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UPSC CSE CSAT 2021 · Paper II (CSAT) · Question 26 · Puzzles, arrangements & general mental ability

एक दिए गए अनुक्रम 3, 2, 7, 4, 13, 10, 21, 18, 31, 28, 43, 40 में, ग़लत पद को सही पद से बदलें, जहाँ…

UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2021, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Question 26 — Puzzles, arrangements & general mental ability.

एक दिए गए अनुक्रम

3, 2, 7, 4, 13, 10, 21, 18, 31, 28, 43, 40 में,

ग़लत पद को सही पद से बदलें, जहाँ विषम पद और सम पद समान पैटर्न का अनुसरण करते हैं ।

Read this question in English

Replace the incorrect term by the correct term in the given sequence

3, 2, 7, 4, 13, 10, 21, 18, 31, 28, 43, 40

where odd terms and even terms follow the same pattern.

(a) 0 · (b) 1 · (c) 3 · (d) 6

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (a) 0

The odd-place terms rise by 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. The even-place terms follow the same steps only from 4 onwards, so their first term should be 4 − 4 = 0, not 2.

  1. Odd places: 3, 7, 13, 21, 31, 43 — differences 4, 6, 8, 10, 12.
  2. Even places: 2, 4, 10, 18, 28, 40 — differences 2, 6, 8, 10, 12.
  3. Only the first even-place difference breaks the pattern; to match, the first even term must be 4 − 4 = 0.
  4. So the incorrect term 2 should be replaced by 0.
  5. Check: each even-place term is then 3 less than the odd-place term before it — 0, 4, 10, 18, 28, 40.

Remember · In an alternating series, split it into two sub-series and compare their differences; the misfit shows itself.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

Cite this question: UPSC CSE CSAT 2021, Q26 — minimalistias.com/pyqs/csat/2021/q26

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