Letter and Symbol Series Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The next term is K25I.

Each term has three parts, each following its own pattern:

• First letter: C, E, G, I, so skipping one letter each time, next K.
• Number: 1, 4, 9, 16, the squares of 1 to 4, next \(5^{2} = 25\).
• Last letter: A, C, E, G, also skipping one, next I.

That gives K 25 I. J27L, L26Q and M25P each break at least one of the three patterns; M25P has the right number but the wrong letters.

Answer: B

There are 2 such Ms.

Look for the pattern W M V in the series XUVMRSWMVNVMWOPMWUVMWACWMVHPNVWMWTUN. It occurs twice: in ...S WMV N... and in ...C WMV H...

The other Ms fail one side of the test: for example, in ...V W M W T..., the M is preceded by W but followed by W, and in ...O P M W..., it is preceded by P.

Answer: D

The next term is G225H.

The letters are consecutive pairs: A B, C D, E F, so the next pair is G and H.

The numbers are squares of numbers going up by 4: \(9 = 3^{2}\), \(49 = 7^{2}\), \(121 = 11^{2}\), so the next is \(15^{2} = 225\).

All four options start with G and end with H, so only the number decides. 199, 221 and 281 are not squares, so none of them can continue the pattern.

Answer: D

The next term is KS13.

Each term has three parts that follow separate rules:

• First letters B, E, H move forward three places, so the next is K.
• Second letters Y, W, U move back two places, so the next is S.
• The numbers 5, 7, 11 are successive prime numbers, so the next is 13.

The distractors each break one rule: J moves only two places, T moves back only one place, and KT13 has the wrong middle letter.

Answer: B

The letters are abab.

Filling the gaps in order gives

a a a b b b a a a b b b

which is the block aaabbb written twice: three a's, three b's, three a's, three b's.

The other choices break the repetition. cbbb and accb bring in a c, which appears nowhere else in the series, and bacb also brings in a c, breaking the runs of a's and b's.

Answer: C

The element is W.

Dropping every symbol leaves 15 elements:

S T M H 2 D 4 C 8 K A W P 7 F

The 14th from the right end is the 2nd from the left, which is T. Counting ten places to the right of T, the 12th from the left, gives W.

P is the 11th place to the right of T, one too far. 7 and H do not lie ten places to the right of T in the series without symbols.

Answer: D

There are 4 such digits.

The digits in the arrangement are 2, 4, 8 and 7. Checking the element immediately after each:

2 is followed by D, 4 by C, 8 by K and 7 by F. All four of these are consonants, so every digit qualifies.

'None', 2 and 3 undercount. A slip such as treating the 8 as followed by a symbol, or overlooking the 7 near the end, gives one of these smaller numbers.

Answer: A

The missing element is $.

Number the arrangement from the left: S(1) *(2) T(3) M(4) H(5) $(6) 2(7) D(8) =(9) 4(10) C(11) %(12) 8(13) K(14) &(15) A(16) ?(17) W(18) P(19) +(20) @(21) 7(22) F(23).

Each group takes an element, the one just before it, and the one two places after it. In '2 $ =', 2 is 7th, $ is 6th and = is 9th. '8 % &' is 13th, 12th, 15th, 'A & W' is 16th, 15th, 18th, and 'P W @' is 19th, 18th, 21st.

The last group starts with M (4th) and T (3rd), so the third element is the 6th, which is $. H is the 5th, one place short, and * is the 2nd.

Answer: D

The element is D.

The arrangement has 23 elements. The 11th from the right end is the \(23 - 11 + 1 = 13\)th from the left, which is 8. The fifth to the left of it is the \(13 - 5 = 8\)th from the left, which is D.

% is the element just before 8, one to its left, and = and A are at other distances (the 9th and 16th from the left). Only D is exactly five places to the left of 8.

Answer: A

The next term is MPF.

Treat each letter position as its own series:

• First letters E, G, I, K: each two places on, so M.
• Second letters H, J, L, N: each two places on, so P.
• Third letters J, I, H, G: each one place back, so F.

That gives MPF. LOH and ILF break the first-letter series, and MPI gets the first two letters right but continues the third series forward instead of backward.