Alphabet Test Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Correct answer: Four

Number the letters of HORIZON and their alphabet positions: H(8) O(15) R(18) I(9) Z(26) O(15) N(14). A pair qualifies when the count of letters between them in the word equals the count between them in the alphabet, and four pairs do. H and N have five letters between them in the word (O, R, I, Z, O) and five in the alphabet (I to M). R and the second O have two in the word (I, Z) and two in the alphabet (P, Q). R and N have three in the word (I, Z, O) and three in the alphabet (O, P, Q). And the second O and N are adjacent in both, with none between. Note that only H–N runs in the same direction in the word as in the alphabet, so a solver taught to count forward pairs alone would answer one.

Answer: B

Z  Y  X  W  V  U  T  S  R  Q  P  O  N
M  L  K  J  I  H  G  F  E  D  C  B  A
Counting from the right, the seventh letter is G.
The eight letter to the left of G is O.

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: A

Correct answer: Science

Comparing letter by letter, the alphabetical order of the five words is:

Science → Scramble → Script → Scripture → Scrutiny

All five share Sc, so the third letter divides them: i before r, which puts Science alone ahead of the four Scr- words. Note the pair Script and Scripture, where one word is a prefix of the other - the shorter always comes first, since it runs out of letters to compare.

Answer: A

Correct answer: X

The fifteenth letter from the left is O, at position 15.

Nine to the right of O is position 24:

\[ 15 + 9 = 24 \rightarrow X \]

Counting the letters confirms it: P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X. The count begins with the letter after O, which is the convention used consistently through this set - the same one that makes the seventh to the right of M come out as T elsewhere.

Answer: C

Correct answer: War

Comparing letter by letter, the alphabetical order of the five words is:

War → Wasp → Waste → Wrinkle → Wrist

All five begin with W, so the second letter decides the first split: a comes before r, which separates the three Wa- words from the two Wr- ones. Among the Wa- words the third letter settles it: r before s, so War leads. Sorting on the first letter that differs, and only then moving on, is the whole method.

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: B

D  O  Q  O  D  Q  O  D  O  D Q D O  Q  D  S  D  Q  P  O
Q  D  S  S  S  D  O  Q  O  Q  D  O  Q  D  D  D  O  Q

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: A

The new alphabet series is :
A  B  C  D  P  O  N  M  L  K  J  I  H
G  F  E  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z
The fourteenth letter from the right is H.
The seventh letter to the left of H is O.