Mock CAT 2 Analysis

Overview:

The pattern has been adapted from CAT 2005, except that it offered you half-an-hour extra.
In this paper, Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning based Data Interpretation sections were all of marginally above average difficulty level, having few questions in each section that could be easily managed. Overall, a paper not as easy as the 1st mock we gave but still the one that gives you a good feeling thanks to a few easy sets of questions.

The information the cover page made available to you was:
There were 90 questions in all, distributed over three sections.
Each section was divided into two sub-sections. Sub-section A carried 1 mark for each question whereas Sub-section B carried 2 marks for each question.
Wrong answers carried negative marks equal to one-third of the marks allotted to the question.
Total time available to answer all the sections was two and a half hours.

Executive Summary:

A synopsis on how this paper could have been attempted is:

*Note: The number of attempts and the score has been worked out on the basis of the experts’ insight on how the students would have taken the test and what score IIMs have been considering for dispatching the call letters. The correct cut-offs can be confirmed statistically only after seeing the actual performance of all of you.

SECTION I: QUANTITATIVE ABILITY

Sub-section I-A:

If you are one of those who start answering 1-markers first, this sample gave you all the reasons to pay regards to your strategy right then. You could have started with 1, 2, 3, … and went on answering almost all of them one by one with very few untimely speed-breakers. For instance,

In Q. 1, the general term of the series is nlog3/2log3 = n/2.Hence, our series is nothing but ½+1+3/2+… +n/2 = n (n+1)/4

In Q. 2, the series is equivalent to 9(4k+1) * 8(4k+2) * 7(4k+3) * 6(4m) * 4(4m+2) * 3(4m+3) * 2(4n). Hence, the last digit is decided by 9*4*3*6*6*7*6 => 6 which is the required units digit.
In Q. 3, BD=BF*BA/AF and all these lengths are determinable using Pythagoreans theorem.

In Q. 5, Put x = 0 and eliminate options 3, 4 & 5 straightaway. Put x = -1.3 and eliminate option 2 as well.

In Q. 6, Its worth noting that 3^12k as well as 7^12k gives remainder 1 when divided by 13.Hence, the required remainder = 3+1 = 4

Q. 7 was on the most traditional AM-GM funda. Take a/2 = b/3 = c = k. Hence, k = 2/3 (as per the given condition). So, minimum value = 2k+3k+k = 6*2/3 = 4
Whenever you see anything like

Q. 8, go straightaway to the answer options. If the total number of dogs is N out of which x are Pomeranian, then the ratio = x/(N-x). Since, numerator & denominator in all the answer options are relatively prime the idea should be to check the sum of them and see which of them gives a composite number.

Sub-section I-B:

Coming over to the 2-markers, you would have realised that the life is not so beautiful. There weren’t many questions done as easily as in the previous sub-section. Yet,

Q. 11 again dealt with the same concept as problem 7. As the sum of 13 – x & x + 7 is 20, here take (13 – x)/7 = (x + 7)/3 = k => k = 2.Hence, the greatest value of the expression = 147 * 63 = 210 * 33 * 77 and hence the answer.

Q. 12 could have been a blunder had you not noticed the term successively divided. Condition 1 yields 5(4(3m+2)+1) + 3 = 60m+48 = 72a+12(from second condition). So m gives remainder 12a+24 when divided by 60. So, a starts from 3 corresponding to which n = 228. Hence, the general solution for n = 228+360z. There are 8 such Ns in the given range.

In Q. 14, Apply AM >= GM for positive reals and obtain (a+b+c)(b+c+d)(c+d+a)(a+d+b) >= 34 (abcd). Hence, S1*S2*S3*S4 >= 81*5 = 405.

Q. 18 required a simple manipulation. Taking care of the fact that the last digit of the three numbers should sum upto 9, from the last digits possibilities we get the last digit of the product as all the digits accept 3 & 8. Hence, only 2 possibilities.

Q. 21 looks intimidating on a cursory look but is not the case. The given function effectively translates to (x – f)1/2 ,where f is the fractional part of x.Hence, the required value = .8 * .8 = .64

In Q22, assume the value of a=12 km/hr=200m/min .So, 2.5a = 500m/min and 4a = 800m/min. Also assume, he drives at 200m/min for 30 mins, 500m/min for 20 mins and 800m/min for 25 mins. Compare both the cases and get the value of exact time he takes in driving at 800m/min.

Q. 24 could have puzzled many of you but you will know how easily you could have done it. (0,2) translates to (-1,1) and (3,0) to (2,-1) in the new reference frame. All the answer options accept 3 can be eliminated on this. Only option 3 satisfies the above translation.
It would be criminal not to have attempted

Q. 30,one of the easiest problems in the 2 marks basket. It can deduced that –4<= x <= 8 and –9<= y <=11. Hence, -26<= (x-2y) <= 26 It will always happen that some questions made you feel like attempting them, but you could just not crack them. Or possibly, you didn’t know how you could have proceeded from a particular junction. The reasons range from your unfamiliarity with the concepts to the bitter phase of your fortunes. A major chunk of MBA aspirants fall into this category as far as the QA section goes. So, the best possible service you can do to yourself in such a scenario is to avoid wasting precious time juggling with the concepts and move on to those you could do with certainty.

Assuming an accuracy of 75%, a score of 13+ is possible.

SECTION II: LOGICAL REASONING AND DATA INTERPRETATION

This was a section where within 2-3 minutes of observation of any set, you were able to realise if the questions were attemptable or not.

Sub section II-A:

Set 1(Q.31 to 35)

Distance data was represented by bar graphs and fare and stops data by tables. An average set difficulty wise. Questions 31,32 and 35 were the ones to be attempted quickly as they did not require much effort once you get hold of the logic to crack this set mainly the one that says “anyone taking ticket of any denomination makes full utilization of the ticket and boards down only when the ticket is just about to be invalid or the bus reaches its terminus.” After doing these 3 one could have felt comfortable with the set and cracked the next 2 also.

Set 2(Q.36 to 40)

One could have established the relation between the cards with A & B at the beginning of round 1 and then establish a tabular possibilities for both. From the additional information in the set one could have found the only possible ways in which the cards could have been exchanged. All the questions could be answered once the possibilities were in front of you.

Set 3(Q.41 to 45)

Aah! A must attempt indeed. The whole idea was to realise that there should be one process in which marbles are getting halved for each of the people. B & C cannot have ½ in the first process as in that case the number of marbles with both of them will go out of range. So, A must have ½ as his first step. All the problems where to be considered one by one and using the basic logic should have been cracked in about 12-13 minutes. Really a gift in disguise.

Sub-section II-B:

Set 4(Q.46 to 50)

One could have found out the marks obtained in the test by different people in terms of the aggregate obtained by them in 5 tests together and also utilised the other condition. Then one could have gone about attempting 46, 47 and 48 and once into the groove could have gone on to solve the full set. One should be very wary while doing such sets as a slight fault in observation or representation can cost you the entire set. Be extra careful with regard to the mother data.

Set 5(Q.51 to 55)

A set, which would give you, an impression of familiarity with the concepts involved. Of course it is true but as you would have advanced into the set, you would have realized that the combinations were a bit dicey to frame. The basic logic to crack this set would be to understand that a particular school having one particular medal cannot have the individual sum of the same medal amongst its students more than one. Basically, we have to eliminate cases where the above said logic does not hold true. Forming various combinations, logically it boils down to a combination where we can have 2 possibilities because Vipul & Wasim combined represent similar medal tally as represented by Umesh alone. A good enticing set, wherein not following the right track would cost you both marks and time loss. One could have given 2-3 minutes and realized whether or not progress with this set.

Set 6(Q.56 to 60)

It’s important to deduce that the 6 companies except Mitsubishi and Renault could have manufactured a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 11 cars. With the given information the range of cars manufactured could be found out. In the 12 months period. Then a tabular collation of maximum and minimum number of cars by different brands along with their optimum index and average index could be done. Then one could have gone about attempting all the problems one by one in this set. Hence, about 12-14 questions from this section could have been attempted.

Assuming 75%+ accuracy, a score of 17+ was easily possible.

SECTION III: READING COMPREHENSION AND ENGLISH USAGE

Verbal Section of this test is also meant to be a wake-up call for CAT aspirants. The difficulty level is meant to be a notch higher than Mock CAT-1 Let us take a closer look at this paper! In this paper, Verbal Ability was of medium level of difficulty. There are many reasons this section could have caught you off-guard; however, it definitely presented a section in which you could have attempted a fair number of questions easily and cleared the cut-off. The section had a mixture of questions from the past CAT question types. Let us take a look at the questions.

Sub Section III-A(1 mark)

Questions 63-66 (Word Usage)

A good starter for the English Section. A set of must attempt 1-mark questions to boost your confidence and start off the section. You could have attempted all of them and got if not all 4 then at least 3 correct.

Questions 61,62 (Synonyms in context)

These were two difficult 1-mark questions. These tested your vocabulary. You could have got at least one correct.

Questions 67,68 (6 Sentence Para jumbles)

Two medium level difficulty questions to make you rack your brains to a certain extent, you could have got at least one of them correct.

Questions 69,70 (7 Sentence Para jumbles)

These two questions could have been left since they were worth 1 mark each and would have wasted a lot of time.

Sub Section III–B (2 marks)

Questions 71-73( Sentence Correction)

Three questions of easy- medium level of difficulty, a must attempt chunk. You could have got at least two of them correct.

Questions 74-76(Critical Reasoning)

Three questions of easy- medium level of difficulty, you could have got at least two of them correct out of 3 attempts.

Questions 77-81 (Passage –1)

When the going gets tough, the tough get going! This was a passage, which really tested your reading skills. But the questions were doable. Out of 5 attempts you could have got at least 4 correct.

Questions 82-85 (Passage –2)

A passage which was difficult to read and had questions which were of higher level of difficulty. You could have skipped this.

Questions 86-90 (Passage –3)

A passage, which was relatively easy to read. Some of the questions were tricky, requiring you to read in between the lines. All the questions could be attempted out of which 4 could be correct.

An attempt of 22-24 questions with 80 % accuracy could have yielded a possible score of 17 in 50-55 minutes.

All the best!!