Letter Repeating Series

Letter Repeating Series:

This type of questions usually of a series of small letters which follow a certain pattern. However, some letters are missing from the series. These missing letter are then given in a proper sequence as one of the alternatives. The candidate is required to choose this alternative as the answer.

Example : aab ___aaa____bba____

(a) baa (b) abb (c) bab (d) aab (e) bbb

Solution: We proceed step by step as shown below :

The first blank space should be filled in by b so that we have two a's followed by two b's

The second blank space should be filled in either by a so that we have four a's followed by two b's, or b so that we have three a's followed by three b's

The last space must be filled in by a.

Thus, we have two possible answers, baa and bba. But only baa appears in the alternatives. So, the answer is (a).

In case, we had both the possible answers in the alternatives, we would have chosen the one that forms a more prominent pattern, which is aabb/aaabbb/aa. Thus, our answer would have been bba.

Ex. In the following series, choose the alternative which contains the numerals to be filled in the marked spaces, in the coorect order:

B __ __ D __ __ C A B D A C B

__ __ 4 1 3 2 __ __ __ ? ? ? ?

a __ a __ b c __ c __ __ __ __ __

(a) 1, 2, 3, 4 (b) 2, 3,1, 4 (c) 1, 2, 4, 3 (d) 2, 1, 4, 3

Sol. Clearly, in the second series, 1 occurs at the same position as D occurs in the first series.So, 1 corresponds to D. Thus, the first question mark below D is to replaced by 1. Now, in the third series, c at the eighth place corresponds to A in the first series, while c at the sixth place corresponds to 2 in the second series. So, 2 corresponds to A. Thus, the second question mark below A is to be replaced by 2.

In the third series, a at the first place correspnds to B in the first series and a at the third place corresponds to 4 in the second series. So, 4 corresponds to B. Thus, the question mark below B is to be replaced by 4.

Now, only 3 remains. So, 3 corresponds to C. Thus, the question mark below C is to be replaced by 3. Thus, DA'CB corresponds to 1, 2, 3, 4.

Hence, the answer is (a).

1. ccbb __ aa __ cc __ bbbaa __ c

(a) acbc (b) babca (c) baba (d) acba

Answer: (b) : The series is ccc bbb aaa/ccc bbb aaa/c. Thus, the pattern ccc bbb aaa is repeated.

2. C B __ __ D __ B A B C C B

__ __ 1 2 4 3 __ __ ? ? ? ?

a __ a b __ c __ b __ __ __ __

(a) 3, 4, 4, 3 (b) 3, 2, 2, 3 (c) 3, 1, 1, 3 (d) 1, 4, 4, 1

Answer: (c) :Comparing the positions of the capital letters, numbers and small letters, we find: a corresponds to C and 1 corresponds to a, So, a and 1 correspond to C.b corresponds to A and 2 corresponds to b. So, b and 2 correspond to A. Also, 4 corresponds to D.

So, the remaining number i.e. 3 corresponds to B. So, BCCB corresponds to 3, 1, 1, 3.

Sample Questions

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