1. XAT Overview & Prep 03-07

3. XAT - 03 100 110 118 200 120 TOTAL 28 28 32 60 30 Section III – GK 10 15 18 60 50 Section II - Reasoning 60 60 68 80 40 Section I – English PMIR BMD Likely cut off for XLRI Achievable Scores No. Of Questions Time (min) Section

4. 80 Total 20 Analogies 10 Fill in the blanks (verb and tenses based) 20 Synonyms 10 Reading Comprehension - 1 passage of 210 words 10 Antonyms of words underlined in a passage 10 Sentence completion / fill in the blanks No. Of Questions Type of Questions Section I: English Reasoning

5. 10 Forming a sequence of numbers from two other sequences based on conditions 10 Function defined on a set of numbers 10 Eight functions A, B, C, D, E, F defined and composite functions asked 10 Transposition of numbers within a set of numbers based on conditions 10 Cell movements in a square grid based on conditions 10 Permutation & Combination (balls being drawn from boxes) No. Of Questions Description of sets Section II: Mathematical Reasoning

6. XAT - 04 104 108 115 200 120 TOTAL 15 16 19 60 40 Section III – GK 28 30 34 60 40 Section II - Reasoning 58 58 62 80 40 Section I – English PMIR BMD Likely cut off for XLRI Achievable Scores No. Of Questions Time (min) Section

7. ENGLISH

8. REASONING

10. XAT - 05 NOTE : After this year, there was NO General / Business Awareness Section This paper did not require a preparation special from CAT, other than the General Awareness. Some types of questions which appeared first time in a XAT paper (as compared to the past few years) – data sufficiency, critical reasoning, para-jumbles. No sectional time limits. The instructions specifically mentioned a negative mark of 1/3 70+ 87+ 120 min 175 Total 27-28 40+ 50 min 65 EU+RC 3 8-10 15+ 15 min 35 GK 2 25-27 35-40 55 min 75 QA+DI 1 Cut-off's Possible Attempts SuggestedTime No. of Q's Topics Section

11. Section I : Quantitative Aptitude +DI + DS 3 Series, sequences & progressions 3 Maxima minima 2 Functions 6 Equations & Inequalities 14 Algebra 0 Speed Time Distance, Work 2 Ratio proportion, Average 1 Percentage, SI-CI, PLD 0 Simple calculations of fractions etc 3 Arithmetic 11 Number System 75 Overall Qns Topic

12. 4 Table + 3D line 6 Line chart 5 Pie chart 10 (3 sets) Table 25 Data Interpretation 3 Data Sufficiency 8 Higher Math (vectors, set theory, differentiation) 1 Mathematical reasoning 1 Probability 1 Permutation & Combination 2 Co-ordinate geometry + trigonometry 2 Mensuration 4 Plane geometry 8 Geometry

13. Section III : Verbal 0 Sentence completion 6 Critical Reasoning 4 Para jumbles 0 Fill in the blanks 0 Vocabulary: Analogies 7 Vocabulary: Antonyms 5 Vocabulary: Synonyms 22 English usage 65 Overall Qns Topic 12 (3sets with 5, 4 & 3 Qs) Logical Reasoning 5 Leisure and civilization 6 Human Ecology 4 Learning Curves 5 Cultural Idioms 4 Taxonomy 7 Phrenology 6 passages (31 Qs) Reading comprehension

14. XAT - 06 XAT 2006 new format, with 127 questions, CAT-type three sections, but with a catch, rather than differential marking, there was differential negative marking ! 0.33 negative marking for first 5 wrong questions in each section, which escalated to 0.5 for errors beyond 5 mistakes. This signified a shift from speed to accuracy. 32 -33 52+ 120 min 127 Total 7 - 8 14+ 40 min 44 QA 3 10 - 11 16+ 40 min 43 DI & LR 2 11 - 12 22+ 40 min 40 EU & RC 1 Cut-offs Possible Attempts Suggested time No. of Qns Topics Section

15. Section I: English Usage & Reading Comprehension 0 Sentence Completion 4 Critical Reasoning 3 Para Jumbles 3 Fill in the blanks 6 Vocab - Usage-based 0 Vocab : Analogies 0 Vocab : Antonyms 0 Vocab : Synonyms 16 English Usage 40 Overall Qns Parameter 7 Business/Economics/ Management 2 Dialogue 3 Science & Research 6 Philosophy 6 Sociology 24 Qns RC ( 5 passages)

16. Section II: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning 5 1 dimensional array based on arranging Menu of Fish dishes in a restaurant 4 Mathematical reasoning involving distribution of Prize Money 6 1 dimensional array involving Interview schedule 5 2 dimensional array involving packing of different sweets 5 1 Dimensional array with Class schedule of Professors 25 Logical Reasoning Qns Parameter

17. Section III: Quantitative Aptitude + DS 2 Series, sequences & progressions 5 Maxima minima 7 Functions 6 Equations & Inequalities 20 Algebra 1 Speed Time Distance, Work 0 Ratio proportion, Average 1+1 Percentage, SI-CI, PLD 0 Simple calculations of fractions etc 3 Arithmetic 2 Number System 44 Overall Qns Parameter

18. 4 Data Sufficiency 2 Higher Math (Limit, differentiation Integration) 4 Set Theory 2 Mathematical reasoning 3 Probability 1 Permutation & Combination 0 Co-ordinate geometry + trigonometry 0 Mensuration 3 Plane geometry 3 Geometry

19. XAT - 07 5 options and continued with their characteristic differential negative marking 35 -36 50+ 120 min 130 Total 9 - 10 16+ 40 min 49 QA & DI 3 10 - 11 14+ 40 min 40 LR and Decision Making 2 12 - 13 20+ 40 min 41 EU and RC 1 XLRI BM Cut-offs Possible Attempts Suggested time Number of Qns Topics Section

20. Section I: English Usage & Reading Comprehension 4 Sentence Correction 5 Critical Reasoning 4 Para Jumbles 2 Vocabulary: Antonyms/ Inappropriate Usage 3 Vocabulary: Synonyms 18 English Usage 41 Overall Qns Parameter 6 (1 Passage) Business/Economics/Management 4 (1 Passage) Science & Research 4+ 4 (1 Poem, 1, Passage) Philosophy 5 (1 Passage) Sociology 23 Reading Comprehension (4 passages + 1 poem)

21. Analytical Reasoning: SET 1 (5 questions; Difficulty level: Moderate) Based upon 3 persons, Bhim, Karan and Arjun, voting against or for 3 Bills (Recreation Bill, School Bill and Tax Bill) as mentioned in a text format. This set had 5 questions. It was a moderate set to crack. Ideal way to crack it was to make a table and put tick and cross against each cell. Take it one question at a time. Possible to attempt the entire set in 5-6 minutes. SET 2 (5 questions; Difficulty level: Moderate) Base upon 8 products being launched by a particular company in India. Sequence of launch was given in the clues. The data was in text format. The entire set was possible to attempt but one need to spend at least 7-8 minutes. SET 3 (6 questions; Difficulty level: Moderate) Based upon 6 models of Mobile sets available in an electronic show room with at least one of the three mentioned features (Digi Cam, Music Player and Office Doc Viewer). Overall a set which should have been attempted with due caution. Options were close and confusing. It should take more than 10 minutes to solve. Total No of questions: 40 (Decision Making: 15, Individual Reasoning Qs: 3 and AR: 22) Section II: Reasoning and Decision Making Ability

22. SET 4 (6 questions; Difficulty level: Tough) Based upon 7 movie-goers and 3 films (Satyajit Ray’s, Guru Dutts’ Ritwik Ghatak), where each movie buff watches at least one movie. Each movie is shown exactly once. Additional conditions were also given. Overall a tough set, students should have avoided this one. Individual Reasoning Qs: 3 3 individual questions were there in this section. Two of them was about truth-lie situation. One of them was involving 5 persons, who are designated as Guard or Thief. The other question based on truth-lie situation was about the response of 5 persons regarding their interest in a new project. The other question was based on calendar, where the day of 1st April in a particular year was asked based on some given data, that there were 4 Mondays and Fridays each in that month.

23. Decision Making Ability: This is the first time, this type of question appeared in XAT. Inputs must have come from Management Experts. Almost looked like B-School Case Studies. SET 1 (5 questions; Difficulty level: Difficult) Based upon journey plan of an individual. Seems to be a Linear Programming problem with further complication injected in last 2 questions where probability got involved. Best way to treat this set was to leave it completely! SET 2 (3 questions; Difficulty level: tough) An HR based Case study where Sayan becomes Alcoholic in the course of his customer interaction and fixing sales deal over a peg or two. He sues the company for damage. Questions involved recruitment decisions of the management and optimal career decision of Sayan. Very subjective and options were very close. A tough set to attempt. SET 3 (4 questions; Difficulty level: moderate) This set involved “Answer” and “Reason” based on a situation described. One Psychology expert hired by a school board failed to get cooperation from different school-principals. Then he resigns. Questions were of new type and probed deep understanding of the situation. SET 4 (3 questions; Difficulty level: tough) Based upon management decision of putting up air-conditioning facility in the employee canteen by the top management of a particular company. The perceived benefit did not translated to employee morale and the questions involved employee survey etc. One could have done couple of questions from this set.

24. Section III: Quantitative Ability (& DI ) 1 Graph 4 Series, sequences & progressions 2 Maxima minima 4 Functions 3 Equations & Inequalities 14 Algebra 2 Speed Time Distance, Work 1 Ratio proportion, Average 2 Average, %ge, SI-CI, PLD 5 Arithmetic 5 Number System 36 Overall Qns Parameter

25. 4 Data Sufficiency 0 Higher Math (Limit, differentiation Integration) 1 Set Theory 2 Mathematical reasoning 1 Probability 0 Permutation & Combination 1 Co-ordinate geometry 0 Mensuration 3 Plane geometry 4 Geometry 2 Table + Bar Diagram (1 Set) 0 Line Chart 0 Pie Chart 11 Table (3 Sets) 13 Data Interpretation

26. Data Interpretation There were 4 sets involving tedious calculation as expected. Diagrams were not properly legible in the case of the Bar Chart. They could have done with a better quality of printing. 2 Table + Bar Diagram (1 Set) 0 Line Chart 0 Pie Chart 11 Table (3 Sets) 13 Data Interpretation Qns Parameter

27. A comparison across Sections 04-07 58 27-28 11-12 10+ Expected cut-off (EU & RC) - - 10-11** 11+ Expected cut-off (LR) 28 to 30 25-27 7-8* 10+ Expected cut-off (QA & DI) 104 65-68 28+ 33+ Expected cut-off (PMIR) 108 70+ 32+ 35+ Expected cut-off (BMD) Average Average Difficult Difficult Difficulty level (Overall) 200 (80+60+60) 175 127 130 Number of questions 3 3 3 3 Number of sections XAT 2004 XAT 2005 XAT 2006 XAT 2007 Parameter

28. VERBAL 0 0 0 4 Sentence Correction 0 6 4 5 Critical Reasoning 0 4 3 4 Para Jumbles 10 0 3 0 Fill in the blanks 0 0 6 0 Vocabulary: Usage-based 20 0 0 0 Vocabulary: Analogies 10 7 0 2 Vocabulary: Antonyms/ Inappropriate Usage 20 5 0 3 Vocabulary: Synonyms 60 22 16 18 English Usage 80 65 40 41 Overall 04 05 06 07 Parameter

29. High RC Count 1 (8 Q’s) Passage 0 7 6 (1 Passage) Business/Economics/ Management 0 0 3 4 (1 Passage) Science & Research 0 0 6 4+ 4 (1 Poem, 1, Passage) Philosophy 0 0 6 5 (1 Passage) Sociology 0 4 0 0 Taxonomy 0 7 0 0 Phrenology 3 RCs (20 Qs) 6 RC (31 Qs) 5 RCs (24 Qs) 4 RC + 1 poem (23 Qs)s Reading Comprehension 04 05 06 07 Parameter

30. QUANT 1 Graph 8 (1 Set) 3 2 4 Series, sequences & progressions 0 3 5 2 Maxima minima 10 (1 Set) 2 7 4 Functions 0 6 6 3 Equations & Inequalities 18 14 20 14 Algebra 3 0 1 2 Speed Time Distance, Work 2 2 0 1 Ratio proportion, Average 1 1 1+1 2 Average, %ge, SI-CI, PLD 5 0 0 0 Simple calculations of fractions etc 11 3 3 5 Arithmetic 0 11 2 5 Number System 60 75 44 36 Overall 04 05 06 07 Parameter

31. 0 3 4 4 Data Sufficiency 0 8 2 0 Higher Math (Limit, differentiation Integration) 0 0 4 1 Set Theory 6 1 2 2 Mathematical reasoning 0 1 3 1 Probability 10 1 1 0 Permutation & Combination 1 2 0 1 Co-ordinate geometry 2 2 0 0 Mensuration 2 4 3 3 Plane geometry 5 8 3 4 Geometry 04 05 06 07 Parameter