CSAT-2011 Paper II Analysis
Finally,
the much awaited CSAT 2011 is over !!. Paper II was broadly inline
with the sample questions released by UPSC – No surprise element.
If at all it was, it was a pleasant surprise. Paper II had 80
questions(one of the MOCK CSAT Tests -MT2151105 by T.I.M.E had 80 Qs)
. The paper had NO ‘SECTIONS’. The questions from any of the
seven test areas, as mentioned by UPSC in its syllabus, were not
placed in any specific sequence. Each of the 80 questions carried
equal marks of 2.5. There were 72 questions for which 0.833 marks was
deducted for any wrong answer marked. The remaining 8 questions (on
Decision Making & Problem Solving) did not carry any negative
marking. Out of these 80 questions, there were 36 questions, which
were based on passage – Comprehension (27 Qs from 8 passages) and
English Langauge Comprehension Skills (9 Qs from 3 passages).
Students, with non-vernacular background, found that the difficulty
level of the paper was manageable. Students who read and understand
English will be able to answer most of the questions. The remaining
44 questions were from different topics like Data
Interpretation(Pie Charts), Numbers, Equations, Percentages, Time &
Distance, Geometry & Mensuration, Counting Techniques, Counting
Triangles, Number Series, Blood relations, Venn Diagrams, Situation
Analysis etc.
In
order to answer these questions, good conceptual, mathematical and
reasoning skills are required. Overall,
the difficulty level of the paper was average. Most of the well
prepared students did not have any problem in solving the
paper. The difficulty level of the paper was much lower when compared
with other aptitude exams like CAT. UPSC has not specified minimum
marks for Paper I and II. There is no cutoff declared. UPSC may
consider the grand total of the two papers for the cutoff. It is
estimated that 75-80 marks in this paper will be a good score(By
attempting around 45 questions -(30 easy + 15 medium), with 80%
accuracy, a net score of 75-80 marks is obtainable). All those
students, who had taken coaching from T.I.M.E and had written MOCK
CSAT tests would have found this paper a real cake walk.
The
table below gives the categorization of the questions difficulty
level wise.
LEVEL OF
DIFFICULTY
|
NUMBER OF
QUESTIONS
|
EASY
|
30
|
MEDIUM
|
36
|
DIFFICULT
|
14
|
TOTAL
|
80
|
The
table below gives the broad distribution of the number of questions
area-wise.
TEST
AREA
|
NUMBER
OF QUESTIONS
|
MAXIMUM
POSSIBLE MARKS
|
COMPREHENSION
|
27
|
67.5
|
DECISION
MAKING & PROBLEM SOLVING
|
16
|
40
|
ANALYTICAL
ABILITY & LOGICAL REASONING
|
GENERAL
MENTAL ABILITY
|
28
|
70
|
BASIC
NUMERACY
|
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE COMPREHSNION SKILLS
|
9
|
22.5
|
INTERPERSONAL
SKILLS INCLUDING COMMUNICATION SKILLS
|
-
|
-
|
TOTAL
|
80
|
200
|
|