Reasoning and Mental Ability
Reasoning is the most scoring section because it rewards practised technique rather than memory. The paper mixes verbal items (series, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, ranking, syllogism, seating arrangement) with non-verbal items (mirror and water images, paper folding, figure series, dice, embedded figures).
Rules that repeat
- Number series: test differences first, then ratios, then two-step patterns such as ×n + k; an interleaved series hides two sequences in alternate terms.
- Coding-decoding: write A–Z with positions 1–26; check simple shift, reversal, and opposite-letter pairs (A↔Z, B↔Y).
- Blood relations: draw a family tree; mark male and female branches separately and keep generations on different rows.
- Syllogism: use Venn diagrams; "some A are B" never converts to "all A are B"; a "possibility" conclusion is true unless it contradicts the statements.
- Clock: angle between hands = |30H − 5.5M|; the hands coincide every 65 5/11 minutes.
Worked example
Find the next term: 3, 7, 16, 35, 74, ? Reasoning: differences are 4, 9, 19, 39 - no clean pattern. Trying ×2 + k: 3×2+1=7; 7×2+2=16; 16×2+3=35; 35×2+4=74. The multiplier stays 2 while the constant rises by one each step. Next term: 74×2+5 = 153.
Traps
- Locking onto one arithmetic rule before testing a two-step rule.
- Rejecting a valid syllogism conclusion because it sounds unusual.
- Direction questions: always redraw the axis after a left or right turn; do not carry the old facing forward.
- Dice and cube questions: count the visible faces before assuming opposites.