CAPF AC 2020 Q121: General Mental Ability – Logical Reasoning & Puzzles
- (a) East
- (b) North-east
- (c) North-west
- (d) South
Answer: (c) North-west
Explanation
Turned compass
Given: South-east is called East, North-west is called West, South-west is called South, and so on.
We need the new name of North.
How to think: find the turn from one example and apply it to North.
On a compass, East is the direction just before South-east when going clockwise.
So every direction takes the name of the one 45 degrees anticlockwise from it.
| Real direction | Called |
|---|---|
| South-east | East |
| North-west | West |
| South-west | South |
| North-east | North |
| East | North-east |
| South | South-east |
| West | South-west |
| North | North-west |
Compass order, clockwise: North, North-east, East, South-east, South, South-west, West, North-west.
The name one step back from North is North-west.
Answer: (c) North-west.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Incorrect. East is the new name of South-east, as the question says.
- (b) Incorrect. North-east is the turn in the wrong direction; it is the new name of East.
- (c) CORRECT. Each name shifts 45 degrees anticlockwise, so North is called North-west.
- (d) Incorrect. South is the new name of South-west.
Key point
Direction coding: find the turn from one given pair (here 45 degrees anticlockwise) and apply the same turn to the direction asked.
Remember
Find the turn from one pair, then apply it to all.
Common mistakes
- Turning clockwise and marking North-east.
- Not checking the turn against the second given pair.
- Picking an option already used up in the question, such as East or South.
Exam tip
Educated guess: East and South are already taken by South-east and South-west. That leaves North-east and North-west.
Sources
- R. S. Aggarwal — A Modern Approach to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning (Direction Sense Test)
- Arun Sharma — How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for the CAT (direction and distance problems)