CAT 2014: First session second day exam analysis Nov 22, 2014; Quant &Verbal moderate- RC & LR tricky

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November 22, 2014
CAT 2014 in the first session on its second and final day of testing window on Nov 22, 2014 placed trickier and lengthier question sets
CAT 2014 test takers found the questions that appeared in the first session on the second day of CAT 2014 in different shape despite being on similar lines as in earlier sessions

CAT 2014 in the first session on its second and final day of testing window on Nov 22, 2014 placed trickier and lengthier question sets on Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning parts in Verbal Ability section while keeping the questions on Quant and Verbal Ability to a moderate level. 

The first session on the second day of CAT 2014 held on Nov 22, 2014 began on right time at 9.30 AM and got over without any technical issues.  The 170 minutes test didn’t have long queues outside the test centres although more number of candidates per centre were accommodated.

The first session of CAT 2014 on Nov 22 was a balanced test with a different test format as appeared in CAT 2014 first day. CAT Centre 2014 had already clarified “CAT 2014 shall involve administering a different Form of the Test across each of the 4 different Test Sessions.” CAT 2014 test takers found the questions that appeared in the first session on the second day of CAT 2014 in different shape despite being on similar lines as in earlier sessions. For example Quant section had no question on Probability, Permutation & combination Verbal had no question on completion of paragraphs, vocabulary, fill in the blanks while questions in LR appeared more of DI type.

Quant  section was found easier than Verbal in the first session on the second day of CAT 2014. One of the candidates who appeared in the first session on the second day of CAT 2014 could attempt 49 questions in Quant and DI section but could attempt only 30 questions in Verbal Ability and Logical reasoning section.

In fact Verbal section on the second day brought a little different shape before the aspirants.  Although it had same number of  50 questions on Verbal Ability and Logical reasoning, the Reading comprehension and LR questions suddenly shifted from being moderate to difficult.  But this will also have a lower cut-off percentile in Verbal section.

No fresh surprise element was reported on the second day except for the fact that questions on a few topics enumerated above were missing

Quantitative Ability

Out of the 50 questions in the first section on Quant and DI, 34 questions on Quant appeared in CAT 2014 on second day. Prominent topics on which questions were formed were mix on Arithmetic & geometry (Time distance speed; ratio), Algebra, Trigonometry, Number system. The difficulty level was moderate. Questions were on the same lines as appeared on first day of CAT 2014.

Data Interpretation

DI questions in the first section were 16 in number on November 22, 2014 the second day of CAT 2014. Questions in this part were divided in 4 sets based on 4 problems followed by 4 questions in each set. Candidates on the second day of CAT 2014 found DI questions moderate to difficult. The questions appeared tricky as they were more time consuming.

The 4 problem sets were placed in the form of tables, bar charts and students needed more time to read, analyse the data and crack the problem set.
Question sets were framed to test your skill whether you are able to compare the scattered and tricky data and arrive at the right answer option. Those who had practiced more on DI questions could score more.

Verbal Ability

This section had 50 questions divided in Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning. Questions on Verbal Ability part were further divided in Reading Comprehension and core Verbal Ability questions.

Skill in Verbal Ability implies that you should know well the English language usage. You need not be an expert on English Literature nor the IIMs expect you to be a professor of English but the basics of English language usage should be well understood so that you may write well and understand well. 

Reading Comprehension

There were 4 Reading Comprehension passages followed by 16  questions based  on  them.  The 2 passages were moderate while other 2 were lengthier and were based on psychological / philosophical topics. All the 4 passages had 5 paragraphs and were of a length of 700-800 words each. The common question that used to appear in earlier CAT exams on ‘Tone of the passage’; ‘main idea of the passage’ were missing in CAT 2014. The questions were more focused on the ideas expressed in different paragraphs and on the phrases and statements given in different paragraphs. One or two questions were based on the idea on which the passage is based. This could be related to the question type purpose of writing the passage in different form.

CAT 2014 test takers found the answer options very close and at times got confused which one should be the correct one.  One of the passages was more tricky and consumed more time of the test takers in comparison to other ones.

Error Corrections

The 3 questions on error correction in paragraph appeared in the first session on day two. Again the core grammar played an important role.  The question had a paragraph, split in four sentences.  Candidates were required to pick out the sentences that were correct in terms of usage of grammar, spelling and punctuation, in terms of standard written English.

Proper understanding of singular-plural, subject-verb agreement, usage of articles, adjectives and adverbs were the key to crack these questions. Since the direction given before the question is very important, test takers had to be careful whether the examination wanted to pick out the correct or the incorrect sentences from the question.  A few candidates again missed on this count.  

Jumbled paragraph

3 paragraphs with jumbled sentences appeared on the second day. The surprise of CAT 2012 & 2013 was also repeated and 3 questions to pick out the ‘Odd man out’ (Out of context sentence) also reappeared.  Candidates who knew the trick to find out the connectors among the sentences solved them fairly quickly, despite the fact that the questions had higher difficulty level in comparison to day-1

Other paragraph based questions

Questions asking for the summary of short paragraphs, and asking to pick out the Inference on the views expressed in the paragraphs also appeared in the first session on the second day of CAT 2014.

The questions were not very difficult but had very close answer options. Candidates who understood them could answer well.

No Vocabulary questions again

There were no vocabulary based questions in CAT 2014 on the second day. There used to be 4-5 vocabulary based questions in earlier CAT exams. However CAT 2014 has not placed any vocabulary based question in the exam.

Similarly, questions like para completion that needed  the last sentence in the paragraph also did not appear in CAT 2014. Such questions used to make their presence till CAT 2013 regularly.

Logical reasoning

LR section had 16 questions in 4 sets.  While two sets of questions were not so difficult one set with 4 questions was more tricky and consumed more time of the candidates. Most of the candidates could solve only 1 set of LR questions. The questions were based on circular arrangement, team formation, binary logic.

Most of the CAT 2014 test takers on the first session on second day found the overall exam moderate with a few questions with high difficulty level and lengthy.

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