10 February 2025 · Shift 2

Alphabetical rearrangement Write the seven letters of MODULES in English alphabetical order and put the two strings one under the other. M against D, O against E, D against L, U against M, L against O, E against S, S against U - not one of the seven places holds the same letter before and after. So the number of letters whose position remains unchanged is zero. Hence the correct option is (c).

Letter-cluster analogy Match the two clusters of each pair letter by letter in the English alphabetical order. In JGKH to LIMJ every letter moves 2 places forward, and VSWT to XUYV obeys the same rule. Apply +2 to WTXU: W becomes Y, T becomes V, X becomes Z and U becomes W, which gives YVZW. Hence the correct option is (a).

Paper folding and punching The sheet is folded twice - the top half down on the bottom half, then the left half across on the right half - so the punch is made in the bottom-right quarter of the opened sheet. Opening it reverses the folds: the mark is first mirrored in the vertical crease and then both marks are mirrored in the horizontal crease, so one punch becomes four. A mirror reverses the slant of the stroke and the side on which the drop lies, so the left pair must be the mirror image of the right pair and the top pair the mirror image of the bottom pair. Only one option carries all four marks mirrored in both creases. Hence the correct option is (d).

Letter series Read the three positions of the groups as three separate series. First letters D, G, J, M rise by 3 each time; so do the second letters M, P, S, V and the third letters W, Z, C, F (the count runs on past Z). The next group is therefore M+3=P, V+3=Y and F+3=I, that is PYI. Hence the correct option is (c).

Linear seating Five people sit between H and G, so in a row of seven H and G must take the two ends. L sits immediately left of G, which is possible only if G is at the right end (seat 7); then L is at seat 6 and H at seat 1. Only one person sits between L and I, so I takes seat 4. M, J and K are left for seats 2, 3 and 5, and M is left of J while J is left of K, so M sits at 2, J at 3 and K at 5. Only H and M are to the left of J, so two people sit to the left of J. Hence the correct option is (c).

Figure series - rotation Every box carries the same string of six elements - Z, M, two identical blocks, A, P - and only the direction in which the string is written changes. In the first box the string runs straight down, in the second it slopes down to the right, in the third it lies flat across the box and in the fourth it slopes up to the right. So the string turns 45 degrees anticlockwise at every step. One more turn of 45 degrees makes it point straight up, so it must be read from the bottom of the box upwards, with Z at the bottom and P at the top. Hence the correct option is (d).

Syllogism Draw the least the three statements force: all drawers inside racks, only a part of racks sharing space with cabinets, and all cabinets inside shelves. Conclusion (I): the shelves reach well beyond the cabinets and nothing makes that outer part racks, so 'All shelves are racks' does not follow. Conclusion (II): the drawers can sit entirely in the part of the racks that lies outside the cabinets, so no shelf need be a drawer; it does not follow either. Hence the correct option is (a).

Letter-number coding Add the place values of the four letters of a code word and compare the total with the number given. TZKI: 20+26+11+9=66 and 66-11=55. QBYA: 17+2+25+1=45 and 45-11=34, so the rule is (sum of place values) $-11$. FWNP: 6+23+14+16=59, so the code is 59-11=48. Hence the correct option is (b).

Letter series with blanks Split the string into five groups of four letters: _ZVR, U_TP, SV_N, QTP_, ORN_. Inside a group the letters move +3, -4, -4: for example S, V, R, N. The first letters of the groups fall 2 places each time: W, U, S, Q, O. The complete groups are WZVR, UXTP, SVRN, QTPL and ORNJ, so the blanks take W, X, R, L, J in that order. Hence the correct option is (d).

Interchange of signs Read every sign of the equation in its swapped form. $18÷15+5\times 3-4$ therefore has to be worked out as $18+15÷5-3\times 4$. By BODMAS the division and the multiplication come first: 18+3-12. =21-12=9. Hence the correct option is (b).

Letter-cluster analogy Compare the two clusters of each pair letter by letter. L(12) to T(20), N(14) to V(22), P to X and R to Z: every letter moves 8 places forward, and FHJL to NPRT keeps the same +8 step. Apply +8 to ZBDF, counting on past Z: Z gives H, B gives J, D gives L and F gives N. Hence the correct option is (c).

Odd one out Turn each cluster into place values and look at the two steps inside it. GID: G(7) to I(9) is +2 and I(9) to D(4) is -5; PRM and HJE repeat exactly that +2, -5 pair of steps. In DGB the first step is D(4) to G(7), which is +3 and not +2, so it breaks the rule. Hence the correct option is (d).

Venn diagram of classes Test the three classes two at a time. Some employees are males, but women are employees too; some males are engineers, but not every male is; some engineers are employees, while others work on their own. So each pair of classes shares members, yet no class lies completely inside another - the picture must be three circles that all overlap one another, with a common part in the middle. Hence the correct option is (c).

Letter coding Set the two words and their codes side by side and pick out what they share. REST and SEAT have E, S and T in common, and the codes 3149 and 4398 have the digits 3, 4 and 9 in common. So E, S and T use up 3, 4 and 9 between them, and the only digit left in REST's code is 1, which must stand for R. Hence the correct option is (a).

Number series Take the difference between one term and the next. 14-11=3, 24-14=10, 41-24=17, 65-41=24. The differences themselves rise by 7 each time, so the next difference is 24+7=31. The missing term is 65+31=96. Hence the correct option is (d).

Blood relations Build the family from the top down, one sentence at a time. R is the father of Q, and S is the husband of Q, so Q is female and S is her husband; T is the daughter of S, so T is the daughter of Q as well. T's mother is Q and Q's father is R, so R is T's mother's father. P is the brother of R, so P is T's mother's father's brother. Hence the correct option is (c).

Embedded figure Figure (X) is one closed outline: a straight base line with two peaks standing on it and a V hanging below it, the peaks and the V meeting the base at its two ends and at its middle. Since turning is not allowed, the answer must show that whole outline standing the same way up and in the same proportion. In option (c) the long horizontal line across the middle is the base of (X); the two peaks rest on the top edge and the V below closes at the bottom edge, so every line of (X) is already there. Options (a) and (d) are built only from parallel slants and uprights, and option (b) from uprights, horizontals and two lone slants, so in none of them can the two peaks and the V be traced without lifting the pencil. Hence the correct option is (c).

Circular seating Everyone faces the centre, so a person's immediate left is the next seat clockwise and the immediate right the next seat anticlockwise. P is immediately right of R, so R comes next clockwise after P; P is immediately left of Q, so P comes next clockwise after Q. S is immediately left of T and U is immediately right of S, so after T comes S and after S comes U; T is immediately left of R, so after R comes T. Chaining them clockwise gives Q, P, R, T, S, U, and the seventh person V closes the circle between U and Q. V therefore sits next to U on one side and next to Q on the other. Hence the correct option is (b).

Number series Take the difference between one term and the next. 100-80=20, 122-100=22, 146-122=24, 172-146=26, 200-172=28. The differences rise by 2 each time, so the next difference is 28+2=30. The missing term is 200+30=230. Hence the correct option is (d).

Paper folding and punching The sheet is folded top on to bottom and then left on to right, so the cut lies in the bottom-right quarter and opening it gives one mark in each of the four quarters. Each crease works as a mirror: the vertical crease turns the mark left to right and the horizontal crease turns it upside down. In the punched quarter the straight line is at the bottom and the slant runs down to the right; its neighbour on the left must keep the line at the bottom but slant down to the left. Both marks of the top half are these two turned upside down, so there the straight line lies on top and the slants run the other way. Hence the correct option is (c).