Verbal & Logical Ability

No. of Questions: 31
This was probably the one section that would have helped students maximise their score and lend some respectability to the total number of attempts. Once again XAT has bowled a ‘doosra’ by setting a paper which tested students not just on their ability in language but also in their logic and analytical skills. The answers were also quite difficult to arrive at, primarily because they tested interpretation, the understanding of implications, and reasoning. This section had questions from the Reading Comprehension, Verbal and Logical Reasoning areas. The passages were quite short but were quite difficult to read given the off-beat nature of the topics. The 5 choices per question further complicated things. The passages on ‘Silver & Particles’, ‘Neo & Morpheus’, ‘Kant and Moral worth’ and ‘Fashion’ belonged to this type. However one could attempt atleast 3 of the passages if one read carefully and between the lines. The passage on ‘Probability’ tested the logic skills of the students and this is one set where students could have ended up making mistakes. There were quite a few LR questions - while some of them looked at analysis and evaluation of argument, the others looked at familiarity with reasoning method. Those who had prepared extensively for CAT should have been able to solve quite a few of these Qs. There were 2 Qs on Para Formation that were quite difficult to work out and they took time, careful reading and some thought. A welcome change in this paper over those of the previous years was the complete absence of the Qs on ‘Figures of speech’ however these Qs were replaced by some equally difficult Qs on Vocabulary. All in all this was a difficult section and the cut-offs should be on the lower side.

The expected score for this section should be around 5-6 in about 40 min. A score of 15+ should be considered excellent. The cut-off is expected to be around 9-10.