CAT 2010: Will obsolete questions be a surprise package?

Just about a day to go before CAT 2010 begins, aspirants are still abuzz with discussions about the expected question-patterns and probable questions. Occupying a large part of the discussions are question from sub-topics that haven’t been seen in the CAT papers of the previous 7-8 years, and yet have appeared in some of this year’s mock CATs. Though all aspirants and coaching centres seem to be certain that they will not reach this year’s CAT screens, nobody’s taking chances because with the CAT, you just never know. A quick look at these topics, for your information.

1. Facts, Inferences, Judgements

• Last seen in CAT 2006 and before that seen in a CAT paper in the early 1990s.
• Appeared this year in T.I.M.E. AIMCAT 1117.

The question is typically a set of few statements. The test-taker has to determine the nature of each of the statements — whether it is a fact, an inference or a judgement. The instructions define what a fact, an inference and judgement are supposed to mean and one needs to use those definitions while identifying the nature of the statements.

As instructed in a question from CAT 2006,

Facts: which deal with pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an F).

Inferences: which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an I).

Judgements: which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a J).

But then, it’s not as easy as it seems and these questions are known for being notoriously confusing and open to multiple interpretations.

Example question,

Please identify whether each of the following statements is a fact, an inference, or a judgment. Select the sequence that best describes the nature of the statements.

1) I can crack CAT.

3) He thinks you can crack CAT.

a) JJF

d) JJJ

2. Logical conclusions, Contradictions, Far-fetched conclusions, Irrelevant statements (LCFI)

• Last seen in AIMCAT 1107 and 1103.

In this question type, a short paragraph is followed by a few statements. The objective is to determine if the statements can be logically concluded from the paragraph (L), or does it contradict what is mentioned in the paragraph (C), whether it’s a far-fetched conclusion drawn on the basis of the paragraph (F) or is irrelevant to whatever is said in the paragraph (I).

The answers are vey subjective and can be interpreted differently by different people which makes them very ambiguous.

Example question,

A jump in the overall percentage obtained by individual learners who pass will be interpreted officially as success in creating a stress-free environment and higher levels of motivation for the young. Not all are convinced. Extra-time, multiple choice questions, “yes” or “no” tick marking, easier textbooks and a limited system of marking are some of the changes being fed to the media as being improvements in the system that have resulted in higher scores. These are claimed to have created a stress free ambience for the children. However, not all these steps may be bringing out the best in them in terms of creative thinking and nurturing talent.

(A) Easier mathematics is welcome but transition to a stage when even 13+11 has to be calculated using a calculator is not desirable.

(D) If we really trust the CBSE and technically normalise the marks obtained in other boards, is it not possible to save the children from burden of entrance tests to professional courses?

a) FICI

e) LCFI

3. Upstream, Downstream, Lateral, Irrelevant arguments (UDLI)

• Last seen in AIMCAT 1109.

In this type of questions, a short paragraph is given and a few statements are provided. We have to determine whether the sentence is a continuation of the paragraph (D: downstream argument) or the genesis of the argument (U: upstream argument) similar to the paragraph (L: lateral argument) or irrelevant to the paragraph (I).

These questions are similar to the LCFI questions and are equally, if not more, confusing.

Example question,

In a television interview last night, Mr Chidambaram, the finance minister, made it clear that the government had identified infrastructure as one of the weaknesses which had emerged in the economy during the five years of reform.

1) Infrastructure is to get a big boost in the budget to be presented by Mr.Chidambaram.

4)The economic reforms,which invigorated several sectors of the economy ,had not done much to stimulate infrastructure development.

a) UDIL

d) UDLI

4. Syllogisms

This is a type of question usually found in speed-based tests. This can have a few variations. The question will be in the form of a few statements out of which three will be logically connected. You have to select the option which has the connection. Another variant of this can have a few statements which will be logically connected and you have to find out which one of the options satisfies the connections established.

These are easy questions and if you can interpret the data given in the question statements correctly, you should easily be able to score full marks in these questions. Keeping one’s eyes open for multiple possibilities is advised here.

Example question,

1) All cats are dogs

3) All cats are carnivores

Which of the following can be logically concluded from the above statements?

a) Some cats bite

d) All carnivores are cats

5. Logical connectives

• Last seen in: AIMCAT 1013 (last year)

This type of question basically consists of a main statement followed by options. The candidate has to choose the option which logically follows the main statement. These questions are based on the commonly used logical connectives of negation (not), conjunction (and), disjunction (or), implication(if… then) or biconditional (if and only if).

Once one is thorough with the basic set of rules, one can solve the questions quickly and correctly with ease.

Example question.

Either I jump or I dance

Which of the following options conveys the same idea as the original sentence?

a) I am not jumping definitely means that I am dancing

d) More than one of the above is true

I had a chat with Parag Chitale (founder of CPLC coaching classes, Mumbai), a veteran from the CAT coaching business to know what he thought about the likelihood of such questions appearing in CAT 2010.

Parag Chitale adds, “We can classify the CAT papers broadly into pre-2009 and post-2009 categories. There were hardly any questions asked on ‘percentages’ before CAT 2009 but last year’s edition saw plenty of questions from this area. We do not have much data as of now to be able to predict a trend, but after CAT 2010, things should start getting clearer (about the post-2009 type of CAT paper). The coaching classes are playing it safe by including the whole gamut of questions they have so that an aspirant does not get caught unawares if he encounters such questions in the CAT.”

When asked if it was indeed possible to introduce these questions while keeping the difficulty levels across various slots the same, Parag Chitale said, “We cannot say for sure that the difficulty level will stay the same across all the slots. There can be variations, to counter which the process of normalisation is adopted. So we cannot entirely rule out the possibility that such kind of questions can make an appearance in the sets. Also, all the sets cannot be made having similar number of questions of equal difficulty levels from a certain area. If that happens, people taking it at a later stage can prepare for these questions in advance thereby gaining an edge over others.