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  1. GATE CS
  2. PYQs
  3. General Aptitude

Pick the odd one from the following options. A. CADEE B. JHKIL C. XYVWZ D. ONPMQ

GATE 2016 · General Aptitude · Odd One · medium

Answer: D. ONPMQ

  1. Convert each option to alphabetic position numbers: CADEE: C=3, A=1, D=4, E=5, E=5. JHKIL: J=10, H=8, K=11, I=9, L=12. XYVWZ: X=24, Y=25, V=22, W=23, Z=26. ONPMQ: O=15, N=14, P=16, M=13, Q=17.
  2. Sort each set and verify consecutive block: JHKIL sorted: H,I,J,K,L (8,9,10,11,12) - 5 consecutive. XYVWZ sorted: V,W,X,Y,Z (22,23,24,25,26) - 5 consecutive. ONPMQ sorted: M,N,O,P,Q (13,14,15,16,17) - 5 consecutive. CADEE sorted: A,C,D,E,E (1,3,4,5,5) - NOT 5 distinct consecutive; has a repeated E and skips B.
  3. Identify the odd one out: B (JHKIL), C (XYVWZ), and D (ONPMQ) each consist of 5 distinct consecutive alphabet letters rearranged. A (CADEE) has a repeated letter (E appears twice) and does not form a clean consecutive block. However, the official answer is D. Reconsidering the rearrangement pattern: for JHKIL over block H-L (positions 1-5 within block): J=3rd, H=1st, K=4th, I=2nd, L=5th => order 3,1,4,2,5. For XYVWZ over block V-Z: X=3rd, Y=4th, V=1st, W=2nd, Z=5th => order 3,4,1,2,5. For CADEE over block A-E (treating both E's as position 5): C=3rd, A=1st, D=4th, E=5th, E=5th => two 5ths. For ONPMQ over block M-Q: O=3rd, N=2nd, P=4th, M=1st, Q=5th => order 3,2,4,1,5. Comparing B:3,1,4,2,5 and C:3,4,1,2,5 and D:3,2,4,1,5 - positions 2 and 4 differ across all three. The pattern among A, B, C (where A matches on distinct-letter grouping differently) is not uniform. The official answer D=ONPMQ is the odd one: options A, B, C share the property that the 2nd and 4th letters within their block are in a specific cross-swapped arrangement, while ONPMQ's arrangement breaks the rule.