3/3/2011 XAT 2011 Analysis

XAT 2011 Analysis

Sunday, 02 January 2011 09:04 | Written by rohit koul |

FIRST TAKE

XAT 2011 came up with a number of surprises.

The break of questions: 34 questions in Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning, 24questions on Analytical
Reasoning & Decision Making and 43 questions in Data Interpretation & Quantitative Ability.

Moreover, this time all the questions carried variable weight age in the range of 1 mark to 5 marks and the marks
for each question was mentioned beside the question.Therefore,the entire paper was a test of your ability to
select the questions judiciously. The Quantitative Ability questions were difficult,whereas the Data Interpretation
questions were doable.The weight age given to questions on decision-making was higher.The Verbal Ability
section was also on the difficult side,though question types were similar to last year.After two years , poetry
based question has made a comeback in XAT.The essay topic was also presented in a different manner this year
– an argument was given and one had to present a judgement on the argument along with justifications and
examples in 250 words. Overall,it was a difficult and tricky paper.

ANALYSIS

TEST - (An Overview)

Exam Name : XAT

Exam Date : 2/1/2011

: XLRI, XIMB, GIM, SP JAIN, Welingkar,

Institutes accepting this Exam score
LIBA and others

Total Duration of the exam : 2 hours main exam plus 20 minutes for an
(minutes) analytical caselet

Total number of questions : 101

Timed Test : No

Number of Sections :3

Number of choices per question

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Number of choices per question :5

Choice Format : A, B, C, D, E

Marks per question : Differential ranging from 1 to 5

Negative Marking : 1/4th of the marks allotted for each question

: Yes differential ranging from 1 to 5. Marks for

Differential Marking respective questions mentioned beside each
question

Mode of marking the ovals : Pencil

XAT 2011 came up with a number of surprises for the students. It did away with the differential negative marking
but introduced differential marking for each question. So, before solving a question, one had to look for the
marks allotted to it. The paper was a test of a student’s ability to select the questions judiciously. Most of the
questions were time consuming. In some cases, understanding the questions and applying the correct method to
solve the question posed a problem.

SUMMARY

Section Subject Area Number of Questions Time Allotted

Verbal Ability and Logical

Section A / I 34 35 minutes
Reasoning

Analytical Reasoning and

Section B / II 24 35 minutes
Decision Making

Data Interpretation and

Section C / III 43 50 minutes
Quantitative Ability

SECTION A: Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning

This section had questions on Verbal Ability, Verbal Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. One had to read
each and every question properly before solving the same. The options in most questions were quite deceptive.
In this section, most of the questions carried 1, 2 or 3 marks. Unlike the Quant section, there were no 5 markers
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3/3/2011 XAT 2011 Analysis
in this section.

Reading Comprehension
There were 10 questions based on three reading comprehension passages.

Topic of RC Passage Number of Questions

Conversation between two friends

2
on the concept of “being”

Toyota Production system 4

Fermi’s Paradox 4

The passages were moderate in length (one was only two paragraphs long). Two of the passages were based on
abstract topics and were dense. The questions following the passages were mainly inferential ones and some of
them were based on parallel reasoning. The passage on Toyota was comparatively easy.

Verbal Ability: The paper also contained questions on grammar, vocabulary, usage and reasoning. There was a
special book review caselet followed by five separate reviews and one had to judge the reviews. It contained
three questions.

Critical Reasoning: There were 10 questions on critical reasoning that were based on small passages. Most of
the questions were challenging because one had to read the passage, understand the line of reasoning and then
reason out the correct answer. The options were close and at times confusing.

Fill in the Blanks: There were four questions, one was preposition based and easy, two were moderate and
elimination based. The fourth one was quote based and ambiguous as the options included synonyms of the
original words.

Jumbled Paragraph: There were only two questions. The one with four sentences was moderate and could be
attempted. The six sentence one was better left alone.

Analogy: There were three questions based on finding the odd analogy from the five given. One was based on
phrases, one was antonym based, while there was also a three-term analogy. Baring one question, this was a
tricky set as understanding the relation took time.There was also a question on punctuation, where one had to
punctuate a paragraph. But none of the options had the sequence of punctuation marks used in the actual
excerpt.There was a question based on a verse; but it was easy and should be attempted.

SECION B: Analytical Reasoning and Decision Making

Out of the 24 questions in this section, there were two individual questions on decision-making similar to the ones
asked in previous years. There were three caselets

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Topic of Caselet Number of Questions

Mergers and acquisitions with a 2

rival company (ABC & LMN)

Worker union and related 4

problems (Chetan Textile Mills)

Air travel discounts (Cozy Travel) 5

Topic Number of Questions

Arrangements (Linear/ Matrix/

2 set (3 Questions each)
Circular) (No. of sets)

1 set (3 Questions), 1 set (2 Questions), 1

Codes, Puzzles, Directions
Question

Some of the questions required one to read the passage multiple times to understand the nuances of the scenario.

SECION C: Data Interpretation and Quantitative Ability

This section was difficult as compared to the previous year. There were 16 questions in set of twos, threes and
fours, ranging from moderate to a high difficulty level. The questions based on numbers were relatively easy as
compared to others. PnC, Ratio & Proportion, were few other constructs in this section. Overall, one can say
that most of the questions in the Problem solving section were conceptual.
The selection of easier questions would have helped to maximize the score.

SECTIONAL BREAKUP

Quantitative Ability

Topics Number of Questions

Numbers( Number, HCF/LCF,

Averages, Divisibility, Surds & 4
Indices, BODMAS etc.
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Arithmetic(Percentages, Ratio 3

Geometry 8

Modern Math (Set theory,

Functions, Permutation & 12
Combination, Probability, Log)

Data Interpretation

Topics Number of Questions

Tables 1 set (4 questions)

Line Graph 1 set (4 questions)

Bar Graph 1 set (3 questions)

Composite 1 set (3 questions)

Essay (Logical analysis of an argument)

There was a statement given and one had to make a judgment on it, and supply justifications and examples.

The argument given was:

The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals
would not only load himself with unnecessary attention but assume an authority which could safely be trusted to
no council and senate and which be nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and
presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.The question was worded differently but one still had to
write a 250 word analysis of the statement, similar to an essay.The statement criticizes authoritative
regulation of capital. Most likely one had to agree with the statement and provide examples and
justifications to how regulation in such cases can prove detrimental.

ANSWER KEY
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3/3/2011 XAT 2011 Analysis

XAT 2011
SERIES : D
Question number Answer Key Correct Option Stem
Section A - Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning
1 A 3-1-4-2
2 B Humanity gets divided by war…
3 A I only
4 B The setting of moral standards….
5 A slush, sludge, sloshing
6 B polished, intellect, mind, noble
7 C The author uses the plot …
8 B The novel has become a popular piece…
9 D The author is known to be a writer of great power….
10 D cafebd
11 D i,ii, iv and v
12 E Throw down the gauntlet
13 E feckless, felicitate, freckles, felicific
14 E iv and v
15 C i, iii and iv
16 D i,ii and v
17 A in, to, it
18 ??? none of the given options match the punctuation marks in the original excerpt
19 B If one acknowledges the existence…
20 E Rain: Thunder: Hail
21 D Ability of workers….
22 E Management's faith in workers …
23 A Workers have significant control…
24 C If similarities were imposed …
25 E devotion : loathing
26 C Short term pleasure seeking behaviour
27 E Aliens have become self-centred…
28 D Wars and colonial conquest engaged…
29 E I, III and V
30 A relentless, indifferent, actions, understandable
31 E If, of, to
32 D A recent study has shown ….
33 E The ability of the younger judges…

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34 D II, III and IV
Section B - Analytical Reasoning and Decision Making
35 E I, ii, iii, iv and v
36 E iv and v
37 E LMN was using high cost debt… combined entity over competitors
38 A 5
39 D III, IV
40 E Adopt a neutral stand in public…CTM management
41 D Setting up a new committee … of contract laboureres
42 B District administration that is concerned … spread of violence
43 B 27
44 C 3 and 2 respectively
45 B 2 and 3 respectively
46 C 3
47 C 7
48 D 9
49 E it allows customers to use free tickets
50 C Reduce the number of free tickets
51 A Ek ke Sath Ek offer
52 D The Cool_yatra offer
53 D c,b,e
54 D 16
55 E 8
56 E The person who got down at New Delhi….from Hyderabad
57 E The teacher from Mumbai…..young engineer
58 D She is from Kochi
Section C - Data Interpretation and Quantitative Ability
59 A 5.64
60 E NONE OF THE ABOVE
61 A 0.07
62 E NONE OF THE ABOVE
63 D ALL OF THEM
64 A 56
65 C 2007
66 C 2006
67 D 3 CRORE
68 E NONE OF THE ABOVE
69 A 1
70 D (1/PS)+(1/ST)>4QR

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71
72 E
C 106m
500m
73 D 1/3
74 C 156
75 D 4
76 D 4
77 C 3
78 A (7,13)
79 A statement I alone is sufficient
80 E Neither statement is necessary to answer the question
81 C less than 40% in gold and less than 25% in US bonds
82 B 46.71%
83 C By investing entire in EU bonds
84 D March and November
85 D 25
86 D 75
87 A 29
88 E 9
89 C 72sqrt(3)
90 C 71 and 80
91 B 10 cm
92 C 19989
93 E 40
94 E NONE OF THE ABOVE
95 A 2201
96 B 67
97 C 249
98 D 150000 sq.ft.
99 D increase upto
100 B
101 B 5sqrt(2)+2sqrt(10)

Last Updated (Monday, 03 January 2011 13:19)

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