Basic Ability Test Basic Ability Abstract Pattern Recognition 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A pattern shows shapes shrinking: the first shape has 8 units, the second 4, the third 2. What size is the fifth shape?
- 0.25
- 0.5 (Correct answer)
- 1
- 0.75
Correct answer: 0.5
Each shape is half the previous: 8, 4, 2, 1, 0.5 — the fifth shape is 0.5 units.
Question 2: Letters follow the pattern: Z, Y, X, W, ___. What comes next?
- U
- T
- V (Correct answer)
- S
Correct answer: V
The sequence counts backward through the alphabet: Z, Y, X, W, V.
Question 3: A 4×4 grid has a diagonal of shaded cells from top-left to bottom-right. If the top-left is position (1,1), which position completes the diagonal?
- (3,4)
- (4,3)
- (4,4) (Correct answer)
- (3,3)
Correct answer: (4,4)
The diagonal shades positions where row = column: (1,1), (2,2), (3,3), (4,4).
Question 4: Each term in a sequence is obtained by multiplying the previous term by 3 and subtracting 1: 2, 5, 14, 41, ___. What comes next?
- 120
- 122 (Correct answer)
- 123
- 124
Correct answer: 122
41 × 3 − 1 = 123 − 1 = 122.
Question 5: In a pattern, a black dot moves clockwise around the corners of a square: top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left. Starting at top-left, where is the dot after 6 moves?
- Top-left
- Top-right (Correct answer)
- Bottom-right
- Bottom-left
Correct answer: Top-right
The dot cycles through 4 positions; 6 mod 4 = 2, so it is at the 2nd position: top-right.
Question 6: A pattern shows that figures in odd positions are striped and figures in even positions are dotted. Figure 7 is ___.
- Dotted
- Striped (Correct answer)
- Solid
- Checkered
Correct answer: Striped
7 is an odd number, so figure 7 follows the odd-position rule and is striped.
Question 7: In a sequence of dominoes, the total pips on each domino increase by 2: (1|1), (1|3), (2|4), (3|5), ___. What is the next domino's total?
- 8
- 9
- 10 (Correct answer)
- 11
Correct answer: 10
Totals are 2, 4, 6, 8 — increasing by 2 each time, so the next total is 10.
Basic Ability Test Basic Ability Abstract Pattern Recognition 5
A pattern shows shapes shrinking: the first shape has 8 units, the second 4, the third 2.
What size is the fifth shape?