Interview Q&A / Aptitude
Aptitude interview questions
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- A is the sister of B. C is B's mother. D is C's father. E is D's mother. How is A related to D, and to E?
A is D's granddaughter and E's great-granddaughter. A and B are children of C; C is D's child, so A is D's grandchild, and A is female (a sister), so granddaughter. D is E's son, so A is E's great-granddaughter.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - A man faces north. He turns 90 degrees clockwise and then 135 degrees anticlockwise. Which direction is he facing now?
North-west. Net rotation = 90 clockwise - 135 anticlockwise = 45 degrees anticlockwise from north, which is north-west.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - Early one morning Priya is standing in an open field, and her shadow falls exactly to her right. Which direction is she facing?
South. In the morning the sun is in the east, so shadows fall towards the west. If west is on her right, she must be facing south.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - Find the wrong term in the series 3, 7, 15, 27, 63, 127.
27 is wrong; it should be 31. Each term is double the previous plus 1: 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127. Equivalently each term is 2^n - 1.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - Five friends A, B, C, D and E sit in a row facing north. C is in the middle, A is at the right end, B sits immediately to the left of C, and E is not at either end. Who sits between A and C, and who is at the left end?
E sits between A and C, and D is at the left end. Numbering seats 1 to 5 from the left: C = 3, A = 5, B = 2, so D and E take 1 and 4, and since E is not at an end, E = 4 and D = 1. The order is D, B, C, E, A.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - If COMPUTER is coded as DPNQVUFS, how is SYSTEM coded in the same language?
TZTUFN. Each letter of COMPUTER is shifted one place forward (C to D, O to P, and so on), so SYSTEM becomes T, Z, T, U, F, N.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - In a row of 40 students, Rahul is 12th from the left. Neha is 4th to the right of Rahul. What is Neha's position from the right end?
25th from the right. Neha is 12 + 4 = 16th from the left. Position from the right = total - position from the left + 1 = 40 - 16 + 1 = 25.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - Pointing to a photograph of a man, Arjun says, 'He is the son of the only son of my grandfather.' How is the man related to Arjun?
He is Arjun's brother. The only son of Arjun's (paternal) grandfather is Arjun's father, and a son of Arjun's father who is someone other than Arjun is Arjun's brother.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - Ravi walks 10 km north, turns right and walks 6 km, then turns right again and walks 18 km. How far is he from his starting point, and in which direction?
10 km to the south-east. After the moves he is 6 km east and 10 - 18 = 8 km south of the start. Distance = square root of (6^2 + 8^2) = 10 km.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - Statements: All cats are dogs. No dog is a rat. Conclusions: I. No cat is a rat. II. Some rats are cats. Which conclusions follow?
Only I follows. Every cat is inside the dogs circle, and the dogs circle shares nothing with rats, so no cat can be a rat. II contradicts I, so it cannot follow.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - Statements: All pens are books. Some books are bags. Conclusions: I. Some pens are bags. II. Some bags are books. Which conclusions follow?
Only II follows. 'Some books are bags' can be reversed to 'some bags are books', so II is certain. I is not certain: the books that are bags might be entirely outside the pens, so pens and bags need not overlap.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - What is the next letter in the series A, C, F, J, O, ...?
U. Using positions A = 1, C = 3, F = 6, J = 10, O = 15, the gaps are 2, 3, 4, 5, so the next gap is 6 and the next position is 21, which is U.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - What is the next number in the series 2, 3, 5, 9, 17, ...?
33. The differences are 1, 2, 4, 8, which double each time, so the next difference is 16 and 17 + 16 = 33. Each term is also 2^n + 1, or double the previous term minus 1.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - What is the next term in the series 4, 9, 25, 49, 121, ...?
169. The terms are squares of consecutive prime numbers: 2^2, 3^2, 5^2, 7^2, 11^2, so the next is 13^2 = 169.
BeginnerQuick answer1 min read - If DELHI is coded as 73541 and CALCUTTA as 82589662, how is CALICUT coded?
8251896. Each letter has a fixed digit: D 7, E 3, L 5, H 4, I 1, C 8, A 2, U 9, T 6. So C-A-L-I-C-U-T becomes 8-2-5-1-8-9-6.
IntermediateQuick answer1 min read - If P + Q means P is the father of Q, P - Q means P is the wife of Q, and P x Q means P is the brother of Q, what does A - B + C x D mean about A and D?
A is D's mother. A - B: A is B's wife. B + C: B is C's father. C x D: C is D's brother, so D is also B's child. Since A is B's wife, A is the mother of D.
IntermediateQuick answer1 min read - In a code language, 'pit dar na' means 'you are good', 'dar tok pa' means 'good and bad' and 'kim na tok' means 'boys are bad'. What are the codes for 'and' and 'you'?
and' is pa and 'you' is pit. Common words and common codes match up: good = dar (sentences 1 and 2), bad = tok (2 and 3), are = na (1 and 3). Removing those leaves pa for 'and' and pit for 'you'.
IntermediateQuick answer1 min read - Six people P, Q, R, S, T and U sit around a round table facing the centre. P is opposite S. Q is immediately to the left of P. T is opposite Q. U is not next to S. Who is opposite R, and who sits between Q and S?
U is opposite R, and R sits between Q and S. When people face the centre, a person's left is the next seat clockwise. Clockwise from P the order is P, Q, R, S, T, U.
IntermediateQuick answer1 min read - Statements: All roses are flowers. Some flowers are red. Conclusions: I. Some roses are red. II. No rose is red. Which follows?
Either I or II follows. Neither is certain on its own, but they are a complementary pair about the same two terms: one of 'some roses are red' and 'no rose is red' must be true. So the answer is 'either I or II'.
AdvancedQuick answer1 min read