Verbal Reasoning

VERBAL REASONING uses English words/sentences as the medium for logical tests.

Common topics:

1. Verbal analogy.
2. Verbal classification.
3. Syllogism (verbal).
4. Statement & assumption.
5. Statement & conclusion.
6. Course of action.
7. Cause and effect.
8. Decision making (situational).

1. VERBAL ANALOGY:

A : B :: C : ?

Common relations:

(a) Synonym/Antonym:

• Happy : Sad :: Hot : Cold (antonyms).

(b) Worker-Tool:

• Doctor : Stethoscope :: Carpenter : Saw.

(c) Worker-Product:

• Baker : Bread :: Cobbler : Shoes.

(d) Part-Whole:

• Leaf : Tree :: Page : Book.

(e) Cause-Effect:

• Effort : Success :: Negligence : Failure.

(f) Sound-Maker:

• Cackle : Hen :: Bray : Donkey.

(g) Container-Content:

• Library : Books :: Aquarium : Fish.

(h) Quantity:

• Drop : Ocean :: Grain : Heap.

2. VERBAL CLASSIFICATION:

Find the odd one out.

• Among Lion, Tiger, Cheetah, Cat: Cat (smaller scale)? Or all are cats? — Cheetah is fastest. Subjective unless basis is given. Common: "all are wild" → Cat doesn't fit (domestic).

3. SYLLOGISM: (covered Pack 12)

• All A are B; All B are C → All A are C.

4. STATEMENT & ASSUMPTION:

A statement makes an assumption about something. Identify if a given assumption is implicit.

Example:
Statement: "The government must improve roads to reduce accidents."
Assumption I: Bad roads cause accidents. → Implicit (necessary for statement).
Assumption II: Building roads is expensive. → Not implicit.

Approach:

• Implicit = necessary to make statement meaningful.
• Don't bring in outside info.

5. STATEMENT & CONCLUSION:

Example:
Statement: "Most students who study late nights perform poorly."
Conclusion I: Students should avoid late-night study. → Follows (advice from observation).
Conclusion II: Sleep is essential for learning. → Stretching; not necessarily.

6. COURSE OF ACTION:

Statement: "Many farmers in region X have committed suicide due to crop failure."

Course I: Government should provide crop insurance.
Course II: Farmers should leave farming.

Evaluate:

• Course I: directly addresses → STRONG.
• Course II: drastic and not feasible → WEAK.

7. CAUSE AND EFFECT:

Two statements given; determine relationship.

Possibilities:

• A is cause; B is effect.
• A is effect; B is cause.
• Both effects of a common cause.
• Both independent.

Example:
A: "There has been heavy rain in city X."
B: "Local rivers have flooded."

Clearly: A is cause, B is effect.

8. DECISION MAKING (situational):

Especially in CSAT, banking, GMAT.

Real-world scenario; identify best action considering ethics, feasibility, consequences.

Example:
You are a manager. Your subordinate makes an honest mistake costing ₹1 lakh. Do you:
(a) Fire him immediately.
(b) Reprimand and use as learning opportunity.
(c) Ignore.
(d) Tell senior management to handle.

Best: (b) — fair, constructive.

KEY APPROACHES:

• For analogy: identify type of relation. Same type for C-D.
• For classification: focus on the COMMON property; ignore minor differences.
• For syllogism: Venn diagrams.
• For statement-assumption: check necessity.
• For statement-conclusion: must be forced by statement.
• For cause-effect: consider direction; check independence.
• For decision-making: legal + ethical + practical.

COMMON TRAPS:

1. Overusing outside knowledge: stick to given info.
2. Strong-tone errors: "always", "never", "must" usually wrong.
3. Partial truth: correct in part but misses key.
4. Reverse direction: subtle flip.
5. Bringing in personal opinion: don't.

EXAM HOOKS:

• Analogy: find relation type first.
• Classification: find the common.
• Statement-assumption: implicit only if NECESSARY.
• Statement-conclusion: must be forced.
• Course of action: realistic + addresses problem.
• For "weak/strong argument": evaluate logic, not emotion.