Solved Paper : SBI PO Exam - 2010

Reasoning Ability

(Held on 18-4-2010)

1. In a certain code language ‘how many goals scored’ is written as ‘5 3 9 7’; ‘many more matches’ is written as ‘9 8 2’ and ‘he scored five’ is written as ‘1 6 3’. How is ‘goals’ written in that code language ?

(1) 5 (2) 7 (3) 5 or 7
(4) Data inadequate
(5) None of these

2. In a certain code TEMPORAL is written as OLDSMBSP. How is CONSIDER written in that code?

(1) RMNBSFEJ (2) BNMRSFEJ
(3) RMNBJEFS (4) TOPDQDCH
(5) None of these

3. How many meaningful English words can be made with the letters DLEI using each letter only once in each word ?

(1) None (2) One (3) Two
(4) Three (5) More than three

4. Among A, B, C, D and E each having different weight, D is heavier than only A and C is lighter than B and E. Who among them is the heaviest ?

(1) B (2) E (3) C
(4) Data inadequate
(5) None of these

5. Each odd digit in the number 5263187 is substituted by the next higher digit and each even digit is substituted by the previous lower digit and the digits so obtained are rearranged in ascending order, which of the following will be the, third digit from the left end after the rearrangement ?

(1) 2 (2) 4 (3) 5
(4) 6 (5) None of these

6. Pratap corrrectly remembers that his mother’s birthday is before twenty third April but after Nineteenth April, whert as his sister correctly remembers that their mother’s birthday is not on or after twenty second April. On which day in April is definitely their mother’s birthday ?

(1) Twentieth (2) Twenty-first
(3) Twentieth or twenty-first
(4) Cannot be determined
(5) None of these

7. Ashok started walking towards South. After walking 50 meters he took a right turn and walked 30 meters. He then took a right turn and walked 100 meters. He again took a right turn and walked 30 meters and stopped. How far and in which direction was he from the starting point?

(1) 50 meters South (2) 150 meters North
(3) 180 meters East (4) 50 meters North
(5) None of these

8. If’–‘ means ‘+’; ‘–’means ‘×’; ‘×’ means ‘÷’and ‘+’means ‘–’; then 15 – 8 × 6 + 12 + 4 = ?

(1) 20 (2) 28 (3)
(4) 2 3 (5) None of these

9. Town D is towards East of town F. Town B is towards North of town D. Town H is towards South of town B. Towards which direction is town H from town F ?

(1) East (2) South-East
(3) North-East (4) Data inadequate
(5) None of these

10. How many such pairs of letters are there in the word SEARCHES each of which has as many letters between them in the word as in the English alphabet ?

(1) None (2) One (3) Two
(4) Three (5) More than three

Direction: In each of the questions below are given four statements followed by four conclusions numbered I, II, III 8s IV. You have to take the given statements to be true even if they seem to be at given conclusions logically follows from the given statements disregarding commonly known facts.

11. Statements: All cups are bottles. Some bottles are jugs. No jug is plate. Some plates are tables.

Conclusions:

I. Some tables are bottles.
II. Some plates are cups.
III. No table is bottle.
IV. Some jugs are cups.

(1) Only I follows (2) Only II follows
(3) Only III follows (4) Only IV follows
(5) Only either I or III follows

12. Statements: Some chairs are handles. All handles are pots. All pots are mats. Some mats are buses.

Conclusions:

I. Some buses are handles.
II. Some mats are chairs.
III. No bus is handle.
IV. Some mats are handles.

(1) Only I, II and IV follow
(2) Only II, III and IV follow
(3) Only either I or III and II follow
(4) Only either I or III and IV follow
(5) Only either I or III and II and IV follow

13. Statements: All birds are horses. All horses are tigers. Some tigers are lions. Some lions are monkeys.

Conclusions:

I. Some tigers are horses.
II. Some monkeys are birds.
III. Some tigers are birds.
IV. Some monkeys are horses.

(1) Only I and III follow
(2) Only I, II and III follow
(3) Only II, III and IV follow
(4) All I, II, III and IV follow
(5) None of these

14. Statements: Some benches are walls. All walls are houses. Some houses are jungles. All jungles are roads.

Conclusions:

I. Some roads are benches.
II. Some jungles are walls.
III. Some houses are benches.
IV. Some roads are houses.

(1) Only land II follow
(2) Only I and III follow
(3) Only III and IV follow
(4) Only II, III and IV follow
(5) None of these

15. Statements: Some sticks are lamps. Some flowers are lamps. Some lamps are dresses. All dresses are shirts.

Conclusions:

I. Some shirts are sticks.
II. Some shirts are flowers.
III. Some flowers are sticks.
IV. Some dresses are sticks.

(1) None follows (2) Only I follows
(3) Only II follows (4) Only III follows
(5) Only IV follows

Direction: Study the following information carefully and answer the questions given below:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H are eight employees of an organization working in three departments viz. Personnel, Administration and Marketing with not more than three of them in any department. Each of them has a different choice of sports from football, cricket, volleyball, badminton, lawn tennis, basketball, hockey and table tennis not necessarily in the same order.

D works in Administration and does not like either football or cricket. F works in Personnel with only A who likes table tennis. Eand H do not work in the same department as D. C likes hockey and does not work in marketing. G does not work in administration and does not like either cricket or badminton. One of those who work in administration likes football. The one who likes volleyball works in personnel. None of those who work in administration likes either badminton or lawn tennis. H does not like cricket.

16. Which of the following groups of employees work in Administration department ?

(1) EGH (2) AF (3) BCD
(4) BGD (5) Data inadequate

17. In which department does E work ?

(1) Personnel (2) Marketing
(3) Administration (4) Data inadequate
(5) None of these

18. Which of the following combinations of employee-department-favourite sport is correct?

(1) E – Administration – Cricket
(2) F – Personnel – Lawn Tennis
(3) H – Marketing – Lawn Tennis
(4) B – Administration – Table Tennis
(5) None of these

19. What is E’s favourite sport ?

(1) Cricket (2) Badminton
(3) Basketball (4) Lawn Tennis
(5) None of these

20. What is G’s favourite sport ?

(1) Cricket (2) Badminton
(3) Basketball (4) Lawn Tennis
(5) None of these

Direction: In the following questions, the symbols # and S are used with the following meaning as illustrated below.

P $ Q’ means ‘P is not smaller than Q’.
P @ Q’ means ‘P is neither smaller than nor equal to ‘Q
‘P # Q’ means ‘P is neither greater than nor equal to Q’.
P d Q’ means ‘P is neither greater than nor smaller than Q’.
‘P Q’ means ‘P is not greater than Q’.

Now in each of the following questions assuming the given statements to be true, find which of the four conclusions I, II, III and IV given below them is/are definitely true and give your answer accordingly.

21. Statements: H @ T, T # F, F d E, E V

Conclusions:

I. V $ F

II. E @ T
III. H @ V IV. T # V

(1) Only I, II and III are true
(2) Only I, II and IV are true
(3) Only II, III and IV are true
(4) Only I, III and IV are true
(5) All I, II, III and IV are true

22. Statements: D#R, RK, K@F, F$J

Conclusions:

 I. J # R

II. J # K
III. R # F IV. K @ D

(1) Only I, II and III are true
(2) Only II, III and IV are true
(3) Only I, III and IV are true
(4) All I, II, III and IV are true
(5) None of these

23. Statements: N d B, B $ W, W # H, H M

Conclusions :

I. M @ W II. H @ N III. W S N IV. W# N

(1) Only I is true (2) Only III is true
(3) Only IV is true
(4) Only either III or IV is true
(5) Only either III or IV and I are true

24. Statements: R D, D $ J, J # M, M @ K

Conclusions:

 I. K # J II. D @ M
III. R # M
IV. D @ K

(1) None is true (2) Only I is true
(3) Only II is true (4) Only III is true
(5) Only IV is true

25. Statements: M $ K, K @ N, N R, R # W

Conclusions:

I. W @ K II. M $ R III. K @ W
IV. M @ N

(1) Only I and II are true
(2) Only I, II and III are true
(3) Only III and IV are true
(4) Only II, III and IV are true
(5) None of these

Direction: Study the following information carefully and answer the questions given below

Following are the conditions for selecting Senior Manager-Credit in a bank. The candidate must—

(i) be a graduate in any discipline with atleast 60 percent marks.
(ii) have post qualification work experience of at least ten years in the Advances Section of a bank.
(iii) be at least 30 years and not more than 40 years as on 1.4.2010. (iv) have secured at least 40 percent marks in the group discussion. (v) have secured at least 50 percent marks in interview. In the case of a candidate who satisfies all the conditions EXCEPT—

(A) at (i) above but has secured at least 50 percent marks in graduation and at least 60 percent marks in post graduation in any discipline the case is to be referred to the General Manager Advances.
(B) at (ii) above but has total post qualification work experience of at least seven years out of which at least three years as Manager-Credit in a bank, the case is to be referred to Executive Director.

In each question below details of one candidate is given. You have to take one of the following courses of action based on the information provided and the conditions and sub-conditions given above and mark the number of that course of action as your answer. You are not to assume anything other than the information provided in each question. All these cases are given to you as on 01.04.2010.

Give answer

(1) if the case is to be referred to Executive Director.
(2) if the case is to be referred to General Manager-Advances.
(3) if the data are inadequate to take a decision.
(4) if the candidate is not to be selected.
(5) if the candidate is to be selected.

26. Shobha Gupta has secured 50 percent marks in the Interview and 40 percent marks in the Group Discussion. She has been working for the past eight years out of which four years as Manager-Credit in a bank after completing her B. A. degree with 60 percent marks. She was born on 12th September 1978.

27. Rohan Maskare was born on 8th March 1974. He has been working in a bank for the past twelve years after completing his B.Com. degree with 70 percent marks. He has secured 50 percent marks in both the Group Discussion and the Interview.

28. Prakash Gokhale was born on 4th August 1977. He has secured 65 percent marks in. post graduation and 58 percent marks in graduation. He has been working for the past ten years in the Advances Department of a bank after completing his post graduation. He has secured 45 percent marks in the Group Discussion and 50 percent marks in the Interview.

29. Sudha Mehrotra has been working in the Advances department of a bank for the past twelve years after completing her B.Com. degree with 60 percent marks. She has secured 50 percent marks in the Group Discussion and 40 percent marks in the Interview. She was born on 15th February 1972.

30. Amit Narayan was born on 28th May 1974. He has been working in the Advances department of a bank for the past eleven years after completing his B.Sc. degree with 65 percent marks. He has secured 55 percent marks in the Group discussion and 50 percent marks in the interview.

Direcion: In each question below is given a statement followed by three courses of action numbered (A), (B) and (C). A course of action is a step or administrative decision to be taken for. improvement, follow-up or further action in regard to the problem, policy, etc. On the basis of the information given in the statement, you have to assume everything in the statement to be true, then decide which of the suggested courses of action logically follow(s) for pursuing.

31. Statement : A heavy unseasonal downpour during tho last two days has paralysed the, normal life in the state in which five persons were killed but this has provided a huge relief to the problem of acute water crisis in the state.

Courses of action:

(A) The state government should set up a committee to review the alarming situation.
(B) The state government should immediately remove all the restrictions, on use of potable water in all the major cities in the state.
(C) The state government should send relief supplies to all the affected areas in the state.

(1) None (2) Only (A)
(3) Only (B) and (C) (4) Only (C)
(5) All (A), (B), (C)

32. Statement: A large private bank has decided to retrench one-third of its employees in view of the huge losses incurred by it during the past three quarters.

Courses of action:

(A) The Govt. should issue a notification to general public to immediately: stop all transactions with the bank.
(B) The Govt. should direct the bank to refrain from retrenching its employees.
(C) The Govt. should ask the central bank of the country to initiate an enquiry into the bank’s activities and submit its report.

(1) None (2) Only (A)
(3) Only (B) (4) Only (C)
(5) Only (A) and (C)

33. Statement: Many political activists have decided to stage demonstrations and block traffic movement in the city during peak hours to protest against the steep rise in prices of essential commodities.

Courses of action:

(A) The Govt. should immediately ban all forms of agitations in the country.
(B) The police authority of the city should deploy additional forces all over the city to help traffic movement in the city.
(C) The state administration should carry out preventive arrests of the known criminals staying in the city.

(1) Only (A) (2) Only (B)
(3) Only (C) (4) Only (A) and (B)
(5) None of these

34. Statement: The school dropout rate in many districts in the state has increased sharply during the last few years as the parents of these children make them work in the fields owned by others to earn enough for them to get at least one meal a day.

Courses of action:

(A) The Govt. should put up a mechanism to provide foodgrains to the poor people in these districts through public distribution system to encourage the parents to send their wards to school.
(B) The Govt. should close down some of these schools in the district and deploy the teachers of these schools to nearby schools and also ask remaining students to join these schools.
(C) Govt. should issue arrest warrants for all the parents who force their children to work in fields instead of attending classes.

(1) Only (A) (2) Only (B)
(3) Only (C) (4) Only (A) and (B)
(5) None of these

35. Statement: One aspirant was killed due to stampede while participating in a recruitment drive of police constables.

Courses of action:

(A) The officials incharge of the recruitment process should immediately be suspended.
(B) A team of officials should be asked to find out the circumstances which led to the death of the aspirant and submit its report within a week.
(C) The Govt. should ask the home department to stagger the number of aspirants over more number of days to avoid such incidents in future.

(1) Only (A) (2) Only (B)
(3) Only (C) (4) Only (B) and (C)
(5) None of these

36. Effect: Majority of the employees of the ailing organization opted for voluntary retirement scheme and left the organization with all their retirement benefits within a fortnight of launching the scheme.

Which of the following can be a probable cause of the above effect ?

(1) The company has been making huge losses for the past five years and is unable to pay salary to its employees in time.
(2) The management of the company made huge personal gains through unlawful activities.
(3) One of the competitors of the company went bankrupt last year.
(4) The company owns large tracts of land in the state which will fetch huge sum to its owners.
(5) None of these

37. Statement: Most of the companies in IT and ITES sectors in India have started hiring from engineering college campuses this year and are likely to recruit much more than yearly recruitment of the earlier years.

Which of the following substantiates the facts stated in the above statement ?

(1) IT and ITES are the only sectors in India which are hiring from engineering college campuses.
(2) Govt. has stepped up recruitment activities after a gap of five years.
(3) The IT and ITES companies have now decided to vi sit the engineering college campuses for tier II cities in India as well.
(4) Availability of qualified engineers will substantially in crease in the near future.
(5) None of these

38. Cause: The Govt. has recently increased its taxes or, petrol and diesel by about 10 percent. Which of the following can be a possible effect of the above cause ?

(1) The petroleum companies will reduce the prices of petrol and diesel by about 10 percent.
(3) The petroleum companies will increase the prices of petrol and diesel by about 5 percent.
(4) The petrol pumps will stop selling petrol and diesel till the taxes are rolled back by the govt.
(5) None of these

39. Statement : The Govt. has decided to instruct the banks to open new branches in such a way that there is one branch of any of the banks in every village of population 1000 and above or a cluster of villages with population less than 1000 to provide banking services to all the citizens. Which of the following will weaken the step taken by the Govt. ?

(1) The private sector banks in India have stepped up their branch expansion activities in rural India.
(2) Many Govt. owned banks have surplus manpower in its urban branches.
(3) All the banks including those in private sector will follow the govt. directive.
(4) Large number of branches of many Govt. owned banks in the rural areas are making huge losses every year due to lack of adequate business activities.
(5) None of these

Direction: Study the following information carefully and answer the questions given below.

The centre reportedly wants to continue providing subsidy to consumers for cooking gas and kerosene for five more years. This is not good news from the point of view of reining in the fiscal deficit. Mounting subventions for subsidies means diversion of savings by the government from investment to consumption, raising the cost of capital in the process. The government must cut expenditure on subsidies to create more fiscal space for investments in both physical and social infrastructure. It should outline a plan for comprehensive reform in major subsidies including petroleum, food and fertilizers and set goal posts.

40. Which of the following is a conclusion which can be drawn from the facts stated in the above paragraph ?

(1) Subsidy provided by the government under various heads to the citizen increases the cost of capital.
(2) Govt. is unable to withdraw subsidies provided to various items.
(3) Govt. subsidy on kerosene is purely a political decision.
(4) Govt. does not have enough resources to continue providing subsidy on petroleum products.
(5) None of these

41. Which of the following is an inference which can be made from the facts stated in the above paragraph ?

(1) India’s fiscal deficit is negligible in Comparison to other emerging economies in the world.
(2) Subsidy on food and fertilizers are essential for growth of Indian economy.
(3) Reform in financial sector will weaken India’s position in the international arena.
(4) Gradual withdrawal of subsidy is essential for effectively managing fiscal deficit in India.
(5) None of these

42. Which of the following is an assumption which is implicit in the facts stated in the above paragraph ?

(1) People in India may not be able to pay more for petroleum products.
(2) Many people in India are rich enough to buy petroleum products at market cost.
(3) Govt. may not be able to create more infrastructural facilities if the present level of subsidy continues for a longer time.
(4) Govt. of India has sought assistance from international financial organizations for its infrastructural projects
(5) None of these

Direction: Study the following information carefully and answer the questions given below.

Poverty measurement is an unsettled issue, both conceptually and methodologically. Since poverty is a process as well as an outcome; many come out of it while others may be falling into it. The net effect of these two parallel processes is a proportion commonly identified as the ‘head count ratio’, but these ratios hide the fundamental dynamism that characterizes poverty in practice. The most recent poverty reestimates by an expert group has also missed the crucial dynamism. In a study conducted on 13,000 households which represented the crucial dynamism. In a study conducted on 13,000 households which represented the entire country in 1993-94 and again on 2004-05, it was found that in the ten-year period 18.2% rural population moved out of poverty whereas another 22.1 % fell into it over this period. This net increase of about four percentage points was seen to have a considerable variation across states and regions.

43. Which of the following is a conclusion which can be drawn from the facts stated in the above paragraph ?

(1) Accurate estimates of number of people living below poverty line in India is possible to be made.
(2) Many expert groups in India are not interested to measure poverty objectively.
(3) Process of poverty measurement needs to take into account various factors to tackle its dynamic nature.
(4) People living below poverty line remain in that position for a very long time.
(5) None of these

44. Which of the following is an assumption which is implicit in the facts stated in the above paragraph ?

(1) It may not be possible to have an accurate poverty measurement in India.
(2) Level of poverty in India is static over the years.
(3) Researchers avoid making conclusions on poverty measurement data in India.
(4) Govt. of India has a mechanism to measure level of poverty effectively and accurately.
(5) None of these

45. Which of the following is an inference which can be made from the facts stated in the above paragraph ?

(1) Poverty measurement tools in India are outdated.
(2) Increase in number of persons falling into poverty varies considerably across the country over a period of time.
(3) Govt. of India has stopped measuring poverty related studies.
(4) People living in rural areas are more susceptible to fall into poverty over the time.
(5) None of these

Direction: In each of the questions given below which one of the five answer figures on the right should come after the problem figures on the left, if the sequence were continued ?

Answer

1. (3) 2. (1) 3. (2) 4. (4) 5. (2) 6. (3) 7. (4) 8. (2) 9. (4) 10. (2)
11. (5) 12. (5) 13. (1) 14. (3) 15. (1) 16. (3) 17. (2) 18. (5) 19. (1) 20. (4)
21. (5) 22. (5) 23. (5) 24. (1) 25. (5) 26. (1) 27. (5) 28. (2) 29. (4) 30. (5)
31. (4) 32. (4) 33. (2) 34. (1) 35. (4) 36. (2) 37. (4) 38. (5) 39. (3) 40. (2)
41. (4) 42. (3) 43. (3) 44. (1) 45. (5) 46. (4) 47. (2) 48. (3) 49. (1) 50. (5)

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