⚡ Quick quiz

Test yourself in under a minute: IBPS PO Reasoning Practice Test

Work through this set of puzzles, seating arrangements and syllogisms below, then check how well systematic clue elimination held up under a real time crunch.

1. 1. Seven people – A, B, C, D, E, F and G – live on seven different floors of a building, the lowest floor numbered 1 and the topmost numbered 7 (not necessarily in this order). Only three people live below E's floor. G lives immediately above E. A lives immediately above G. F lives on the topmost floor. Only one person lives between B and C. D lives immediately above C. More than two people live between C and G. Who lives on floor number 4?

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2. 2. Statements: Some rivers are lakes. All lakes are oceans. Conclusions: I. Some rivers are oceans. II. All oceans are lakes. Which conclusion(s) follow?

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3. 3. In a certain code language, 'flowers are red beautiful' is written as 'ta ke lo mi', 'red roses are fresh' is written as 'lo si ke da', and 'beautiful fresh flowers bloom' is written as 'mi da ta ho'. What is the code for 'roses'?

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4. 4. Starting from her house, Neha walks 8 km towards north, then turns right and walks 6 km, then turns right again and walks 8 km. How far and in which direction is she from her starting point?

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5. 5. Six friends P, Q, R, S, T and U sit in a row facing north. What is T's position from the left end? Statement I: Exactly two people sit between T and R, and R sits at the rightmost end (position 6). Statement II: Q sits third from the left, and T sits somewhere to the right of Q. Which statement(s) alone are sufficient?

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   A) Statement II alone is sufficient, but Statement I alone is notB) Statement I alone is sufficient, but Statement II alone is notC) Both statements together are necessaryD) Neither statement is sufficient

Puzzles & Seating Arrangement

A seven-floor puzzle and an eight-person circular seating arrangement (with facing directions) test simultaneous multi-clue tracking on paper.

1. 1. (Based on the same building puzzle as Q1.) How many people live above D's floor?

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   5 people live above D.🔊

   D is immediately above C, and the only-one-between-B-and-C clue forces C=1, D=2, B=3. That leaves floors 3 through 7 (B, E, G, A, F) above D, 5 people.

2. 2. (Based on the same building puzzle as Q1.) On which floor does B live, and who lives immediately below B?

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   B lives on floor 3; D lives immediately below B.🔊

   Since C must sit at floor 1 for the 'one person between B and C' clue to be consistent with D directly above C, D takes floor 2 and B takes floor 3, making D B's direct lower neighbour.

3. 3. (Based on the same building puzzle as Q1.) How many people live between the floors of A and C?

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   4 people live between A and C.🔊

   A is on floor 6 and C is on floor 1, so floors 2-5 (D, B, E, G) fall between them, 4 people.

4. 4. Eight people – J, K, L, M, N, O, P and Q – sit around a circular table, some facing the centre and the rest facing outside (away from the centre), not necessarily in the same order as their names. J, K, M and P face the centre, while L, N, O and Q face outside. K sits immediately to the right (clockwise) of J. M sits third to the right (clockwise) of J. L is an immediate neighbour of both K and M. N sits exactly opposite J. O is the immediate clockwise neighbour of N. Q is an immediate neighbour of J. Who sits exactly opposite L?

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   P sits exactly opposite L.🔊

   Fixing J's seat as a reference, K is one seat clockwise of J and M is three seats clockwise of J, so L (adjacent to both K and M) sits in the single seat between them. Opposite pairs in an 8-seat circle are 4 seats apart, which places P directly opposite L once N, O and Q are fixed via the remaining clues.

5. 5. (Based on the same seating arrangement as Q5.) How many people sit between O and Q, counting clockwise starting from O?

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   1 person (P) sits between them.🔊

   N sits opposite J, O is N's immediate clockwise neighbour, and Q is J's other neighbour (since K already occupies one side of J). Tracing clockwise from O, only P separates O from Q before reaching Q.

6. 6. (Based on the same seating arrangement as Q5.) Other than M and P, which two people face the centre?

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   J and K face the centre.🔊

   The puzzle directly states J, K, M and P face the centre; since M and P are excluded by the question, J and K are the remaining two.

7. 7. (Based on the same seating arrangement as Q5.) Who is the immediate neighbour of M, other than L?

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   N is M's other neighbour.🔊

   M's two immediate neighbours are L (fixed as the seat between K and M) and N (fixed by the opposite-J and clockwise-of-N clues), so excluding L leaves N.

8. 8. Six boxes A, B, C, D, E and F are stacked one above another, Box 1 at the bottom and Box 6 at the top (not necessarily in this order). Only two boxes are below D. B is immediately above D. A is immediately above B. F is at the very top. E is immediately above C. How many boxes are between C and D?

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   1🔊

   Only two boxes below D places D at position 3. B is immediately above D, so B is at 4; A is immediately above B, so A is at 5. F is at the top, position 6. The remaining positions 1 and 2 go to C and E, and since E is immediately above C, C is at 1 and E is at 2. Only E (position 2) lies between C (position 1) and D (position 3), so there is 1 box between them.

Syllogism & Inequalities

Two syllogism sets check statement-conclusion validity using standard Venn-diagram rules, and direct/coded inequality chains test transitive reasoning and definite-vs-indeterminate conclusions.

1. 1. Statements: No teacher is a student. Some students are scholars. Conclusions: I. No scholar is a teacher. II. Some scholars are not teachers. Which conclusion(s) follow?

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   Only conclusion II follows.🔊

   The students who are also scholars cannot be teachers (since no teacher is a student), which proves 'Some scholars are not teachers' (II). But scholars outside that overlap could still be teachers, so the universal claim 'No scholar is a teacher' (I) is not guaranteed.

2. 2. Statements: A > B ≥ C > D; E < D. Conclusions: I. A > D. II. C > E. Which conclusion(s) follow?

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   Both I and II follow.🔊

   A > B ≥ C > D chains to give A > D directly (I). Since C > D and E < D, we get C > D > E, so C > E (II). Both are forced by transitivity.

3. 3. In a certain code, '%' means '≥', '@' means '>', '$' means '=', and '&' means '≤'. Statement: M % N @ O $ P & Q. Conclusions: I. M @ Q. II. N @ P. Which conclusion(s) follow?

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   Only conclusion II follows.🔊

   Decoding gives M ≥ N > O = P ≤ Q. N > O = P gives N > P directly, so II holds. But P ≤ Q says nothing about how M compares to Q since Q could be far larger or only marginally larger than P, so I cannot be determined.

4. 4. Statements: X ≤ Y < Z ≤ W. Conclusions: I. X < W. II. X = W. Which conclusion(s) follow?

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   Only conclusion I follows.🔊

   X ≤ Y < Z ≤ W chains to a strict X < W (I), because the Y<Z link guarantees at least one strict step. Since X < W is definite, X = W (II) is automatically false, not just unproven.

5. 5. Statements: Only a few writers are painters. All painters are musicians. Conclusions: I. Some writers are musicians. II. All musicians are painters. Which conclusion(s) follow?

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   Only Conclusion I follows🔊

   'Only a few writers are painters' means at least some writers are painters. Since all painters are musicians, those writers who are painters must also be musicians, so 'some writers are musicians' (Conclusion I) validly follows. Conclusion II wrongly reverses the second statement; not every musician needs to be a painter, so it does not follow.

Coding-Decoding & Blood Relations

Coding-decoding covers word-substitution and positional-shift logic, and blood relations covers self-referential and multi-generation family puzzles.

1. 1. In a code, the 1st letter of a word is moved 1 step forward in the alphabet, the 2nd letter 2 steps forward, the 3rd letter 3 steps forward, and so on. What is the code for CHAIR?

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   CHAIR → DJDMW🔊

   Each letter shifts forward by its position number in the word: C(+1)=D, H(+2)=J, A(+3)=D, I(+4)=M, R(+5)=W, giving DJDMW.

2. 2. In a certain code, '367' means 'sky is blue', '759' means 'grass is green', and '265' means 'blue looks green'. Which digit represents 'sky'?

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   sky = 3🔊

   'is' is common to the first two sentences, so its code is the digit shared by {3,6,7} and {7,5,9}, which is 7. 'green' is common to the last two, giving code 5. Working through the remaining overlaps, 'blue' is pinned to 6, leaving 3 as sky's code by elimination.

3. 3. Introducing a man, a woman says, "His mother is the only daughter of my mother." How is the woman related to the man?

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   The woman is the man's mother.🔊

   'The only daughter of my mother' is a self-referential phrase that identifies the speaker herself. So 'his mother' equals the woman speaking, making her the man's mother.

4. 4. Pointing to a man in a photograph, Rekha said, "His brother's father is the only son of my grandfather." How is the man related to Rekha?

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   The man is Rekha's brother.🔊

   'The only son of my grandfather' identifies Rekha's father uniquely. So the man's brother's father is Rekha's father, meaning the man shares the same father as Rekha, which makes the man Rekha's brother.

5. 5. B is the father of A. C is the sister of B. D is the son of C, and E is the daughter of C. F is the maternal uncle of D. How is F related to A?

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   F is A's father.🔊

   D's maternal uncle is C's brother; since B is stated to be C's sibling, F must be B. As A is B's son, F (being B) is A's father.

6. 6. In a certain code, each letter of a word is replaced by the letter that is exactly opposite to it in the English alphabet (A becomes Z, B becomes Y, C becomes X, and so on). What is the code for the word 'GOLD'?

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   TLOW🔊

   Each letter's position and its opposite letter's position add up to 27 (A=1/Z=26, so 1+26=27). G is the 7th letter, so its opposite is the 20th letter, T. O (15th) maps to the 12th letter, L. L (12th) maps to the 15th letter, O. D (4th) maps to the 23rd letter, W. Together this gives TLOW.

Direction Sense & Series

Coordinate-based direction and distance problems, plus number and alphanumeric series pattern-spotting.

1. 1. Point A is 15 m to the north of point B. Point C is 20 m to the west of point A. Point D is 15 m to the south of point C. What is the shortest distance between B and D, and in which direction is D from B?

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   20 m, west of B.🔊

   Taking B as the origin, A is at (0,15), C is at (−20,15), and D is at (−20,0). The distance from B(0,0) to D(−20,0) is 20 m, directly west.

2. 2. Find the next number in the series: 4, 9, 21, 47, 101, ?

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   211🔊

   Each term equals double the previous term plus the next odd number: 4×2+1=9, 9×2+3=21, 21×2+5=47, 47×2+7=101, so 101×2+9=211.

3. 3. Study the sequence: K 3 # T $ 7 M & 5 P * Q 9 @ N 2. How many symbols in this sequence are immediately preceded by a number and immediately followed by a letter?

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   2 symbols qualify.🔊

   Checking each symbol: '#' is preceded by '3' (number) and followed by 'T' (letter), which qualifies. '@' is preceded by '9' (number) and followed by 'N' (letter), which qualifies. '$', '&' and '*' are each preceded by a letter, so they fail the condition. Total = 2.

4. 4. Find the missing term: B2D, D6F, F12H, H20J, ?

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   J30L🔊

   The outer letters skip by 2 (B, D, F, H, J, L), and the middle numbers follow n(n+1): 1×2=2, 2×3=6, 3×4=12, 4×5=20, 5×6=30. The next term is J30L.

5. 5. Rahul starts from his office and walks 10 m towards south. He then turns left and walks 5 m. He again turns left and walks 10 m. Finally, he turns left and walks 15 m. How far is he from his starting point, and in which direction?

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   10 m, West🔊

   Starting at the origin facing south, 10 m south reaches (0,-10). Turning left (now facing east) and walking 5 m reaches (5,-10). Turning left again (now facing north) and walking 10 m reaches (5,0). Turning left again (now facing west) and walking 15 m reaches (-10,0). This final point is 10 m due west of the starting point.

Data Sufficiency, Input-Output & Ranking

Data sufficiency judgment calls, a step-by-step machine input-output rearrangement, and an order-and-ranking calculation round out the set.

1. 1. Is P the tallest among six people P, Q, R, S, T and U? Statement I: P is taller than Q and R, but shorter than S. Statement II: T is taller than P, and U is shorter than Q. Which statement(s) alone are sufficient?

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   Either statement alone is sufficient.🔊

   Statement I alone shows S is taller than P, which already proves P is not the tallest. Statement II alone shows T is taller than P, which independently proves the same thing. Since each statement alone answers the question (with a definite 'No'), either alone suffices.

2. 2. What is the code for 'BOOK' in a certain code language? Statement I: In this code, letters of a word are replaced by other letters, but not necessarily by the same shift for every letter. Statement II: In this code, the 1st letter of 'BOOK' is shifted by +1, the 2nd by +2, the 3rd by +3, and the 4th by +4. Which statement(s) alone are sufficient?

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   Statement II alone is sufficient; statement I alone is not.🔊

   Statement II gives the exact shift for each letter of BOOK (+1,+2,+3,+4), which is enough to compute the code (CQRO) directly. Statement I only makes a vague qualitative claim about the coding scheme with no usable shift values, so it cannot answer the question alone.

3. 3. A word-number arrangement machine, when given an input, rearranges it step by step. Input: gold 82 pearl 36 bronze 45 silver 19. In each step, the machine moves the next-smallest remaining number and the next alphabetically-first remaining word to the front (in that order), keeping the untouched elements in their original relative order after them, until fully sorted. What is Step II of this arrangement?

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   19 bronze 36 gold 82 pearl 45 silver🔊

   Step I moves the smallest number (19) and the alphabetically first word (bronze) to the front: 19 bronze gold 82 pearl 36 45 silver. Step II then moves the next-smallest number (36) and next alphabetical word (gold) right after them, giving 19 bronze 36 gold 82 pearl 45 silver.

4. 4. (Based on the same input-output machine as Q28.) How many steps are required to completely arrange the input, and what does the final step look like?

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   3 steps; final step (Step III): 19 bronze 36 gold 45 pearl 82 silver.🔊

   Step I extracts 19-bronze and Step II extracts 36-gold, and Step III extracts 45-pearl, which leaves only 82 and silver, already in the correct number-then-word order relative to each other. Since the machine's own rule runs 'until fully sorted', no further step is needed once Step III's result already matches the fully sorted arrangement, so sorting completes in exactly 3 steps.

5. 5. (Based on the same input-output machine as Q28.) In Step III, which element is at the 5th position from the left?

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   45🔊

   By Step III, the arrangement reads 19 bronze 36 gold 45 pearl 82 silver, since three number-word pairs (19-bronze, 36-gold, 45-pearl) have already been moved to the front in order. Counting positions 1 through 8, the 5th position holds 45.

6. 6. In a row of 12 students facing north, Priya is 4th from the left end. Rohit is 5th from the right end. How many students are seated to the right of Rohit?

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   4🔊

   Rohit's position from the left = total − rank from right + 1 = 12 − 5 + 1 = 8. Students to the right of Rohit = total − his position = 12 − 8 = 4.

7. 7. In a class of 45 students, Ravi ranks 18th from the top in Mathematics. What is his rank from the bottom?

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   28th🔊

   Rank from the bottom is calculated as total students minus rank from the top plus 1. Substituting the values gives 45 minus 18 plus 1, which equals 28, so Ravi is 28th from the bottom.