SNAPSHOT- MAY 2015 MAT EXAM

Number of Questions	200
Marking Scheme	1 mark per question
Negative Marking	0.25 marks per question
Number of Sections	5
Number of Choices	4(1.2,3,4)
Duration	150 minutes

This MAT exam, conducted on 3^rd May 2015, had 200 questions to be attempted in 150 minutes. These 200 questions were from five test areas viz. Indian and Global Environment, Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning with exactly 40 questions in each. Each question had equal marking and one-fourth mark was deducted for every wrong answer. For the sake of convenience, 1 mark has been taken for every correct answer.

OVERALL SUMMARY(ESTIMATED FOR MAY2015 MAT EXAM)

The consolidated score is evaluated by taking only four areas into account. Indian and Global Environment (GK) is not the part of the consolidated score. Hence, the scoring is done out of a maximum possible score of 160 marks(@1 mark for 160 qs). However, the score card(by AIMA) doesnot give the net marks. It gives the scaled score and the percentile in each and every section. It also gives the overall composite score and the overall percentile. A net score in excess of 62 marks (excluding the score in GK) is considered to be a very good score.

Let us analyze the different types of questions from each of the test area along with the overall difficulty level of each of the test area.

LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION

This test area had a good mix of 20 questions from Reading Comprehension and 20 questions from Verbals. A good time allocation strategy would be to spend around 30-35 min. There were five passages and each passage had four questions to be answered. The passages were of length ranging from 350- 430 words. The questions in Verbal require basic knowledge about English usage & functional grammar. The type of the questions asked for this MAT, yet again, were similar to the ones asked in the earlier exams. This time, also, AIMA gave six questions which were in jumbled format. In three out of these six questions, the antonym of the word was to be found out. In the remaining three, the words were in jumbled format and the odd one out was to be found out. Those who have been regularly solving the questions from All India MOCK MATs by T.I.M.E would not have found this as the surprise element. Overall, the test area can be classified as EASY-MODERATE. A good score is estimated to be 19 in the time limit of 30-35 min.

AREA	DESCRIPTION	MARKS	DIFFICULTY LEVEL	ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
Vocabulary	To find the antonyms of the words given in jumbled form	3	Moderate	8
	Odd Man out (Each of the words given in jumbled form)	3	Easy-Moderate
	Fill in the blanks (2 blanks)	3	Moderate
English Usage and Grammar	Most appropriate restatement	3	Moderate
	Para-Jumbles	4	Moderate -Difficult
	Best essence(Sumnmary) of the given paragraph(approx 100 words)	4	Moderate
Reading Comprehension	Passage with the theme: The risk of medications used for treating Diabetes on heart failure	4	Easy-Moderate	11
	Passage with the theme: Tracking drug resistance in pathogens	4
	Passage with the theme: Vaccines for treating Japanese Encephalitis	4
	Passage: Negotiation Skills	4
	Passage: Small And Medium Enterprises	4
Overall		40	Easy-Moderate	19

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

The paper predominantly had questions from the Arithmetic areas like (Percentages, Profit and Loss, Time and Work, Mensuration, Time and Distance, Simple Equations, Ratio, Proportion, Variation). The questions involved only the basics and those who would have done adequate practice would have found those questions quite doable. The success in this particular test area depended on one's basic conceptual skills, and calculation skills. Overall, the test area can be classified as MODERATE- DIFFICULT. A good time allocation strategy would be to spend around 35-40 min for a good net score of 13.

AREA	DESCRIPTION	MARKS	DIFFICULTY LEVEL	ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
Arithmetic	Time & Work, Pipes and Cisterns	7	Moderate -Difficult	11
	Time & Distance, Boats and Streams	5
	Equations, Ratio, Proportion & Variation	7
	Percentages, Profit, Loss, Partnership	4
	Geometry & Mensuration	3
	Simple Interest, Compound Interest	3
Higher Math	Trigometry, Heights and Distance	3	Moderate -Difficult	2
	Permutation and Combinations	5
	Probability	3
	Overall	40	Moderate -Difficult	13

INTELLIGENCE AND CRITICAL REASONING

This test area is a mix of Analytical reasoning (26 questions) and Critical reasoning (14 questions). A good time allocation strategy would be to spend around 30 min. Overall, the questions on Analytical Reasoning were of easy difficulty level and a good student would have found this area manageable. Overall this test area can be classified as EASY-MODERATE. A net score of 20 marks or above is considered to be a good score in this section.

AREA	DESCRIPTION	MARKS	DIFFICULTY LEVEL	ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
Analytical Reasoning	5 sets of questions on Distribution and Arrangement with 3 qs in each set	15	Easy	16
	Linear Arrangement	2
	Blood Relations (individual questions)	3
	Direction Sense (individual questions)	1
	(Number & Letter series)	5
Critical Reasoning	Assertion and Reasons	4	Moderate	4
	Statement & Conclusions	5
	Identifying statement which is in consonance to the context of the passage	5
	Overall	40	Easy-Moderate	20

DATA ANALYSIS AND SUFFICIENCY

This test area comprises DI, DS and Data Comparison, with DI accounting for 30 out of 40 questions while DS and Data Comparison put together accounting for the remaining 10 questions. The questions in DI involved were of standard model -based on observation, calculations like comparison of fractions, computing the average, percentage based calculations etc. The presentation type for the data were in the form of Tables, Line Graphs, Bar Charts, Pie Charts. For e.g, in one of the sets, two pie charts were given. These two pie charts gave exports data to different countries -Japan, Syria, UAE, China, US for the two different years 2013 and 2014. All the questions related to this set were based on percentages. Similarly, in yet another set, the questions were based on the presentation type -line charts. In this, Foreign Exchange Reserves of three countries- India, Tanzania and South Africa for five years-2009 to 2013 were given. Yet again, all the questions related to this set were based on percentages. Overall, this test area can be considered to be Moderate. A good time allocation strategy would be to spend around 35-40 min for a good net score of 14.

INDIAN AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

The questions in this test area were, predominantly, from business, current affairs, Person and their associated fields, etc. Those who read newspapers on a regular basis will find this area comfortable. Overall this test area can be classified as Moderate. It is to be noted that the marks scored in this section is NOT counted in the consolidated score. A good time allocation strategy would be to spend around 5 minutes for a good net score of 6-7 marks.