General Aptitude, Reasoning and Mental Ability
General Aptitude, Reasoning and Mental Ability tests numerical ability, logical reasoning, data interpretation and non-verbal reasoning at a speed-and-accuracy level. The ACF/FRO paper rewards clear method: identify the quantity, set up the relation, then compute.
Core rules
- Arithmetic: percentage change, ratio and proportion, average, profit and loss, time–speed–distance, time and work, simple and compound interest.
- Reasoning: number and letter series, coding–decoding, blood relations, direction sense, syllogism, seating arrangement, puzzles and Venn diagrams.
- Non-verbal: mirror and water images, paper folding, embedded figures and figure series.
- Data interpretation: read axes, units and base values; compare growth rates, not absolute bars alone.
- Approximation: eliminate options using unit digits, ratios and ranges before full calculation.
Worked example
A 150 m train at 72 km/h crosses a 250 m platform. Reasoning: convert speed: 72 × 5/18 = 20 m/s. The train must clear its own length plus the platform: 150 + 250 = 400 m. Time = 400/20 = 20 seconds.
Traps
- Forgetting to add the train length to the platform length.
- Using the inverse conversion (×18/5) for km/h to m/s.
- In syllogism, ignoring the either–or possibility when conclusions are complementary.
- In blood relations, missing maternal versus paternal labels.