Today, no matter which field you plan to venture into, you will come across intense competition. May it be appearing for UPSC exams, engineering entrance exams or even exams in the banking sector, you will face thousands of fellow candidates attempting the similar exams. This not only lowers your chances of clearing the exam but also gives the examiners more reasons to set tough papers to improve the quality of the screening process.
The growing competition has resulted in all the sections of the competitive exams being harder and one such section is logical reasoning. This part of competitive exams could be assumed quite simple and every candidate could solve the questions, if allocated ample of time. However, given the limited duration of exams, the problems are needed to be solved quickly which requires days of practise prior to the exam.
A majority of students ignore practising the logical reasoning part thinking that it is easy and end up spending a lot of time on it during the exam. However, if practised, this section can yield a lot of marks if attempted sensibly and attentively. Let's have a look at basic tips regarding solving tricky logical reasoning problems along with five example questions with answers.
Basic Tips To Remember
- The first and most important aspect of solving logical questions is to simplify them and the best way is to use graphical approach. If feasible, try to make a diagrammatic representation of as many questions as possible which will make them easy to approach and conclude.
- Finding the appropriate starting point is also necessary which could be a tricky task as the questions are confusing. Remember, the first part of the question is not always the point where you need to start. Make a habit of going through the whole question quickly.
- In order to solve maximum questions in less time, you shouldn't risk losing the marks of those which are easy and you can solve. More than attempting many problems, it is important to solve the questions correctly and confidently even if you aren't able to solve all the problems.
- Time management is the most important aspect of acing any competitive exam. Often you are aware beforehand of the number of sections in a test and how many questions each section would have. With the help of this, you must priorly plan the amount of time you'll be dedicating to each section or question.
In case you feel a certain question is taking too long and this time could be utilised in solving other easy questions, then it is recommended to skip that question and solve the easier ones. This, way you won't waste your precious time.
Example Questions And Answers
The questions of logical reasoning can be divided into various parts such as number series, analogies, artificial language, letter series, matching definitions, picture analogies, essential part and analysing arguments. Let's see five examples from these types.
1. Artificial Language
Which word would mean 'houseguest' if,
Morpirquat means birdhouse
Beelmorpir means bluebird
Beelclak means bluebell
Options: a. Morpirhunde b. Beelmoki c. quathunde d. Clakquat
Answer: If we break down each word in the question, we will get our required answer. Now, house means quat and there's only one option which starts with quat, i.e., quathunde, so option c is the correct answer.
2. Number Series
Complete the following series and find the last two numbers:
32, 31, 32, 29, 32, 27, 32, ?, ?
Options: a. 25, 32 b. 31, 32 c. 29, 32 d. 25, 30
Answer: The series consists of the number 32 falling alternately and those in between are 2 units lesser than their successive numbers. Thus, the correct option is a - 25, 32.
3. Analogies
Find the matching pair of words to:
Depressed : Sad
Options: a. Neat : Considerate b. Towering : Cringing c. Progressive : Regressive d. Exhausted : Tired
Answer: In the pair of words, the first word is the intensified version of the second. The closest matching option seems d - Exhausted : Tired, since being exhausted is the intensified version of being tired.
4. Letter Series
Find the missing group of the letter in the series:
CMM, EOO, GQQ, _, KUU
Options: a. GRR b. GSS c. ISS d. ITT
Answer: The first alphabet in the group of three keeps on increasing in each consecutive group, skipping one alphabet in between and the same applies for the pair of similar alphabets in each group. Accordingly, the answer should be option c - ISS.
5. Essential Part
Find the closest word for the following word:
Book
Options: a. Fiction b. Pages c. Pictures d. Learning
Answer: In this question, you need to find the one word which is most closely associated with the word given in the question. Thus, option b - Pages - is the closest associated word.