Know the CAT 2013 paper pattern
By Alok Bansal, IMS
CAT 2013 was on the same lines as last year's test. Students found Quant to be comparatively tough with most good students attempting about 18-20 questions. The VA-LR section was found to be simpler. Neither VA nor LR questions were very tough. Many students who have scored well in the SimCATs reported attempting 22-25 questions in this section.
There were no surprises at all. VA had the usual questions. Some students did get a Data Sufficiency question but even that cannot be classified as a new question type or something to be surprised about.
Section I - Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation
There were 21 questions on Quantitative Ability and 9 questions on Data Interpretation (3 sets of 3 questions each)
In most of the slots, this section was dominated by Geometry (5-6 questions from it), Modern Math (in particular Functions) & Algebra. There were fewer questions (about 3-4 each) on Arithmetic & Number Systems. Some slots had up to 5 questions on Arithmetic and even had a set of 3 questions on Venn Diagrams.
Data Interpretation in most of the slots was a combination of both logical as well as calculation-intensive sets. One set had a lot of calculations, another was a caselet heavy on logic while the third one was calculation-based but on the simpler side. We expect this to be the general trend for DI across all slots. Across all slots, students have reported having got all types of DI sets like Bar Charts, Tables, Caselets etc. There were reports of there being a set based on calculating distances of various routes from a geometrical, grid based diagram.
Section II - Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning
The Verbal Ability (VA) section carried no surprises. There were 21 questions out of which 10 were based on the three Reading Comprehension (RC) passages. The remaining 11 questions were distributed as follows:
1. Grammar: 1-2 questions.
2. Complete the paragraphs: 2-3 questions
3. Jumbled paragraphs: 2 questions
4. Incorrect/Inappropriate usage: 2 questions
5. Fill in two blanks: 1-2 questions
6. Incorrect in the context statement: 1-2 questions
Two out of three passages were simple to comprehend. Most of the questions were inferential but the options were not very close. One out of the three passages was quite short.
On the whole, most of the questions were of an easy to medium level of difficulty. The only questions that were tricky (as expected) were those in which four usages of a word were given and one had to identify the incorrect or inappropriate usage. Students normally found these questions tough as they were not aware of one or two usages of the word. These questions were not tougher than usual.
The three Logical Reasoning (LR) sets (of 3 questions each) were primarily based on arrangements, numerical logic and groups and conditionality. Across most slots there were two sets which were of an easy to moderate level and one which can be termed as slightly difficult. Most students found LR to be a high scoring area.
The SimCATs definitely gave a flavour of the Actual CAT. The results of the test will be declared on January 14, 2014.
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