How to Prepare Reasoning Ability

for Various Banking Exams?

How to Prepare Reasoning Ability for Various Banking Exams

We have tried our best to get the answer of this particular question and we really hope we have done a decent job at it.

Although, most of the students don’t find it really hard, to crack the reasoning ability section in any banking examination. But still there are a few that finds it tough. Also there are a few topics or chapters in the reasoning ability, that most candidates finds difficult to solve or are very time consuming.

For How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude click here

As you all already know that we are uploading the “How to Prepare” series for all the sections or subjects for various banking and SCC examinations, so this is the second article under that series. In this article we are going to cover the syllabus and detailed chapter wise strategy that you need to follow to prepare it.

We all know the common tips that you are required to follow, but it either doesn’t apply to all the sections or doesn’t apply to all the chapter of a section. You cannot prepare the syllogism and puzzles with the same strategy. So here we are going to cover all the topics of reasoning ability that you can face in a bank exam.

The section of this article will carry the most important or the compulsory topics. Then we will next have the scoring topics, next we are going to cover the lengthy or tricky topics and at last we will cover the not so important topic. In the end, we will also include the important books that you can buy and be an expert in reasoning ability.

For Top 10 Tips to Crack any Exam in First Attempt click here

So let’s start with the sure shot topics.

Most Important Chapters to Prepare

We all know that there are a few topics that are fixed from the exam’s point of view. You are 100% confident that you are going to have some questions from these chapters for sure. These topics coves around 40% to 50% of the total number of questions. If we prepare only these topics, with perfection, than it is for sure that you are going to clear this section very comfortably. Also these are the topics that coves most of the marks of reasoning ability section, so are highly recommended to cover.

The most important topics to prepare for reasoning ability are as follows –

• Puzzles
• Syllogisms
• Seating Arrangement
• Inequalities

Now let’s start the strategy of preparation chapter wise.

Puzzles

This is the topic which will contain the maximum number of questions and hence maximum marks as well. You are going to find this topic in both the preliminary as well as in the mains examination. This is a sure shot topic that you are going to face in any banking examination.

This is the weak part for many students. Most of the students struggle with the puzzles in the reasoning ability section of banking examinations. Well the first thing that you people need to know is that it not at all impossible to solve these questions. It’s just that they are intentionally designed in the fashion to make to feel complicated and time consuming.

The very first thing that you need to do to make your puzzle portion strong is to stop treating them as a difficult chapter. Also develop confidence that you can easily solve these questions. This gives you the positivitness that you lack while solving these questions in the examination.

For SBI Clerk 2018 Study Plan click here

You can easily find 2 to 3 puzzles in preliminary as well as in the mains examination. The probability is that you will have one or two 2 – dimensional puzzles and one to two 3 – dimensional puzzles in the preliminary exam. The exam will contain around 15 to 20 questions from this chapter and will also give you 15 to 20 marks for right answers.

The 2 – dimensional questions are not at all difficult to solve if you have done good practice of them. Try to solve 3 to 5 questions of 2 – dimensional puzzles of various types every day. If you do so, then you can easily solve the 2 – dimensional puzzle questions, in the examination, within 5 minutes for sure.

The 3 – dimensional puzzle question can be a bit time consuming but if you have done a great practice then you can solve it really quickly. Try to solve at least 100 questions of this type, of various puzzle forms, before going for the examination. Even if you are solving this 3 – dimensional puzzle in around 7 to 8 minutes in the examination, it’s perfectly fine, because after all you are going to score 5 marks out of it.

Syllogisms

Dealing with syllogism is not that difficult. You can easily score 5 marks from here in any banking examination. But you can find this topic either in the preliminary exams only or in the mains exam only. You are not going to find this topic in both the papers.

For SBI Clerk 2018 Preparation Guide click here

These questions are completely based on logic and you can easily solve all the 5 questions from here. Just practice some questions daily. The number of question one needs to practice can depend upon the ability of person to apply the logic and solve the question.

You can easily solve all the 5 questions within 3 to 4 minutes, in the examination. Try to learn all the various tricks to solve the questions. But the Venn diagrams are the best to use. Also practice all different types of questions from this chapter like reverse syllogisms.

Seating Arrangement

This is a topic which students finds difficult to solve. But mind it; it is not at all difficult. Just practice around 5 questions daily. You need to practice mixed questions out of various different types like – circular seating arrangement, rectangular seating arrangement, square seating arrangement and line seating arrangement.

One can easily find 10 – 15 questions from this chapter carrying 10 – 15 marks. You will also find this topic in both the preliminary and in the mains examination. This is among the topics that are sure shot and are also not much difficult to solve.

Similar like puzzles, these questions can also be in forms of – 2 – dimensional and 3 – dimensional.  You can expect 1 set of 2 – dimensional in the preliminary exam of any bank and around 1 to 2 sets of 3 – dimensional in the mains examination of any bank.

For the 2 – dimensional set of 5 questions, you can go up to 5 to 6 minutes and should solve the 3 – dimensional set within 7 to 8 minutes. If you are preparing only the most important chapter, than you don’t have choice to skip any question from this chapter. If case if you are preparing for all the chapters, you can skip one if you find it really confusing or time taking or you are not able to crack it within your first try.

Also write all the information given in the notation forms, so that you don’t have to go to the question paragraph again and again and have to keep on reading the sentences. You can either write the notations in the form of a table or can write in whatever manner it is compulsory for you, in the examination. Just write it properly, so that firstly to avoid any confusion and secondly so that it makes the clear meaning of the sentences.

Inequalities

This one is the easiest chapter to solve in the reasoning ability section. You can very easily score full marks from this chapter within a couple of minutes only. You can find these questions in the preliminary examination easily but is difficult to find in the mains examination.

There would be 5 questions that you can expect from this topic. Solving these 5 questions for 5 marks would hardly take 2 to 3 minutes only. The questions are really simple and all you have to do is to practice some questions so as to fix the trick in my mind.

For SSC CGL 2018 Preparation Guide click here

Do as much practice as you want to lean and apply the trick. May be you get it with 10 questions only or maybe it will take 50 questions for you to get the trick. But once you are done with it, your 5 marks are secure for sure.

Scoring Chapters to Prepare

There are a few chapters, which are not sure from the exam’s point of view but there is a possibility that if you find any of these, then you can easily score some extra marks. The numbers of questions from these topics are not fixed, but you can get around 7 to 12 questions from these chapters. And these are the topics that you can prepare easily and can score good marks as well. These chapters are given below –

• Coding – Decoding
• Direction Senses
• Order and Ranking
• Blood Relations

Now let’s get deep into strategy of each of the above mentioned topics.

Coding – Decoding

There are many forms of coding – decoding and you are required to prepare all of them as we don’t know what they can ask you in the examination. You can find this topic in both the preliminary and in the mains examination. The probability is that you will find the easy form of coding – decoding in the preliminary exam in comparison to the mains examination.

You can expect 5 questions, carrying 5 marks, from this chapter. For the preliminary exam, the chances are of basic Chinese coding are high and for the mains, the chances are that you will face the other, not so easy forms. Regardless of the level of difficulty, the maximum time a candidate requires to solve these 5 questions in 5 minutes for sure.

You just have to practice the various levels of the questions and the various forms of the questions. Practicing from the topic wise of chapter wise test could be great idea here, as you can easily find various type of question there from this chapter.

For SBI Clerk 2018 Full Details click here

Direction Senses

This one is the one of the easiest topics of reasoning ability. You can find this topic in both the level of exams. The expected number of questions can vary from 1 to 5. There are chances that you may find only 1 question from this chapter under the misc category or you can get a set of 5 questions in the exam.

Another important factor here is that, the direction questions also include the knowledge of shortest distance calculations sometimes. So, while practicing the direction senses, also practice the distance calculation.

There are chances that you can find this topic along with the seating arrangement or with the puzzle chapter. Directions can be a dimension in those topics. So preparing this topic will also help you in solving the puzzle and the seating arrangement questions.

The number of marks you can score from here vary with the number of questions, which could be 1 to 5 marks. It will take a maximum of 3 minutes to solve the 5 questions of this chapter. Having knowledge of directions is a must here. So practice well.

Order and Ranking

Again a scoring topic but the number of questions is not fixed. You can find this topic in the preliminary exams only. But the number of questions can vary from 1 to 5 and the marks you can score can also vary from 1 to 5.

This is an easy topic, you just need to focused on the question, as not doing so can make it complicate and will also end up in wasting your time in the examination. Also don’t waste your time if you are not able to get the question on the first try, it’s better to move to the next question.

For SBI Clerk FAQ click here

Practice some order and ranking questions and you will be pro at it. Does not require much calculation and also don’t require much time. You can easily solve these 5 questions in less than 5 minutes.

Blood Relations

This one is a very important chapter of the reasoning ability section. You can find this topic involved with a puzzle or with seating arrangement and can also find a separate set of 5 questions. Easy to solve when asked separately but it is a bit difficult when asked with the puzzle or seating arrangement.

The expected number of questions from this chapter is around 2 to 5. The number of marks that you can score is again 2 to 5, as it is one mark per question. The time that you will require solving it could be around 3 minutes for 5 questions.

Lean what the different relations are called as and also practice the questions. Try to solve around 50 questions in total before you go and attempt the actual paper. Also practice this topic with puzzles and seating arrangement.

Tricky Chapters to Prepare

There are a few chapters, which are actually really easy to score and also takes very less time but that happens only when you are pro at them. If you want to score some extra marks, as if you are not confident enough on the above mentioned chapters or just want to score more, these chapters can really help you out with it. Mostly you will find these chapters in the mains examinations, but there are chances that you may find them in preliminary examinations of any banking exam. The names of these chapters are as given below –

• Statement and Assumptions
• Cause and Effect
• Statement and Course of Action
• Statement and Argument

Now let’s begin the strategy discussion of each of them.

Statement and Assumptions

It is a tricky chapter. The reason of it being tricky is that you have been given an statement and have to assume either the reason of why the statement has been done or the next step that need to be followed for the statement.

For IBPS PO 2018 Full Details click here

You can find this chapter in the mains exam quite easily but there is low chances for it to be a part of the preliminary exam of any bank. Still there are a few chances, so you can find a maximum of 1 question from this chapter and you need to practice really hard for it.

Practice this chapter on a daily basis. Solve some questions daily to make you think as per the examiners want you to think. If you get the topic cleared in your mind, you can easily score 1 mark from this chapter.

Cause and Effect

This one is another tricky and complicated topic. You can expect a few questions from this chapter in the mains but there is hardly any possibility for this topic to be there in the preliminary examination. You can score 1 to 2 marks from this section if you have done great amount of practice for these questions.

This is among the topics where your actual reasoning ability is tested and you have give the correct answer on the basis of thinking the matter and by solving or calculating the questions.

You have to practice these questions on a daily basis and try to solve around 50 questions before you go for the exam. This will help you in developing the thinking that can help you solve the questions easily in the exam. The most time it will take to solve a question from this chapter in 1 minute.

Statement and Course of Action

This is again a chapter that tests your thinking ability. You can find around 1 to 2 questions from this chapter in the mains examination. There is no chance to have any question from this chapter in the preliminary exam.

If you have mastered the topic then you can score 2 marks in less than 2 minutes for sure. Just read the statement correctly and properly, understand the meaning while reading for the first time, and understand it correctly. Being focused, while reading the question, can save you a lot of time.

Practice at least 40 to 50 questions before giving the exam. Try and solve the topic wise tests for this topic.

Statement and Argument

This chapter is also similar with the above mentioned other chapters under this heading. Another tricky and complicated chapter, which you can master just by practicing and can score 1 to 2 marks easily for 1 to 2 questions.

For IBPS Clerk 2018 Full Details click here

There will be no question from this chapter in the preliminary exam of any bank. But yes, the surety of question is there in the mains examination of any bank. You can easily solve this question, within 2 minutes, if you are reading the question with full focus on it only.

Less Important Chapter to Prepare

There are chapters, which are not much important either because there is no surety of the topic to be there in the examination or because they take too much time no matter how much practice you did. Machine Input and Output is one such chapter in the reasoning ability section of banking.

Machine Input – Output

This is a chapter, where no matter how much you practice and how much questions you have solved, there will be a new question in the examination every time and it going to take a lot of time of yours.

As we all know that we really don’t have that much time to spend on a single question in the examination, it is a bit difficult to attempt this question. Also there is no surety of this topic. You can expect 0 to 5 questions from this chapter in the preliminary as well as in the mains examination.

The number of marks this chapter carries would be at most 5 marks. If you have done great level of practice and have some extra time, than only attempt the questions from this topic. On the other hand, if either any of the above or both of them don’t follow, always try to avoid this topic.

Best Books For Reasoning Ability

We are also providing you guys with the list of the books that we prefer for preparing Reasoning Ability. It might be possible that the choice of books that we prefer and that you prefer may differ. It is not at all compulsory for you to prepare from the below mentioned books. You can prepare for whatever book you prefer and finds comfortable with. We are just suggesting the best books that we have come across till date. We are also providing the links from where you can buy the books directly.

1. A Modern Approach to Verbal and Non – Verbal Reasoning, by R. S. Aggrawal.

You can buy this book from Amazon by clicking here

2. Analytical Reasoning, By M. K. Pandey

You can buy this book from Amazon by clicking here

3. How to Crack Test of Reasoning, by Jaikishan and Premkishan

You can buy this book from Amazon by clicking here

All The Very Best!!!