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So I was solving my my-iq.net's questions and later when I saw the results, had answered these 4 wrongly, but even after getting to know the right answer, I couldn't manage to find logic for these. Help me out here.

  1. Please mark the city not matching the others :

    • Sydney
    • Paris
    • Buenos Aires
    • Moscow

Answer:

Sydney

  1. Which is the missing drawing ?

enter image description here

Answer:

C

  1. Which metal is the odd one out ?

    • Copper
    • Tin
    • Iron
    • Bronze
    • Lead

Answer:

Bronze

  1. Find the missing card :

enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here

  1. enter image description here
  2. enter image description here
  3. enter image description here
  4. enter image description here

Answer:

4

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    $\begingroup$ These should be posted as separate questions as they are mostly independent questions. This is a suggestion for the future.. it is already answered well now... $\endgroup$
    – kaine
    May 14, 2015 at 15:09
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    $\begingroup$ I'm afraid that we've derailed this question beyond much usefulness. It's easy to criticize questions like these because (obviously) there are many different distinctions that can point to one or another of the items being out of place. However, at the end of the day, the question wasn't "explain every possible answer and why this test is bad" - it was "explain why these answers are considered correct", which is what I tried to do and not many other people have even attempted. $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    May 15, 2015 at 15:15

9 Answers 9

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For question 1, the odd city out is

Sydney, since each other city is a capital city. The capital city of Australia is Canberra, not Sydney.

For question 2, the answer is

C. The squares are following a pattern. The squares starting in the lefthand corners are moving on diagonals, one up and one down. There is a square starting on the second row from the top on the right-hand side, that is moving to the left by one square each time. There is another square in the same position that stays there constantly. They overlap on the first grid, which is why the first grid only has three squares filled in.

For question 3, the odd metal out is

Bronze, since the other four metals are natural elements. Bronze is an alloy, made of copper and typically tin.

For question 4, the answer is

4 (Ace of hearts), as already stated. Out of all the answer choices, a pair of aces would give you the best hand to play in poker.

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    $\begingroup$ Sometime's I don't feel right when pure geography or science is connected with IQ tests, Maybe a person would find out the answer with his logic if he actually knew the city capitals or has studied science! And if not he just has to forgo the questions not because he couldn't find out the logic but because otherwise stated. $\endgroup$
    – Pavan Nadig
    May 14, 2015 at 15:04
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    $\begingroup$ I agree - IQ test questions that look more like quick Google searches are a poor design, IMO. $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    May 14, 2015 at 15:08
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    $\begingroup$ @leoll2 Personally, if you asked me to name cities in Australia, I would say Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and get stuck for a while. Oh, Adelaide too. But until reading your comment I didn't even know Canberra was in Australia. $\endgroup$
    – Lopsy
    May 14, 2015 at 15:33
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    $\begingroup$ @leoll2 There is virtually nothing that "Everybody in this world" knows. I didn't know Canberra was the capital of Australia. (and I didn't even desire much to know) One man's interests are another man's boredoms. $\endgroup$
    – JLee
    May 14, 2015 at 15:33
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    $\begingroup$ @PavanNadig: Tests like these may be effective at distinguishing "intelligence"/reasoning capability within a group of people with nearly-identical educational and cultural backgrounds, but they're obviously meaningless outside of that framework. More likely than not, they're designed to reinforce privilege of groups which have access to the same type of education as the test designers. $\endgroup$
    – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
    May 15, 2015 at 1:55
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These questions are why many people ridicule IQ tests.

I'm guessing the thinking behind number 1 is that Sydney is the only one that's not a national capital. But you would make a case for any of these. My first thought on seeing the question was that it was Buenos Aires, as it's the only one in the Western Hemisphere. Moscow is the only one in a formerly communist country. Paris is the only one to be occupied by an enemy army in the 20th century. Paris is also the only one that was ever part of the Roman Empire. I think Moscow is the only one whose primary language is not also the primary language of another country. (I'd have to check on that.) Sydney is the only one that is not the largest city in its country. Buenos Aires is the only one where atheists have never been a significant political bloc. Etc etc. A person sufficiently knowledgeable in geography and history could come up with dozens of reasons why any of these is different from the other three.

Bailey's theory for number 2 works, but one could propose a million other rules or patterns. Etc.

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    $\begingroup$ Buenos Aires is the only one of the given cities with two words in the name! $\endgroup$
    – Rag
    May 14, 2015 at 19:54
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    $\begingroup$ Copper is the only one found as native metal, tin has two allotropes, iron does not form a protective oxide coating, bronze is an alloy, lead is a poor electrical conductor. $\endgroup$
    – Mark
    May 14, 2015 at 22:09
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    $\begingroup$ It must be the seven of spades. Only black cards are not on the edges. $\endgroup$
    – Millie Smith
    May 14, 2015 at 22:51
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    $\begingroup$ Sydney isn't the largest city in Australia? Are you sure about that? $\endgroup$
    – davidA
    May 15, 2015 at 3:42
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    $\begingroup$ It's the seven of clubs because black cards are in the center, it's the ten of diamonds because that produces a non-decreasing sequence, it's the jack of hearts because that produces the highest poker hand (aces low), it's the ace of hearts because that produces the highest poker hand (aces high). $\endgroup$
    – Mark
    May 15, 2015 at 4:29
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This might help you visualize no. 2 a bit better:

If only the green box didn't cover the purple one in the first image

Although you could probably find different patterns, to me this seems like the simplest way to describe the progression. I believe such sequences are fairly common in IQ tests.

For example, if you had to continue the sequence:

3, 1, 0, 2, -3, 3, -6, 4, ?, ?

a simple approach would be to

consider the sequence as two interlaced sequences: 3, 0, -3, -6 and 1, 2, 3, 4 and continue with -9, 5. This, in a way, is a numerical analogy for the graphical test above.

There may easily be other expressions which could be applied to the sequence, but I would say this is the point of an IQ test; to find the simplest, most logical solution. Given the same task, a machine (i.e. a computer program) would probably try curve fitting with various polynomials or splines until a match is found, and it would be a perfectly valid continuation of the sequence - but hardly a sign of intelligence.

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Regarding #1:

All the names on the list are their official names, except Moscow. That's Москва (Moskva).

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    $\begingroup$ Good answer! More interesting than the probably-intended answer. $\endgroup$
    – A E
    May 15, 2015 at 9:51
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    $\begingroup$ from the other hand Buenos Aires is only one name from two words and Paris was only one from the list established before 1AD $\endgroup$
    – user902383
    Sep 25, 2015 at 14:29
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    $\begingroup$ Sydney is the only one with kangaroos. $\endgroup$
    – user1717828
    Sep 25, 2015 at 16:19
  • $\begingroup$ Sydney is the only one named after a person (Lord Sydney) $\endgroup$
    – user662852
    Sep 27, 2015 at 2:04
  • $\begingroup$ Sydney is not the only one on the list with kangaroos. I've been to Paris and Sydney, and the zoos in both cities had roos. And I never encountered a kangaroo outside the zoo in either city, though I'll grant you that this would be more likely in Sydney. $\endgroup$
    – Mark Fischler
    Dec 14, 2018 at 7:09
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Please mark the city not matching the others:

  • Clearly it's Sydney because it's the only one that's not a capital city
  • No wait, clearly it's Paris because it's the only one that has a one-word anagram.
  • Oops, it's obviously Buenos Aires because it's the only one in the Western Hemisphere
  • My bad, it's actually Moscow because it's the only one that doesn't use the Latin alphabet

I hate questions like this.

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I almost had 2, but I didn't realize that

The moving squares are allowed to overlap each other, so in one of the grids it looks like there are only 3, but two are in the same spot.

My reasoning on 4 was

It can't be 7 of spades or Jack of Hearts, because in a normal deck there would be just one of those. Between the two that are left, the pair of Aces would beat a pair of tens in poker, so the Ace of Hearts is what I would choose. Obviously, assuming the goal is to have a good poker hand is arbitrary.

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  • $\begingroup$ The problem did not state using a normal deck so that is a bad assumption. $\endgroup$
    – David James
    May 17, 2015 at 12:53
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Alternative answer for 2 is:

Valid positions on the board are two middle horizontal lines and corners. Only C matches it.

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  • $\begingroup$ Or the pattern could be: square don't connect diagonally without being connected orthogonally. $\endgroup$
    – Florian F
    Dec 15, 2019 at 22:48
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My answers:

1: Any one is correct because any of them don't match the others (they are all different)

2: Any one can be made to work into the pattern.

3: Any can be argued correct. For example, copper is the best conductor of the group so if you define a threshold of conductivity so only copper is above it, then it is the "odd metal out".

4: Any one could be considered correct. It was not stated it was a fair single deck of cards being used. It is also an incorrect use of the word missing. The card is there, just face down.

This is not a legit IQ test. This tests certain knowledge of certain subjects and of course someone could guess 1 or more answers correct. It seems whoever made this "IQ test" should have their own IQ evaluated because these are all ill formed (highly flawed) questions.

I checked out the rest of the "IQ" test and it is not good. For example, look at this question they ask:

QUESTION 20/20

London and Manchester are 200 miles apart.

Jack travels from London to Manchester at an average speed of 70mph.

Robert travels in the opposite direction, from Manchester to London, at an average speed of 30mph.

Knowing that they leave at the same time, in how much time will their paths cross each other?

This question cannot be answered accurately for several reasons:

1) only average speed is stated so we don't know when they will cross paths. It would depend on traffic patterns and many other factors such as if they drive slower or faster than average and when.

2) What does that mean paths cross? Who said they are taking similar routes?

3) 200 miles apart driving distance or direct line distance? They did not specify.

4) If their paths are parallel but just opposite direction (let's assume best case 1 straight 200 mile road), then they will never "cross" strictly speaking. They may pass each other on the same road but that is not how the question is worded.

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    $\begingroup$ "I can't see the patterns, therefore this isn't a legit IQ Test" Lots of IQ tests include some general knowledge (State capitals, natural metals vs alloys)... lots include pattern matching... $\endgroup$
    – WernerCD
    May 14, 2015 at 17:43
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    $\begingroup$ @WernerCD: Good ones don't. A pub quiz is a different thing. $\endgroup$
    – user12426
    May 14, 2015 at 17:50
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    $\begingroup$ "I don't know the right answers" is not a valid criticism of the test. "Every choice given could be considered correct depending on how you interpret the question and what assumptions you make" is a very valid criticism of a test. None of these questions has a clear, unequivocal right answer. $\endgroup$
    – Jay
    May 14, 2015 at 19:51
  • $\begingroup$ How is knowing capitals considered a form of intelligence? The first question is very badly worded since all the cities don't match the others (they are 4 different cities) so all 4 answers are correct. Also, this is not an IQ test because an IQ test needs to know your physical age before it can give you a quotient and nowhere does this test ask for your physical age so it is not legit. I think a legit "IQ" question would be some totally new language where they give you a few words/phrases based on corresponding pictures and then have you pick the correct word/phrase for some other picture. $\endgroup$
    – David James
    May 15, 2015 at 0:24
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    $\begingroup$ @DavidJames Although I totally agree with you about IQ tests, the questions asks "Given these questions and these answers, please explain why these answers are correct". This makes your answer more or less not an answer. Still deserves +1, though. $\endgroup$
    – dmg
    May 15, 2015 at 7:29
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Without even considering knowledge of cities' significance or the composition of various metals I was able to get both 1 and 3 right. I applied the same extremely elementary logic to both:

Sydney is the only city of the 4 that ends with a vowel(aeiou, sometimes y.) Bronze is the only metal of those listed that had a vowel at the end.

This could be the absolute wrong approach, but it yielded the correct answer.

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