Reasoning
Reasoning in the IBPS SO prelims (for IT Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, Law Officer, HR/Personnel Officer and Marketing Officer) usually carries 50 questions; Rajbhasha Adhikari has a separate pattern. The paper tests structured deduction under time pressure: puzzles and seating arrangements, syllogism, inequality, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, alphanumeric series and input-output.
Core rules
- For puzzles, build a grid or table. Fix definite positions first and keep uncertain options light; do not invent a second arrangement unless the question says "possibility".
- In syllogism, draw the minimal Venn diagram. "All A are B" converts to "Some B are A"; "Some A are B" is reversible; "Some A are not B" is not implied by "Some A are B".
- For inequality, chain only same-direction symbols. "A ≥ B > C" gives A > C, not A ≥ C as a separate conclusion unless asked.
- In coding-decoding, map letters to positions (A=1, ..., Z=26) and test shifts, reversals and word-length patterns.
- In input-output, follow each step's rearrangement rule; the final output alone is not enough.
Worked example
Statements: All pens are books. Some books are red. Conclusions: I. Some pens are red. II. Some books are pens. Reasoning: "All pens are books" converts to "Some books are pens", so II follows. "Some books are red" shares only the term "books" with the first statement; there is no guaranteed link between pens and red, so I does not follow. Answer: only II follows.
Traps
- Reading "some" as "some but not all"; in logic, "some" includes "all".
- Assuming every entity in a puzzle must be used when the question asks for a possibility.
- Reversing an inequality chain, e.g. treating A < B > C as A < C.
- Blind guessing: each wrong answer deducts one-fourth of the question's marks.