SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 26 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 3 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 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.

624 is related to 160 following a certain logic. Following the same logic, 448 is related to 116. To which of the following is 528 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)130
(b)136
(c)148
(d)128

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Rule: divide by 4, then add 4.

624 ÷ 4 = 156
156 + 4 = 160, the number given

448 ÷ 4 = 112
112 + 4 = 116, the number given

528 ÷ 4 = 132
132 + 4 = 136 → option (b)

Why the others are wrong

(a)
130 — 130 is 528 ÷ 4 with 2 taken away instead of added. Run that second step on the first pair and 624 ÷ 4 = 156 gives 154, not the 160 the question states.
(c)
148 — 148 is 528 ÷ 4 plus 16. The size of the addition is fixed by the worked pairs: 156 needs +4 to reach 160, and 112 needs +4 to reach 116.
(d)
128 — 128 is 528 ÷ 4 minus 4, the right constant with the wrong sign. On 624 that gives 152, which is not the 160 printed in the question.

Concept

A number analogy hands you two worked pairs and asks for a third. Both worked pairs matter: one to guess the rule, one to test it. A rule that fits only the first pair is not a rule.

Try the cheap operations in order — a constant difference, then a constant ratio, then a ratio followed by a constant. Here 624 and 160 are far apart, so try a ratio first: 624 ÷ 4 = 156, which sits 4 short of 160.

Confirm those two steps on 448 → 116 before touching 528. That confirmation is the entire purpose of the second given pair.

The bracketed note bars digit-splitting, which closes off the shortcuts candidates reach for under time pressure: adding the digits, reversing them, or reading 624 as 6, 2 and 4.

Key facts

624 ÷ 4 = 156 and 156 + 4 = 160.
448 ÷ 4 = 112 and 112 + 4 = 116.
528 ÷ 4 = 132 and 132 + 4 = 136.
SSC's whole-number rider bars any digit-by-digit route to the answer.

Study next

Number analogies built on a multiply-then-add ruleNumber-pair sets where you must find the pair that breaks the ruleAnalogies using squares and cubes, such as n to n squared minus one

Common traps

Fixing the rule from one pair and never testing it on the second
Splitting 528 into 5, 2 and 8 after the question has forbidden it
Dividing by 4 and stopping at 132, which is not offered as an option

SSC states one pair, confirms it with a second, then asks for a third, printing the whole-number rider underneath.

The same frame appears at 09 Sep 2024, 09:00, Reasoning Q.2 (31 to 152, 47 to 168, where the rule is +121) and Q.24 (19 to 209, 27 to 297, where it is multiply by 11).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.