Coding-Decoding Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The code for Bright Star is @*.

Bright is @ (see the working above). 'Bright Star Sun' is @ * ?, so Star is either * or ?; the data do not say which. Of the options, only @* combines @ with one of those two symbols, so it is the only possible answer.

@# pairs Bright with Intelligent, ?% uses the code for Is, and #@ is Intelligent Bright.

Answer: D

The word written as % is Is.

'Student Is Bright' is $ % @. Student is $ and Bright is @, so the remaining word, Is, is %.

Bright is @, and Sun and Star share * and ?, which do not appear in the code containing %.

Answer: B

ZEBRA is coded as XCZPY.

In TINY to RGLW, each letter moves two places back in the alphabet: T to R, I to G, N to L, Y to W.

Applying the same rule: Z to X, E to C, B to Z (wrapping round from A back to Z), R to P, A to Y. So ZEBRA becomes XCZPY.

The other options contain the same letters in the wrong order: XCZYP swaps the last two, and XZCPY and XZCYP swap the second and third.

Answer: A

TOY is coded as 14-24-4.

Each number is twice the position of the letter counted from the end of the alphabet (Z = 1, Y = 2, ..., A = 26). In LAMP: L is 15th from the end, giving 30; A gives 26 × 2 = 52; M gives 14 × 2 = 28; P gives 11 × 2 = 22.

For TOY: T is 7th from the end (14), O is 12th (24), Y is 2nd (4). So TOY is 14-24-4.

20-15-25 and 20-25-15 are the ordinary alphabet positions of the letters, which is not the rule used for LAMP, and 14-4-24 has the right numbers in the wrong order.

Answer: C

BHOPAL is coded as DKSUGS.

In FRIEND to HUMJTK, the shifts increase by one for each letter: F+2 = H, R+3 = U, I+4 = M, E+5 = J, N+6 = T, D+7 = K.

For BHOPAL: B+2 = D, H+3 = K, O+4 = S, P+5 = U, A+6 = G, L+7 = S, giving DKSUGS.

DJQRCN uses a constant shift of 2, CJRTEQ starts from a shift of 1, and DLSVHT gets the second letter wrong (H+3 is K, not L).

Answer: A

STAFF is written as 14.

Each code gives the number of vowels followed by the number of consonants:

• MANAGER: vowels A, A, E = 3; consonants M, N, G, R = 4; code 34.
• DIRECTOR: vowels I, E, O = 3; consonants D, R, C, T, R = 5; code 35.
• ASSISTANT: vowels A, I, A = 3; consonants S, S, S, T, N, T = 6; code 36.

STAFF has one vowel (A) and four consonants (S, T, F, F), so its code is 14. 41 reverses the order of the two counts, and 33 and 23 do not match the letters of STAFF.

Answer: A

SHAN is written as VKDQ.

Each letter of ROAM is moved three places forward in the alphabet: R + 3 = U, O + 3 = R, A + 3 = D, M + 3 = P, giving URDP. Applying the same shift to SHAN:

S + 3 = V, H + 3 = K, A + 3 = D, N + 3 = Q, giving VKDQ.

VSDI, VUFK and GHSP each start or continue with letters that do not come from a uniform shift of three, so they break the rule shown by the example.

Answer: D

The definite conclusion is 'nac' means 'green'.

The two coded phrases share one word, 'nac', and the two English phrases share one word, 'green'. So 'nac' must stand for 'green'.

The other options cannot be settled. 'bir' and 'le' together stand for 'and' and 'tasty', but we cannot tell which is which, so 'le' means 'tasty' is only possible, not definite. 'bir' cannot mean 'green' because that is 'nac', and 'nac' cannot mean 'tomato' for the same reason.

Answer: C

BATTER is coded 3-3-23-24-10-24.

In ARMY each letter's position in the alphabet is increased by its place in the word: A (1) + 1 = 2, R (18) + 2 = 20, M (13) + 3 = 16, Y (25) + 4 = 29.

Applying the same rule to BATTER:

\[ \begin{aligned} &B\ 2 + 1 = 3,\ A\ 1 + 2 = 3 \\ &T\ 20 + 3 = 23,\ T\ 20 + 4 = 24 \\ &E\ 5 + 5 = 10,\ R\ 18 + 6 = 24 \end{aligned} \]

The other options repeat 23 or 24 for both Ts, or add the wrong amounts to E and R.

Answer: A

PEOPLE is coded OCLLGY.

In TRAIN to SPXEI, each letter moves back by its place in the word: T-1 = S, R-2 = P, A-3 = X (counting back past the start of the alphabet), I-4 = E, N-5 = I.

For PEOPLE: P-1 = O, E-2 = C, O-3 = L, P-4 = L, L-5 = G, and E-6 = Y (again wrapping round from A to Z). That gives OCLLGY.

OCLMMC and OCLMMY go wrong from the fourth letter on, shifting P back only three places to M and then moving L forward instead of back, and QCLMMC starts by moving P forward instead of back.