Questions of Reasoning and Puzzles For Competitive Examinations

Questions of Reasoning and Puzzles for
aptitude tests
by :
DR. T.K. JAIN
AFTERSCHO☺OL
centre for social entrepreneurship
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My word.....
My purpose here is to give a few questions,
which are often asked in aptitude tests and
competitive examinations. Please prepare well
for your examinations. Please pass this
presentation to all those who might need it. Let
us spread knowledge as widely as possible. I
welcome your suggestions. I also request you
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Solve the following puzzle :
There are six cities A,B,C,D,E and F

A is not a hill station. B and E are not historical
places. D is not an industrial city. A and D are
not historical cities.
A and B are not alike. Assuming that there are
2 cities of each type : hill station, historical city
and industrial town, Which two cities seem to
be industrial centres?
Solution
HILL HIS IND
A X X Y
B Y X X
C X Y X
D Y X X
E X X Y
F X Y X
solution...
Thus only A and E are industrial towns.
Solve the following puzzle
Five friends A,B,C,D,E travelled to five different cities of

Chennai,Calcutta,Delhi,Bangalore and Hyderabad by five
differnet modes of transport of Bus,Train,Aeroplane,Car
and Boat from Mumbai. The person who travelled to
Delhi did not travel by Boat. C went to Banalore by Car
and B went to Calcutta by Aeroplane. D travelled by Boat
whereas E travelled by Train. Mumbai is not connected by
Bus to Delhi and Chennai.Person travelling to Delhi went
by which mode?
SOLUTION...
H D B C KOL
A BUS
B A
C CAR
D BOAT
E TRAIN
NOT XB,B XB
SOLUTION
THUS IT IS CLEAR FROM THE PREVIOUS

TABLE THAT THE PERSON TRAVELLING
TO DELHI TRAVELLED BY TRAIN.
SOLVE THIS PUZZLE
Four youngmen A,B,C,D are friendly

with four girls E,M,S and L.E and S
are friends.C's girlfriend does not like E
and S .
M does not care for C.B's girlfriend is
friendly with E.E does not like A.
Who is A's girlfriend?
SOLUTION ...
E M S L
A Y
B Y
C Y
D Y
SOLUTION
M IS A'S GIRLFRIEND
SOLVE THIS
There are five friends-A,S ,R ,Z and Y .A
is shorter than S but taller than Y.R is the
tallest.
Z is little shorter than S and little taller
than A. Who is the shortest?
ANSWER :
Y<A<Z<S<R
thus Y is the shortest. Answer
Solve the following puzzle
Among five boys V is taller than M,but not as
tall as
R,J is taller than D but shorter than M. Who is
the
tallest in their group?
Answer :
D<J<M<V<R
answer : R is the tallest.
Solve this puzzle
S is as much older than K as he is younger than P .
N is as old as K .Which of the following is wrong?
a)K is younger than P .
b)N is younger than P .
c)S is older than N .
d)P is not the oldest.
e)K is younger than S.
ANSWER :
N=K < S < P
SO d IS WRONG
SOLVE THIS PUZZLE
From amongst five doctors A,B,C,D and E;four engineers G,H,K and
L; six teachers M,N,O,P,Q and R some teams are to be
selected.A,B,G,H,O,P
and Q are females and the rest are males.
Where ever there is a male doctor ,no female teacher. Where ever
there is a male engineer, no female doctor. There shall not be more
than two male teachers in any team. If the team consists of 3
doctors,2 male engineers and 2 teachers, the members of the team
could be:
a)A B C K L M R b)B C D K L N R c)C D E K L M N d)C D E K L
PR
SOLUTION
It is given in question, that we have to take

only male engineers. Thus we will be able to
take only male doctors. If we take only male
doctors, we shall be able to take only male
teachers. Thus C is the only option possible (all
males). Answer
Solve this puzzle
There is a group of six persons A,B,C,D,E and F from a family.

They are programmer,manager,lawyer,jeweler,doctor and engineer.
The doctor is the grandfather of F who is a programmer. The
manager D is married to A. C,the jeweler is married to the lawyer.
B is the mother of F and E.
There are two married couples in the family.
What is the profession of E?
solution...
M D E L P
A X Y X X X
B X X X Y X
C X X X X X
D Y X X X X
E X X Y X X
F X X X X Y
M TO A
GF OF F
SOLUTION
It is clear that the two couples are CB and AD.

Thus the profession of A is doctor. Thus only
profession left after all these is engineer. Thus
profession of E is engineer. Answer
Solve this puzzle
In a family of six persons,there are three
generations.Each person has seperate profession
and also they like different colours.There are two
couples in the family.R is a CA and his wife
neither is a doctor nor likes green colour. Engineer
likes red colour and his wife is a teacher.M is
mother-in-law of S and she likes orange colour. V
is grandfather of T ,who is principal likes black
colour.z is granddaughter of M and she likes blue
colour. Z's mother likes white colour.
Who is an Engineer?
Solution ....
r ca green
m wife of vml of s orange teacher
s wife of rwhite
v engineer red
t principalgs v black
z doctor gd m blue
Solution
Thus from the table, it is clear that V is

engineer
14 students in a class failed in
both QT and Accounts. 20 failed
in QT, but 32 failed in Accounts.
How many students were there in
total ?
20+32 – 14 = 38 students. Answer
Solve the following :
All tables are chairs
All chairs are almirahs
Some almirahs are pens
All pens are bikes.
Which conclusion can be drawn :
1. all almirahs are tables
2. some bikes are not pens
3.. Some tables are pens
4. some almirahs are bikes..
solution....
You cant be sure that 1st or 2nd or 3rd conclusion

is right. There is a possibility that this
conclusion is not valid. Thus only 4th
conclusion is a valid conclusion – it is bound to
be there. Answer
Solve the following question
Statements : 1. some tables are fans 2. some

fans are balls 3. Some balls are bats.
Which conclusion can be drawn :
1. No table is ball 2. some bats are fans
3. some tables are not bats 4. some bats are
tables.
SOLUTION : NO CONCLUSION CAN BE
DRAWN.
V is 2 years older to T. T is 4 years younger
to H. H is of the same age as N. N is 1 year
younger to M. What is the age of M, if their
total age is 100 years?
T seems to be youngest, so let us start with T.

V=T+2, H = T+4, N = T+4, M=T+5
Now let us add their age :
T+T+2+T+4+T+4+T+5 = 100
5T+15=100, or 5T=85 or T=17
the age of M = 17+5 = 22 answer
Statement v/s argument...
Statement : Banks should be privatised.
Argument 1 : Yes, they should be privatised,
because other countries have also privatised
banks.
Argument 2: No – they should not be
privatised, because government has lots of
deposits in Banks.
ANSWER : NO ARGUMENT IS STRONG
ENOUGH.
Statement v/s argument
Statement : Banks should be privatised.
Argument 1 : Yes, they should be privatised,
because only private sector can be efficient
Argument 2: No – they should not be
privatised, because they generate employment
ANSWER : NO ARGUMENT IS STRONG
ENOUGH. IN THE FIRST ARGUMENT THE
WORD ONLY CREATES PROBLEMS. IN
2ND ARGUMENT, IT IS NOT CLEAR,
WHY EMPLOYMENT IS A PRIORITY FOR
5 DECEMBER 09
BANKS.
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There are five friends Lalu, Kalu, Monu, Anuj
and raju. Lalu ia shorter than Kalu but taller
than raju. Monu is tallest. Anuj is a little
shorter than Kalu and a little taller than Lalu.
Who is the shortest?
R< L <A< K <M

answer : Raju
(1)There is a group of five girls.
(2)Lata is second in height but younger than Rupa.
(3)Pooja is taller than Mem but younger in age.
(4)Rupa and Mem are of the same age but Rupa is
tallest between them.
(5)Niru is taller than Puja and elder to Rupa.
Arrange them in age and height
AGE : N R M P/ L
HEIGHT R L N P M
X knows more than A.
Y knows as much as B.
Z knows less than C.
A nows more than Y.
The best knowledge person
amongst all is:
X>A > Y=B C>Z
we are not able to know who knows more Z or
A. Thus answer cant be drawn.
Five children were administrated psychological tests
to know their intellectual levels. In the report,
psychologists pointed out that the child A is less
intelligent than the child B. The child C is less
intelligent than the child D. The child B is less
intelligent than the child C and child A is more
intelligent than child E. Which child is most
intelligent?
D>C>B>A>E thus D is the most intelligent
In an examination, Raj got more marks than

Goti but not as many as Neha.Neha got more
marks than Jitu and Kamal. Jitu got less marks
than Goti but his marks are not the lowest in
the group. Who is the second in the descending
order of marks?
N>R>G>J>K answer = Raj
(A)Gop is shorter than Nanu but taller than

Kalu. (B)Lalu is shorter than Kalu. (C)Jitu is
taller than Lalu. (D)Nanu is taller than Jitu .
Who among them is the tallest?
N>G>K / J>L
so Nanu is the tallest.
Solve it ??
There are seven students P, Q, R, S, T, U and
V (1) they take a series of tests (2)No two
students get similar marks. (3)V always scores
more than P. (4)P always scores more than Q.
(5)Each time either R scores the highest and t
gets the least or alternatively S scores the
highest and U or Q scores the least. If S is
ranked sixth and Q is ranked fifth,solve the
questions on next slide ??
Which of these is possible ?
a) V is ranked first or fourth (b) R is ranked
second or third (c)Pis ranked second or fifth
(d) U is ranked third or fourth (e) T is ranked
fourth or fifth.
Possible solutions :
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
R V P Q S T
thus only U can be at 3rd or 4th rank. No other
options is possible
Who is the oldest ?
(1)A, B, C, D and E are five friends.

(2)B is elder to E, but not as tall as C.
(3)C is younger to A, and is taller to D and E.
(4)A is taller to D, But younger to E.
(5)D is elder to A but is shorter in the group.
B / D>E / D > A>C
the oldest can be either B or D.
QUESTIONS...
A * B means A and B are the same age.
A – B means B is younger than A.
A + B means A is younger than B.
SOLVE IT : A * b – c means
(a) c is youngest (b) c is the oldest
(c) b is younger than c
(d)None of these
ANSWER : c is youngest.
Solve the following
Six persons A,B,C,D,E and F are sitting in two
rows, three in each. E is not at the end of any row
Dis second to the left of F.
C the neighbour of E, is sitting diagonally opposite
to D. B is the neighbour of F. Who are sitting
diagonally opposite?
AEC
DBF
ans : AF and DC are sitting diagonally opposite
Solve it .....
Eight books are kept one over the other counting
from the top the second, fifth and sixth books are on
plays. Two books on plays are between two books
on composition. One book of plays is between two
books on poetry. While the book at the top of the
book of literature is a book of composition .Which
book is fourth from the top?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P p P C p p C L
Thus 4th book is COMPOSITION.
SOLVE IT ...
Four boys are sitting on a bench to be
photographed. A is to the left of B. D is to the
right of B. C is between B and D. Who would
be second from the left in the photograph?
ABCD
ANS : C
In the photo, A will be extreme right and D
will be extreme left.
Solve it ....
There are five different houses, A to E in a

row. A is to the right of B and E is to the left of
C and right of A. B is to the right of D.
Which of the houses is in the middle?
ANSWER : D B A E C
THUS A IS IN THE MIDDLE.
SOLVE IT ...
In a march past , seven persons are standing in

a row. Q is standing left to R but right to P. O
is standing right to N and left to P. Similarly ,
S is standing right to R and left to T. Find out
who is standing in middle?
ANS : N O P Q R S T
the person in MIDDLE Is Q
Solve it ...
Five children are sitting in a row. S is sitting

next to P but not T who is sitting next to R
who is sitting on extreme left and T is not
sitting next to K. Who are sitting adjacent to S?
Answer : RTPSK
answer : P and K are adjacent to S.
Solve it
Five Boys are sitting in a row, A is not
adjacent to B or C.D is not adjacent to B. A is
adjacent to E. E is at the middle in the row.
Then, D is adjacent to whom ?
DAECB or BCEAD
ANSWER : A
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Up to the time the last vote was
recorded, it was difficult to decide
whether victory lay with the
ruling party or the opposition
Instead of lay, use lied
remember the formats of lie and lay
Lay : lay, laid laid
lie : lie lay lain
lay = to put
lie = to rest
here we will use lie as an infinitive not as verb
We should always side with those
who is true and unselfish and
work for others
We should always side with those who are true

and unselfish and work for others
Before giving the mixture to the
child shake it thouroughly.
Here it has been used for mixture, but it is

coming just after child, thus it seems that child
has to be shaked.
So correct it : Before giving to the child the
mixture, shake it thouroughly.
The short story should not exceed
more than two hundred words.
Dont use more than

exceeds itself means more than, so there is no
need of more than
or
instead of exceed use be of
He looks at everything from their
best side.
Instead of their, use its

everything is singular so use its instead of
their.
Page after Page of Gita were read
and it gave great consolation to
his mind.
Instead of were, use was.

Page is singular so use was instead of were.
His manners indicate that he has
no other intention than to steal his
money.
Instead of than, use but
I will now deal with him in a
manner different from the one I
have adopted so far.
Instead of I have adopted so far, use :

I have been adopting so far (to show
continuation).
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Questions of Reasoning and Puzzles for

There are six cities A,B,C,D,E and F

Thus only A and E are industrial towns.

Five friends A,B,C,D,E travelled to five different cities of

THUS IT IS CLEAR FROM THE PREVIOUS

Four youngmen A,B,C,D are friendly

It is given in question, that we have to take

There is a group of six persons A,B,C,D,E and F from a family.

It is clear that the two couples are CB and AD.

Thus from the table, it is clear that V is

20+32 – 14 = 38 students. Answer

You cant be sure that 1st or 2nd or 3rd conclusion

Statements : 1. some tables are fans 2. some

T seems to be youngest, so let us start with T.

R< L <A< K <M

In an examination, Raj got more marks than

(A)Gop is shorter than Nanu but taller than

(1)A, B, C, D and E are five friends.

There are five different houses, A to E in a

In a march past , seven persons are standing in

Five children are sitting in a row. S is sitting

We should always side with those who are true

Here it has been used for mixture, but it is

Dont use more than

Instead of their, use its

Instead of were, use was.

Instead of than, use but

Instead of I have adopted so far, use :

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