Alphabet Test Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Correct answer: Two

Keeping the letters of CARRIAGE in their order and using each only once, two independent words can be formed: CAR from the first three letters, and RAGE from the R, A, G and E that follow.

Every letter is used at most once and no letter is moved out of sequence, which are the two conditions the question imposes. Attempting a third word requires either reusing a letter or reordering, and neither is permitted.

Answer: D

Correct answer: L

EXCELLENCE has ten letters, so the swaps pair 1 with 2, 3 with 4, 5 with 6, 7 with 8 and 9 with 10:

X E E C L L N E E C

Counting six from the right - C, E, E, N, L, L - the sixth is L, at the 5th position from the left.

With ten letters the count from the right can be converted directly: the 6th from the right is the 5th from the left.

Answer: B

Correct answer: 2

Keeping the letters of POSTSCRIPT in order and using each once, the word divides into two: POST and SCRIPT.

The division is clean, using all ten letters with none repeated and none moved. That completeness is what makes it the intended answer - a third word would need a letter used twice or taken out of sequence, and the question forbids both.

Answer: B

Correct answer: E

The series is built of blocks that grow by one letter each time, each starting again at A:

A | A B | A B C | A B C D | A B C D E | A B C D ...

The final block has reached A B C D and is the sixth, so it must run to F. The next letter after D is therefore E.

Recognising the block structure is the whole of the problem; the letters within each block are simply the alphabet from the start.

Answer: A

Correct answer: QH

Work with positions in the given series S L U A Y J V E I O N Q G Z B D R H.

The first letters are L, U, Y, E at positions 2, 3, 5, 8 - gaps of 1, 2, 3, so the next is position 12, which is Q.

The second letters are A, J, I, G at positions 4, 6, 9, 13 - gaps of 2, 3, 4, so the next is position 18, which is H. The answer is QH.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Three

The four letters E, S, R and O rearrange into three ordinary English words: ROSE, SORE and ROES, the last being the plural of roe.

Each uses all four letters exactly once, which is the condition set. Working systematically by first letter - asking what can begin with R, then S, then O, then E - is more reliable than waiting for words to suggest themselves.

Answer: D

Correct answer: P

DEPRESSION has ten letters, so the swaps pair 1 with 2, 3 with 4, 5 with 6, 7 with 8 and 9 with 10:

E D R P S E I S N O

With ten letters, the 7th from the right is the 4th from the left, which is P.

Converting the count from right to left before reading off - rather than counting backwards through the string - removes the commonest source of error in these questions.

Answer: B

Correct answer: 2

Keeping the letters of ASTOUNDER in order and using each only once, two words can be formed: AS from the first two letters, and UNDER from the last five.

The T and O between them are not used, which the question permits - the conditions are that order is preserved and no letter is used twice, not that every letter must appear. A third word would require reusing a letter or reordering.

Answer: C

Correct answer: T

MISFORTUNE has ten letters, so the swaps pair 1 with 2, 3 with 4, 5 with 6, 7 with 8 and 9 with 10:

I M F S R O U T E N

The eighth letter from the left is T.

Doing all five swaps before counting is essential - the eighth position is itself affected by the fourth swap, so counting in the original word would give N.

Answer: C

Correct answer: T

Apply the three interchanges to DOCUMENTATION: 3rd with 10th (C and T), 4th with 7th (U and N), 2nd with 6th (O and E). The word becomes

D E T N M O U T A C I O N

With thirteen letters, the eleventh from the right is the third from the left:

\[ 13 - 11 + 1 = 3 \rightarrow T \]

Converting the count before reading off is quicker than counting backwards through the string, and less error-prone.