IC : PTpnrXAT2013 (1)of(9)

SUBJECTIVEANALYSIS
CATv/stheXAT
Academicallyandexperientially,threethingsmakeXATeminentlyabetterexaminationascomparedtotheIIMCAT.
1. TheXATisdesignedbeautifully.Itismoreholistic(becauseoftheEssayandtheGK)ascomparedtotheCAT.Acandidate
reallyneedstodoa360degreespreparation.
2. TheXATisapaperbasedtest,andconductedonasingleday.Thishelpsitretaintheoldworldtouchofacompetitivetest,
withhundredsorthousandsateachtestvenue,unlikethetotallyfizzledoutfeelonegetswhilewritingtheIIMCAT(10or
20peopleinaslotsittinginacomplab).ThecrowdatXATvenuesmakesabigdifferencetoacandidatesmindset,and
perhaps,isinstrumentalinbringingoutthebestinmany.
3. TheDecisionMakingsection,whichtrulystandsapartinitsmeritofjudgingwhattesttakersreallybelievein(thevalue
systemsstuff,andcommonsenseetc.)
TalkingofXAT2013
Theymodifiedthepatternonceagain,andremovedallthedifferentialscoringacrosssections.Thismusthavemadethingsalot
easierwhilestrategizingatthebeginningofthetest.Sinceallquestionscarryequalmarks,theSSSStechniquecanbeapplied
directlyScanandSearchfortherelativelyeasyones,Selectthem(andmarkwithapenorpencil),andSolvethem.Doitasecond
timeforthesecondroundoftougherquestions.Andsoon.
TheXAT2013wasintwoparts:
Part1AptitudeTest140minutescoveredthreesections:VerbalandLogicalAbility,Decisionmaking,QuantitativeAbilityand
DataInterpretation
Part2GeneralKnowledgeandtheEssay.
SeparateOMRsheetswereprovidedforboththestages,somaybethescoreswillbeusedseparately.Nosuretythough!
FIRSTPART
APTITUDETEST
SectionA.VerbalandLogicalAbility(30questions12EU/VA,18RC)
Difficultylevel:Tough.
Wasabrilliantlydesignedsetofquestionsthatcheckedthreeskills:
1. Areyouaregular,seriousreaderinEnglishlanguage?
2. Doyoupayattentiontothesmallthingsthatmatter?
3. Doyouthinkandanalysefactsandfigureswhenyouread,andhaveyouropinion?
The12questionsinEnglishUsage/Verbalweredesignedwithalotofthought.
Thefillintheblankquestionswerequitetricky.Withfiveblanksineachquestion,mostlybasedonarticles(a,an,the),onlythose
withamplereadingpracticecouldhaveattemptedthemsafely!Questionsbasedongrammarandparajumbleswerestraightforward,
butindeedrequiredhigherthannormallanguageskills,forsure!Reasoningquestionsweretough.
TheRCpassagesfourinnumberwerefromthemesasdiverseasthelawsofKarma,Scientificmeasurementandestimation
systems,Freemarketcapitalism,andScientificbeliefsandverification/falsification.Asonecansee,thesearenoteasythemes
thatanyonecanattemptofftheshelf.TheXATrepeatedlyremindsitscandidatesthatifyouhavenotbeenseriouswithlearning
thelanguageoverseveralyears,youwontgetthroughtheportalseasily.InseveralquestionsinRC,theuseofwordslikeimplies
thatandarguablyetc.madethingsmoredifficultaspersonalinterpretationcomesintoplay.Inall,18questionsinRCgavethe
seriousreaderagoodchancetosurgeahead.
Youshouldgetatleast1012correctinthissectiontostandafairchanceatXLRI.Cutofftablegivenattheend
also.
Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) 2013
January 06, 2013
IC : PTpnrXAT2013 (2)of(9)
SectionB.DecisionMaking(25questions)
Difficultylevel:Moderatetotough.
Howdoesamanagerorbusinessleaderworkinreallife?Withallfactsathis/herdisposal?Orwithhalffactsandhalftruths?More
likely,thelatterversionreflectstherealworldssubjectivereality.AndtheDecisionMakingsectionofXATpreciselychecksthis
nuancedabilitytolookbetweenthelines(yes,yes,readalsowilldo),andgobeyondtheobvious.AlittlebitofGK,alittletouch
ofcommonsense,somemaths,andalotofluckissurelyagoodcombinationtocrackmostoftheDMquestions.
Asexpected,thequestionsforcedthestudentstotrymakingpracticaldecisionsorchartaspecificcourseofaction.Thesection
thisyearhadagoodnumberofmathematicalquestionstoo.Manyquestionsreflectedthehappeningsinourcorporateand
nationallife,inrecenttimes.Sothatmadeitslightlyeasytoputaquestionincontext.CommonsensequestionsliketheBankof
Bharatlosingcustomersyetimprovingitssharepricecheckastudentspresenceofmind,andreadingspan(ET,etc.).Questions
onprobabilitywereinterestingandnoteasy.Somequestionswereverylengthy,makingthemunwieldy.TheseweretheRCtype
cases/caselets,againreinforcingthebeliefthatXATreallywantsyoutobegoodatreadingspeedandcomprehension(ok,ok,
thatsthelasttimewesayit).
Youshouldgetatleast810correctinthissectiontostandafairchanceatXLRI.Cutofftablegivenattheendalso.
SectionC.QuantitativeAbilityandDataInterpretation(36questions)
Difficultylevel:Easytomoderate.
ThiswastheeasiestofthethreesectionsinAptitudetest.IfyouhavepreparedfortheCATthoroughly,thenthissectionwasvery
doable.ThetopicswereallstandardArithmetic,Geometry,Statistics,Numbersystem,Algebra,P&CandProbability,Settheory,
andofcourse,DIcaselets.Itisimportanttousetheeliminationofoptionstechniquetoimproveyourchances.Thisissomething
wehavestresseduponinallourPercentileBoosterSessionsalso.
Thegoodpartinthissectionwasthatidentifyingthespeedbreakerswaseasy.Theyshouldhavebeenreallyavoided.Spotting
theeasyonesandattemptingtheminthefirstroundisveryimportant.Itbuildyourconfidenceasyoumovethroughthesection.
TheDIquestionslookedlongandcomplex,butwereeasyifthegraphsweredecipheredwithsomeeffort.
Youshouldgetatleast15correctinthissectiontostandafairchanceatXLRI.Cutofftablegivenattheendalso.
SECONDPART
GKANDESSAYTEST
GeneralAwareness/GK/CurrentAffairs
Difficultylevel:Moderate.
Theexamineristryingtojudgethefollowingthings:AreyoureallyawareofwhatthecorporateworldinIndiaisupto?Doyouhave
ideaofthescaleandscopeofwhatcorporateandorganizationsdo?DoyouknowthatthereisaworldgatheringcalledWEF?Do
yourealizethatbigcompaniesarelistedinarankingcalledFortune500?Areyougenerallyawareofthematerialandsocial
challengesthatpolicymakersface?DoyouknowwhatGDPreallymeans,andhowitisbrokenupinto3majorcomponents?Areyou
awareofthemajorabbreviationsandacronymsinusepresently?Areyouintheloopregardingmajorpoliticalandsocioeconomic
movementsinIndia,andaroundtheworld?Ifyouareaskedtowritethetop10sociopoliticaleconomicheadlinesoftheworld,will
youbeabletodoitcorrectly?
Theoptionswereverycloseinmanyquestions.Thestudentshouldhaveverycarefullyeliminatedsomechoicesbeforegoingto
therightones.Cautionaquestionmaylookeasy,butthecloselyplacedoptionsmaymakeansweringquitedifficult.Hencetake
anextratensecondsbeforejumpingtoconclusions.
Thequestionsclearlyprovethatyouneedtopreparefor12monthspriortotheexam,withadailyreadingofatleasttwoEnglish
newspapers,underexpertsupervision.Wearehappytosharethatalmost100%ofthequestionsthatappearedinXAT2013GK
sectionweredirectlydiscussedinPTclasseswithlotsofexamplesandexplanation.Allthesewerealsouploadedthroughvideos
insidethePTSRC.TherigourwithwhichPThascoveredtheGKsectionisabsolutelyunmatched.
ThetipsforstudentstargetingXAT2014:
1. StartreadingTheEconomicTimes,andTheHindurightfromtoday(1hreach)
2. Tryreadingatleast1businessmagazineregularly.
3. AttendtheentireLTSseriesofPTtotal8lecturesforgettingasolidgriponmajortopics
4. BeregularwiththeGKCAsessionsatPTalsorevisebywatchingthevideosonSRC
5. SolveallthetestsintheSRCputinsidetheGKCAbuilder
6. Attendalltestspecificrevisionsessions
Rememberstudents:Thereisnoalternativetoregularreadingofnewspapers,andregularmentoringbyaprofessionallydesigned
courseandsystem.
Youshouldgetatleast20correctinthissectiontostandafairchanceatXLRI.Cutofftablegivenattheendalso.
IC : PTpnrXAT2013 (3)of(9)
The Essay
CorruptionistherootcauseofeconomicslowdowninIndia200wordsonlyplease:)
Whilethetopiclooksprettydirectandsimple,writingameaningfulessayonitwillbefarfromanythingsimple.Areallygoodeffort
shouldincludethefollowingideas:
DefinitionofwhatCorruptionreallymeans(deviationfromsetpolicies,personalgreed,MahatmaGandhisfamousquote,
etc.)
Definitionofwhateconomicgrowthratemeans(GDPgrowthrate,qualityofliving,purchasingpower,etc.)
Arethetworeallyconnecteddirectlyandindirectly?
WhatdoesgrowthratemeantoanaverageIndiancitizen?
Isthereanyconnectionbetweeninflation,growthrate,andqualityofdaytodaylife?
Examples of leading nations Scandinavian nations, the US, Singapore, Japan, China to probe the relation between
CorruptionandGrowthRatefurther
Citingtherecentexamplestoillustratehowpolicymakingandbigbusinessmaycolludeattimes,atleastintheeyesofthe
mediaandNGOs
RoleofMediainexposingsuchpracticesdoesthatslowthingsdownfurther?
Roleofanactivejudiciaryandcivilsocietyinexposingandtakingactiononsuchnewsdoesthatfurtherslowthingsdown?
Afearpsychosisgrippingthebureaucracyleadingtopolicyparalysis
Isbigbusinessandbigdecisionmakingreally,inherentlycorruptionprone?
Whatarethedifferencesincorruptpracticesbetweenthecentreandstatelevelbodies?
Howdotheanticorruptionbodiesworktheworldover?WhataboutIndiasCAG,CVCetc.?
Yoursuggestionstoimprovethesystem(insyncwithyouroveralltoneintheessay)
Asageneralrule,youshouldmakeagoodstartadramaticquoteisalwaysappreciated.Similarly,youshouldendonagoodnote,
withasolution,andahintofoptimism.
Asyoucansee,thetopiclookseasy,butthequalityofwrittenwordwillvarysignificantly.AtPT,wetriedtocoverallthese
conceptsatagreatlengthinourclasses.Wearesuremanyofourstudentsmusthavepiecedtogethertheideasattherighttime.
Connectingthedots,aswecallit!
OVERALL,adifficulttest,beautifullydesigned,andrequiringthebestofeachcandidate.Pleasegothroughthe
restoftheanalysis,andPredictedCutOffs,andandAnswerKeysbelow.
CUTOFFS
Seetableattheend.
AllthebestKarkedikhayenge!
IC : PTpnrXAT2013 (4)of(9)
Wepresenthereanobjecti veanalysi sof XavierAptitudeTest(XAT) heldonJanuary06,2013in43cities
acrossIndiaand2Internationallocations,Dubai,Kathmandu.
XAT2013concentratedoncheckingthereadingskillsofstudents.Theverbalabilitysection,decisionmaking
section,essaywritingandthenewlyintroducedgeneralawarenesssectionbearatestimonytothat.
Manychangeswereintroducedthisyear.
First,differentialmarkingwasnotthere,i.e.,allquestionscarriedequalmarksandthetotalnumberofquestions
increasedfrom85to91inpartA.So,forastudent,selectionbecameaveryimportantfactor.
Second,inthesecondpartofthepaper,30questionsofgeneralawarenesswereintoduced.
TheDecisionMakingSectionhadveryfewquestionsfromAnalyticalReasoningandthiswasthetrickiestsection.
TheEnglishLanguageAbilityandLogicalReasoningsectionwasofmoderatedifficultylevelandtheQuantitative
Abilitysectionwasmanageableandeasyascomparedtolastyear.ThetopicforEssaywritingwasverygeneral.
OnehadtomarktheanswersontheOMRsheetwithapenunlikesomeotherexams,wherethemedi umof
markingispencil.Sotherewasnochanceofchanginganansweratthelastmoment.Thiswasdangerousforthe
lesspreparedorfortheonesinajiffy!
Thus,thepaperwasfullofsurprises,whichcametolightsectionbysectionin3hrs.
Birds Eye View XAT 2013
Total Number of Questions 91 in PartA and 30 in PartB
Total Time 180 minutes (140 min for PartA and 40 min for PartB)
The Marking Scheme It was mentioned that all questions carry equal marks, and negative marking was 25%
Number of Options 5
Sections/Sectional Time Limit Three sections in PartA and Two in PartB
Essay Writing Topic Corruption is the root cause of economic slowdown in India
Medium of marking Blue or Black pen.
Sectional Breakup
Part Sections Questions
VerbalandLogicalAbility 30
DecisionMaking 25
QuantitativeAbilityandDataInterpretation 36
GeneralAwareness 30
Essay
Total 121
A
B
OBJECTIVEANALYSIS
IC : PTpnrXAT2013 (5)of(9)
Verbal and Logical Ability
This section was of moderate difficulty level. The vocabulary based questions, para jumbles and fill in the blanks were
easy. The reading comprehension based questions and logical reasoning questions were slightly difficult. Their options
were confusing.
The detailed breakup of this section is given below:
Topic No.ofQuestions DifficultyLevel
Logi calReasoning 3 Moderate
Grammar 6 Easy
ParraJumbles 3 Easy
ReadingComprehension 18 ModeratetoDifficult
Total 30 Moderate
A score of 10+ can be considered good in this section.
Decision Making
This section was of higher difficulty level. The questions required the skill of prudent and speedy judgement.
A score of 8+ can be considered good in this section.
Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation
Thi s section was easy. With good sel ection and speed a student could manage to get a hi gh score. DI sets l ooked
lengthy, wi th a lot of data, but could be attempted eaily, because the questions did not require lengthy calculati ons.
The detailed breakup of this section is given below:
Topic No.ofQuestions DifficultyLevel
Arithmetic 5 Easy
Geometry 4 EasytoModerate
Statistics 1 Easy
Numbers 5 Moderate
Algebra 5 Easy
PandCandProbabil ity 2 Moderate
DI 13 EasytoModerate
SetTheory 1 Moderate
Total 36 Easy
A score of 15+ can be considered good in this section.
IC : PTpnrXAT2013 (6)of(9)
General Awareness and Essay Writing
These sections were included in the second part of the paper and were easy to moderate. To score high one needed
a good reading habbit as the fundamental skill. The essay topic was very general, the GA questions laid importance on
current business and economic senario in the country. As observed in previous years, this part of the paper will not be
counted in the cutoff while giving calls, but might play a part during GD PI in XLRI.
A score of 12+ can be considered good in this section.
Sections Topic XLRIBM
XLRI
PMandIR
XIMB
I VAandLA 10+ 8+ 7+
II DM 8+ 6+ 5+
III QAandDI 15+ 13+ 12+
Total 35+ 30+ 27+
EstimatedCutoffs
~Kar ke Dikhayenge~
IC : PTpnrXAT2013 (7)of(9)
ANSWERKEY
Q.No. Question
Correct
option
1 Whetherdueto hasteordesign.. E
2 Ifthereisanyendeavourwhose.. B
3 Businessschoolsareideallypositioned.. C
4 ..wolf,meetingwith.. A
5 batwhofellupon.. D
6 Hegot..nextmorning.. B
7 Tobeagreat managerrequires .. B
8 The tremendousinsightof Einstein.. B
9 Economictheoryfailstoexplain.. D
10 Iwasscarcelyinpositi on.. B
11 Finallyhe tookawrongturn .. C
12 Aschroniclersofanincrementalprocess.. E
13 "Futureexistences"inthe.. D
14 Assertion:Themeaningofkarma.. A
15 Highersatisfactionleads.. C
16 Temporaryfeelingsand.. D
17 Amanagerwentoutothave.. C
18 Supposeyouapplythesamelogic.. A
19 Quickestimate,asperFermi,.. D
20 Givenbelowaresomestatements.. D
21 Atomicbombdetonationwasa result.. E
22 Aspertheparagraph,authorbelieves.. B
23 Aspertheparagraph,whichofthefollowing.. D
24 According totheauthor,A.GeorgeSoros.. C
25 AccordingtotheauthorA.Ideasof critical.. E
26 Theworddeterministi c. D
27 AccordingtoPopper. D
28 Thestatement,"this'asymmetry'. E
29 Verificationisbetterthan. D
30 Falsificati ongivesusan. A
31 Overthelast five.. C
32 Gastricbypasssurgery.. A
33 StatementI:Onlinestoreaccounted.. C
34 Whati stheprofit/loss.. D
35 Whichretailformatis.. B
36 Whichretai lformatgivesthe.. A
37 Isitpossiblefortheteacher.. C
38 Threegoodstudentswere.. C
39 Studentsfromfoursections.. E
40 Thereisalotofinterestin.. A
VerbalandLogicalAbility
DecisionMaking
IC : PTpnrXAT2013 (8)of(9)
Q.No. Question
Correct
option
41 Maratheshouldtransfer Kale.. A
42 Marathesoughtanappointment.. E
43 AGovernmentofIndiastudy.. A
44 Vardarajandoesnotfind thework.. E
45 GiveVardaraj anamorechallenging.. C
46 Youoverheardaconversation.. B
47 People'slatentangeragainst.. B
48 Thecommonmanhadbecome.. C
49 Mediareportssuggested.. E
50 Subsequently,theminister.. B
51 Lookingatthepublicunrest.. E
52 IfyouwereVijya.. E
53 Itwasfoundthatalargesecti on.. D
54 Asapotentialentrant.. B
55 Vijyafoundthatthereweremanysuch.. D
56 Prof.Mandalwalkstothe.. D
57 Atthecentreofacity's.. A
58 Mr.Mehraisplanning.. E
59 Themeanofsix positive.. D
60 Rameshboughtatotal of.. E
61 Sarahasjustj oinedFacebook .. B
62 Albela,Bob andChulbul.. A
63 ThetaxisplayinnginWasseypur.. C
64 Considertheexpression.. E
65 Arunhastotogotothe.. B
66 However,Arun'smanagerhastold.. E
67 Theradiusofacircle.. A
68 Sixplayingcardsare.. E
69 70%ofthestudents.. B
70 pandqarepositivenumbers.. D
71 Ram,ShyamandHari.. A
72 Thecentralparkoftheci ty.. A
73 In asquarePQRS.. C
74 Howmanywholenumber .. B
75 p,qandr .. C
76 Anumberisinteresting .. E
77 Considertheexpression(xxx)b.. E
78 103and7aretheonly.. C
79 Considerafunctionf(x) .. D
80 Inthecountryoffour.. B
81 Thefigurebelowshowsthegraph.. C
82 Consideringawaymatchesonlywhichofthefollowing teams.. D
83 Consideringawaymatchesonlytheleastnumberofteams.. D
QuantitativeAbilityandDataInterpretation
IC : PTpnrXAT2013 (9)of(9)
Q.No. Question
Correct
option
84 Letusdefinea term.. A
85 Howmanyunique values.. B
86 Whichisthefastesttrain betweenHHH.. D
87 Whichisthefastest trainbetweenAAA.. A
88 IfyouhavetotravelfromAAA.. D
89 Whatistheratioofthecurrent.. E
90 Exportsweremore.. C
91 Whatwastheapproximate.. A
1 Whichofthe followingIndiancompanies. A
2 Whichofthese bodies. A
3 CPIandWPI . C
4 WhatisDavosfamous. D
5 Whichof thefollowingsaremillenium. E
6 Whichofcountries inEurope. D
7 Whichofthefollowingcountrieswouldaccount. B
8 Whichof thefollowingwasnotthereason. E
9 Whichoffollowings combination. A
10 Earthsummitisheld.. B
11 Whichofthefollowingcountriesmeetmore.. B
12 Picktherightmatchfrom. A
13 Hari shHandewhowon. E
14 Indiangovernmentisplanning E
15 Whoisthechairmanof. C
16 Givenbelowaresomewellknownawards E
17 Afewcombinationsofnameofthecompani es. B
18 Excisedutyisatax. D
19 Fromwhichofthefollowingitems. D
20 Whichofthefollowingassets C
21 Whichofthefollowingistherightmatchfor. *
22 WhichofthefollowingAfrican countries. A
23 Whichofthe followingeducationinstitutions E
24 Whichcountrywasthehighest. E
25 Whatistheapproximateshare.. D
26 Whichofthefollowingcombinations.. A
27 Forwhichofthefollowingreasons C
28 Whatisthemeaningofoneunit C
29 Whoistheauthorof.. B
30 VKurienwas. A
GeneralAwareness
*Noneoftheoptionsiscorrect