19 February 2025 · Shift 1

Word coding Write the two statements one below the other and look for what they share. 'clean' is the only word that appears in both statements, and 'tm' is the only code that appears in both code groups. A word and its code must therefore be matched: 'clean' → 'tm'. 'rd' and 'kg' occur only in the first statement and 'db' and 'fo' only in the second, so none of them can stand for 'clean'. Hence the correct option is (a).

Alphabetical rearrangement INJURED is made of the letters I, N, J, U, R, E and D. Put them in English alphabetical order: D, E, I, J, N, R, U. The second letter from the left end is E, and the fourth from the right end is J (counting U, R, N, J). Between E and J in the English alphabet lie F, G, H and I, that is 4 letters. Hence the correct option is (c).

Dice, opposite faces In view I the top face is F, the left face is U and the right face is T. In view II the top face is T, the left face is A and the right face is L. T is visible in both views, so every letter seen beside T touches it: F and U from view I, A and L from view II. That already gives T four adjacent faces, and a cube has only four faces adjacent to any one face. The one letter left over, E, must therefore be on the face opposite T. Hence the correct option is (a).

Number series Take the difference between each pair of consecutive terms. The steps run +1, -10, +2, -10, +3, -10 - every second step is -10 and the additions grow 1, 2, 3, ... The next step is therefore +4. Missing term =286+4=290. Hence the correct option is (c).

Letter-cluster coding Replace every letter by its position number in the English alphabet and add the four numbers. JQBT: 10+17+2+20=49, and $49\times 3=147$, the given code. IWOG: 9+23+15+7=54, and $54\times 3=162$, the given code. So the rule is (sum of the position values) $\times 3$. SDLO: 19+4+12+15=50, so the code $=50\times 3=150$. Hence the correct option is (b).

Letter series Compare the clusters letter by letter, position against position. H→K, N→Q and B→E: every letter moves +3 places, and the same +3 carries KQE to NTH and NTH to QWK. Apply +3 to QWK: Q→T, W→Z and K→N. So the missing cluster is TZN; option (a) TZL fails because K+3=N, not L. Hence the correct option is (b).

Coded blood relations Read the given chain one symbol at a time, taking the letter that stands on each side of that symbol. The first link, B # L, is the mother symbol: B is the mother of L. The middle link, between L and C, is the husband symbol: L is the husband of C. The last link, C # Q, is again the mother symbol: C is the mother of Q. C's husband is L and L's mother is B, so B is C's husband's mother. The chain nowhere makes B a parent of C, so 'Mother's mother' and 'Father's mother' do not fit. Hence the correct option is (d).

Figure series Follow each of the three elements separately. θ moves one step clockwise round the border each time: left edge → top-left → top → top-right, so next it reaches the right edge. Ψ also moves one step clockwise: top-right → right edge → bottom-right → bottom, so next it reaches the bottom-left corner. The dumbbell (filled dot joined to a hollow square) turns 90° clockwise every step - dot at the left, then at the top, then at the right, then at the bottom - so next the dot is back at the left. The dumbbell also alternates between the top-left and the bottom-right corner, and figure 4 has it at the bottom-right, so in the answer it returns to the top-left. Only option (d) has the dumbbell at the top-left with the dot on the left; option (c) places θ and Ψ correctly but leaves the dumbbell at the bottom-right. Hence the correct option is (d).

Number series The steps of this series are not all of one kind, so test them alternately. Every odd step simply adds 9: 23+9=32, 67+9=76 and 155+9=164. Every even step doubles and adds 3: $32\times 2+3=67$ and $76\times 2+3=155$. The next step is an even one, so the missing term $=164\times 2+3=331$. Hence the correct option is (b).

Letter-cluster analogy Match the clusters position by position and note each shift. G→K is +4, T→R is -2, B→F is +4 and K→I is -2; NSFX→RQJV repeats the same +4, -2, +4, -2. Apply the same pattern to EKVO: E+4=I, K-2=I, V+4=Z, O-2=M. So EKVO is related to IIZM. Option (c) HJTN comes from +3, -1, -2, -1, which is not the pattern the two given pairs use. Hence the correct option is (b).

Odd one out, letter gaps For each cluster find the gap from the first letter to the second and from the second to the third. MOT: M+2=O and O+5=T. SUZ: S+2=U and U+5=Z. LNS: L+2=N and N+5=S. DFO: D+2=F is right, but F+9=O, not +5. So DFO is the only cluster that breaks the +2, +5 pattern. Hence the correct option is (a).

Interchange of signs First carry out the interchanges in the expression itself. $20-7÷4+20\times 4$ becomes $20+7\times 4-20÷4$. By BODMAS, do the division and multiplication first: $7\times 4=28$ and $20÷4=5$. So the expression =20+28-5. =48-5=43. Hence the correct option is (a).

Missing letters in a series The string is 20 letters long, and the visible letters AZP, LM and AZP repeat, so try a block of five. The block is AZPLM, written four times: AZPLM / AZPLM / AZPLM / AZPLM. Setting the given string under that block shows which letters were removed. Reading the blanks from left to right gives Z, M, A, P, A, Z, L, M. That is the string ZMAPAZLM; option (a) reverses the first two letters, which would make the string start MZ instead of AZ. Hence the correct option is (b).

Letter-cluster analogy Compare each letter of the first cluster with the letter in the same position of the second. K→S, M→U, O→W and Q→Y are all +8, and E→M, G→O, I→Q, K→S are +8 as well. Apply +8 to YACE, letting the alphabet wrap round after Z: Y+8=G, A+8=I, C+8=K, E+8=M. So YACE is related to GIKM. Options (b), (c) and (d) keep the first two letters GI but break the +8 rule on the last two. Hence the correct option is (a).

Mirror image MN is a vertical mirror, so the image is the figure turned left-to-right: left becomes right, but nothing moves up or down and nothing changes from solid to hollow. Look at the figure itself: the hollow circle and the vertical stem sit on the centre line, and the two solid arrowheads are equal and opposite about that same line. The figure is therefore symmetrical about a vertical axis, so its mirror image in MN looks exactly like the original - hollow circle on top and both arrowheads solid. Option (b) makes the left arrowhead hollow and option (d) makes the right one hollow, while option (c) fills the top circle; a mirror can never change solid into hollow. Hence the correct option is (a).

Syllogism Draw the three statements in one picture, keeping every relation exactly as stated. Conclusion (I): some papers are books, and all books are shelves, so those papers are shelves too - 'Some papers are shelves' definitely follows. Conclusion (II): all books lie inside Shelves, and no shelf is a library, so no book can be a library. That is the exact opposite of 'All books are libraries', so conclusion (II) does not follow. Hence the correct option is (c).

Circular seating All six face the centre, so for each of them the right hand points anticlockwise and the left hand points clockwise. Seat U anywhere. Counting to U's right (anticlockwise) exactly one person sits between U and W, so W takes the second seat anticlockwise from U. Only one person sits between A and W. Going back towards U that gap is already filled by the single seat between W and U, so A must be two seats further anticlockwise from W. Only two people sit between A and B, and whichever way round the table you count, the one seat that fits is the seat left between W and U - so B sits there. C is an immediate neighbour of U; one side of U is B's seat, so C takes the other, and V is left with the only free seat, between A and W. Counting from V's left, that is clockwise, we pass W, B, U and C before reaching A. So four people sit between A and V when counted from the left of V. Hence the correct option is (c).

Paper folding and punching The sheet is folded twice: the right half is turned onto the left half, and then the bottom half is turned onto the top half, leaving a quarter sheet. A single punch through that quarter goes through all four thicknesses, so the open sheet must carry $2\times 2=4$ marks, one in each quadrant. Opening the horizontal fold mirrors the mark about the horizontal centre line; opening the vertical fold then mirrors both marks about the vertical centre line. So the four marks come in mirror-image pairs facing each other across each fold line. Only option (b) shows four marks arranged that way; options (a) and (d) show two marks (that would be a single fold) and option (c) shows three, which no number of folds can give. Hence the correct option is (b).

Linear seating Number the six seats 1 to 6 from the left end of the row. Four people sit between R and Q, so R and Q must be at the two ends, seats 1 and 6. S sits immediately to the left of Q, so Q cannot be at the left end: Q takes seat 6, S takes seat 5 and R takes seat 1. Only one person sits between S and Y, and seat 7 does not exist, so Y takes seat 3. Y is to the right of U and to the left of T, and only seats 2 and 4 are free, so U takes seat 2 and T takes seat 4. The order from the left end is R, U, Y, T, S, Q, so the third person from the left end is Y. Hence the correct option is (c).

Venn diagram of classes Test each pair of classes for whether they can share a member and whether one must contain the other. A mother may be a wife and a wife may be a mother, but neither must be, so Mother and Wife only partly overlap. A princess can be a mother and can also be a wife, yet many princesses are neither, so Princess partly overlaps both. No class is wholly inside another and no two classes are completely separate. Three circles that cut across one another therefore show the relationship. Option (a) keeps all three apart, option (c) puts one class wholly inside another, and option (d) leaves one class separate - each denies an overlap that really exists. Hence the correct option is (b).