NMAT Logical Reasoning Preparation: Two Different Tasks

Logical Reasoning has 36 questions in 40 minutes. Critical reasoning examines arguments; analytical puzzles ask you to organise conditions. Deductions and other reasoning tasks complete the coverage.

Use the NMAT Logical Reasoning syllabus to track coverage. Do not solve an assumption question as though it were a factual inference.

Critical Reasoning: Name the Task Before Choosing an Option

Write the conclusion in a few words and identify the evidence offered for it. The answer task then determines whether you need a hidden requirement, a supported conclusion or new evidence that changes the argument's strength.

Original example: A company trains its sales staff and sales rise the following month. The manager attributes the rise to training. A large price cut introduced at the same time offers another explanation and weakens that claim.

For a proposed assumption, ask whether denying it would undermine the argument. Use that check carefully: an answer that merely adds another helpful fact is not necessarily a required assumption.

Arrangements: Reduce the Cases Before Branching

The fixed endpoints leave three positions. Keeping W-X together and placing Y after X determines all three. Listing every possible order would add work without adding information.

For a less constrained puzzle, keep separate cases when more than one arrangement remains valid. Do not turn your first workable arrangement into the only arrangement unless the conditions establish that.

Check every proposed answer against all conditions, including words such as immediately, exactly and only. A diagram that silently drops one of those words can look neat and still be wrong.

Syllogisms and Deductions: Use Counterexamples

Suppose all poets are writers and some writers are editors. The editors might include poets, or might be other writers. Because both arrangements satisfy the statements, "some poets are editors" is not a necessary conclusion.

A counterexample is powerful here: one valid arrangement in which the proposed conclusion fails is enough to show that the conclusion is not forced. Common knowledge about the groups cannot replace the given premises.

When reading "only", rewrite the sentence carefully before drawing the diagram. Reversing an inclusion changes which group must sit inside the other.

Input-Output: Test the Rule Across All Steps

In this original illustration, each step moves the smallest remaining number to the next open position, while retaining the order of the others. After placing 8 and then 17, the last step places 31 before 42.

One transition alone can fit several possible rules. Compare every shown step, including what did not move. Then apply the same operation to the new input rather than guessing from the final sorted appearance.

For mixed words and numbers, first identify which item type changes at each step. Do not assume that alphabetical sorting and numerical sorting occur together unless the example shows it.

Preparing for the 40-Minute Reasoning Section

Practise argument sets and puzzle sets separately before mixing them. Record the time needed to build the puzzle as well as the time needed to answer its questions. A slow setup and a misread condition need different repairs.

Then use a complete 36-question section within 40 minutes. The average is about 67 seconds per question, including setup, but there is no individual 67-second timer.

Use the NMAT question collections and solutions for varied reasoning tasks and the NMAT preparation plan for combined section work. Official practice gives the exam-format experience; static exercises are better suited to repeating one method.