17 February 2025 · Shift 2

Syllogism All cubs are foals and all cubs are puppies, so the class of cubs lies inside foals and inside puppies at the same time. All kittens are puppies, but no statement ties kittens to foals, so they may be a separate part of the puppies circle. Conclusion (I): the kittens can lie entirely outside foals, so 'All kittens are foals' does not follow. Conclusion (II): every cub is a puppy and also a foal, so the cubs are common to both classes and 'Some puppies are foals' does follow. Only conclusion (II) follows, so the correct option is (c).

Figure series Count the letters printed inside each box of the given series. The boxes hold 2, 3, 4 and 5 letters, so exactly one letter is added at every step. The box that replaces the question mark must therefore hold 5+1=6 letters. One column of a box takes only five letters, so the sixth letter has to start a second column beside the bottom letter. Only one option shows a column of five letters with exactly one extra letter beside the last of them; the other three show seven or eight letters. Hence the correct option is (b).

Odd letter-cluster Write the alphabet number of every letter and compare the first letter with the other two. In AEC, LPN and TXV the second letter is 4 places after the first and the third letter is 2 places after the first. In CHE the second letter H is 5 places after C, not 4, so this cluster breaks the pattern. Hence CHE is the odd one out and the correct option is (b).

Letter-number analogy Handle the two letters and the number separately. The first letter moves 3 places forward and the second letter moves 4 places back: $V\to Y$, $F\to B$, and $T\to W$, $X\to T$. So $P\to S$ and $L\to H$, which gives the letter pair SH. The number is replaced by 21 minus itself: 21-19=2 and 21-11=10, so here 21-6=15. PL 6 is therefore related to SH-15 and the correct option is (c).

Linear seating Number the seats 1 to 7 from the left end. Only two people sit to the left of N, so N takes seat 3; three people sit between N and H, so H takes seat 3+4=7. Only one person sits between H and F, so F takes seat 5. Seats 1, 2, 4 and 6 are left; K must sit immediately left of L, and 1-2 is the only adjacent free pair, so K is at 1 and L at 2. E is not a neighbour of H at seat 7, so E cannot take seat 6; E takes seat 4 and G takes seat 6. G is at seat 6, so five people sit to its left and the correct option is (c).

Number series Take the difference between each term and the next. 625-623=2, 629-625=4, 635-629=6 and 643-635=8. The differences are the even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, so the next difference is 10. Required term =643+10=653, so the correct option is (c).

Letter series with blanks There are twenty places in the row, so split it into five groups of four letters each. Read the table down each column: every letter is 2 places after the letter above it, so the columns run K M O Q S, then O Q S U W, then L N P R T, then P R T V X. The five blanks are the 1st letter of group 1, the 2nd of group 2, the 3rd of group 3, the 4th of group 4 and the 4th of group 5. Those letters are K, Q, P, V and X in that order, so the correct option is (d).

Embedded figure The given figure is one connected unit: a solid dot on the left, a straight horizontal line leaving it, and a solid triangle pointing UP whose base rests on that same line. Rotation is not allowed, so the answer must show the dot on the left, the line, and the upward triangle on the right, all at one level. In option (a) the dot in the middle of the box runs right along a horizontal line straight into the base of an upward triangle - exactly the given unit. In option (d) and option (c) the only triangle joined to a line points downward, and in option (b) the upward triangles are not joined to any dot by a horizontal line. Hence the correct option is (a).

Letter series Each term is one letter written three times, so only that letter matters: Z, C, F, I. Counting on from Z through A and B, Z to C is 3 places; C to F is 3 places and F to I is 3 places. Three places after I(9) is the 12th letter, L, so the term is LLL and the correct option is (d).

Coded blood relation Read the chain one link at a time: P+Q means P is the mother of Q; Q-R means Q is the brother of R; $R\times S$ means R is the wife of S; $S÷T$ means S is the father of T. R is the wife of S and S is the father of T, so R is the mother of T. Q is the brother of R, that is, the brother of T's mother. Therefore Q is T's mother's brother and the correct option is (b).

Venn diagram Ask whether any two of the three classes can share a member. No tree is a trouser, no trouser is a phone and no phone is a tree, so the three classes are completely separate. Separate classes are drawn as circles that neither touch nor cut one another. Only one option shows three such circles, so the correct option is (d).

Parallel row seating Number the four seats of each row 1 to 4 from west to east. Row 1 faces south, so for row 1 'right' points towards seat 1; row 2 faces north, so for row 2 'left' points towards seat 1. M sits third to the right of N, so N is at seat 4 and M at seat 1. The person facing Q is a neighbour of N, so that person sits at seat 3; hence Q is at seat 3. The person facing O is a neighbour of Q, so O sits at seat 2 or seat 4; seat 4 is N, so O is at seat 2 and L at seat 3. The person facing M sits at seat 1 and is a neighbour of R, so R sits at seat 2. S sits to the left of P, so S takes seat 1 and P seat 4. R is at seat 2 of row 2 and seat 2 of row 1 is O, so O faces R and the correct option is (d).

Dice - opposite faces The face 6 is visible in both positions, so keep 6 fixed and see which faces touch it. In the first position 6 touches 5 and 4; in the second position the same 6 touches 3 and 2. Every face of a cube has exactly four neighbours, so 5, 4, 3 and 2 are all four neighbours of 6. The only face left over is 1, so 1 lies opposite 6. Therefore the face opposite 1 carries 6 and the correct option is (b).

Alphabetical rearrangement Sort the eight letters I, C, E, B, O, A, T, S into alphabetical order: A, B, C, E, I, O, S, T. Now compare the two rows position by position: I/A, C/B, E/C, B/E, O/I, A/O, T/S and S/T. Not a single position holds the same letter in both rows. So zero letters keep their position and the correct option is (d).

Symbol interchange Change every sign first and only then work out the value. $47-5÷2+72\times 6$ becomes $47+5\times 2-72÷6$. By BODMAS do the multiplication and division first: $5\times 2=10$ and $72÷6=12$. 47+10-12=45 So the question mark stands for 45 and the correct option is (c).

Coding-decoding CARE and RATE share the letters A, R and E, and their codes 5132 and 2154 share the digits 5, 1 and 2. So the three common letters A, R and E use the three common digits 5, 1 and 2 in some order. CARE has one extra letter C and one extra digit 3, so C is 3; RATE has one extra letter T and one extra digit 4. Hence T is coded as 4 and the correct option is (d).

Paper folding and cutting Both folds are vertical and each one halves the width, so the sheet ends as four layers lying one on the other. The cuts are made through all four layers, so each cut reappears four times - once in every quarter of the opened sheet. The strip carries one square near the top, one half-circle in the middle and one square near the bottom, so the opened sheet must show four squares along the top, four half-circles across the middle and four squares along the bottom. A fold acts like a mirror, so neighbouring half-circles must face opposite ways: the 1st and 3rd bulge to the right and the 2nd and 4th bulge to the left. Option (b) shows only two of each shape, option (c) three squares and two half-circles and option (d) has no half-circle at all. Only option (a) shows four of each with the half-circles mirrored in pairs, so the correct option is (a).

Letter-cluster analogy Compare the two given pairs one position at a time. The first two letters go back 2 places and the last two letters go back 3 places: $Q\to O$, $I\to G$, $W\to T$, $C\to Z$, and $G\to E$, $O\to M$, $N\to K$, $Y\to V$. Apply the same shifts to FPJA: F-2=D, P-2=N, J-3=G and A-3=X, counting back from A through Z and Y. So FPJA is related to DNGX and the correct option is (d).

Coding-decoding Set the two statements against their codes and look for what repeats. The only word that appears in both sentences is 'help', and the only code that appears in both code groups is 'ap'. A repeated word must carry the repeated code, so 'help' is coded as 'ap' and the correct option is (d).

Number series Find the difference between each term and the next. 810-809=1, 812-810=2, 815-812=3 and 819-815=4. The differences are 1, 2, 3, 4, so the next difference is 5. Required term =819+5=824, so the correct option is (d).