Classification Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The odd pair is Snobbery : Shoes.

In the other pairs, the first word names the trade, place or goods connected with the second: millinery is the making and selling of hats, a brewery makes beer and other alcohol, and stationery is writing material such as paper.

Snobbery means looking down on others; it has nothing to do with shoes. The craft of making or mending shoes is cobbling (or shoemaking).

Answer: C

The odd group is W,C,G,J.

In the other groups, the letters advance by 6, 3 and 2 places (wrapping round after Z). Q to W is +6, W to Z +3, Z to B +2. B, H, K, M and M, S, V, X follow the same steps.

In W,C,G,J, W to C is +6 but C to G is +4 and G to J is +3, so it breaks the pattern.

Answer: B

The odd pair is Fish : River.

In the other three pairs, the second word is what the first eats: lizards eat insects, giraffes eat leaves, and lions eat meat. The relationship is animal and its food.

A fish lives in a river; the river is its habitat, not its food. So Fish : River is related differently from the other three.

Answer: D

The odd group is L P M.

In the other groups the first two letters are three places apart and the third letter is the opposite of the second (positions adding to 27): C (3), F (6), U (21) with \(6 + 21 = 27\); F (6), I (9), R (18) with \(9 + 18 = 27\); I (9), L (12), O (15) with \(12 + 15 = 27\).

In L P M, L (12) and P (16) are four places apart, and P (16) and M (13) add to 29, not 27. It breaks both rules, so it is the odd one out.

Answer: A

The numbers are 22, 32, 10, 20 and 33. Four of them (22, 32, 10 and 20) are even numbers, and 33 is odd, so 33 is the one different from the others. Other patterns do not single out an answer in the same way: the digit sums are 4, 5, 1, 2 and 6, and the products or differences of digits give no clear odd one out. The simplest classification is by even and odd, so the answer is 33, option A.

Answer: B

EGK is the odd one out. Look at the gaps between the letters in each cluster. WZB: W to Z is 3 places, and Z to B is 3 places (Z, A, B). JMO: J to M is 3, M to O is 2. ADF: A to D is 3, D to F is 2. EGK: E to G is 2, G to K is 4. The three clusters WZB, JMO and ADF all begin with a gap of 3, while EGK begins with a gap of 2 and then has a gap of 4, so it does not share the first-gap pattern. EGK is therefore the cluster that differs from the other three.

Answer: B

The different pair is 14 - 2744.

In the other pairs the second number is the cube of the first plus 3: 16³ + 3 = 4096 + 3 = 4099, 13³ + 3 = 2197 + 3 = 2200 and 11³ + 3 = 1331 + 3 = 1334. For 14 the cube is 2744 itself, with nothing added.

So 14 - 2744 does not follow the rule shared by the other three pairs.

You can also see this by comparing each second number with the cube of the first: 16 cubed is 4096, 13 cubed is 2197 and 11 cubed is 1331, and each pair is 3 above the cube. For 14, the cube is 2744, exactly the second number, so this pair does not add 3 and is the odd one out.

Answer: B

The odd one out is 33.

13, 23, 43 and 53 are all prime numbers: none has a divisor other than 1 and itself. 33 = 3 × 11 is composite, so it is the only number in the list that is not prime.

All five numbers end in 3 and step by 10, so that pattern does not separate any of them; primality does. 23, 43 and 53 are prime like 13, so none of them is the odd one.

Answer: D

LOR is the odd one out. In CGJ, RVY and HLO the second letter is four places after the first and the third is three places after the second. LOR breaks that rule because both gaps are three.

\[ C \to G\ (+4),\ G \to J\ (+3) \]

\[ R \to V\ (+4),\ V \to Y\ (+3) \]

\[ H \to L\ (+4),\ L \to O\ (+3) \]

\[ L \to O\ (+3),\ O \to R\ (+3) \]

Three clusters follow the +4, +3 pattern, so the cluster that does not, LOR, is different.

Answer: B

Rich-Poor is the odd pair because its two words are opposites. Rock, brick, stones, pebbles, cement and sand are all kinds of construction material, so in each of the other three pairs both words name building or construction materials of that kind. Rich and Poor do not, and they are related by contrast rather than by material.

The question rests on a single relation within the pair, so the pair that breaks the common pattern is Rich-Poor.