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Coded Blood Relations: Symbols Instead of Words
Ordinary blood-relation questions say "A is the son of B". Coded ones replace the words with symbols and ask you to decode a chain. A typical stem reads: "A + B means A is the father of B; A − B means A is the mother of B; A × B means A is the sister of B; A ÷ B means A is the brother of B. If P ÷ Q − R, how is P related to R?"
The same chain appears in banking, SSC, railway and teacher-eligibility papers, usually as two or three questions in the reasoning block. It looks scary because the symbols are arithmetic ones, but no arithmetic is done at all. The symbols are only labels.
Success depends on two habits: rewriting each symbol as a plain relation before doing anything else, and reading the chain strictly from left to right. This short builds both habits with worked chains and shows where candidates lose marks.
1. A + B: A is the father of B; A − B: A is the mother of B; A × B: A is the sister of B; A ÷ B: A is the brother of B. In P + Q − R, how is P related to R?
2. A + B: A is the father of B; A − B: A is the mother of B; A × B: A is the sister of B; A ÷ B: A is the brother of B. In A × B + C, how is A related to C?
3. A + B: A is the father of B; A − B: A is the mother of B; A × B: A is the sister of B; A ÷ B: A is the brother of B. In M ÷ N − O, how is M related to O?
4. A + B: A is the father of B; A − B: A is the mother of B; A × B: A is the sister of B; A ÷ B: A is the brother of B. In A − B × C, how is A related to C?
5. A + B: A is the father of B; A − B: A is the mother of B; A × B: A is the sister of B; A ÷ B: A is the brother of B. In P ÷ Q × R, how is P related to R?
6. Using the same key (+ father, − mother, × sister, ÷ brother), which expression shows that A is the maternal uncle of C?
7. A + B: A is the father of B; A − B: A is the mother of B; A × B: A is the sister of B; A ÷ B: A is the brother of B. In P + Q × R, how is P related to R?
8. A + B: A is the father of B; A − B: A is the mother of B; A × B: A is the sister of B; A ÷ B: A is the brother of B. In A + B − C × D, how is A related to D?