General Intelligence and Reasoning: Pattern Templates That Repeat Every Year
The General Intelligence and Reasoning section is a speed paper - typically 25 questions in about 15 minutes, one mark each with a 0.25 penalty for wrong answers. Almost every item is built from a template, so recognising the pattern is faster than computing. Questions come as verbal (series, analogies, coding-decoding, syllogism, blood relations, direction sense) and non-verbal (mirror and water images, paper folding, embedded figures, figure series, counting figures, dice).
Algorithms that solve most series
Take first differences; if they are not constant, take second differences. When differences fail, test squares or cubes plus or minus a constant, or an alternating multiply/divide pattern. In letter series convert letters to positions (A=1 ... Z=26) and look for skip patterns such as +1, +3, +5 or forward-backward alternation.
Coding-decoding
Write the alphabet with numbers above it and compare each code letter with the original position. A constant shift, a reversing pattern or a shift that grows by one each letter (+1, +2, +3) accounts for most questions. For number coding, check whether the code equals the sum of letter positions.
Syllogism
Draw Venn diagrams. 'All A are B' never yields 'All B are A', and 'Some A are B' does convert. A conclusion worded as a possibility is false only when a valid diagram contradicts it.
Non-verbal items
Count sides and line segments, check for 90-degree rotation, and test whether the option is an embedded part of the figure rather than a rotated copy.
Worked example: 3, 8, 15, 24, ? - first differences are 5, 7, 9, so the next difference is 11 and the answer is 35. Cross-check: 2 squared minus 1 = 3, 3 squared minus 1 = 8, 4 squared minus 1 = 15, 5 squared minus 1 = 24, so the next term is 6 squared minus 1 = 35.
Traps that cost marks
Mirror images flip left-right; water images flip top-bottom. Opposite faces of a dice sum to 7 only on a standard dice - verify from the given figure. Never infer gender from a name in blood-relation puzzles. When counting triangles, count by size class so nothing is counted twice.