Nov 11, 2021
As the date of the Common Admission Test (CAT) draws nearer, the doorway to top business schools in India, it is natural to feel anxiety and worry about it. However, by analyzing the previous year questions during one’s CAT Exam preparation, one is sure to get a glimpse of the actual paper. In a section like LRDI this exercise is essential as it helps to familiarize oneself with the nature of questions asked and then develop a corresponding approach for the same. Below we will take a look at questions asked in the year 2017 through 2020.
The CAT exam in the year 2017 was held in two sessions on Nov 26, 2017. The LRDI section was composed of 32 questions.There were no typical DI questions among the DI-LR questions, which ranged from moderate to challenging. With only 8 to 10 reasoning questions, data interpretation took the lead. There were 8-10 Analytics puzzles and 8-10 data-based puzzles in the Logical Reasoning phase, and 8 sets of case-lets in the DI component. The case-lets were designed to test thinking and analytical skills. TITA-style questions were asked by one of them. This section also included a difficult-to-understand bar graph. Because it included a more basic seating arrangement, puzzles, and less exhaustive data calculations, the Logical Reasoning component of the second slot was easier than the first slot.
Area |
Question |
Level |
Logical Reasoning |
Rural Kids survey |
Easy |
Fast Food Joint |
Easy |
|
Projects |
Difficult |
|
Common Entrance Test |
Difficult |
|
Data Interpretation |
Airline Company |
Moderate |
Cars Travel Routes |
Moderate |
|
Matrix |
Moderate |
|
Simple Happiness Index |
Difficult |
Area |
Question |
Level |
Logical Reasoning |
Chessboard |
Difficult |
Eight Friends |
Moderate |
|
Electives |
Easy |
|
Tea tasting |
Easy |
|
Data Interpretation |
Assets |
Easy |
Dorms |
Moderate |
|
Security Scan |
Difficult |
|
Funky Pizzeria |
Moderate |
In Slot 1 Around 4 sets in the area may have been attempted relatively easily and with good accuracy with careful selection. A few of sets each featured one 'tough to crack' question. And a student should have known better than to waste time on them. In the DI sets, no calculations were required. The LR sets, on the other hand, were easy-moderate in terms of difficulty. Slot 2 DI was a little more difficult than Slot 1. Rather than the quantity of questions attempted, the focus should have been on the quality of the selected sets. There was one question in each set that should have been left unattempted. Two of the sets included calculations, although none of them were very difficult. The difficulty level of the LR sets, on the other hand, was easy-moderate.
Area |
Question |
Level |
Data Interpretation |
N*N Matrix |
Moderate |
ATM Machine |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
Pie-Chart |
Easy |
|
Satellites |
Difficult |
|
Logical Reasoning |
Committee |
Moderate to Difficult |
Pipes |
Moderate |
|
Institutes |
Difficult |
|
Exam |
Difficult |
Area |
Question |
Level |
Data Interpretation |
Square chart |
Difficult |
Profitability and Market share |
Moderate |
|
Currency conversion |
Difficult |
|
B-School grading |
Difficult |
|
Logical Reasoning |
Coding - Decoding |
Difficult |
Platinum – gold tickets |
Difficult |
|
Room Numbers and timings |
Easy |
|
Venn Diagrams |
Moderate to Difficult |
The key this year was finding the easier sets and solving them fast, with speed paying off. Some of the DI sets were not difficult to interpret, and the questions in these sets were not particularly difficult to answer. The number of sets based on LR was higher than in the previous two years. Only two of the eight sets might be classified as truly challenging. The set based on tournaments was very difficult, while the one based on crime rates proved to be equally difficult. The set based on dancers and composers, as well as the one based on the radar chart, should have been attempted.
Three to four moderate sets, two to three moderate-tough sets, and two very difficult sets were available in Slot 2. The moderate ones, on the other hand, could only be cracked by those who were aware enough to see them and persevered in their pursuit. The sets on the shooting tournament and mid-term and end-term exams were especially challenging and should have been avoided, whereas the sets on coins and rainfall were simple to score.
Area |
Question |
Level |
Data Interpretation &Logical Reasoning |
100 boxes, with diff. types of items |
Moderate to Difficult |
Addition of 6-digit numbers |
Moderate |
|
Sixteen shelves and 12 items |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
Spider Web |
Easy |
|
Tournament |
Very Difficult |
|
Crime-rate |
Difficult |
|
Intersection and network |
Moderate |
|
Dancers and composers |
Easy |
Area |
Question |
Level |
Data Interpretation &Logical Reasoning |
Grid with bags of coins |
Moderate |
Doctors and rooms |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
Venn Diagrams |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
Rainfall |
Moderate |
|
Languages and teams |
Difficult |
|
Shooting tournament |
Very Difficult |
|
Radar chart |
Moderate |
|
Mid-term and End-term exams |
Difficult |
There were five sets of DILR questions in the CAT 2020 exam paper. Two sets of questions each featured six questions, while the remaining sets each had four questions. Some test-takers said that the overall, the DILR section's difficulty level was comparable to that of CAT 2019. To achieve the 99 percentile, a student must achieve a score of 32-34.
Area |
Question |
Level |
DI |
Cabs & Drivers |
Moderate-Difficult |
DI |
Medicines |
Moderate-Difficult |
LR |
Musicians |
Moderate |
LRDI |
Companies & Contracts |
Difficult |
LRDI |
Average Marks |
Difficult |
Area |
Question |
Level |
LR |
Parking Slots |
Moderate-Difficult |
DI |
Sales at a Store |
Difficult |
DI |
Beads |
Difficult |
LRDI |
Elections |
Moderate-Difficult |
LRDI |
Presentations |
Difficult |
Area |
Question |
Level |
LR |
Testing Vials |
Moderate-Difficult |
DI |
Grocery Delivery |
Moderate-Difficult |
DI |
School Survey |
Moderate |
DI |
Bidding |
Very Difficult |
LRDI |
Land Plots |
Difficult |
From the above analysis, the difficulty levels of questions can be observed in each sub-section of the LRDI portion of the paper. Candidates must pay special attention towards honing the difficult sets as it is the make-it or break-it aspect of the paper.
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