SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 10 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 5 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Select the set in which the numbers are related in the same way as are the numbers of the following sets. (173, 246) (148, 196) (NOTE: Operations should be performed on the whole numbers, without breaking down the numbers into its constituent digits. E.g. 13 – Operations on 13 such as adding /deleting /multiplying etc. to 13 can be performed. Breaking down 13 into 1 and 3 and then performing mathematical operations on 1 and 3 is not allowed)

(a)(127, 194)
(b)(142, 176)
(c)(154, 208)
(d)(169, 247)

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Find one rule that both given pairs obey, then test all four options against it.

Rule: second = (2 x first) - 100.

(173, 246): 2 x 173 = 346, then 346 - 100 = 246.
(148, 196): 2 x 148 = 296, then 296 - 100 = 196.

Now the options. 2 x 154 = 308, then 308 - 100 = 208, which is exactly the second number offered.

So (154, 208) obeys the same relation — option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
(127, 194) — 2 x 127 = 254 and 254 - 100 = 154, not 194. The pair's actual gap is 67 where the rule needs 27.
(b)
(142, 176) — 2 x 142 = 284 and 284 - 100 = 184, not 176. Eight short — near enough to survive a glance and not near enough to be right.
(d)
(169, 247) — 2 x 169 = 338 and 338 - 100 = 238, not 247. Its numbers sit in the same range as the given pairs, which is exactly why it is offered.

Concept

Two-number analogy sets are settled by finding a single arithmetic rule that both given pairs satisfy, and then testing every option against it.

Work through the cheap relations in order: the difference, then the ratio, then a linear form such as 2 x first - k.

Here the differences are 73 and 48, and each equals first - 100. That is the same statement as second = 2 x first - 100, written the other way round.

Testing all four options costs four multiplications and a subtraction each.

It is worth the time: only one option can fit, and stopping at the first that looks close is how these are lost.

Key facts

173 and 246 satisfy second = 2 x first - 100.
148 and 196 satisfy the same relation.
154 gives 2 x 154 - 100 = 208, the only option that fits.

Study next

Two-number analogy sets built on second = a x first + bThree-number sets where the third number is the sum of the first twoConverting a difference rule into a multiplication rule and back

Common traps

Fixing on the difference of 73 from the first pair and then finding 48 in the second.
Reading the numbers digit by digit, which the stem's NOTE forbids.
Choosing (d) because 169 and 247 look the most like the given pairs.

This shift also runs a three-number version of the format, carrying the same whole-number NOTE — also 10 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.7.

The odd-one-out at Reasoning Q.1 of this shift draws on the same family of relations.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.