25 February 2025 · Shift 3

Ascending order of digits The digits of 78152469 are 7, 8, 1, 5, 2, 4, 6 and 9. Arranged in ascending order they read 1<2<4<5<6<7<8<9, so the number becomes 12456789. Counting from the left: 1st = 1, 2nd = 2, 3rd = 4, 4th = 5. Hence the fourth digit from the left is 5, and the correct option is (a).

Coded blood relation Read $A+B\times C÷D-E$ symbol by symbol, always from left to right. A+B means A is the mother of B, and $B\times C$ means B is the father of C. $C÷D$ means C is the brother of D, and D-E means D is the sister of E. The last two links only tell us about C's brothers and sisters; the relation asked for runs upward through B. C's father is B, and B's mother is A, so A is the mother of C's father. Hence A is the father's mother of C, and the correct option is (a).

Letter-number coding In this kind of coding the digits are not written in the order of the letters, so compare the two words as sets. STAY and LAYS share the letters S, A and Y; their codes 3845 and 3578 share the digits 3, 5 and 8. So S, A and Y between them use 3, 5 and 8 (in some order). STAY has one letter left over, T, and one digit left over, 4. Hence T is coded as 4, and the correct option is (d). (The same reasoning leaves L $\to$ 7 in LAYS.)

Circular seating All seven face the centre, so for each of them the neighbour on the left is the next seat clockwise and the neighbour on the right is the next seat anticlockwise. O is immediate left of M and immediate right of Q, which gives the clockwise run M, O, Q. L is immediate left of Q and immediate right of P, which gives the clockwise run Q, L, P. R is immediate right of M and immediate left of N, which gives the clockwise run N, R, M. Joining the three runs at their shared letters, the clockwise order is N, R, M, O, Q, L, P and back to N. The seat immediately anticlockwise from N is P, and anticlockwise means to the right here. Hence P sits to the immediate right of N, and the correct option is (c).

Dice - opposite faces Z is on the top face in both positions, so every letter shown beside it touches Z. View I puts B and N next to Z; view II puts K and C next to Z. Z is therefore adjacent to four faces: B, N, K and C. A cube has six faces, so the only face left for Z to face is A. Hence the face opposite A is Z, and the correct option is (a).

Embedded figure Figure (X) is built on one straight line that runs its whole height, with TWO right-angled triangles hanging on the same side of it - its right. The small triangle is on top: its slant falls from the top of that line to the right and a horizontal comes straight back to the line. The long triangle is below it: its slant falls from the middle of the line to the far bottom right, and the base returns to the foot of the line. In (b) both triangles are isosceles and stand on horizontal bases, so neither of them has a vertical side to sit on. In (a) and in (c) one triangle does hang to the right of the long line, but the second one hangs to its left, so the pair never lies on a single side as it does in (X). Only (d) keeps all of it: the unbroken line with the small triangle directly above the long one, both to its right and both slants falling to the right. Hence the correct option is (d).

Word coding In a sentence code, a word that appears in two sentences must carry the code that appears in both code strings. 'sun is hot' $\to$ 'la ah ft' and 'moon is beautiful' $\to$ 'la ik zy'. The only word the two sentences share is 'is', and the only code the two strings share is 'la'. Hence 'is' is coded as 'la', and the correct option is (c).

Dice - opposite faces R stays on the right-hand face in both positions, so every other letter shown touches R. View I shows C above R and F beside it; view II shows U above R and O beside it. R is therefore adjacent to C, F, U and O. Of the six letters only L is left, so L lies opposite R. Hence the face opposite L is R, and the correct option is (d).

Number series - differences Take the difference between consecutive terms: 64-17=47, 103-64=39, 134-103=31, 157-134=23. These differences themselves fall by 8 every time: $47,39,31,23$. So the next difference must be 23-8=15. Required term =157+15=172. Hence the correct option is (c).

Odd letter-cluster Turn each cluster into alphabet positions and look at the two jumps inside it. KMH: $K\left(11\right)\to M\left(13\right)$ is +2 and $M\left(13\right)\to H\left(8\right)$ is -5. QSN: $17\to 19$ is +2 and $19\to 14$ is -5; HJE: $8\to 10$ is +2 and $10\to 5$ is -5. GDH: $7\to 4$ is -3 and $4\to 8$ is +4 - a different pair of jumps altogether. Three clusters follow +2 then -5; only GDH does not, so GDH is the odd one and the correct option is (b).

Letter-number analogy Compare the first pair part by part: R $\to$ S and C $\to$ D each move one place forward, and 66+1=67. The second pair repeats it: N $\to$ O, V $\to$ W and 3+1=4. So the rule is simply +1 on each letter and +1 on the number. For CH 9: C $\to$ D, H $\to$ I and 9+1=10, giving DI 10. Hence the correct option is (c).

Syllogism - conclusions Every statement here is particular ('Some ...'), and two particular statements can never force a definite conclusion. Conclusion (I): 'Some tabs are branches.' The tabs that are medicines need not be the same medicines that are branches, so this is possible but not certain. Conclusion (II): 'Some medicines are ointments.' Nothing joins medicines to ointments; the tabs that are medicines may be entirely different tabs from those that are ointments. The arrangement drawn above obeys all three statements, yet in it no tab is a branch and no medicine is an ointment. Since a single such arrangement is enough to defeat a conclusion, neither (I) nor (II) follows. Hence the correct option is (b).

Letter-cluster series Read the first letter of each group: B, H, N, ?, Z - each one is 6 places after the one before. The same +6 works on the other two letters: D $\to$ J $\to$ P and F $\to$ L $\to$ R. So the missing group is N+6=T, P+6=V, R+6=X, that is TVX. The check works both ways: TVX +6 gives ZBD, because X passes Z and comes back to D. Hence the correct option is (a).

Figure series Look at two things in every frame: which symbol it holds and how many copies of it there are. The first three frames hold the same symbol, a triangle, and the count climbs one, two, three. At the fourth frame the symbol changes to an arrow and the count starts again at one, so the fifth frame holds two arrows. The sixth frame has to finish that second block in the same way the first block finished, so it holds three arrows. Two triangles (a) belongs to the block that is already over and two circles (b) brings in a symbol the series never used; (d) puts two different symbols in one frame, which no frame of the series does. Only (c) shows three arrows, so the correct option is (c).

Circular seating Everyone faces the centre, so 'to the left' means the next seat clockwise and 'to the right' means the next seat anticlockwise. Fix K. 'K is second to the right of L' puts L two seats clockwise from K, and 'N is third to the left of K' puts N three seats clockwise from K. That leaves the seats one, four and five steps clockwise from K for M, O and P. 'O is second to the left of M' means O is two seats clockwise from M; of the three free seats only M at five steps works, and it puts O one step clockwise from K. P then takes the seat four steps clockwise from K, so P is not next to K - exactly as the fourth clue demands. O is one seat clockwise from K, which is K's immediate left, so the correct option is (c).

Alphabetical rearrangement NOTABLE is made of the letters N, O, T, A, B, L, E. Put them in alphabetical order: A, B, E, L, N, O, T, so the word becomes ABELNOT. Now compare the two words place by place: N with A, O with B, T with E, A with L, B with N, L with O, E with T. Not one place carries the same letter in both words. Hence the number of unchanged positions is zero, and the correct option is (d).

Letter coding Line CBGD up against HGLI: C $\to$ H, B $\to$ G, G $\to$ L, D $\to$ I - every letter moves 5 places forward. UFLO $\to$ ZKQT obeys the same rule: U $\to$ Z, F $\to$ K, L $\to$ Q, O $\to$ T. Apply +5 to VJRM: V(22)+5=27, which passes Z and lands on A; J(10)+5=O; R(18)+5=W; M(13)+5=R. So VJRM is related to AOWR, and the correct option is (b).

Number series - differences Find the gaps: 791-781=10, 800-791=9, 808-800=8, 815-808=7. The gaps fall by exactly 1 each time, so the next gap is 6. Required term =815+6=821. Hence the correct option is (d).

Venn diagram - classes Test the three classes two at a time. No cat is a pant and no pant is a cat; ice is neither of them, and neither of them is ice. So no member of any class belongs to either of the other two - the three groups are completely separate. That is drawn as three circles which do not touch one another, which is option (c). The other options are wrong because they show classes crossing each other, or one class sitting inside another, and no such link exists between cat, pant and ice.

Letter series with blanks Split the string into groups of four: _ M I K / M _ L N / P S _ Q / S V R _ / V Y U _. Now read down the columns instead of across. First column: J, M, P, S, V; second column: M, P, S, V, Y - each letter is 3 places after the one above it. Third column: I, L, O, R, U; fourth column: K, N, Q, T, W - again +3 every time. Filling the five blanks in order gives J, P, O, T, W. Hence the correct option is (b).