carry the mark, the bracket must open towards the centre of the sheet in every quarter, and the two short strokes must always lean towards the centre. Option (a) shows the mark in only two quarters. In option (c) all four brackets open upwards and in option (d) the left and right quarters are not mirror images, so neither fold is undone correctly. Hence option (b) is the answer.

Number series Take the difference between consecutive terms. 43-35=8, 53-43=10, 65-53=12, 79-65=14. The differences are consecutive even numbers, so the next one is 16. Missing term =79+16=95. Hence option (a) is the answer.

Venn diagram Every mango is a fruit, so the class Mango lies completely inside the class Fruit. A cauliflower is a vegetable, so it is neither a mango nor a fruit; that circle must stay entirely apart. The diagram needed is therefore one small circle inside a large circle, with a third circle drawn separately. Hence option (b) is the answer.

Linear seating No one sits to the left of F, so F takes seat 1. Four people sit between F and E, so E is at seat 6. Three people sit to the left of Z, so Z is at seat 4. Seats 2, 3 and 5 are left for X, G and Y, and X sits immediately left of G, so X is at 2 and G at 3, leaving Y at seat 5. Between F (seat 1) and Y (seat 5) sit X, G and Z, i.e. three people. Hence option (a) is the answer.

Blood relation codes Read the chain Q × R − S ÷ T + U one symbol at a time. Q × R: Q is the wife of R. R − S: R is the brother of S, so S belongs to the same generation as R. S ÷ T: S is the father of T. T + U: T is the mother of U. So U is the child of T and T is the daughter of S; therefore S is the father of U's mother. Hence S is U's mother's father, and option (c) is the answer.

Letter series Compare the first two terms letter by letter: D to Z, K to G and C to Y. Each letter has moved 4 steps back in the alphabet, D-4 = Z (counting back past A to Z), K-4 = G and C-4 = Y. The same shift joins RYQ to NUM: R-4 = N, Y-4 = U, Q-4 = M. So the missing term is ZGY with each letter moved back 4: Z-4 = V, G-4 = C, Y-4 = U, that is VCU (and VCU-4 = RYQ, which checks out). Hence option (d) is the answer.

Letter-cluster analogy Compare SBFU with VDHX letter by letter: S to V is +3, B to D is +2, F to H is +2 and U to X is +3. The second pair confirms it: H to K is +3, O to Q is +2, X to Z is +2 and A to D is +3. Apply +3, +2, +2, +3 to ZEPI: Z to C (Z, A, B, C), E to G, P to R and I to L. The required cluster is CGRL. Hence option (a) is the answer.

Syllogism Draw the least-committed diagram that obeys all three statements. All balms are ears and all balms are legs, so the circle for balms lies inside both the ears circle and the legs circle. Some legs are fingers only forces the fingers circle to cut the legs circle; it may be drawn so that it misses balms altogether. Conclusion (I): some fingers are balms - the diagram shows a case with no finger inside balms, so it does not follow. Conclusion (II): some legs are ears - every balm is both a leg and an ear, and balms do exist, so this part of legs is certainly ears; it follows. Hence option (a) is the answer.