General Intelligence and Reasoning
This section is pure technique: series, codes, relations, directions, syllogisms, seating, analogies and non-verbal figures. The questions are individually easy but the section punishes slow, unstructured reading.
Core areas
- Number and letter series - find the rule using first differences, then second differences.
- Coding-decoding - check the shift letter by letter in both directions before assuming a pattern.
- Blood relations - draw a small family tree and mark gender.
- Direction sense - draw the path; remember that turning left or right depends on facing direction.
- Syllogism - test only what the statements force; a possibility is a valid conclusion, a certainty is not.
- Non-verbal - mirror images, paper folding, embedded figures, figure series rotation.
Worked example
Find the next term: 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, ? Reasoning: first differences are 4, 6, 8, 10 - an arithmetic progression rising by 2 each time. The next difference is 12, so the next term is 30 + 12 = 42. Confirm with the alternative view: each term is n(n+1), giving 1×2, 2×3, 3×4, 4×5, 5×6, so the next is 6×7 = 42. Two independent rules agreeing is a strong check.
Traps that cost marks
- Assuming a two-term pattern from only two numbers.
- In blood relations, forgetting that a sibling's gender may be unstated - do not assume.
- In syllogism, dragging in real-world knowledge instead of the given statements.
- In direction questions, turning relative to the wrong facing direction.
- In figure series, spotting rotation but missing that the number of elements also changes.