About this SSC CGL Reasoning practice test

General Intelligence & Reasoning carries 50 of the 200 marks in SSC CGL Tier 1, and unlike Quant, it rarely punishes you for forgetting a formula — it punishes you for missing a pattern under time pressure. The section spans Analogy, Classification, Series Completion, Coding-Decoding, Blood Relations, Direction Sense, Syllogism and Non-Verbal Reasoning (Mirror Images, Paper Folding), and the same question types resurface across CHSL, MTS and CPO, so time spent here compounds across every SSC exam you sit for.

SSC CGL Reasoning Practice Test sample questions

These starter questions help you launch a reasoning mock test quickly. Swap them with your own worksheet, notebook, or textbook questions any time.

1. 1. Doctor : Hospital :: Judge : ?

2. 2. If 8 : 65 :: 6 : ?, find the missing number.

3. 3. BDF : CEG :: MOQ : ?

4. 4. Select the odd one out: Triangle, Square, Pentagon, Circle

5. 5. Select the odd one out: 121, 144, 169, 200

6. 6. Select the odd one out: Sitar, Violin, Santoor, Flute

7. 7. Find the missing number in the series: 5, 11, 23, 47, ?

8. 8. Find the missing letter in the series: Z, W, T, Q, ?

9. 9. Find the missing term in the series: A1, C4, E9, G16, ?

10. 10. If in a certain code, FLOWER is written as EKNVDQ, how is GARDEN written in the same code?

11. 11. In a certain code language, 'TABLE' is written as 'UZCKF'. How is 'CHAIR' written in that code?

12. 12. In a code, '7 3 4' means 'roses are red', '8 2 7' means 'lily are white', and '9 3 2' means 'white and red'. What is the code for 'and'?

13. 13. Pointing to a photograph, Rina said, 'She is the daughter of my grandfather's only son.' How is the woman in the photograph related to Rina?

14. 14. A is the brother of B. B is the sister of C. C is the father of D. How is A related to D?

15. 15. Introducing a man, a woman said, 'His wife is the only daughter of my father.' How is the woman related to the man?

16. 16. Rahul walks 8 km towards North, then turns right and walks 6 km, then turns right again and walks 8 km. How far is he from his starting point and in which direction?

17. 17. A man walks 5 km towards South, then turns to his left and walks 3 km, then turns left again and walks 5 km. How far is he from his starting point?

18. 18. Point A is 10 m to the north of Point B. Point C is 6 m to the east of Point A. Point D is 10 m to the south of Point C. In which direction and how far is Point D from Point B?

19. 19. Statements: All pens are pencils. All pencils are erasers. Conclusions: I. All pens are erasers. II. Some erasers are pens. Which conclusion(s) follow?

20. 20. Statements: Some doctors are teachers. All teachers are scientists. Conclusions: I. Some doctors are scientists. II. Some scientists are teachers. Which conclusion(s) follow?

21. 21. Statements: No cups are plates. Some plates are spoons. Conclusions: I. No cups are spoons. II. Some spoons are not cups. Which conclusion(s) follow?

22. 22. If a plane mirror is placed vertically to the right of the word 'STAMP', in what order will the letters appear in the mirror image (left to right)?

23. 23. A square sheet of paper is folded in half vertically, then folded in half again horizontally, forming a smaller square. A hole is punched at the corner of the folded square that is diagonally opposite the corner where the two folds meet. When unfolded, how many holes will the paper have?

24. 24. A clock shows the time as 4:20. What time will its mirror image (reflection in a vertical mirror) show?

25. 25. If '+' means '÷', '−' means '×', '×' means '−', and '÷' means '+', find the value of: 12 × 4 ÷ 2 + 6 − 3

26. 26. If 3 * 4 = 18, 5 * 6 = 28, and 2 * 3 = 13, then what is 7 * 2 equal to, using the same rule?

27. 27. In a 3×3 arrangement, each row follows the same rule where the third number equals the sum of the first two. Row 1: 4, 5, 9. Row 2: 7, 8, 15. Row 3: 6, 10, ?. Find the missing number.

28. 28. In a class of 40 students, Aman ranks 14th from the top. What is his rank from the bottom?

29. 29. Five friends P, Q, R, S, and T are sitting in a row, all facing North. R is sitting at the left end. R is immediate left of S. T is sitting at the right end. Q is immediate right of P. What is the order of the five friends from left to right?

30. 30. In a queue, Meena is 7th from the front and 12th from the end. How many people are there in the queue?

Answer key & quick explanations

Short answers for the sample questions above. Use this to self-check before generating a fresh AI-built mock test.

1. 1. Doctor-Hospital analogy

   Court

   The relationship is between a professional and their primary workplace: a doctor works in a hospital, and a judge works in a court. Both terms follow the same person-to-workplace pattern, so 'Court' completes the analogy.

2. 2. 8:65 number analogy

   37

   The rule linking the pair is n squared plus 1: 8² + 1 = 65. Applying the same rule to 6 gives 6² + 1 = 37, which keeps the pattern consistent.

3. 3. BDF:CEG letter analogy

   NPR

   In BDF → CEG, each letter is shifted forward by one position (B→C, D→E, F→G). Applying the same +1 shift to M, O, Q gives N, P, R.

4. 4. Odd one out: shapes

   Circle

   Triangle, Square, and Pentagon are all polygons made of straight sides and vertices, while a Circle has no straight sides or corners at all. This structural difference makes Circle the odd one out.

5. 5. Odd one out: perfect squares

   200

   121, 144, and 169 are perfect squares of 11, 12, and 13 respectively. 200 lies between 14² (196) and 15² (225) and is not a perfect square, making it the odd one out.

6. 6. Odd one out: instruments

   Flute

   Sitar, Violin, and Santoor are all string instruments played by plucking or bowing strings. Flute is a wind instrument played by blowing air, so it does not belong to the group.

7. 7. Series: 5,11,23,47

   95

   Each term is obtained by doubling the previous term and adding 1: 5×2+1=11, 11×2+1=23, 23×2+1=47. Applying the same rule to 47 gives 47×2+1=95.

8. 8. Series: Z,W,T,Q

   N

   The letters move backward through the alphabet in steps of 3: Z(26), W(23), T(20), Q(17). Subtracting 3 from Q(17) gives N(14), continuing the same fixed gap.

9. 9. Mixed series: A1,C4,E9,G16

   I25

   The letters skip one position each time (A, C, E, G, I — a jump of 2 in the alphabet), while the numbers are consecutive perfect squares (1², 2², 3², 4²). The next letter is I and the next number is 5² = 25, giving I25.

10. 10. Coding: FLOWER to GARDEN

    FZQCDM

    Comparing FLOWER and EKNVDQ shows each letter is shifted one step backward in the alphabet (F→E, L→K, and so on). Applying the same backward shift to GARDEN gives F, Z (A wraps to Z), Q, C, D, M — that is, FZQCDM.

11. 11. Coding: TABLE to CHAIR

    DGBHS

    In TABLE→UZCKF, letters in odd positions (1st, 3rd, 5th) move forward by 1 and letters in even positions (2nd, 4th) move backward by 1. Applying this alternating +1/−1 rule to CHAIR gives D, G, B, H, S.

12. 12. Coding: word-number statements

    9

    Comparing the sentences pairwise: the number common to sentences 1 and 3 (both containing 'red') is 3, so red=3; the number common to sentences 2 and 3 (both containing 'white') is 2, so white=2. In the third statement (9, 3, 2), since 3=red and 2=white, the remaining number 9 must stand for the remaining word 'and'.

13. 13. Blood relation: photograph riddle

    Sister

    Since the grandfather has only one son, that son must be Rina's own father. The photograph shows the daughter of Rina's father, which makes her Rina's sister.

14. 14. Blood relation: A,B,C,D chain

    Uncle

    Since B is the sister of C, B and C are siblings, and since A is the brother of B, A is also a sibling of C, making A and C brothers. As C is D's father, A being C's brother makes A the uncle of D.

15. 15. Blood relation: wife riddle

    Wife

    The 'only daughter' of the woman's own father can only be the woman herself, since she has no sisters. This means the man's wife is the woman speaking, so the woman is the man's wife.

16. 16. Direction: Rahul's walk

    6 km, East

    Starting at the origin facing North, walking 8 km reaches (0,8); turning right (facing East) and walking 6 km reaches (6,8); turning right again (facing South) and walking 8 km reaches (6,0). This final point is exactly 6 km due East of the starting point.

17. 17. Direction: man's walk with left turns

    3 km

    Starting at the origin facing South, 5 km south reaches (0,-5); turning left (now facing East) and walking 3 km reaches (3,-5); turning left again (now facing North) and walking 5 km reaches (3,0). The straight-line distance from (0,0) to (3,0) is 3 km.

18. 18. Direction: points A,B,C,D

    6 m, East of B

    Placing B at the origin, A is 10 m north at (0,10), C is 6 m east of A at (6,10), and D is 10 m south of C at (6,0). Comparing D's position (6,0) to B's (0,0) shows D is 6 m directly East of B.

19. 19. Syllogism: pens-pencils-erasers

    Both I and II follow

    Since all pens are pencils and all pencils are erasers, it logically follows that all pens are erasers (Conclusion I). Because pens exist within this chain, it also follows that some erasers must be pens (Conclusion II), so both conclusions are valid.

20. 20. Syllogism: doctors-teachers-scientists

    Both I and II follow

    Some doctors are teachers, and all teachers are scientists, so it validly follows that some doctors are scientists (Conclusion I). Also, since all teachers are scientists and teachers exist, some scientists must be teachers (Conclusion II), making both conclusions valid.

21. 21. Syllogism: cups-plates-spoons

    Only Conclusion II follows

    Since no cups are plates but some plates are spoons, the spoons that overlap with plates cannot be cups, so 'some spoons are not cups' validly follows. However, 'no cups are spoons' cannot be concluded because spoons outside the plate-overlap could still be cups, so only Conclusion II holds.

22. 22. Mirror image: word STAMP

    PMATS

    A vertical mirror reverses the left-right order of the entire word while each letter itself also appears laterally flipped. Reversing the sequence S-T-A-M-P gives P-M-A-T-S as the order in which the letters appear.

23. 23. Paper folding: hole punch

    4 holes

    Folding the square vertically then horizontally creates four layers, and the corner diagonally opposite the fold-intersection corresponds to all four original corners of the sheet. Punching a hole there passes through all four layers, so unfolding reveals one hole at each of the four original corners.

24. 24. Mirror image: clock time

    7:40

    The mirror image of a clock reading is found using the formula 11:60 minus the given time. Subtracting 4:20 from 11:60 gives 7:40, which is the time the mirror reflection would display.

25. 25. Mathematical operations: symbol swap

    9

    Substituting the swapped symbols turns '12 × 4 ÷ 2 + 6 − 3' into '12 − 4 + 2 ÷ 6 × 3'. Following BODMAS, 2 ÷ 6 × 3 equals 1, and then 12 − 4 + 1 equals 9.

26. 26. Number puzzle: a*b rule

    20

    Testing the three given equations shows they all fit the rule a*b = 2a + 3b: 2(3)+3(4)=18, 2(5)+3(6)=28, and 2(2)+3(3)=13. Applying this same rule to 7*2 gives 2(7)+3(2) = 14+6 = 20.

27. 27. Number puzzle: 3x3 grid rule

    16

    Each row follows the rule that the third number is the sum of the first two, as seen in 4+5=9 and 7+8=15. Applying the same rule to Row 3 gives 6+10=16.

28. 28. Ranking: rank from bottom

    27th

    Rank from the bottom is calculated as total students minus rank from top plus 1. Substituting the values gives 40 − 14 + 1 = 27, so Aman is 27th from the bottom.

29. 29. Arrangement: five friends in a row

    R, S, P, Q, T

    Placing R at the left end and S immediately to R's right fixes positions 1 and 2, while T at the right end fixes position 5. The only remaining spots, 3 and 4, must hold P and Q respectively since Q is immediately right of P, giving the order R, S, P, Q, T.

30. 30. Ranking: queue position

    18

    The total number of people in a queue equals rank from front plus rank from end minus 1 (since Meena is counted in both). Substituting gives 7 + 12 − 1 = 18 people in total.

Curriculum Mapping & Learning Guide

Use this breakdown to identify which skills each question tests and guide post-test review.

SSC CGL Reasoning units covered

1. Chapter 1: Analogy (Semantic, Number, Letter)
2. Chapter 2: Classification (Odd One Out)
3. Chapter 3: Series Completion (Number, Letter, Mixed)
4. Chapter 4: Coding and Decoding
5. Chapter 5: Blood Relations
6. Chapter 6: Direction Sense Test
7. Chapter 7: Syllogism (Deductive Reasoning)
8. Chapter 8: Non-Verbal Reasoning (Mirror Images, Paper Folding)
9. Chapter 9: Mathematical Operations and Number Puzzles
10. Chapter 10: Ranking and Arrangement

Reasoning practice tests for other exams and classes

Continue the same reasoning thread across nearby exams and school classes for year-on-year revision.