Reasoning Ability
Reasoning Ability checks structured thinking: puzzles and seating arrangement, syllogism, inequality, coding–decoding, blood relations, direction sense, alphanumeric series and order–ranking. The section rewards a fixed method more than random practice.
Method by question type
- Puzzles and seating: start with fixed positions and negative clues; draw the arrangement; keep two possible cases until a clue eliminates one.
- Syllogism: draw Venn diagrams. All A are B does not convert to All B are A; Some A are B converts to Some B are A.
- Inequality: combine only same-direction symbols. A > B ≥ C gives A > C, but not C > A.
- Coding–decoding: check letter positions, shifts, reversal and number–letter substitution.
- Blood relations: draw a family tree and do not assign gender without evidence.
Worked example
Statements: All clerks are bankers. Some bankers are managers. Conclusions: I. Some clerks are managers. II. Some managers are bankers. Draw clerks inside bankers, with managers overlapping bankers. Conclusion I is not forced, because the managers who are bankers may lie outside the clerk group. Conclusion II follows by conversion of Some bankers are managers. Answer: only II follows.
Traps
Treating some as some not; assuming a person’s gender from a relation word; missing the either–or condition in inequality; and abandoning a puzzle before testing all clues. In seating puzzles, confirm whether people face north or south before using left and right.