Each of the following questions consists of five figures marked A, B, C, D and…
2026
Each of the following questions consists of five figures marked A, B, C, D and E called the Problem Figures, followed by five other figures marked 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 called the Answer Figures. Select a figure from amongst the Answer Figures which will continue the same series as established by the five Problem Figures. Problem Figures: Answer Figures:
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
- A.
1
- B.
2
- C.
3
- D.
4
Attempted by 43 students.
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Correct answer: C
In a pin-and-arrow rotation series, every figure is a right-angle (L-shaped) connector with two arms meeting at a corner: one arm ends in a solid dot (the pin) and the other ends in an arrowhead. From each figure to the next, the pin's arm rotates 90° clockwise about the corner while the arrow's arm rotates 90° counter-clockwise, so the whole pattern returns to its starting layout every 4 steps.
Problem Figure A: the pin points North (up) and the arrow points East (right).
Problem Figure B: rotating the pin 90° clockwise (North to East) and the arrow 90° counter-clockwise (East to North) gives pin East, arrow North - matching Figure B exactly.
Problem Figure C: rotating again (pin East to South, arrow North to West) gives pin South, arrow West - matching Figure C.
Problem Figure D: rotating once more (pin South to West, arrow West to South) gives pin West, arrow South - matching Figure D.
Problem Figure E: rotating a fourth time (pin West to North, arrow South to East) returns to pin North, arrow East - identical to Figure A, confirming the 4-step cycle.
The next figure in the series must continue the same rotation from Figure E: pin North to East (90° clockwise), arrow East to North (90° counter-clockwise). So the required figure has one arm ending in a dot on the East side and the other arm ending in an upward-pointing arrow on the North side - exactly the layout already seen in Problem Figure B.
Among the answer figures, only the figure with an upward-pointing arrow on one arm and a dot on the other arm (reproducing Problem Figure B's layout) satisfies this. The diagonal-line figure abandons the right-angle shape altogether; the figure with a dot at both arm-ends carries no arrow at all; the figure with only one straight arm has no corner; and the figure that is a single vertical stroke with a dot has neither a corner nor an arrow. None of these can be the next term, so the figure matching Problem Figure B's dot-and-arrow layout is the answer.