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MAT 08 Analysis (MAY)
MAT SNAPSHOT
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No. of Questions
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200
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Marking Scheme
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1
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Negative marking
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¼
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Number of Sections
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0
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Number of Choices
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4
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Duration
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150 Min
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There were no changes this time in the
structure of the paper which again was a lengthy one with 200 questions over
150 minutes. The questions were equally distributed across the five test areas
(read sections) with 40 questions in each. Another unchanged feature regarding
the structure of the paper was that each of the sections was further divided
into parts (two or three each) and was positioned at different places in the
paper. This factor may have brought in some confusion in the time allocation
strategy but students who allocated some amount of time to each of the five
sections would have been in a better state to score heavily. In that regard,
the suggested time limits for the sections are as follows.
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Sl. No.
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Section
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Suggested time
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1
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Language Comprehension
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25 – 30 min
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2
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Mathematical Skills
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35 – 40 min
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3
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Data Analysis & Sufficiency
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35 – 40 min
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4
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Intelligence & Critical Reasoning
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30 – 35 min
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5
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India & Global Environment
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10 – 15 min
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The specific features of the MAT paper
are
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As the composite score is arrived at using the first four sections only, it is
advisable to spend most of the time on these sections.
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As each of the first four sections are assigned equal weightage while
calculating the overall score, it is advised to allocate time to all the
sections and solve the easy questions in each of the sections, instead of
wasting too much time in a particular section.
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MAT gives percentile scores and this being the case the difficulty level of the
paper doesn’t matter at all. What matters is your performance relative to
others. Hence, one should not be bothered too much about the absolute marks but
focus on doing better than others.
Language Comprehension
No. of Questions: 40
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Area
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Description
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Marks
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Difficulty level
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Expected Attempts
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Good Attempts
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Vocabulary
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Blanks
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4
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Easy
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4
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5
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Analogies
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4
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Easy
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Grammar
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Correct form of underline part
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4
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Easy
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2
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3
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Correct form of the statement
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4
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Moderate
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Verbal Reasoning
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Para Jumbles
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4
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Difficult
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Reading Comprehension
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Financial inclusion
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4
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Difficult
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6
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10
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Water shortage
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4
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Difficult
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Air traffic
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5
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Easy
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Resource based perspective
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3
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Moderate
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Economics
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4
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Moderate
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Overall
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40
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Moderate
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12
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18
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As the above table shows, the
weightage for reading comprehension is 50% (i.e. half of the section) as in
previous MAT exams. Though the passages are lengthy, some of the questions are
direct in nature and thus can be answered without reading the entire data. The
questions based on grammar test one’s knowledge of usage of the language. The
questions based on Para-jumbles were quite difficult and would have daunted
even the well-prepared of students. On the preparation front, one needs to work
on improving vocabulary (for solving questions on blanks and analogies), basics
of usage of the language (for solving questions based on correction of
sentences) and also on comprehension skills (For passages and Logical
Reasoning).
Mathematical Skills
No. of Questions: 40
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Area
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Marks
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Difficulty level
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Expected Attempts
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Good Attempts
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Arithmetic
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Time & Work
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5
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Moderate
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9
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12
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Time & Distance
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8
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Percentages
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1
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Partnership
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1
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Numbers
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1
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AMA
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5
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ERPV
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5
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Mensuration
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7
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Higher Maths
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Permutations and Combinations
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1
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Difficult
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3
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4
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Probability
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2
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Heights and Distances
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4
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Overall
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40
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Difficult
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12
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16
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As the table suggests there was a
good mix of questions on various topics from arithmetic and also from higher
mathematics. There was not much variation in the importance given to some of
the topics from the MAT papers of the earlier seasons. A few select topics had
more than proportionate weightage in the overall paper, for example as many as
34 questions were from the six important topics - Time & Distance, Mensuration,
Time &Work, Equations-Ratio Proportion and Variation,
Averages-Mixtures-Alligations and Probability. Most of the questions involved
only the basics and could have been cracked by putting a little bit of effort.
On the preparation front, one has to work on improving the basic conceptual
skills, and calculation skills along with good practice of the regular topics
of MAT to be able to score well in this area.
Data Analysis and Sufficiency
No. of Questions: 40
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Area
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Topic
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Description
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Marks
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Difficulty level
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Expected Attempts
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Good Attempts
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Data Analysis
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Bar Graph
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Income/Expenses
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4
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Moderate
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10
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12
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Two Pie Charts
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Retail + Insurance
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4
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Moderate
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3 D graph
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Salary, incentives, interest on saving
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4
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Moderate
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Line graph
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Imports in different months of 2004 – 05 &
2005 – 06
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3
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Moderate
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Table
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Vegetable bought (in kg) + price/kg
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4
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Easy
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Caselet
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Manufacturing, Advertising costs of Pearls
and Bubbles
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5
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Difficult
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Bar graph
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Price of petrol and Diesel
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4
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Moderate
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Data Sufficiency & Comparison
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Data sufficiency – 2 statements
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A alone, B alone, A or B alone cannot be
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6
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Easy
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6
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8
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Data Comparison
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1st column greater 2nd column greater Both
are equal Relation cannot be
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6
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Easy
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Overall
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40
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16
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20
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This section comprised of questions from
DI and DS, with DI accounting for 70% (28 out of 40) and DS accounting for the
remaining 30% (12 out of 40). The difficulty level of DI in this section was on
the same lines as that of any other MAT paper but the DS in this section was on
the easier side. All the six questions of DS were based on Arithmetic topics
and the questions of Data Comparison (GRE Type) were based on simple
calculations. In the case of DI, the set related to ‘Vegetable prices’ was
based on simple calculations and was quite an easy set to solve. Along with
this, the set based on ‘retail and insurance’ departments, the set based on the
3-D graph of income, the bar graph set on the prices of petrol and diesel were
quite doable. However, the Caselet set was quite difficult and was time
consuming. On the preparation front, one needs to have basic understanding of
different types of data and be quite good at speed math concepts to maximize
ones score.
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning
No. of Questions: 40
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Area
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Detail
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Marks
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Difficulty level
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Expected Attempts
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Good Attempts
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Analytical Reasoning
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Eight persons and selection into two cars
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3
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Easy
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2
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3
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Seating at a rectangular table
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2
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Difficult
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Critical Reasoning
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Arguments
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4
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Difficult
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7
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8
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Assumptions
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4
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Moderate
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Courses of Action
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4
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Moderate
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Conclusions
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4
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Moderate
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Cause – Effect
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3
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Easy
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Small Passages
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4
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Difficult
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Individual Questions
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B.Relations
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2
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Easy
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3
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4
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Directions
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2
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Easy
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Clocks
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2
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Moderate
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Calendars
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2
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Difficult
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Quant Based + Miscellaneous
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4
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Difficult
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Overall
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40
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12
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15
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As shown in the above table, this section
had a mix of sets based on Analytical Reasoning, Critical reasoning and
individual questions on various other topics like Clocks and Calendars. The
weightage for analytical reasoning was quite less in this paper when compared
to the previous MAT papers. Both the sets on Analytical reasoning were quite
simple but considering the lesser number of questions in these sets one has
look at other areas to maximize ones score. Of the other areas, the sets based
on Critical Reasoning were based on day-to-day situations but were not easy to
solve as selecting one option over the other was quite tricky and confusing.
Thus zeroing in on a single choice from two or more close options needed good
logical skills. The individual questions based on different topics were lengthy
and time consuming.
India and Global Environment
No. of Questions: 40
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Area
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Topic
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Marks
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Expected Attempts
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Good Attempts
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GK-General
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Business/ Economy related
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3
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3
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5
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Miscellaneous
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8
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Current Affairs
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Business/ Economy related
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12
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7
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10
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Miscellaneous
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17
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Overall
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40
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10
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15
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This section mainly checks one’s
knowledge of current affairs on the business as well as general front. Along
with these questions, there were some questions based on ‘General Awareness’.
One should read as many questions as possible from the section and thereby pick
the right ones to attempt in order to get a decent score. On the preparation
front, students should focus on increasing their knowledge of current affairs
relating to Indian Economy, Government Policies, and Schemes launched. One
should also read up facts pertaining to prominent Indian Companies and MNCs,
mergers and acquisitions, headquarters and Punch lines of corporations.
EXAM SUMMARY
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Attempts
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Expected Accuracy
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Marks
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Expected Percentile
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75 +
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80% +
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56 +
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90 +
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85 +
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85 +
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64 +
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95 +
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100 +
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80% +
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75 +
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99 +
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