Overview:
In this paper, Quantitative Ability section was above average, whereas, Verbal Ability was on the moderate side, and Logical Reasoning based Data Interpretation section was moderate as well.
The information the cover page made available to you was:
| There were 75 questions in all, distributed over three sections. Each section had 25 questions and carried 4 marks for each question. Wrong answers carried negative marks equal to one-fourth 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:
| Section | Topic | Total Qs | Suggested Time (in min.) | Possible number of attempts | Possible Score* |
| I | Quantitative Ability | 25 | 50 | 11 | 30 |
| II | Verbal Ability | 25 | 50 | 12-15 | 35 |
| III | Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation | 25 | 50 | 12 | 35 |
| | Total | 75 | 150 | 40 | 100 |
*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
The quantitative ability section of this Mock CAT was above average in its difficulty index.One could have carefully selected the problems to be attacked depending upon his/her ease and then solved them within the stipulated time.
In Q. 3 one could have substituted y=mx in the other equation, formed a quadratic in x and then checked for the discriminant which must be greater than or equal to 0.This was not possible for only 5 integral values of m ranging from 1 to 5.
For Q. 4 one could have taken consecutive odd integers from 2n-5 to 2n+5.The sum of their squares is 24n2 + 70 which when successively divided by 2 and 4 gave quotient as 3n2 + 8 and the remainder as 3. Plugging in values of n and checking the respective quotients, one could have found that 253 was not a possible value.
In Q. 6 one could have calculated the number of GSM and CDMA phones and also, number of GSM as well as CDMA phones with blue tooth by simply dividing the total mobiles in the proportions stated. And so the ratio of GSM phones without blue-tooth and CDMA phones without blue-tooth could have been found out.
In Q. 10 the general term of the series could have been written as 4/(4n-3)(4n+1). Putting n=20 and n=40 we find that last terms are 4/(77 x 81) and 4/(157 x 161) which means the respective sums must have 81 and 161 in their denominators and hence without actually solving the series one could have marked the ratio as 161/162 from answer option.
For Q. 13 one could have taken 8 consecutive even numbers from n-8 to n+6.Their sum was S=8(n-1). For S/5 to be a perfect cube, (n-1)=5 x 33b x 23a or 54
So the possible values of n-1 are 135, 625. (320 was discarded as, that would had led to n being odd.).Hence 2 sets possible.
In Q. 14 one could have used the set with n=136 to get one of the values as 140 corresponding to n+4.
Q. 15 was a must attempt. If C and S were respectively the initial cost price and selling price, then 1.18C and 1.18 S were the new values for them. Clearly, (S-C)+9=1.18(S-C)=>S-C=9/0.18=50
Q. 20 was another sitter in the offering. Clearly, Rajkishor could do 1/80 part of the working for 1 hr in 1 day. So Brijkishor must do 1/120 part of the work in same time. If he works 6 hours a day, he does 1/20 part of the work in 1 day. Hence he requires 20 days to complete the whole work.
In Q. 21 if the 2 numbers were gx and gy, then g (x-y)=430=2 x 5 x 43.Now, since the LCM is neither a multiple of 2 nor 5,hence the HCF had to be 43.
A better way to tackle Q.22 could have been to multiply LHS and RHS with the LCM 60,which would have given |60-|30-|20-|15-|12-60x|||||<>
In Q. 23 one could have joined C and D to N to form an equilateral triangle giving angle ECN as 120.So, EN=31/2=>FN=(1 + 31/2)=>FD=(FN2+1) and hence the answer.
This translates to an attempt of about 11 questions. For a realistic accuracy of 75%, a score of 29-30 could have been achieved.
SECTION II: Verbal Ability
The Verbal Ability Section in this paper was of moderate level of difficulty.
| Q 26-28 Para-completion | These three questions on Para-completion were of Medium-Higher level of difficulty. If you had paid attention to the theme and the tone of the paragraphs you could have got them correct. You could have attempted all three questions getting at least 2 correct. |
| Q 29,30 | These two questions were a bit tricky. You could have attempted both questions getting one correct. |
| Q31-35 Fill up the blanks | 5 questions, which tested vocabulary- a bit of knowledge and usage. A must attempt chunk of questions. You could have got at least 3 correct. |
| Q36-40 RC Passage 1 | This passage was the one to attempt if you were looking for a moderate topic to read. The passage was slightly lengthy. But, 2 out of 5 Qs- q37 and q40 were fact-based sitters. The other three required a mix of scanning and drawing inferences- but doable questions .You could have got at least 3 questions correct from an attempt of 5. |
| Q41-45, RC Passage 2 | A difficult passage to read and understand. Even scanning or inferring the answers to the questions required effort. But that effort could have definitely yielded results. If attempted, you could have got at least 3 questions correct |
| Q46-50 RC Passage 3 | A passage with a lot of technical terms which made reading quite cumbersome. One question- Q48 was a sitter. The others were moderate to difficult. If attempted, you could have got at least 3 correct after spending some time. |
Overall in this section you could have ended up attempting 12-15 Qs. For a realistic accuracy of 75%, a score of 35 could have been achieved.
SECTION III: LOGICAL REASONING AND DATA INTERPRETATION
LR/DI section in this paper was of relatively easy difficulty level compared to the previous mock. Had this section been handled properly, the total score would have really gone up. Lets see them one by one.
| Set 1 | This set was based on one of the cat caselets of the previous year with slight variations and was a must attempt. Each question here was a standalone and pretty much straightforward in approach but definitely required a good deal of patience. Could have been simply attempted in about 13-15 mins maximum. |
| Set 2 | Here, it could have been deduced that A must have bought J2 along with some other variety except J1 or else A must have bought only J1. Then one could have checked the maximum and the minimum possible average cost of juice for other friends. Then, one could have framed a table consisting combinations of juice bought by A for maximizing and minimizing the average cost of juice with C, D, E, F, G and H. On the basis of these combinations, one could have calculated the maximum and minimum possible average cost of juice with each of the friends when the average cost of the juice with A was Rs 60/L. One could have done 56,57 and 58 from the above deductions. For 60, one could have checked all the possible cases and seen which quantity was not feasible for J5 and J3.For 59, the key was to deduce that in order to maximize the quantity of J4, the other variety that C must buy was J3. |
| Set 3 | This lengthy set was not at as intimidating as it looked at the first glance all the more because we had already been exposed to this type of calculation from last year’s cat drama. One needed to frame tables for the 3 decisions and calculated the scores each of Aaltu, Faltu, Confused and Ignorant corresponding to each decision based on the questions, which were attempted, ignored, corrected and wronged. Once the table was ready, it was just a formality to deal with the questions. Here the only word of caution would be that the table if not comprehended properly would have resulted in unsatisfactory conditions. |
| Set 4 | This was a good set but you would know how smartly one could have run over this set with 20 points in the kitty. If one saw the direction E of the mother data and then looked at questions 67 and 68, one could have come to know that Asha must have 372 and Ms Malhotra must have 245,as these were the only options with difference of 127.Clearly, from the options of 68 it was also clear that Ms.Gupta’s bill was 343 and that of Esha was 262(as the difference is 81). Hence Q.70 could also be answered from this. Also, c it could be clearly verified from the table that Asha Singh was the rightful name and so was Usha Malhotra. Likewise, we could have verified and constructed the whole relation working backwards from answer options. This again reinforces the fact that marking the correct option is more important in the Cat rather than solving by a genuine method. |
| Set 5 | An interesting set but not very difficult. Ideally one should have attempted the first 3 questions of this set and left it to utilize the time in other easier sets. Initially one could have known the number of 50 paise as well as 1 rupee coins in total. Then one could have attempted each question one by one depending upon the cases feasible for the conditions given in them. It would have been wise to invest less time on this set. |
This translates to an attempt of about 12 questions. For a realistic accuracy of 75%, a score of 35 could have been achieved.
All the best!!
Career Launcher Team
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Mock CAT-4 answer and Explanation corrections:
Explanation for question 56 and 57:
Read the table 1 and 2 as:
Table 1
| | Maximum | Minimum |
| C | Only J1 | J2 and J3 |
| D | J2 and J3 | J2 and J5 |
| E | J2 and J6 | Only J1 |
| F | J2 and J3 | Only J1 |
| G | J2 and J6 | Only J1 |
| H | J2 and J4 | J2 and J6. |
T able 2
| | Maximum | Minimum | Difference |
| B | 57.5 | 33 | 24.5 |
| C | 75 | 45 | 30 |
| D | 60 | 37 | 23 |
| E | 91 | 60 | 31 |
| F | 62.5 | 35 | 27.5 |
| G | 83 | 25 | 58 |
| H | 56.43 | 44 | 12.43 |
Explanation: