Classification Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Pen-Paper is the odd pair. In the other three, the second term is produced from or follows out of the first: inference is drawn from statistics, information results from processing data, and success results from hard work. A pen and paper are two separate tools used together for writing, and neither produces the other.

Statistics-Inference, Data-Information and Hard work-Success therefore share one kind of relation, and Pen-Paper does not.

Answer: C

HNP is the odd one. In each of SXZ, BGI and TYA the gap between the first two letters is 5 and between the last two is 2 (S to X is 5, X to Z is 2; B to G is 5, G to I is 2; T to Y is 5, Y to A is 2). In HNP the gaps are 6 (H to N) and 2 (N to P). So HNP breaks the pattern. In each of the other three clusters the letters follow the same shape: every letter is moved forward by the same two steps, 5 and then 2, so the cluster is built from one rule. HNP is the only cluster whose first step is 6, which is why it does not belong.

Answer: A

Look at the gaps between the letters of each cluster in the alphabet. In EAI the letters go back 4 places and then forward 8 places, in KGO they go back 4 and then forward 8, and in UQY they go back 4 and then forward 8, so these three follow the same pattern. In HEL the letters go back 3 and then forward 7, which is a different pattern. So the odd one out is HEL, option (A), while EAI, KGO and UQY are alike.

Answer: C

Three of the pairs follow the rule 'opposite letters, then swap each pair of letters'. BOLD gives opposite letters Y L O W, and swapping the pairs gives L Y W O, which is LYWO. ABLE gives Z Y O V, and swapping gives Y Z V O, which is YZVO. BAIL gives Y Z R O, and swapping gives Z Y O R, which is ZYOR.

ARMY has the opposite letters Z I N B. Swapping the pairs should give I Z B N, but the option has IZNB, in which the second pair is not swapped. So ARMY : IZNB is the one that is different.

Answer: B

The odd pair is Wrestling-Stadium.

In the other three pairs the second word is the specific playing area of the game: a tennis court, a race track and a boxing ring. A stadium is a large venue that can host many different sports and is not the dedicated area of wrestling, which is contested on a mat or in a ring.

That is why Tennis-Court, Race-Track and Boxing-Ring belong together and Wrestling-Stadium is different.

Wrestling is contested on a mat or in a ring, so the 'place' in the pair is the wrong kind of word compared with the court, the track and the ring, which are each the exact surface of play. A stadium only houses the event, and it also houses races and tennis matches.

Answer: D

AF - CI is the odd pair. In SX - UZ, HM - JO and EJ - GL each letter of the first cluster moves two places forward in the alphabet to give the second: S to U and X to Z, H to J and M to O, E to G and J to L. In AF - CI the first letter moves two places (A to C) but the second moves three (F to I), so the rule breaks only here. The other three pairs follow one shift of +2 for both letters. Written as steps, S, X to U, Z is +2, +2; H, M to J, O is +2, +2; E, J to G, L is +2, +2; and A, F to C, I is +2, +3, so only the last pair breaks the rule.

Answer: C

The odd word is praise.

Mock, deride and jeer all mean to ridicule or treat someone with contempt: to mock is to make fun of, to deride is to express contempt for, and to jeer is to shout rude, mocking remarks.

Praise means to express approval or admiration, the opposite of the other three, so it is the one that does not belong. Choosing any of the other three would leave praise in a group of words that it contradicts.

Answer: D

The odd one is ONPMQ.

Write each letter as its position in the alphabet and look at the steps:

• CADBE: 3, 1, 4, 2, 5, steps -2, +3, -2, +3
• JHKIL: 10, 8, 11, 9, 12, steps -2, +3, -2, +3
• XVYWZ: 24, 22, 25, 23, 26, steps -2, +3, -2, +3
• ONPMQ: 15, 14, 16, 13, 17, steps -1, +2, -3, +4

The first three follow the same alternating pattern of back two, forward three; ONPMQ follows a different one, so it is the odd one out.

Answer: A

The odd one out is 21.

19, 37, 17, 23, 29, 31 and 11 are all prime numbers, divisible only by 1 and themselves. 21 is the only composite number in the set, since \(21 = 3 \times 7\).

29, 37 and 23 are prime like the rest, so choosing any of them leaves 21 still standing out. There is no other pattern (such as odd or even, or digit sums) that separates one of those primes from the others as cleanly.

Answer: B

The odd pair is ZBN-EHU.

Add the alphabet positions of the letters in each half of a pair. In three pairs the second group's total is 18 more than the first:

Only ZBN-EHU breaks the rule, so it is the odd one out.