CEB’s SHL-Style Logical/Inductive Reasoning Test Preparation

Let’s start by examining the different elements of the figures:

The black dot shifts between the corners of the outer square in a clockwise direction. First it shifts one place, then two places, then one place again, and so forth. Since it moved two places between the fourth and fifth figures, in the next figure it should move one place clockwise. Thus, the correct answer must include a black dot in the bottom left corner. This leaves us with three options: B, C, and D.

The white dot shifts between the corners of the inner square in a clockwise direction, moving one place at a time. Thus, in the next figure it should move to the bottom right corner. Of the three options left, option C is the only one to follow this pattern. Thus, option C must be the correct answer, and we do not need to further examine the series to figure out the movement pattern of the diagonal lines.

In each row and in each column, one and only one of the shapes appears twice.

If we look at the 2nd row from the top, we can see that it already contains a shape that appears twice (the arrow pointing right). Thus, we need to look for an option that would complete this row with a shape that does not already appear in it (i.e. a shape other than an arrow pointing right, a triangle, or a pentagon). This allows us to eliminate options A, B, and C.

Now, if we look at the 1st row, we can see that none of the shapes appears twice. So, the correct answer has to either include one of the shapes that already appears in this row (a triangle, a diamond, or an arrow pointing left), or it must include two identical shapes that do not yet appear in this row. Option E does not fulfil this requirement, leaving us with option D.