Have you ever wondered, what lies behind decision making? Logical and analytical ability enables us to arrive at a conclusion. Reasoning ability is vital not only in real life situations but also in banking exams conducted by IBPS, SBI, RBI, NABARD, etc. One of the best features of this section is that it doesn’t require any formulae, all that is required is the correct approach and that is achieved through practice and strategy.
In this post, we will discuss easier and quicker ways to solve input-output questions. Read on and enjoy solving questions.
Procedure to solve input-output questions
To begin with such questions, you need to be a good observer.
Identify the pattern: This is the most important step in solving these questions. The output changes with respect to the given input. The main idea is to identify the type of change in output when compared with input. Let us go through a few types of patterns.
(1) Words & numbers arrangement in alternate order either in ascending or descending order from left to right or right to left
For instance: Input → Victory 19 22 34 and bear high 24
Output → Victory 19 high 22 bear 24 and 34
Here, words and numbers are arranged in descending order, but words are arranged from left to right, while numbers are arranged from right to left.
(2) Increasing & decreasing in alternate pattern
For instance: Input → Air 97 34 Bat 85 18 Vin Umbrella
Output → Vin 18 Air 97 Umbrella 34 Bat 85
Here, words and numbers are arranged in alternate fashion. ‘Vin’ is the last words per alphabetical order, then comes ‘air’ the first word as per the dictionary, after that ‘umbrella’ second last word. Similarly, 18 is the smallest number, then 97 is the highest number. After that, second smallest number i.e. 34 has come.
Identify the direction in which the pattern moves: Observe the direction, are the words and numbers arranging towards left or towards right? Or alternately?
It is essential to notice the direction of the pattern.
In Banking and Insurance exams, a set of five questions is asked from this topic. After learning how to identify the pattern, it’s time to know commonly featured patterns in banking and insurance exams.
- Shifting – In this type of questions, we usually shift the given words or numbers of the given input as per fixed pattern.
For instance:
Input: Ramesh person is a good
Step I: a Ramesh person is good
Step II: a good Ramesh person is
Step III: a good is Ramesh person
Step IV: a good is person Ramesh
Step IV is the last step
Here, in each step one word is arranged one step at a time from left to right in ascending alphabetical order.
- Arrangement– In this type of questions, the pattern of ordering could be:
- Alphabetical order in words
- Increasing or decreasing order in numbers
- Number of consonants or vowels in each word
- As per words beginning with consonants or vowels
- According to even numbers or odd numbers
(I) Single shifting arrangement – In single shifting arrangement, one word or number is arranged either in a left or right side in each step. For instance:
Input: 22 can 59 nest 87 soil 15 lamb house 43
Step I: can 22 59 nest 87 soil 15 lamb house 43
Step II: can 15 22 59 nest 87 soil lamb house 43
Step III: can 15 house 22 59 nest 87 soil lamb 43
Step IV: can 15 house 22 lamb 59 nest 87 soil 43
Step V: can 15 house 22 lamb 43 59 nest 87 soil
Step VI: can 15 house 22 lamb 43 nest 59 87 soil
Step V: can 15 house 22 lamb 43 nest 59 soil 87
Step V is the last step of the given input.
We can conclude that in the first step; word is arranged in the left side in ascending order and in second step number is arranged in the left side in increasing order. The process continues till the last step.
(II) Double shifting arrangement – In double shifting arrangement, two words or numbers are arranged either in a left side or right side in each step. For instance:
Input: money 40 good and 60 74 will
Step I: 74 money 40 good 60 will and
Step II: 74 60 money 40 will and good
Step III: 74 60 40 will and good money
Step IV: 74 60 40 and good money will
Step IV: is the last step of the arrangement of the above input as the intended rearrangement is obtained.
In each step; the numbers are arranged in decreasing order on the left side and words are arranged in alphabetic order on the right side.
Points to ponder
- Have a quick glance at every step to know how this is being carried out.
- Rearrange the given input step by step or if required move from final step to the input.
You may also like to read Tips to solve inequality question in reasoning ability and Ready for reasoning ability in SBI PO Prelim exam
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