In each of the following questions, a specific rearrangement pattern is applied to the first word to form the second. Identify the same pattern and apply it to the third word to determine the correct answer from the given alternatives. AROUND : RAUODN :: GROUND : ?

Correct — A.
Rule: swap each adjacent pair of letters (1↔2, 3↔4, 5↔6).

AROUND → AR | OU | ND → RA | UO | DN = RAUODN, which matches the question.

GROUND → GR | OU | ND
→ RG | UO | DN = RGUODN → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  NDOOGR — NDOOGR has two O's and no U, so it is not a rearrangement of GROUND's six letters at all.
• (c)
  OUNDGR — OUNDGR moves GR from the front to the end. That move turns AROUND into OUNDAR, not RAUODN, so it is not the pattern in the question.
• (d)
  DNUURG — DNUURG has two U's and no O, so it cannot be a rearrangement of GROUND. It sits close to GROUND reversed, DNUORG, and reversal is not the rule either: AROUND reversed is DNUORA.

A letter-rearrangement analogy keeps the same letters and changes only their order. Find the rule by numbering the first word's letters and reading the second word as positions.

AROUND is A1 R2 O3 U4 N5 D6, and RAUODN reads 2 1 4 3 6 5: each pair of neighbours trades places. Apply the same position order to GROUND.

Key facts

• A pair swap on a six-letter word follows the position order 2 1 4 3 6 5.
• A rearrangement keeps every letter, so an option with a changed letter is out at once.
• Test a candidate rule on the given pair first: moving the first two letters to the end turns AROUND into OUNDAR, not RAUODN.

Common traps

• Applying a rule to GROUND without first checking that it turns AROUND into RAUODN
• Decoding NDOOGR or DNUURG letter by letter instead of noticing that each changes a letter

No directly related past PYQ was found.