Coding-Decoding Questions and Answers

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.

Answer: A

47592 is written as 56683.

Compare 34687 with 43778 digit by digit:

3 + 1 = 4, 4 - 1 = 3, 6 + 1 = 7, 8 - 1 = 7, 7 + 1 = 8

The rule is +1, -1, +1, -1, +1. Applying it to 47592:

4 + 1 = 5, 7 - 1 = 6, 5 + 1 = 6, 9 - 1 = 8, 2 + 1 = 3, giving 56683.

The other options break the alternating pattern in one or more places, for example 55683 subtracts 2 from the second digit instead of 1.

Answer: C

'Goals' is written as 5 or 7.

Compare the coded sentences word by word. 'Many' appears in the first two sentences, and the only common code is 9, so many = 9. 'Scored' appears in the first and third, and the only common code is 3, so scored = 3.

That leaves the codes 5 and 7 for the remaining words of the first sentence, 'how' and 'goals'. Neither word appears anywhere else, so there is no way to tell which code belongs to which. 'Goals' is therefore 5 or 7, and the options giving 5 alone or 7 alone claim more than the information shows; 'None of these' is wrong because one of the two codes is correct.