SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 25 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 11 of 99

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 10 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.

18 is related to 90 following a certain logic. Following the same logic, 31 is related to 155. To which of the following is 52 related, following the same logic? (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)265
(b)260
(c)248
(d)256

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Fix the operation from both given pairs before opening the options.

90 ÷ 18 = 5
155 ÷ 31 = 5

Rule: multiply the whole number by 5.

52 × 5 = 260, which is option (b).

The NOTE blocks digit splitting, so any reading that works on the 5 and the 2 of 52 separately is inadmissible here.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
265 — 265 is 53 × 5 — the right operation applied to the wrong number, one above the 52 the question asks about.
(c)
248 — 248 is not a multiple of 5 at all. Every product of 5 ends in 0 or 5, which rules this out on sight.
(d)
256 — 256 fails the same ends-in-0-or-5 test. It is a familiar power of two, which is what makes it tempting.

Concept

An 'A is related to B' number analogy is a one-step version of the operation-chain item. Two worked pairs are given precisely so that the operation is pinned down.

18 → 90 on its own also fits add 72, or multiply by 4 and add 18. Both die on 31 → 155.

So divide the second number by the first in each given pair. If the quotients agree the relation is a multiplication and you are finished; if they do not, look at differences next, then at squares and cubes.

All four options here are within 20 of one another, so the multiplication has to be done exactly rather than estimated.

Key facts

90 ÷ 18 = 5 and 155 ÷ 31 = 5, so the rule is a constant multiplier of 5.
52 × 5 = 260.
Every multiple of 5 ends in 0 or 5, which disposes of two options with no arithmetic at all.

Study next

Number analogies built on squares and cubes instead of a multiplierTwo-step analogies, such as multiply and then add a constantReverse analogies, where the second number is smaller and a division is hidden

Common traps

Testing only the first pair, which several operations satisfy
Slipping one place in the five times table and landing on 265
Splitting the number into its digits in defiance of the NOTE

The stem is fixed and the multiplier is what changes between shifts — ×7 at 11 Sep 2024, 09:00, Reasoning Q.20, where 16 → 112 and 44 is keyed to 308, and ×9 at 13 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.5, where 13 → 117 and 51 is keyed to 459.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.