Analogies and OMO

It is important to clarify one’s concept on Series at the following link before heading into these topics: 

 

https://analyticalandlogicalreasoningconcept.blogspot.com/2017/02/series.html

 

Keeping the approaches discussed in the above link in mind, we shall proceed with these topics without repeating the points already mentioned in Series (above link).

Odd Man Out

It is important to understand that identifying odd one out is to spot the aberration in an ongoing pattern rather than finding an exceptional quality in a particular term.

#1. 12, 16, 20, 24, 26 – Here the odd term shall not be 16 as it is the only square, but it will be 26 as it is not following the pattern of difference of 4 from the previous term.

Property > Order

This is one of the most important principles to remember while attempting questions from Series and related topics. A pattern pertaining to the property of numbers or letters will be given more priority than mere application of operators like +/-/×/÷. (Eg #2 and #3)

#2. 2, 3, 5, 9, 17, 19 – Here the difference between the terms are doubling each time from the previous one, based on which 19 can be termed to be the odd one. Also apart from 9 all other numbers are prime, which is based on property of the numbers. However the strongest case is made with the most intrinsic properties which in this case will be of odd numbers; and 2 being the only non-odd number is the answer.

(It is important to note that while explaining this example, “non-odd” term was used instead of “even”. This is because 2 is not the answer as it is the only even number but because it is the only one which is not odd among all that are odd.)

#3. A, E, I, M, O – Here the letters are at an interval of 4 – A is 1^st, E is 5^th, I is 9^th, M is 13^th and O is 15^th. Going by this pattern O seems to be the odd one out; but looking at the property of letters – all given letters are vowels except M, which makes it the odd one out.

Analogies

While the basic principles remain same as with Series, in case of verbal analogies it is advisable to frame a sentence in mind with the two words given.

#4. Tennis : Sport is similar to  - a) Piano : Music b) Game : Chess c) Dog : Animal d) Fish : Water  ➙ Here although (b) seems similar to the given analogy, it is not correct as it’s completely reverse of the given logic. We can form a sentence like 'Tennis is a Sport' and then try to fill the first word in the first blank and second one in the second blank from the options, which will make 'Dog is an Animal' the correct answer. Hence ans is (c).