Understanding Letter-Cluster Analogies

This question asks us to find the letter-cluster that has the same relationship with 'CATTLE' as 'BURREB' has with 'RUBBER'. This type of problem is a letter-cluster analogy, where we need to identify the pattern or rule applied to the first pair and then apply the same rule to the third term to find the fourth.

Let's analyze the relationship between the first pair: RUBBER and BURREB.

Analyzing the Transformation from RUBBER to BURREB

Let's write down the letters of RUBBER and their positions:

• R at position 1
• U at position 2
• B at position 3
• B at position 4
• E at position 5
• R at position 6

So, RUBBER is R₁U₂B₃B₄E₅R₆.

Now let's look at BURREB. It's a rearrangement of the letters in RUBBER.

Let's see which original letter appears at each position in BURREB:

• Position 1 in BURREB is B (originally at position 3 in RUBBER)
• Position 2 in BURREB is U (originally at position 2 in RUBBER)
• Position 3 in BURREB is R (originally at position 1 in RUBBER)
• Position 4 in BURREB is R (originally at position 6 in RUBBER)
• Position 5 in BURREB is E (originally at position 5 in RUBBER)
• Position 6 in BURREB is B (originally at position 4 in RUBBER)

Identifying the Position Mapping Rule

Based on the analysis, we can create a mapping showing which original position's letter moves to which new position. The letter at the original position index moves to the specified new position index.

Alternatively, we can think of it as: the letter that *was* at Original Position X now appears at New Position Y. So, the letter for New Position Y is taken from Original Position X. Let's list the Original Position from which the letter for each New Position is taken:

This sequence of letters is B U R R E B, which matches BURREB. So, the rule is: the letter at New Position 1 comes from Original Position 3, New Position 2 from Original Position 2, New Position 3 from Original Position 1, New Position 4 from Original Position 6, New Position 5 from Original Position 5, and New Position 6 from Original Position 4.

The mapping of Original Positions to New Positions (where the letter ends up) is: 1→3, 2→2, 3→1, 4→6, 5→5, 6→4.

Applying the Rule to CATTLE

Now let's apply the same rule to the word CATTLE. Let's write down its letters and original positions:

C₁A₂T₃T₄L₅E₆

Using the rule (New Position gets letter from Original Position):

• New Position 1 gets the letter from Original Position 3 (T)
• New Position 2 gets the letter from Original Position 2 (A)
• New Position 3 gets the letter from Original Position 1 (C)
• New Position 4 gets the letter from Original Position 6 (E)
• New Position 5 gets the letter from Original Position 5 (L)
• New Position 6 gets the letter from Original Position 4 (T)

Calculating the Resulting Letter-Cluster

Arranging the letters based on the new positions:

• Position 1: T
• Position 2: A
• Position 3: C
• Position 4: E
• Position 5: L
• Position 6: T

Combining these letters gives us TACELT.

Comparing with Options

Let's compare our result, TACELT, with the given options:

1. ACTTEL
2. ELTTAC
3. TACELT
4. TACTLE

Our calculated letter-cluster, TACELT, matches Option 3.

Conclusion

The relationship between RUBBER and BURREB is a specific rearrangement of letters based on their original positions. Applying the same position-based rearrangement rule to CATTLE results in TACELT.

Revision Table: Letter Analogy Rule

Additional Information: Types of Letter Analogies

Letter analogies are common in reasoning tests. They can involve various patterns, such as:

• Position Rearrangement: Like in this problem, letters change their positions according to a specific rule.
• Letter Shifting: Each letter is shifted forward or backward by a certain number of steps in the alphabet (e.g., A → C, B → D implies a +2 shift).
• Reverse Order: The letters in the word are simply reversed.
• Pattern within Segments: The word is divided into segments, and a rule is applied within each segment or by swapping segments.
• Skipping Letters: A pattern based on skipping letters in the alphabetical sequence.
• Vowel/Consonant Based Rules: Rules specifically applied to vowels or consonants within the word.

Solving letter analogy questions requires careful observation, breaking down the problem, and testing different potential patterns.