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Question 1Pattern Completion
A large square is divided into a 4-by-4 grid of small squares. The top-left 2-by-2 block of small squares is shaded. Which fraction of the large square is shaded?
- 1/8
- 1/16
- 1/4 Correct answer.
- 1/2
Explanation
The large square contains 16 small squares, and the shaded block contains 4 of them. The shaded fraction is 4/16, which simplifies to 1/4. Counting cells in a grid is the core move in pattern-completion items.
Question 2Pattern Completion
A row of tiles follows the repeating cycle: circle, triangle, square, circle, triangle, square, and so on. What shape appears in the 14th position?
- Triangle
- Circle
- Hexagon
- Square Correct answer.
Explanation
The cycle length is 3, so divide 14 by 3 to get 4 full cycles with a remainder of 2. The second shape in the cycle is the triangle. Wait-position 14 corresponds to remainder 2, meaning triangle; recounting: 12 is a full cycle ending in square, 13 circle, 14 triangle. The correct shape is the triangle.
Question 3Pattern Completion
In a 3-by-3 grid, the center cell is shaded. The four corner cells are also shaded. How many cells remain unshaded?
- 2
- 3
- 5
- 4 Correct answer.
Explanation
A 3-by-3 grid has 9 cells. Shading the center plus the four corners uses 5 cells, leaving 9 minus 5, which is 4 unshaded cells. The edge midpoints are exactly the remaining cells.
Question 4Pattern Completion
A sequence of figures grows as follows: 1 dot, 3 dots, 5 dots, 7 dots. If the pattern continues by adding the same number each time, how many dots are in the sixth figure?
- 11 Correct answer.
- 9
- 13
- 12
Explanation
The counts form an arithmetic pattern increasing by 2 each step. Continuing: the fifth figure has 9 dots and the sixth has 11. The formula 2n minus 1 confirms it for n equal to 6.
Question 5Pattern Completion
A shape is rotated 90 degrees clockwise, then another 90 degrees clockwise. The result is equivalent to which single transformation?
- No change at all
- A reflection across a vertical line
- A 90-degree counterclockwise rotation
- A 180-degree rotation Correct answer.
Explanation
Two quarter-turns in the same direction combine into a half-turn. Therefore the net effect is a 180-degree rotation. Reflections cannot be produced by combining rotations.
Question 6Pattern Completion
A pattern alternates between a filled shape and an outline of the same shape: filled, outline, filled, outline. What is the 9th figure?
- An outline shape
- A filled shape Correct answer.
- A shape rotated 45 degrees
- A shape with a diagonal line
Explanation
Odd positions carry the filled version and even positions carry the outline. Since 9 is odd, the ninth figure is filled. Alternating patterns are decided by parity of the position number.
Question 7Pattern Completion
A square is folded in half once, then unfolded. The crease line is best described as which feature of the square?
- A corner point
- A perimeter edge
- A diagonal
- A line of symmetry Correct answer.
Explanation
Folding a square so the two halves coincide reveals a line of symmetry. The crease divides the square into two mirror-image halves. Diagonals and edges are different features.
Question 8Pattern Completion
A design repeats a motif every 5 positions around a ring of 20 positions. How many complete repetitions of the motif fit around the ring?
- 4 Correct answer.
- 10
- 5
- 20
Explanation
Dividing the ring length of 20 by the motif period of 5 gives 4 complete repetitions. The motif closes exactly at the starting point. This is a direct division of ring size by period.
Question 9Pattern Completion
A 4-by-4 grid has its two diagonals shaded. How many distinct cells are shaded?
- 6
- 8 Correct answer.
- 4
- 16
Explanation
Each diagonal of a 4-by-4 grid contains 4 cells. The two diagonals share no cell when the grid side is even, so the total is 4 plus 4 equals 8. Sharing would only occur with an odd side length.
Question 10Pattern Completion
A pattern of shapes is built so each row has one more shape than the row above, starting with 1 in the top row. If there are 5 rows, how many shapes appear in total?
- 15 Correct answer.
- 20
- 12
- 10
Explanation
The row counts are 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Their sum is 15, the fifth triangular number. Adding consecutive integers from 1 to 5 gives this total.
Question 11Pattern Completion
A figure is reflected across a vertical line and then reflected across a horizontal line. The combined effect equals which single transformation?
- A 90-degree rotation
- No change
- A 180-degree rotation Correct answer.
- A reflection across a diagonal
Explanation
Two perpendicular reflections compose into a rotation of twice the angle between the mirror lines. The mirrors are 90 degrees apart, so the result is a 180-degree rotation. A single reflection cannot equal two reflections across perpendicular axes.
Question 12Pattern Completion
In a repeating pattern of period 4, the 7th figure is a star. Which other position is also guaranteed to show a star?
- 9
- 8
- 11 Correct answer.
- 10
Explanation
Positions with the same remainder modulo 4 show the same figure. Since 7 and 11 both leave remainder 3, position 11 also shows a star. The other listed positions have different remainders.
Question 13Pattern Completion
A large triangle is divided by lines parallel to its base into 3 equal-height horizontal strips. The top strip is shaded. What fraction of the triangle's area is shaded?
- 1/9 Correct answer.
- 1/4
- 1/3
- 1/2
Explanation
Similar triangles scale area by the square of the height ratio. The top small triangle has one-third the height of the whole, so its area is one-ninth of the total. Equal heights do not mean equal areas.
Question 14Pattern Completion
A checkerboard pattern of 5 rows and 5 columns alternates colors starting with dark in the top-left corner. How many dark squares are on the board?
- 15
- 13 Correct answer.
- 12
- 25
Explanation
On an odd-by-odd board the starting color appears one more time than the other. With 25 total squares, the dark count is 13 and the light count is 12. The extra square comes from the odd dimensions.
Question 15Pattern Completion
A shape sequence adds 2 sides each step: triangle, pentagon, heptagon. What is the next shape in the pattern?
- Octagon
- Nonagon Correct answer.
- Decagon
- Hexagon
Explanation
The side counts run 3, 5, and 7, increasing by 2. Adding 2 to 7 gives 9 sides, which is a nonagon. The pattern is arithmetic in side count.
Question 16Pattern Completion
A figure is rotated 90 degrees clockwise about its center, and the result looks identical to the original. Which statement must be true?
- The figure has fourfold rotational symmetry Correct answer.
- The figure has no symmetry
- The figure is a single dot
- The figure has only reflectional symmetry
Explanation
If a quarter-turn leaves the figure unchanged, repeating it four times returns to the start, giving fourfold rotational symmetry. Rotational symmetry is defined by rotations that map the figure onto itself.
Question 17Pattern Completion
A pattern of dots is arranged in a square ring: a 3-by-3 square of dots with the center dot removed. How many dots are in the ring?
- 7
- 9
- 4
- 8 Correct answer.
Explanation
A 3-by-3 square holds 9 dots. Removing the single center dot leaves 8 dots forming the ring. Rings are counted by total minus the hollow interior.
Question 18Pattern Completion
A sequence of squares has side lengths 1, 2, 3, 4. What is the total area of the first four squares combined?
- 16
- 20
- 25
- 30 Correct answer.
Explanation
The areas are 1, 4, 9, and 16. Their sum is 30, the sum of the first four perfect squares. Area scales with the square of the side length.
Question 19Pattern Completion
A grid pattern shifts one column to the right each step, wrapping around at the edge. If the pattern starts in column 1 of a 4-column grid, in which column is it after 6 shifts?
- Column 4
- Column 1
- Column 2
- Column 3 Correct answer.
Explanation
Shifting 6 times from column 1 means adding 6, giving 7, then wrapping by subtracting 4 once to land in column 3. Equivalently, 6 mod 4 equals 2, and 1 plus 2 equals 3. Wrapping uses modular arithmetic.
Question 20Pattern Completion
A pattern alternates two rules: add 3, then double. Starting from 1, what is the fourth term?
- 14
- 11 Correct answer.
- 5
- 8
Explanation
Starting at 1, add 3 to get 4, double to get 8, then add 3 to get 11. The fourth term is 11. Alternating rules must be applied in order.
Question 21Pattern Completion
A figure with 4 lines of symmetry is rotated by 45 degrees about its center. Which statement best describes the result?
- The rotated figure is generally different from the original Correct answer.
- The figure loses all symmetry
- The figure becomes a reflection of itself
- The rotated figure always matches the original
Explanation
Four lines of symmetry correspond to quarter-turn rotational symmetry, so only multiples of 90 degrees map the figure onto itself. A 45-degree turn does not generally match the original. Symmetry angles are discrete, not continuous.
Question 22Pattern Completion
A pattern of nested squares alternates between shaded and unshaded rings. If there are 7 rings counting outward from the center, and the innermost is shaded, how many shaded rings are there?
- 7
- 5
- 3
- 4 Correct answer.
Explanation
With alternating shading starting shaded, odd-numbered rings are shaded. Among rings 1 through 7, the odd positions are 1, 3, 5, and 7, giving 4 shaded rings. The count of odd numbers up to 7 is 4.
Question 23Pattern Completion
Two transformations are applied to a figure: a reflection across a vertical line, then a 90-degree clockwise rotation. Which single transformation produces the same result?
- A reflection across a horizontal line
- A 90-degree counterclockwise rotation
- A reflection across a diagonal line Correct answer.
- A 180-degree rotation
Explanation
A reflection followed by a rotation is a glide-type transformation that reverses orientation, so the net result must be a reflection. The axis is the vertical line turned by 45 degrees, which is a diagonal. Pure rotations preserve orientation and cannot match.
Question 24Pattern Completion
A repeating pattern of period 6 begins with a red square at position 1. Positions congruent to 1 modulo 6 are red. Which of these positions is red?
- 20
- 21
- 19 Correct answer.
- 18
Explanation
A position is red when dividing by 6 leaves remainder 1. Nineteen equals 18 plus 1, so its remainder is 1 and it is red. The other options leave remainders of 2, 3, and 0.
Question 25Pattern Completion
A design is built from unit triangles arranged so each new row doubles the count of the row above, starting with 1. How many unit triangles are in the first 5 rows combined?
- 32
- 31 Correct answer.
- 16
- 15
Explanation
The row counts are 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16, a geometric sequence with ratio 2. Their sum is 31, one less than the next power of two. Doubling rows sum to 2 to the n minus 1.
Question 26Pattern Completion
A pattern-completion item shows a 3-by-3 grid whose outer ring of cells is shaded and whose center cell is blank. A second identical grid is placed beside it, but its center cell is shaded and its outer ring is blank. What single transformation turns the first grid into the second?
- Shifting every row one cell to the left
- Reflecting the grid across its main diagonal
- Swapping shaded and blank cells throughout the grid Correct answer.
- Rotating the grid 90 degrees clockwise
Explanation
In the first grid the eight border cells are shaded and the middle cell is blank; in the second grid those roles are exactly reversed. Only an inversion of shading reproduces that change, since every shaded cell becomes blank and the blank center becomes shaded. Rotation, reflection, or shifting would move the shaded region rather than swap it with the blank one.
Question 27Pattern Completion
A missing corner of a large pattern must be filled. The pattern is made of small squares that alternate dark and light along every row, and each row begins with the opposite color from the row above it. The missing corner sits in row 4 (counting from the top) at column 5, with row 1 and column 1 both starting dark. What color belongs in the missing cell?
- Dark
- It depends on the column width
- It depends on the row height
- Light Correct answer.
Explanation
A cell's color is dark when row number and column number have the same parity, because each step along a row or down a column flips the color. Row 4 and column 5 have different parity (even versus odd), so the cell is light. Width and height of the cells do not affect the alternation rule.
Question 28Pattern Completion
A tile design has 180-degree rotational symmetry about its center. The upper-left region of the tile is shaded. Which region must also be shaded for the design to keep that symmetry?
- The entire upper half
- The lower-right region Correct answer.
- The lower-left region
- The upper-right region
Explanation
A 180-degree rotation carries each point to the point directly opposite the center, so the upper-left region maps onto the lower-right region. Preserving the symmetry therefore forces the lower-right region to match the upper-left one. Mirror-image regions across a vertical or horizontal axis are governed by reflection symmetry instead.
Question 29Pattern Completion
A repeating border uses a motif of period 5 running left to right. Position 3 of the motif is a small circle. Which other position in the border is certain to show a small circle?
- Position 15
- Position 13 Correct answer.
- Position 16
- Position 14
Explanation
With period 5, positions showing the same motif element differ by multiples of 5. The circle sits at position 3, so it recurs at 3, 8, 13, 18, and so on. Position 13 equals 3 plus two full periods, which makes it the only listed position congruent to 3 modulo 5.
Question 30Pattern Completion
A square pattern is folded along its vertical center line, then a single hole is punched through the folded paper at a point above the fold line. When the paper is unfolded, how many holes appear and how are they arranged?
- Two holes, placed one directly above the other
- Four holes, arranged at the corners of a small square
- One hole, at the punched location only
- Two holes, placed as mirror images across the vertical fold line Correct answer.
Explanation
Folding on the vertical center line doubles every punched point into its reflection across that line. Unfolding therefore yields two holes at equal heights on opposite sides of the center line. A single hole would require no fold, and four holes would require a second fold.
Question 31Pattern Completion
In a pattern-completion puzzle, a shape series is built by repeating the cycle square, triangle, circle, pentagon. The 2nd figure in the series is a triangle. Which figure number in the series is also a triangle?
- 12
- 10 Correct answer.
- 13
- 11
Explanation
A cycle of length 4 puts triangles at positions 2, 6, 10, 14, and so on, all congruent to 2 modulo 4. Among the choices, only 10 satisfies that condition. The others fall on different elements of the cycle.
Question 32Pattern Completion
A large rectangle is divided into a grid of 4 rows and 6 columns, and a diagonal line of cells is shaded running from the top-left cell to the bottom-right cell. How many cells does this diagonal shading cover?
- 4 Correct answer.
- 5
- 6
- 10
Explanation
A diagonal from corner to corner of a grid crosses one cell per row and one cell per column until the grid ends. With 4 rows and 6 columns, the diagonal reaches the far side after 4 steps, so it shades 4 cells. The count is set by the smaller dimension.
Question 33Pattern Completion
A pattern shows a shape drawn in outline, then the same shape filled solid, then the outline again, then filled solid, and so on. The 1st figure is an outline. Which statement about the 20th figure is correct?
- It is a filled shape, because 20 is a multiple of 4
- It is a filled shape, because even positions are filled Correct answer.
- It cannot be determined from the pattern
- It is an outline shape, because even positions are outlines
Explanation
The alternation repeats every two figures, with outlines at odd positions and filled shapes at even positions. Since 20 is even, the 20th figure is filled. Multiples of 4 are irrelevant here because the period is 2, not 4.
Question 34Pattern Completion
A pattern-completion figure consists of a large square with a smaller square centered inside it, and the region between them is shaded. A second figure shows the same large square with the inner region shaded instead. Which feature distinguishes the two figures?
- The number of sides of the outer shape
- The orientation of the outer square
- The overall size of the outer square
- Which region is shaded relative to the inner square Correct answer.
Explanation
Both figures share the same outer square and the same inner square, so size, side count, and orientation are unchanged. The difference lies entirely in which region carries the shading: the ring between the squares, or the inner square itself. Pattern completion tasks often hinge on this kind of shading swap.
Question 35Pattern Completion
A design is built so that each ring of a circular pattern contains one more dot than the ring inside it. The innermost ring holds 2 dots. How many dots are in the 5th ring counting outward from the innermost?
- 5
- 6 Correct answer.
- 7
- 10
Explanation
The rings form an arithmetic pattern starting at 2 and increasing by 1 each step. The 5th ring adds four increments to the starting value, giving 2 plus 4 equals 6. Counting the innermost ring as the first is what fixes the answer.
Question 36Pattern Completion
A figure is rotated 90 degrees clockwise and then 180 degrees clockwise about the same center. The combined transformation is equivalent to which single rotation?
- 180 degrees clockwise
- 360 degrees clockwise
- 270 degrees clockwise Correct answer.
- 90 degrees clockwise
Explanation
Rotations about the same center compose by adding their angles. Ninety plus one hundred eighty equals two hundred seventy degrees clockwise, which is the same as 90 degrees counterclockwise. A full 360-degree turn would require the angles to sum to a complete circle.
Question 37Pattern Completion
A pattern alternates two operations on a starting value of 3: first add 4, then multiply by 2, then add 4, then multiply by 2. What is the value after the fourth operation?
- 28 Correct answer.
- 20
- 36
- 24
Explanation
Applying the operations in order: 3 plus 4 is 7, doubled is 14, plus 4 is 18, doubled is 36. Rechecking the sequence shows the fourth operation is the second doubling, which yields 36 from 18. The answer depends on strictly alternating the two rules.
Question 38Pattern Completion
In a pattern-completion grid, each row is obtained from the row above by moving every entry one column to the right, with the rightmost entry wrapping to the leftmost column. If the top row begins with a star in column 1, in which column does the star appear in the 4th row?
- Column 4 Correct answer.
- Column 1
- Column 3
- Column 2
Explanation
Each downward step shifts the star one column right, wrapping around at the edge. After three shifts from row 1 to row 4, the star has moved three columns, landing in column 4. The wrap rule does not come into play for this small shift.
Question 39Pattern Completion
A pattern is formed by reflecting a small flag across a vertical line and then reflecting the result across a horizontal line. The final figure is equivalent to which single transformation of the original flag?
- A reflection across the horizontal line only
- A translation to the opposite quadrant with no change in orientation
- A 180-degree rotation about the point where the two lines meet Correct answer.
- A reflection across the vertical line only
Explanation
Two reflections across perpendicular lines compose into a rotation about their intersection point. The rotation angle is twice the angle between the lines, so perpendicular lines give 180 degrees. A single reflection or a pure translation does not account for both flips.
Question 40Pattern Completion
A repeating wallpaper pattern has a motif that occupies a 2-by-2 block of cells and repeats every 2 cells horizontally and every 3 cells vertically. A marked cell lies at row 4, column 5. Which other cell is certain to carry the same mark?
- Row 7, column 6
- Row 5, column 8
- Row 7, column 7 Correct answer.
- Row 6, column 7
Explanation
Two cells match when their row difference is a multiple of 3 and their column difference is a multiple of 2. From row 4 to row 7 is a difference of 3, and from column 5 to column 7 is a difference of 2, so the marks coincide. Each other option fails one of these two divisibility conditions.
Question 41Pattern Completion
A pattern-completion item shows a shape whose left half is a mirror image of its right half, and whose top half is a mirror image of its bottom half. A single cell in the upper-right quadrant is shaded. How many cells in the whole figure are shaded if the figure is a 4-by-4 grid?
- 4 Correct answer.
- 1
- 8
- 2
Explanation
Vertical mirror symmetry copies the shaded cell into the upper-left quadrant, and horizontal mirror symmetry copies both into the lower half. That gives one cell in each quadrant, for four shaded cells total. The count doubles once for each axis of symmetry.
Question 42Pattern Completion
A design repeats a motif every 6 positions around a ring of 24 positions. The motif itself is not symmetric, so its orientation matters. How many complete repetitions of the motif appear around the ring, and does the pattern close cleanly?
- 4 repetitions, and it closes cleanly Correct answer.
- 6 repetitions, and it closes cleanly
- 4 repetitions, but it does not close cleanly
- 24 repetitions, and it closes cleanly
Explanation
Dividing the ring length by the period gives 24 divided by 6, which is 4 repetitions. Because 6 divides 24 exactly, the last repetition ends precisely where the first begins, so the pattern closes without a gap or overlap. A non-divisor period would leave a partial motif at the seam.
Question 43Pattern Completion
A figure is rotated 90 degrees clockwise about its center and the result is identical to the original figure. Which additional statement must then be true?
- Rotating the figure 45 degrees leaves it unchanged
- The figure must be a circle
- The figure has no lines of symmetry
- Rotating the figure 180 degrees also leaves it unchanged Correct answer.
Explanation
If a quarter turn maps the figure onto itself, applying that quarter turn twice maps it onto itself as well, which is a half turn. So 180-degree rotational symmetry follows automatically. Smaller rotations and reflection symmetry are not implied.
Question 44Pattern Completion
A pattern of nested triangles alternates shaded and unshaded bands, starting with a shaded innermost triangle. If there are 9 bands counting outward from the innermost, how many shaded bands are there?
- 4
- 9
- 8
- 5 Correct answer.
Explanation
With alternation beginning on a shaded band, the shaded bands occupy the odd-numbered positions: 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. That gives five shaded bands and four unshaded ones. Starting the count on the shaded band is what makes the shaded total the larger one.
Question 45Pattern Completion
A square is cut by both diagonals, producing four triangular regions. The top and bottom triangles are shaded. Which transformation maps the shaded top triangle exactly onto the shaded bottom triangle?
- A translation downward by the side length of the square
- A reflection across a vertical line through the center
- A 180-degree rotation about the center of the square Correct answer.
- A reflection across a diagonal of the square
Explanation
A 180-degree rotation about the center carries the top triangle onto the bottom triangle. The square's center stays fixed, and the two top corners move to the two bottom corners, so all three vertices and the entire triangular region coincide.
Question 46Pattern Completion
A pattern is generated by the rule: each new figure takes the previous figure, rotates it 90 degrees clockwise, and then reflects it across a vertical line. Applying the rule twice to a starting figure is equivalent to which single operation?
- A reflection across a horizontal line
- A reflection across a vertical line
- No change at all
- A 180-degree rotation about the center Correct answer.
Explanation
A 90-degree clockwise rotation followed by a vertical reflection equals a reflection across one of the diagonals. Applying that diagonal reflection twice returns the figure rotated by 180 degrees, since two reflections across the same line would cancel but the composite here is a rotation. Tracking the orientation of a marked point confirms the net effect is a half turn.
Question 47Pattern Completion
A large equilateral triangle is divided by lines parallel to its sides into 4 congruent smaller triangles, and the central one is removed. The remaining 3 corner triangles are then each divided the same way and their central triangles removed. How many small triangles remain after the second stage?
- 6
- 12
- 3
- 9 Correct answer.
Explanation
After the first stage, 3 corner triangles remain. In the second stage each of those 3 is split into 4 parts and loses its center, leaving 3 parts per corner triangle. Multiplying 3 corners by 3 surviving parts gives 9 remaining triangles.
Question 48Pattern Completion
A pattern has translational symmetry with a horizontal period of 4 cells and a vertical period of 6 cells, and also has 180-degree rotational symmetry about a marked center point. A shaded cell sits 1 cell right and 2 cells above the center. Which location must also be shaded?
- Three cells right and two cells above the center
- Two cells right and one cell above the center
- One cell left and two cells below the center Correct answer.
- One cell left and two cells above the center
Explanation
A half turn about the center sends a cell at offset (1, 2) to the offset (-1, -2), that is, one cell left and two cells below. Rotational symmetry therefore forces that cell to be shaded as well. Translation periods would produce further copies but do not change this first forced mate.
Question 49Pattern Completion
A pattern-completion figure is built from a motif that has exactly 4-fold rotational symmetry but no reflection symmetry. How many distinct orientations of the motif appear when it is rotated through all multiples of 45 degrees from 0 to 315 degrees?
- 1
- 4 Correct answer.
- 8
- 2
Explanation
Fourfold rotational symmetry means the motif looks the same after every quarter turn, so orientations separated by 90 degrees coincide. The eight tested angles therefore collapse into four distinct appearances. The absence of reflection symmetry does not create extra orientations.
Question 50Pattern Completion
A pattern alternates between two rules applied to a running total: multiply by 2, then subtract 3. Starting from 5, the sequence of totals is 5, 10, 7, 14, 11, and so on. A candidate claims the total will eventually repeat a value already seen. Which observation about the pattern best supports or refutes that claim?
- Each pair of steps returns the total to its starting value, so the values cycle
- Each pair of steps increases the total by 1 overall, so the values keep rising and never repeat Correct answer.
- The subtract step can produce a negative total, which then repeats
- The multiply step guarantees the total doubles forever without bound
Explanation
Applying multiply-by-2 and then subtract-3 to a value x gives 2x minus 3, which exceeds x whenever x is greater than 3. Starting at 5, every two-step cycle therefore raises the total, so no value recurs. The claim of eventual repetition is refuted by this steady increase.