Alphabet Test Questions and Answers

Answer: D

Looking into the alphabets there are four such pairs namely ON,EH,ST,TO.

Answer: A

Correct answer: S

Build the rearranged alphabet first. The second half comes first, then the first half reversed:

N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M L K J I H G F E D C B A

Counting from the right, A is 1st, so the 16th from the right is X, which stands at position 11 from the left. The 5th letter to the left of X is at position 6: counting W, V, U, T, S gives S.

The count excludes X itself, which is the convention used throughout this set of questions.

Answer: B

Correct answer: T

Sort the letters of RUTHENIUM alphabetically:

E H I M N R T U U

There are nine letters, so the middle one is the 5th, N.

Two to the right of N gives the 7th letter, T. The word contains two U's, and keeping both in the sorted list matters - dropping the duplicate would give eight letters and no single middle.

Answer: B

Correct answer: 2

The test is that the gap between two letters in the word equals the gap between them in the alphabet.

In C-H-A-I-R-S two pairs qualify: C and A, two apart in the word (positions 1 and 3) and two apart in the alphabet (3 and 1); and R and S, adjacent in the word (positions 5 and 6) and adjacent in the alphabet (18 and 19).

No other pair matches. Working through the pairs in order of separation - adjacent first, then two apart - is the systematic way to be sure none is missed.

Answer: D

Letters in the word                                                          Letter in the alphabet

CHA                                                                                           CBA

RS                                                                                               RS

Answer: B

Correct answer: W

Work from the inside out. The last but one letter is Y, at position 25.

Ten to the left of Y is position 15, which is O:

\[ 25 - 10 = 15 \rightarrow O \]

Eight to the right of O is position 23:

\[ 15 + 8 = 23 \rightarrow W \]

Doing the arithmetic on positions keeps the two steps independent, where counting letters twice invites an error in the second.

Answer: C

Looking into the alphabets there are five such pairs namely ON, HONE, ST, TRAPHO, RAP.
1. ON - NO
2. HONE - EFGH
3. ST - ST
4. TRAPHO - OPQRST
5. RAP - PQR

Answer: B

Correct answer: S

DISTURBANCE has eleven letters, so the interchanges pair 1 with 11, 2 with 10, 3 with 9, 4 with 8 and 5 with 7, leaving the 6th letter in place. The word is simply reversed:

E C N A B R U T S I D

T now stands at the 8th position, and the letter after it is S.

Recognising that pairing the ends inwards reverses the whole word saves working through the swaps one at a time.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Q

Write out the new arrangement. A to M are unchanged in positions 1 to 13, and N to Z reversed occupy positions 14 to 26:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N

The 16th letter from the left is X. Counting seven to the right of it - W, V, U, T, S, R, Q - gives Q.

Only the second half is reversed, so the first thirteen positions are unaffected.

Answer: C

Correct answer: R

Apply the three swaps to TRANSLATION: 1st with 7th (T and A), 2nd with 8th (R and T), 3rd with 9th (A and I). The word becomes

A T I N S L T R A O N

The 9th letter from the right, in eleven letters, is the 3rd from the left: I. Five to the right of it is the 8th letter, R.

The swaps must be made before any counting; counting first and swapping afterwards gives a different letter.