NATIONAL TALENT SEARCH EXAM (NTSE)
MODEL QUESTION PAPER

MENTAL ABILITY TEST
 
PART – 1

Directions: In the following questions (1 – 10) there are five groups of letters in each. Four of these groups
are alike in same way while one is different. Find the one that is different and will be your answer as well.

Q1.   
(a) asibu  (b) oarse
(c) oinak  (d) zamol
(e) yaixe
Ans.  (d) as each contains 2 consonants and 3 vowel but d does not.

Q2. 
(a) MNM  (b) HJR
(c) VWD  (d) BCX
(e) KLO
Ans.  (b) as in others first two letters are serially pronounced but (b) is not in order.

Q3. 
(a) ira  (b) aam
(c) kas  (d) utr
(e) btd
Ans.  (e) as all other four gives a sense of words by arranging the letters as air, man ask and True but (e)
does not as such.  

Q4. 
(a) yxz   (b) cbd
(c) nmr  (d) wvx
(e) pqo

Ans.  (e) as in other four we find the middle letter in the initial letter in order like xyz, bcd, etc

Q5. 
(a) AiiR  (b) MooX
(c) VxxZ  (d) DecY
(e) DffH
Ans.  (d) as other four there are some letters repeated twice in the middle which is a deviation in (d).
 
Q6. 
(a) cot  (b) pot
(c) but  (d) hut
(e) mat
Ans.  (e) pronounciation changed.

Q7. 
(a) AabD  (b) eEcf
(c) pPrs  (d) nNxz
(e) dDrs
Ans.  (a) as the first letter is capital.

Q8. 
(a) ability   (b) capability
(c) probability  (d) surety
(e) flexibility
Ans.  (d) as in others ‘li’ is absent to give a right sense but (d) has already a sense.

Q9. 
(a) doe  (b) man
(c) xaz  (d) poq
(e) oep
Ans.  (c) as in all others two consecutive alphabets occur at the ends as de,mn, pq, and op.

Q10. 
(a) ACE  (b) PKR
(c) NPR  (d) GIK
(e) PRT
Ans.  (b) as in all others in each alphabet there is a difference of one space.

Directions: In each of following questions, there are four or five alternatives given. Find the correct one for
each question.

Q11.  Two numbers are in the ratio 5:6 and if 4 is subtracted from each, they are reduced to 2:3, then
the highest number is
(a) 4  (b) 12
(c) 8  (d) 10
Ans.  (c) the highest number be 6x and the least number be 5x.
Q12.  A square and a triangle have equal areas. If the ratio side of square and the height of triangle is
2/3 find the ratio of base to height.
(a) 2/3  (b) 4/3
(c) 4/5  (d) 9/8
(e) None of these

Q13.  How many prime numbers lie between 115 – 122.
(a) 2  (b) 3  
(c) 4  (d) 5 
(e) 6
Ans.  115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122.

Q14.  Ram is 5 times as old as Shyam. If their difference of age is 8 years, how old is Ram?
(a) 8 years  (b) 10 years
(c) 12 years  (d) 5 years
(e) None of these
Ans.  (b) 10 years 
   Q15.  A runs faster than E but not so fast as B and B runs faster than C but not as faster than D, who
runs faster?
(a) A  (b) B
(c) C  (d) E
Ans. (d)

Q16.  The pages of a book are numbered for 1 to 100 manually. How many times will be it be essential
to write the number 5?
(a) 20  (b) 19
(c) 18  (d) 9
(e) 10
Ans.  (b)
Q17.  A person climbs up a pole of 88 mt high, in every minute he climbs 12 mt but slips down 8 mt.
So how much time he will take to reach at the top?
(a) 19  (b) 29
(c) 28  (d) 22
(e) 14
Ans.  It is clear that in the last step, he does not slip as he reaches on the top so actual distance which cover
for slipping zone will be 88 – 12 = 76, actual distance covered in a minute is 12 – 8 = 4.
  So the time taken will be 76/4 = 19

Q18.  How many square of side 5 cm cab be adjusted in a rectangular box of size 25 × 15 ×10 cm
(a) 30  (b) 60
(c) 50  (d) 40
(e) None of these
Ans.  (a) 30

Q19.  The  sum of 3 positive numbers in AP is 189. The sum of  their squares is 11915. Find their
product.
(a) 7930   (b) 8970
(c) 9703  (d) 7960
(e) None of these
Ans.  (a) 7930

Q20.  Find the number whose square root is twice of its cubic root.
(a) 128  (b) 64
(c) 16  (d) 4
(e) None of these 
Ans.  (b) 64

Q21.  There are 24 birds on a tree. A hunter fired a gun and 20 fall down on ground. So how many
birds left on the tree?
(a) 4  (b) 7
(c) 24  (d) None of these
Ans.  None of these  

Q22.  A is four times as efficient as B & A can complete a work in 90 days less time than B. Find in
how many days both can complete the work.
(a) 30  (b) 20  
(c) 40  (d) 50
Ans.   (a) 30 days.
  

Q23.  I am the eldest child of my parents. There is a gap of 6 years between the ages of my brother
and sister including myself. If my mother was 22 years, when I was born? What was age at the
birth of her youngest child?
(a) 30  (b) 28
(c) 16  (d) 25
(e) None of these.
Ans. (c)

Q24.  The calendar of the year 1982 can next be used for the year?
(a) 1984  (b) 1990
(c) 1985  (d) 1988
(e) None of these
Ans. (d) 1988

Q25.  Two successive discount of 20% and 25% equivalent to what amount of a single discount?
(a) 25%  (b) 10%
(c) 15%  (d) 5%
(e) 20% 
Ans.   (e) 20%

Q27.  Mohan spent 25% of his monthly earning on magazines. Out of the banana amount he spent
75% on the hostel and college fees. If he had Rs. 120 at the end of the month, find how much
money he has received from his father in that month?
(a) Rs. 1000  (b) Rs. 1260
(c) Rs. 640  (d) Rs. 850
(e) None of these
Ans.  (c) Rs. 640

Q28.  A, B and C are partners and invests in a business such that A spends 1/4th of the total. B spends 1/5th less than C. If C’s investment is 1/3, find the ratio of their profits on a amount of 4300.
(a) 15:20:8  (b) 20:15:8
(c) 8:15:20  (d) 25:5:8
(e) None of these 
Ans.  (a) 150:20:8

Q29.  In a cage, there are rabbits and parrots and the number of heads are 28 and feet are 72. Find
the number of parrots and rabbits.
(a) 20, 8  (b) 8, 20
(c) 14, 14   (d) 12, 16
(e) None of these
Ans.  there are 20 parrots and 8 rabbits.

Q30.  Some students are divided into two groups A & B.  If  10  students  are  sent from A to B, the
number in each is the same. But if 20 students are sent from B to A, the number in A is double
the number in B. Find the number of students in each group A & B.
(a) 100, 80  (b) 80, 100
(c) 110, 70   (d) 70, 110
(e) None of these
Ans.   A = 100; B = 80

DIRECTIONS: In each of the following questions, a series of numbers is given followed by a blank space
with a (?) question mark on it. The number to fill in the blank is given has one of the alternative among the
five given under each question. Find the correct alternative in each case.

Q31.   3, 18, 43, 78, 123,?
(a) 169  (b) 178  
(c) 163  (d) 153
(e) 157     
Ans.  The Arithmetic mean difference between the two consecutive numbers is increasing 10 as 15 25 35
45. So the numbers will be 123 + 55 = 178

Q32.  1, 5, 13, 29, 61, 125, ?
(a) 252  (b) 258
(c) 255  (d) 253
(e) None of these
Ans.  (d) 253

Q33.  49, 343, 64, ?, 81, 729
(a) 1024  (b) 512
(c) 778  (d) 182
(e) None of these
Ans.  (b) 512

Q34. 55296, ?, 288, 36, 9.
(a) 3456  (b) 3436
(c) 4638   (d) 3638
(e) None of these.
Ans. (a)  3456

Q35.  30, 56, 90, 132, 182, ?
(a) 3627  (b) 3234
(c) 1206  (d) 2412
(e) None of these.
Ans.  (a) 
DIRECTIONS: The six faces of a cube are painted in a manner  that no  two adjacent faces have the same
colour. The three colour used in the painting are red, blue and green. The cube is then cut into 64 equal
cubical parts. Answer the following questions.

Q36.  How many cubes in all have three sides painted?
(a) 24  (b) 16
(c) 10  (d) 8
(e) None of these
Ans. (d)

Q37.  How many cubes have only two sides painted?
(a) 16  (b) 24
(c) 8  (d) 6
(e) None of these.
Ans. (b)

Q38.  How many cubes have one and two sides painted but the third side is not painted.
(a) 28  (b) 24
(c) 48  (d) 64
(e) None of these
Ans. (c)

Q39.  How many cubes are there whose only one side is painted?
(a) 24  (b) 4
(c) 48  (d) 64
(e) None of these
Ans. (a)

Q40.  How many cubes are there which has no sides painted?
(a) 8  (b) 64
(c) 36  (d) 48
(e) 16
Ans. (a)

DIRECTIONS:  The  following questions are based on letter series  from which some of the letters are
missing. The missing letters are given in the proper sequence as are of the alternative among the five given
under each question. Find the correct alternative for each case.

Q41. aab – aaa – bba – 
(a) bab  (b) abb
(c) baa  (d) bba
(e) None of these
Ans.  (c) 
Q42. abba – baaabba – bbaaa
(a) aaa  (b) aba
(c) bba  (d) abab
(e) None of these
Ans.   (a)

Q43.  – abaaaba – a – a
(a) aab  (b) abb
(c) aba  (d) bba
(e) None of these
Ans. (a)

Q44. b – a – aab – ab – – 
(a) abaaa  (b) ababa
(c) aabba  (d) bbaba
(e) babab
Ans. (a)

Q45. p – x – pt – – – txppt
(a) ptxptx  (b) pxtptx
(c) ptptxt  (d) xptxpt
(e) tpxppx
Ans.   (e)

DIRECTIONS: In each of the following question apply the  interchanging of the codes to choose correct
alternative. 

Q46. If PRESS = RESSP
  Then SMLE = ?
(a) SMLE  (b) SMILE
(c) SLME  (d) SLMIE
(e) None of these
Ans.   (b)

Q47. If STUPID = STUPID then CYCLES?
(a) CYESCL  (b) CYLECS
(c) CYELCS  (d) CYECSL
(e) CYLCES
Ans.   (e)

Q48. If ROTUND = RONDTU, then PATATO = ?
(a) POTOTA  (b) POTOAT
(c) PATOO  (d) POOTAT
(e) POOATT
Ans.  (a)