CAT CBT 2 With Detailed Solutions

CAT CBT 2 [CAT, 23rd Nov 2003]
NO. OF QUESTIONS: 60
SECTION I
VERBAL REASONING & LOGICAL REASONING SECTION
Maximum time allowed: 70 minutes. Each question carries one mark. Each wrong answer
would invite a 1/4th negative mark.
DIRECTIONS for Questions 1 to 3: The sentences given in each question, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labeled with a letter. Choose the most
logical order of sentences from among the given choices to construct a coherent paragraph.
Question 1
A. Four days later, Oracle announced its own bid for PeopleSoft, and invited the firm’s board to a
discussion.
B. Furious that his own plans had been endangered, PeopleSoft’s boss, Craig Conway, called Oracle’s offer “
diabolical”, and its boss, Larry Ellison, a “sociopath”.
C. In early June, PeopleSoft said that it would buy J.D.Edwards, a smaller rival.
D. Moreover, said Mr. Conway, he “could imagine no price nor combination of price and other conditions to
recommend accepting the offer.”
E. On June 12th , PeopleSoft turned down Oracle
1. CABDE 2. CADBE 3. CEDAB 4. CAEBD
Question 2
A. A few months ago I went to Princeton University to see what the young people who are going to be
running our country in a few decades are like.
B. I would go to sleep in my hotel room around midnight each night, and when I awoke, my mailbox would
be full of replies – sent at 1:15 a.m., 2:59 a.m., 3:23 a.m.
C. One senior told me that she went to bed around two and woke up each morning at seven; she could
afford that much rest because she had learned to supplement her full day of work by studying in her sleep.
D. Faculty members gave me the names of a few dozen articulate students, and I sent them e-mails,
inviting them out to lunch or dinner in small groups.
E. As she was falling asleep she would recite a math problem or a paper topic to herself; she would then
sometimes dream about it, and when she woke up, the problem might be solved.
1. DABCE 2. DACEB 3. ADBCE 4. AECBD
Question 3
A. I am much more intolerant of a human being’s shortcomings than I am of an animal’s, but in this respect
I have been lucky, for most of the people I have come across have been charming.
B. Then you come across the unpleasant human animal – the District Officer who drawled, ‘We chaps are
here to help you chaps,’ and then proceeded to be as obstructive as possible.
C. In these cases of course, the fact that you are an animal collector helps; people always seem delighted
to meet someone with such an unusual occupation and go out of their way to assist you.
D. Fortunately, these types are rare, and the pleasant ones I have met more than compensated for them –
but even so, I think I will stick to animals.
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E. When you travel round the world collecting animals you also, of necessity, collect human beings.
1. EACBD 2. ABDCE 3. ECBDA 4. ACBDE
DIRECTIONS for Questions 4 to 6: There are two gaps in each of the following sentences. From the
pairs of words given, choose the one that fills the gaps most appropriately. The first word in the pair should
fill the first gap.
Question 4
The British retailer, M&S, today formally ___________ defeat in its attempt to ___________ King’s, its US
subsidiary, since no potential purchasers were ready to cough up the necessary cash.
1. admitted, acquire 2. conceded, offload
2. announced, dispose 4. ratified, auction
Question 5
Early ________of maladjustment to college culture is ____________ by the tendency to develop friendship
networks outside college which mask signals of maladjustment.
1. treatment, compounded 2. detection, facilitated
3. identification, complicated 4. prevention, helped
Question 6
The ______ regions of Spain all have unique cultures, but the _______ views within each region make the
issue of an acceptable common language of instruction an even more contentious one.
1. different, discrete 2. distinct, disparate
3. divergent, distinct 4. different, competing
DIRECTIONS for Questions 7 and 8: In each of the questions, four different ways of presenting an idea
are given. Choose the one that conforms most closely to Standard English usage.
Question 7
A. The running of large businesses consist of getting somebody to make something that somebody else sold
to somebody else for more than its cost.
B. The running of a large business consists of getting somebody to make something that somebody else will
sell to somebody else for more than it costs.
C. The running of a large business consists of getting somebody to sell something that somebody else
made for more than it cost.
D. The running of large businesses consist of getting somebody to make something else that somebody
else will sell to somebody else for more than it costs.
1. A 2. B 3. C 4. D
Question 8
(A) From the sixteenth century onwards, people started feeling disdainful and self-conscious about their
body and its products that led to a heightened focus on emotional and bodily regulations.
(B) The heightened focus on controlling the body and emotions comes from disdain and self-consciousness
about the body and its products, found in the sixteenth century.
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(C) From the sixteenth century onwards, a growing disdain for and self-consciousness about the body and
its products took hold, leading to a heightened focus on emotional and bodily regulation.
(D) The heightened focus on emotional and bodily regulations started from the sixteenth century onwards,
when people felt disdain and self-consciousness about the body and its products.
1. A 2. B 3. C 4. D
DIRECTIONS for Questions 9 and 10: In each question, the word at the top of the table is used in four
different ways, numbered 1 to 4. Choose the option in which the usage of the word is INCORRECT or
INAPPROPRIATE.
Question 9
Bundle
1 The newborn baby was a bundle of joy for the family.
2 Mobile operators are offering a bundle of additional benefits
3 He made a bundle in the share market.
4 It was sheer luck that brought a bundle of boy-scouts to where I was lying wounded.
Question 10
Distinct
1 He is distinct about what is right and what is wrong.
2 Mars became distinct on the horizon in the month of August.
3 The distinct strains of Ravi’s violin could be heard above the general din.
4 Ghoshbabu’s is a distinct case of water rising above its own level.
DIRECTIONS for Questions 11 to 20: Each of the two passages given below is followed by five
questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
PASSAGE I
At the heart of the enormous boom in wine consumption that taken place in the English-speaking world
over the last two decades or so is a fascinating, happy paradox. In the days when wine was exclusively the
preserve of a narrow cultural elite, bought either at auctions or from gentleman wine merchants in wing
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collars and bow-ties, to be stored in rambling cellars and decanted to order by one’s butler, the ordinary
drinker didn’t get a look-in. Wine was considered a highly technical subject, in which anybody without the
necessary ability could only fall flat on his or her face in embarrassment. It wasn’t just that you needed a
refined aesthetic sensibility for the stuff if it wasn’t to be hopelessly wasted on you. It required an intimate
knowledge of what came from where, and what it was supposed to taste like.
Those were times, however, when wine appreciation essentially meant a familiarity with the great French
classics, with perhaps, a smattering of other wines – like sherry and port. That was what the wine trade
dealt in. These days, wine is bought daily in supermarkets and high-street chains to be consumed that
evening, hardly anybody has a cellar to store it in and most don’t even posses a decanter. Above all, the
wines of literally dozens of countries are available on our market. When a supermarket offers its customer a
couple of fruity little numbers from Brazil, we scarcely raise an eyebrow.
It seems, in other words, that the commercial jungle that wine has now become has not in the slightest
deterred people from plunging adventurously into the thickets in order to taste and see. Consumers are no
longer intimidated by the thought of needing to know their Pouilly-Fume from their Pouilly-Fuisse, just at
the very moment when there is more to know than ever before.
The reason for this new mood of confidence is not hard to find. It is on every wine label from Australia,
New Zealand, South Africa and the United States: the name of the grape from which the wine is made. At
one time that might have sounded like a fairly technical approach in itself. Why should native English-
speakers know what Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay were? The answer lies in the popularity that wines
made from those grape varieties now enjoy. Consumers effectively recognize them as brand names, and
have acquired a basic lexicon of wine that can serve them even when confronted with those Brazilian
upstarts.
In the wine heartlands of France, they are scared to death of that trend – not because they think their wine
isn’t as good as the best from California or South Australia (what French winemaker will ever admit that?)
but because they don’t traditionally call their wines Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. They call them
Chateau Ducru–Beaucaillou or Corton-Charlemagne, and they aren’t about to change. Some areas, in the
middle of southern France, have now produced a generation of growers using the varietal names on their
labels and are tempting consumers back to French wine. It will be an uphill struggle, but there is probably
no other way if France is to avoid simply becoming a specialty source of old-fashioned connoisseurs.
Wine consumption was also given a significant boost in the early 1990s by the work of Dr.Serge Renaud,
who has spent many years investigating the reasons for the uncannily low incidence of coronary heart
disease in the south of France. One of his major findings is that the fat-derived cholesterol that builds up in
the arteries and can eventually lead to heart trouble, can be dispersed by the tannins in wine. Tannin is
derived from the skins of grapes, and is therefore present in higher levels in red wines, because they have
to be infused with their skins to attain the red colour. That news caused a huge upsurge in red wine
consumption in the United States. It has not been accorded the prominence it deserves in the UK, largely
because the medical profession still sees all alcohol as a menace to health, and is constantly calling for it to
be made prohibitively expensive. Certainly, the manufacturers of anticoagulant drugs might have something
to lose if we all got the message that we would do just as well by our hearts by taking half a bottle of red
wine every day!
Question 11
The tone that the author uses while asking “ What French winemaker will ever admit that?” is best
described as
1. caustic 2. satirical 3. critical 4. hypocritical
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Question 12
Which one of the following CANNOT be reasonably attributed to the labelling strategy followed by wine
producers in English-speaking countries?
1. Consumers buy wines on the basis of their familiarity with a grape variety’s name.
2. Even ordinary customers now have more access to technical knowledge about wine.
3. Consumers are able to appreciate better quality wines.
4. Some non-English speaking countries like Brazil indicate grape variety names on their labels.
Question 13
Which one of the following, if true, would provide most support for Dr. Renaud’s findings about the effect
of tannins?
1. A survey showed that film celebrities based in France have a low incidence of coronary heart disease.
2. Measurements carried out in southern France showed red wine drinkers had significantly higher levels of
coronary heart incidence than white wine drinkers did.
3. Data showed a positive association between sales of red wine and incidence of coronary heart disease.
4. Long-term surveys in southern France showed that the incidence of coronary heart disease was
significantly lower in red wine drinkers than in those who did not drink red wine.
Question 14
The development which has created fear among winemakers in the wine heartlands of France is the
1. tendency not to name wines after the grape varieties that are used in the wines.
2. ‘education’ that consumers have derived from wine labels from English-speaking countries.
3. new generation of local winegrowers who use labels that show names of grape varieties.
4. ability of consumers to understand a wine’s qualities when confronted with “Brazilian upstarts”.
Question 15
What according to the author should the French do to avoid becoming a producer of merely old-fashioned
wines?
1. Follow the labelling strategy of the English-speaking countries.
2. Give their wines English names.
3. Introduce fruity wines as Brazil has done.
4. Produce the wines that have become popular in the English-speaking world.
PASSAGE II
Right through history, imperial powers have clung to their possessions to death. Why, then, did Britain in
1947 give up the jewel in its crown, India? For many reasons. The independence struggle exposed the
hollowness of the white man’s burden. Provincial self-rule since 1935 paved the way for full self-rule.
Churchill resisted independence, but the labour government of Atlee was anti-imperialist by ideology,
finally, the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in 1946 raised fears of a second Sepoy mutiny, and convinced British
waverers that it was safer to withdraw gracefully. But politico-military explanations are not enough. The
basis of empire was always money. The end of empire had much to do with the fact that British imperialism
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had ceased to be profitable. World War II left Britain victorious but deeply indebted, needing Marshall Aid
and loans from the World Bank. This constituted a strong financial case for ending the no-longer-profitable
empire.
Empire building is expensive. The US is spending one billion dollars a day in operations in Iraq that fall well
short of full-scale imperialism. Through the centuries, empire building was costly, yet constantly undertaken
because it promised high returns. The investment was in armies and conquest. The returns came through
plunder and taxes from the conquered.
No immorality was attached to imperial loot and plunder. The biggest conquerors were typically revered
(hence titles like Alexander the Great, Akbar the Great, and Peter the Great). The biggest and richer the
empire, the more the plunderer was admired. This mindset gradually changed with the rise of new ideas
about equality and governing for the public good, ideas that culminated in the French and American
revolutions. Robert Clive was impeached for making a little money on the side, and so was Warren
Hastings. The white man’s burden came up as a new moral rationale for conquest. It was supposedly for
the good of the conquered. This led to much muddled hypocrisy. On the one hand, the empire needed to
be profitable. On the other hand, the white man’s burden made loot impossible.
An additional factor deterring loot was the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. Though crushed, it reminded the British
vividly that they were a tiny ethnic group who could not rule a gigantic subcontinent without the support of
important locals. After 1857, the British stopped annexing one princely state after another, and instead
treated the princes as allies. Land revenue was fixed in absolute terms, partly to prevent local unrest and
partly to promote the notion of the white man’s burden. The empire proclaimed itself to be a protector of
the Indian peasant against exploitation by Indian elites. This was denounced as hypocrisy, by nationalists
like Dadabhoy Naoroji in the 19th century, who complained that land taxes led to an enormous drain from
India to Britain. Objective calculations by historians like Angus Maddison suggest a drain of perhaps 1.6
percent of Indian Gross National Product in the 19th century. But land revenue was more or less fixed by
the Raj in absolute terms, and so its real value diminished rapidly with inflation in the 20th century. By
World War II, India had ceased to be a profit centre for the British Empire.
Historically, conquered nations paid taxes to finance fresh wars of the conqueror. India itself was asked to
pay a large sum at the end of World War I to help repair Britain’s finances. But, as shown by historians
Indivar Kamtekar, the independence movement led by Gandhiji changed the political landscape, and made
mass taxation of India increasingly difficult. By World War II, this had become politically impossible. Far
from taxing India to pay for World War II, Britain actually began paying India for its contribution of men
and goods. Troops from white dominions like Australia, Canada and New Zealand were paid for entirely by
these countries, but Indian costs were shared by the British government. Britain paid in the form of non-
convertible sterling balances, which mounted swiftly. The conqueror was paying the conquered,
undercutting the profitability on which all empire is founded. Churchill opposed this, and wanted to tax
India rather than owe it money. But he was overruled by India hands who said India would resist payment,
and paralyse the war effort. Leo Amery, Secretary of State for India, said that when you are driving a taxi
to the station to catch a life-or-death train, you do not loudly announce that you have doubts whether to
pay the fare. Thus, World War II converted India from a debtor to a creditor with over one billion pounds in
sterling balances. Britain, meanwhile, became the biggest debtor in the world. It’s not worth ruling over
people you are afraid to tax.
Question 16
Which one of the following best expresses the main purpose of the author?
1. To present the various reasons that can lead to the collapse of an empire and the granting of
independence to the subjects of an empire.
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2. To point out the critical role played by the ‘white man’s burden’ in making a colonising power give up its
claims to native possessions.
3. To highlight the contradictory impulse underpinning empire building which is a costly business but very
attractive at the same time.
4. To illustrate how erosion of the financial basis of an empire supports the granting of independence to an
empire’s constituents.
Question 17
Which of the following was NOT a reason for the emergence of the ‘white man’s burden’ as a new rationale
for empire-building in India?
1. The emergence of the idea of the public good as an element of governance.
2. The decreasing returns from imperial loot and increasing costs of conquest.
3. The weakening of the immorality attached to an emperor’s looting behaviour.
4. A growing awareness of the idea of equality among peoples.
Question 18
Which of the following best captures the meaning of the ‘white man’s burden’, as it is used by the author?
1. The British claim to a civilizing mission directed at ensuring the good of the natives.
2. The inspiration for the French and American revolutions.
3. The resource drain that had to be borne by the home country’s white population.
4. An imperative that made open looting of resources impossible.
Question 19
What was the main lesson the British learned from the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857?
1. That the local princes were allies, not foes.
2. That the land revenue from India would decline dramatically.
3. That the British were a small ethnic group.
4. That India would be increasingly difficult to rule.
Question 20
Why didn’t Britain tax India to finance its World War II efforts?
1. Australia, Canada and New Zealand had offered to pay for Indian troops.
2. India had already paid a sufficiently large sum during World War I.
3. It was afraid that if India refused to pay, Britain’s war efforts would be jeopardised.
4. The British empire was built on the premise that the conqueror pays the conquered.
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DIRECTIONS for Questions 21 to 23: Answer the questions on the basis of the information given
below.
Seven varsity basketball players (A, B, C, D, E, F and G) are to be honoured at a special luncheon. The
players will be seated on the dais in a row. A and G have to leave the luncheon early and so must be seated
at the extreme right. B will receive the most valuable player’s trophy and so must be in the centre to
facilitate presentation. C and D are bitter rivals and therefore must be seated as far apart as possible.
Question 21
Which of the following cannot be seated at either end?
1. C 2. D 3. F 4. G
Question 22
Which of the following pairs cannot be seated together?
1. B & D 2. C & F 3. D & G 4. E & A
Question 23
Which of the following pairs cannot occupy the seats on either side of B?
1. F & D 2. D & E 3. E & G 4. C & F
below.
A, B, C, D, E, and F are a group of friends. There are two housewives, one professor, one engineer, one
accountant and one lawyer in the group. There are only two married couples in the group. The lawyer is
married to D, who is a housewife. No woman in the group is either an engineer or an accountant. C, the
accountant, is married to F, who is a professor. A is married to a housewife. E is not a housewife.
Question 24
Which of the following is one of the married couples?
1. A & B 2. B & E 3. D & E 4. A & D
Question 25
What is E’s profession?
1. Engineer 2. Lawyer 3. Professor 4. Accountant
Question 26
How many members of the group are males?
1. 2 2. 3 3. 4 4. Cannot be determined
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DIRECTIONS for Questions 27 to 30: In each question there are two statements: A and B.
Choose 1 if the question can be answered by one of the statements alone but not by the other.
Choose 2 if the question can be answered by using either statement alone.
Choose 3 if the question can be answered by using both the statements together but cannot be
answered using either statement alone.
Choose 4 if the question cannot be answered even by using both the statements A and B.
Question 27
F and M are father and mother of S, respectively. S has four uncles and three aunts. F has two siblings. The
siblings of F and M are unmarried. How many brothers does M have?
A. F has two brothers.
B. M has five siblings.
Question 28
A game consists of tossing a coin successively. There is an entry fee of Rs. 10 and an additional fee of Re. 1
for each toss of the coin. The game is considered to have ended normally when the coin turns heads on
two consecutive throws. In this case the player is paid Rs. 100. Alternatively, the player can choose to
terminate the game prematurely after any of the tosses. Ram has incurred a loss of Rs. 50 by playing this
game. How many times did he toss the coin?
A. The game ended normally.
B. The total number of tails obtained in the game was 138.
Question 29
Each packet of SOAP costs Rs. 10. Inside each packet is a gift coupon labelled with one of the letters S, O,
A, and P. If a customer submits four such coupons that make up the word SOAP, the customer gets a free
SOAP packet. Ms.X kept buying packet of SOAP till she could get one set of coupons that formed the word
SOAP. How many coupons with label P did she get in the above process?
A. The last label obtained by her was S and the total amount spent was Rs. 210.
B. The total number of vowels obtained was 18.
Question 30
If A and B run a race, then A wins by 60 seconds. If B and C run the same race, then B wins by 30 seconds.
Assuming that C maintains a uniform speed what is the time taken by C to finish the race?
A. A and C run the same race and A wins by 375 metres.
B. The length of the race is 1 km.
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SECTION II
QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE & DATA INTERPRETATION SECTION
Maximum time allowed: 70 minutes. Each question carries one mark. Each wrong answer
would invite a 1/4th negative mark.
DIRECTIONS for Questions 31 to 33: In each question, there are two statements: A and B, either of
which can be true or false on the basis of the information given below. A research agency collected the
following data regarding the admission process of a reputed management school in India.
Year Gender Number bought Number appeared Number called for interviews Number selected
application forms for written test for the course
Male 61205 59981 684 171

2002 Female 19236 15389 138 48
Male 63298 60133 637 115
2003 Female 45292 40763 399 84
Choose 1 if only A is true
Choose 2 if only B is true
Choose 3 if both A and B are true
Choose 4 if neither A nor B is true
Question 31
Statement A: The success rate of moving from written test to interview stage for males was worse than for
females in 2003.
Statement B: The success rate of moving from written test to interview stage for females was better in
2002 than in 2003.
Question 32
Statement A: In 2002, the number of females selected for the course as a proportion of the number of
females who bought application forms, was higher than the corresponding proportion for males.
Statement B: In 2002, among those called for interview, males had a greater success rate than females.
Question 33
Statement A: The percentage of absentees in the written test among females decreased from 2002 to
2003.
Statement B: The percentage of absentees in the written test among males was larger than among females
in 2003.
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below.
Table A below provides data about ages of children in a school. For the age given in the first column, the
second column gives the number of children not exceeding that age. For example, first entry indicates that
there are 9 children aged 4 years or less. Table B and C provide data on the heights and weights
respectively of the same group of children in a similar format. Assuming that an older child is always taller
and weighs more than a younger child, answer the following questions.
Table A Table B Table C
Age (Years) Number Height (cm.) Number Weight (kg.) Number
4 9 115 6 30 8
5 12 120 11 32 13
6 22 125 24 34 17
7 35 130 36 36 28
8 42 135 45 38 33
9 48 140 53 40 46
10 60 145 62 42 54
11 69 150 75 44 67
12 77 155 81 46 79
13 86 160 93 48 91
14 100 165 100 50 100
Question 34
What is the number of children of age 9 years or less whose height does not exceed 135 cm?
1. 48 2. 45 3. 3 4. Cannot be determined.
Question 35
How many children of age more than 10 years are taller than 150 cm and do not weigh more than 48 kg?
Question 36
Among the children older than 6 years but not exceeding 12 years, how many weigh more than 38 kg?
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DIRECTIONS for Questions 37 and 38: Answer the questions on the basis of the information given
below.
An industry comprises four firms (A, B, C, and D). Financial details of these firms and of the industry as a
whole for a particular year are given below. Profitability of a firm is defined as profit as a percentage of
sales.
Figures in Rs. A B C D Total
Sales 24568 25468 23752 15782 89570
Operating 17198 19101 16151 10258 62708

costs
Interest costs 2457 2292 2850 1578 9177
Profit 4914 4075 4750 3946 17684
Question 37
Which firm has the highest profitability?
1. A 2. B 3. C 4. D
Question 38
If Firm A acquires Firm B, approximately what percentage of the total market (total sales) will they corner
together?
1. 55% 2. 45% 3. 35% 4. 50%
DIRECTIONS for Questions 39 and 40: Answer the questions on the basis of the information given
below.
Some children were taking free throws at the basketball court in school during lunch break. Below are some
facts about how many baskets these children shot.
i. Ganesh shot 8 baskets less than Ashish.
ii. Dhanraj and Ramesh together shot 37 baskets.
iii. Jugraj shot 8 baskets more than Dhanraj.
iv. Ashish shot 5 baskets more than Dhanraj.
V. Ashish and Ganesh together shot 40 baskets.
Question 39
Which of the following statements is true?
1. Ramesh shot 18 baskets and Dhanraj shot 19 baskets.
2. Ganesh shot 24 baskets and Ashish shot 16 baskets.
3. Jugraj shot 19 baskets and Dhanraj shot 27 baskets.
4. Dhanraj shot 11 baskets and Ashish shot 16 baskets.
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Question 40
Which of the following statements is true?
1. Dhanraj and Jugraj together shot 46 baskets.
2. Ganesh shot 18 baskets and Ramesh shot 21 baskets.
3. Dhanraj shot 3 more baskets than Ramesh.
4. Ramesh and Jugraj together shot 29 baskets.
Question 41
When the curves y = log10 x and y = x-1 are drawn in the x-y plane, how many times do they intersect for
values x≥1?
1. Never 2. Once 3. Twice 4. More than twice
Question 42
The sum of 3rd and 15th elements of an arithmetic progression is equal to the sum of 6th, 11th and 13th
elements of the same progression. Then which element of the series should necessarily be equal to zero?
1. 1st 2. 9th 3. 12th 4. None of the above
Question 43
A test has 50 questions. A student scores 1 mark for a correct answer, -1/3 for a wrong answer, and –1/6
for not attempting a question. If the net score of a student is 32, the number of questions answered
wrongly by that student cannot be less than
1. 6 2. 12 3. 3 4. 9
Question 44
Twenty-seven persons attend a party. Which one of the following statements can never be true?
1. There is a person in the party who is acquainted with all the twenty-six others.
2. Each person in the party has a different number of acquaintances.
3. There is a person in the party who has an odd number of acquaintances.
4. In the party, there is no set of three mutual acquaintances.
Question 45
How many even integers n, where 100≤ n≤ 200, are divisible neither by seven nor by nine?
1. 40 2. 37 3. 39 4. 38
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Question 46
Which one of the following conditions must p, q and r satisfy so that the following system of linear
simultaneous equations has at least one solution, such that p+q+r≠0?
x + 2y – 3z = p
2x + 6y – 11z = q
x - 2y + 7z = r
1. 5p – 2q – r = 0 2. 5p + 2q + r = 0 3. 5p + 2q – r = 0 4. 5p – 2q + r = 0
Question 47
The function f(x) = x – 2 + 2.5 – x + 3.6 – x , where x is a real number, attains a minimum at
1. x = 2.3 2. x = 2.5 3. x = 2.7 4. None of these
Question 48
Let g(x) = max (5-x, x+2). The smallest possible value of g(x) is
1. 4.0 2. 4.5 3. 1.5 4. None of the above
Question 49
A positive whole number M less than 100 is represented in base 2 notation, base 3 notation, and base 5
notation. It is found that in all three cases the last digit is 1, while in exactly two out of the three cases the
leading digit is 1. Then M equals
1. 31 2. 63 3. 75 4. 91
Question 50
A leather factory produces two kinds of bags, standard and deluxe. The profit margin is Rs. 20 on a
standard bag and Rs. 30 on a deluxe bag. Every bag must be processed on machine A and on machine B.
The processing times per bag on the two machines are as follows:
Time required (Hours/bag)

Machine A Machine B
Standard Bag 4 6
Deluxe Bag 5 10
The total time available on machine A is 700 hours and on Machine B is 1250 hours. Among the following
production plans, which one meets the machine availability constraints and maximizes the profit?
1. Standard 75 bags, Deluxe 80 bags 2. Standard 100 bags, Deluxe 60 bags

3. Standard 50 bags, Deluxe 100 bags 4. Standard 60 bags, Deluxe 90 bags
Question 51
In a 4000 meter race around a circular stadium having a circumference of 1000 meters, the fastest runner
and the slowest runner reach the same point at the end of the 5th minute, for the first time after the start of
the race. All the runners have the same starting point and each runner maintains a uniform speed
throughout the race. If the fastest runner runs at twice the speed of the slowest runner, what is the time
taken by the fastest runner to finish the race?
1. 20 min 2. 15 min 3. 10 min 4. 5 min
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DIRECTIONS for Questions 52 to 60: Answer the questions independently of each other.
Question 52
Each side of a given polygon is parallel to either the X or the Y-axis. A corner of such a polygon is said to be
convex if the internal angle is 900 or concave if the internal angle is 2700. If the number of convex corners
in such a polygon is 25, the number of concave corners must be:
1. 20 2. 0 3. 21 4. 22
Question 53
Let p and q be the roots of the quadratic equation x2 – (∞ - 2) x - ∞ - 1 = 0. What is the minimum possible
value of p2+q2?
1. 0 2. 3 3. 4 4. 5
Question 54
The 288th term of the series a,b,b,c,c,c,d,d,d,d,e,e,e,e,e,f,f,f,f,f,f…is

1. u 2. v 3. w 4. x
Question 55
There are two concentric circles such that the area of the outer circle is four times the area of the inner
circle. Let A, B and C be three distinct points on the perimeter of the outer circle such that AB and AC are
tangents to the inner circle. If the area of the outer circle is 12 square centimetres then the area (in square
centimetre) of the triangle ABC would be
1. π√12 2. 9/π 3. 9√3/π 4. 6√3/π
Question 56
Let a, b, c, d be four integers such that a+b+c+d = 4m + 1 where m is a positive integer. Given m, which
one of the following is necessarily true?
1. The minimum possible value of a2 + b2 + c2+ d2 is 4m2 – 2m + 1

2. The minimum possible value of a2 + b2 + c2+ d2 is 4m2 + 2m + 1
3. The maximum possible value of a2 + b2 + c2+ d2 is 4m2 – 2m + 1
4. The maximum possible value of a2 + b2 + c2+ d2 is 4m2 + 2m + 1
Question 57
In the figure below, ABCDEF is a regular hexagon and Angle AOF = 900. FO is parallel to ED.
What is the ratio of the area of the triangle AOF to that of the hexagon ABCDEF?
A B
F O C
E D
1. 1/12 2. 1/6 3. 1/24 4. 1/18
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Question 58
The number of non-negative real roots of 2x – x – 1 = 0 equals
1. 0 2. 1 3. 2 4. 3
Question 59
In a triangle ABC, AB = 6, BC = 8 and AC = 10. A perpendicular dropped from B, meets the side AC at D. A
circle of radius BD (with centre B) is drawn. If the circle cuts AB and BC at P and Q respectively, then AP:
QC is equal to
1. 1:1 2. 3:2 3. 4:1 4. 3:8
Question 60
In the diagram given below, Angle ABD = Angle CDB= Angle PQD = 900. If AB:CD = 3:1, the ratio of
CD:PQ is
1. 1:0.69 2. 1:0.75 3. 1:0.72 4. None of the above
C
P
B Q D
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Detailed Solutions to CAT CBT 2 [CAT, 23rd Nov 2003]
Answer 1
In Statement B, Conway expresses some strong views about Oracle’s offer and its boss. In D, Conway says
something more than this (as seen from the word moreover.) Thus D follows B. We have only two options
to see now: 1 and 4. What would decide is whether E concludes the sequence or D. Statement E talks
about PeopleSoft turning down Oracle – meaning Peoplesoft saying no to Oracle’s bid to buy it. Statement
A talks about a bid made by Oracle to buy Peoplesoft. If D were to end the sequence as in Option 4, then
Peoplesoft have turned down the proposal first and thereafter analysed the proposal since in Statement D
Peoplesoft’s boss gives the reasons why the proposal should be turned down. Thus E ends the sequence
and hence it is CABDE at Option 1.
Answer 2
There are only two possible options in regard to the opening statement: A and D. Faculty members at
Statement D come suddenly if D were to start the sequence. What faculty members? From which university
or college? Statement A talks about Princeton University. Thus A starts the sequence. The mailbox being
referred to at B is the e-mail box. If the mailbox in B is full, these are replies to e-mails sent earlier in
Statement D. So B immediately follows D. So far it is A and then DB. One can stop here because only
Option 3 will fit.
Answer 3
The fellow discusses collecting animals and human beings. He finds some human beings pleasant and some
unpleasant. At the end of it all (in Statement D), he decides to stick to animals, meaning he would collect
animals only. This is the conclusion that he draws at the end of it all. For the very reason that a conclusion
should end a logical sequence, D should end this sequence. Hence only Option 1 will work.
Answer 4
M&S were not able to find potential purchasers. This means M&S were trying to sell something. This means
Option 1 will not work since M&S would be trying to buy something if they were acquiring. Secondly, when
a chap is defeated, he does not announce defeat. You will seldom find any rational person shouting: “I
have been defeated”. The loser admits, accepts or concedes defeat. A defeat, by its very nature, is
something that the defeated person does not shout about from rooftops. This means the word in the first
blank could be either admitted or conceded. While Option 1 has the word admitted, Option 1 is not
workable for the reason outlined above. So only Option 2 will work.
About ratifying defeat, one can ratify (or, in other words, treat as something that is correctly done)
something that someone else has done on his behalf without his prior knowledge or approval. For example,
imagine that my brother and I have inherited some property. We want to sell it for a decent price. I have
been away on tour when a buyer turns up with a decent offer. My brother does not want to miss this
opportunity. If he were to finalise sale, I would ratify (or, in other words, treat as correct) what he has
done because it is in my interest as well. Thus one ratifies what others have done. However, if one has to
lose, one has to lose by oneself. You cannot assign the job, say, of losing a boxing match to someone else.
You have to take the punches on your own jaw and when you feel that you have had enough, you lie down
on the mat and not open your eyes till the referee counts ten.
Answer 5
Look at the statement that says friendship networks outside college mask maladjustment. Who wears a
mask? Someone who does not want to be identified! Why? To complicate (make it either impossible or very
difficult for the other man to identify him)! So Option 3. Masks cannot either facilitate or help
identification. This is why Options 2 and 4 would be eliminated on grounds of logic alone. About Option 1, if
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maladjustment were to be treated early, the problem would get solved, not compounded. Treatment solves
problems. Treatment does not compound problems.
Answer 6
There are some regions of Spain that all have unique cultures. There are views that are making the issue of
a common language of instruction, which is causing contention or a quarrel. If there is to be a quarrel
about a common language, there has got to be more than one region. Both different and distinct would
seem to qualify for the first blank.
Now as regards the second blank, which should clinch the issue. The word discrete is an aggregate of the
suffix dis- (that means away from) and the Latin root cret- (that means to grow together) and thus discrete
means separated or detached from one another. Regions that are detached from one another would not
even aspire for a common language. The word disparate means essentially different or incommensurable.
Regions that would not commensurate with the others would not aspire for a common language either. We
in India have a common language notwithstanding the fact that numerous regional languages have a
distinct script and form. If the cultures were to be so different as to make the regions detached or
incommensurate with one another, we would not have a common language at all.
Whether in India or in Spain, or for that matter in the whole wide world, the common language has to be
decided out of the several different languages and hence there would be competition from the different
regions for what should be the acceptable common language; every region would like its language to be
accepted as a common language. It is for this reason that the word in the second blank should be
competing. Thus Option 4.
Answer 7
A business means business in the singular. Now look at these two sentences:
A boat floats.
The boats float.
When the boat is in the singular, the verb is floats. When the boat is in the plural, the verb is float. So the
running of a business consists of something. Thus we have to see between Options B and C. Here onwards
logic will take over, not that in trying to figure out whether the correct usage should be consist or consists
there is need for extraordinary command over language.
Now the logic part! A business can run on a product or products that has/have to be made. Something has
to be made first, then it has to be sold to someone else. There has to be a producer, a seller and a
purchaser. These are the three essential elements of a business cycle. Merely producing and trying to sell
does not ensure business. If no one purchases, then whatever is produced will have to consumed by the
producer or donated or thrown away. That is not business. Statement C does not have the purchaser. To
that extent, it is incomplete, whereas Statement B has all three participants in the business cycle – the
maker, the seller and the purchaser. Thus Option 2: B.
Answer 8
This is a matter of logic. Only people would feel good or bad about their body. Even if other animals felt
this, there is no way of ascertaining this feeling unless Dr. Dolittle – a fictitious character played by Rex
Harrison in the famous movie by that name -was to be hired to ascertain this emotion. Thus we are only to
look at Statements A and D.
Now in regard to Statements A and D, A has the cause of the heightened focus on emotional and bodily
regulations first whereas Statement D has the effect first. Logically, cause takes precedence over effect.
Thus Statement A is the correct choice. Hence Option 1.
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Answer 9
This is a matter of sheer logic. The word bundle here is in the noun context. What does one see in a
bundle? One sees clothes, money, papers and so on. Only inanimate things can be in a bundle. You can
bundle children into warm clothes but this means that bundle is in the verb context just like packing off
children to school. But you cannot make a bundle of children, or else they will probably suffocate. Thus in
Statement 4, the usage of bundle is inappropriate in the context of boy-scouts who are human beings more
humane than many others. Hence Option 4.
To most, the usage of bundle in the case of Statement 3 may seem inappropriate but a bundle is essentially
a collective noun of non-living things and hence a bundle of money qualifies for being made in the stock
market just as joy is a non-living thing in the case of Statement 1.
Answer 10
If you were to see Statements 2, 3 and 4, the word distinct is used in the adjective context and means
something that can be easily perceived or seen because such is its quality. In Statement 1, someone
distinct about right or wrong would know what is what but it cannot be visible or apparent. A distinct
personality can be seen from the actions of the person but not from his thought. His thought is in his
mind and even if a neurosurgeon has the privilege of seeing what is in a fellow’s brain, he cannot see
what is in his mind. Brain is tangible – at least to neurosurgeons and butchers – but mind is abstract for
everyone, butchers and neurosurgeons included. Thus Option 1.
Answer 11
The words “ What French winemaker will ever admit that?” are in quotes and the first thing to do is to scan
the passage and find out where these very words are and you will find them at paragraph 5 in the passage.
Let us understand the words in the options. Caustic is bitter and sharp. Satirical is mocking or making fun.
Critical is analytic, judgemental or disapproving. One can be critical without being sharp as well. Hypocritical
is about false goodness.
Someone caustic will be bitter because of a bad experience that he has himself had. If someone has been
invited to a party and then the doorkeeper does not let him in, the guest may become caustic of the host’s
hospitality. The author is not a French winemaker since he would then not refer to French winemakers as
they. He cannot thus be expected to caustic.
Suppose the guest has not been stopped by the doorkeeper and yet finds that the party that was expected
to be grand has he and the host and his wife as the only constituents. He may then lampoon the host and
make ridicule of the great number of people present. Even lampooning is out of place here.
Here the matter at the heart of the passage is the emerging trends in the wine trade. Winemakers from
English speaking countries are weaning away consumers from French wine due to labelling strategies. The
label contains the same name as the variety of grape from which it is made. There is no assertion that
French wines are any less in quality than the competing wines. French winemakers do think that their wine
is as good as the wines form competing counties. There is no contention about the quality of wine at all. If
it were about quality of wine, lampooning would have been appropriate.
There are serious trends for French winemakers or else they would not be scared to death of these trends.
What the author says is that French winemakers call their wines by traditional names, and are resistant to
change, although in some areas, in the middle of southern France, winegrowers are using the names of the
variety of grapes on their labels and are tempting consumers back to French wine.
The author could have been hypocritical if he were a French winemaker who does not produce good wine
and yet maintains that it is the best. This he is not because he is not a French winemaker in the first place.
The tone of the statement is thus critical and hence Option 3.
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Answer 12
Please be sure that the options here will not appear in the passage and if you are to look for them either
verbatim or nearly verbatim, they will not emerge even if one were to froth at the mouth with the strain of
looking for them. What is asked is about reasoning and therefore about your reasoning. Your reasons
will not be there in the passage at all.
The labelling strategy is that wines from English-speaking countries have the variety of the grape on the
bottle and not just the brand name of the wine. This means that the consumer is expected to buy wines on
basis of grape variety and the label should contain technical details about the wine that he buys. This is an
effort to educate the consumer. The wine from Brazil, if it has even a faint hope of being sold in markets in
English-speaking countries should have labels in English. But if the consumer is able to discern as to which
is the better brand of wine, labels have little role to play except to carry the brand name. The consumer
who knows which wine is best will not touch the wine with labels detailing technical aspects of the wine and
variety of grape even if such labels were to have even something as bizarre as psychedelic lights because
he already knows which is best. He has not to be educated. Thus Option 3.
Answer 13
This too is about reasoning. As to which option is correct is to be derived by you with your own reasoning.
We have thus to find out the doctor’s findings about the effects of tannins. Look at these words in the last
paragraph: “Dr.Serge Renaud, who has spent many years investigating the reasons for the uncannily low
incidence of coronary heart disease in the south of France. One of his major findings is that the fat-derived
cholesterol that builds up in the arteries and can eventually lead to heart trouble, can be dispersed by the
tannins in wine. Tannin is derived from the skins of grapes, and is therefore present in higher levels in red
wines, because they have to be infused with their skins to attain the red colour.”
What he has found is that:
1. There has been an uncannily – or unusually – low incidence of coronary heart disease in southern
France
2. Fat-derived cholesterol can eventually lead to heart trouble and can be dispersed by the tannins in
wine which are present in higher levels in red wines
This is the beneficial effect of tannins in red wines. Suppose one found that cutlets made from the leaves of
the neem tree could significantly reduce the incidence of diabetes, one would then have to locate those
who ate such cutlets and had significantly low incidence of diabetes than those who did not eat such
cutlets. Option 4 does just that (or very nearly just that) and hence Option 4.
Answer 14
As such this is a matter of logic since if the label on the wine bottle from English-speaking countries were to
educate the consumer on the technical aspects of the wine including the name of the variety of the grape
from which it is made, those consumers who do not know which wine is best will go by this educative label.
This means that the consumer base does not have only connoisseurs of wine. This education through labels
would then hit French winemakers who sell on basis of brand names alone. It will carve into the market
share of the monopolist French winemaker and hence the fear in their ranks.
The fact of such education is clearly visible in the passage in these words: Consumers effectively recognize
them as brand names, and have acquired a basic lexicon of wine that can serve them even when
confronted with those Brazilian upstarts. Thus Option 2.
If one were to read the passage, Option 1 would not work since the French winemakers have the tendency
not to name wines after the grape varieties that are used in the wines and would hardly have reason for
fear if it were not for the fact that wines from English-speaking countries have been able to make inroads
into the wine market by labelling their wines with the names of the relevant grape variety. Option 3 would
mean that if new generation of local winegrowers who use labels that show names of grape varieties, they
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have got over their fears and are doing something about restoring market shares. Option 4 would mean
that the only competition to French wines is Brazilian wines whereas it is not the case as evident from the
words “even when confronted with those Brazilian upstarts”.
Answer 15
Option 1 emerges nearly verbatim from the following words at paragraph 5 in the passage: “Some areas,
in the middle of southern France, have now produced a generation of growers using the varietal names on
their labels and are tempting consumers back to French wine. It will be an uphill struggle, but there is
probably no other way if France is to avoid simply becoming a specialty source of old-fashioned
connoisseurs”.
Answer 16
There is nothing to see once we see these words in the opening paragraph in the passage: Right through
history, imperial powers have clung to their possessions to death. Why, then, did Britain in 1947 give up the
jewel in its crown, India? For many reasons. Option 1 emerges verbatim once one is able to
understand that various reasons and many reasons is the same thing.
As a matter of fact, the factors other than financial such as the Sepoy Mutiny and Attlee’s government in
Britain being anti-Imperialist by ideology are clearly visible as being the several reasons for the collapse of
the British Empire and the granting of independence to India.
Answer 17
This is about logic as such. What is not a reason for the emergence of the white man’s burden will not
probably be in the passage. The white man’s burden is the tax that the white colonial power levies over his
non-white dominion. Tax runs the wheels of government machinery. It pays for wars. If wars – the
fundamental hope in someone going to war is to win it – become costly, they have to be financed and so
taxation is that financial source.
Public good is that good or facility that people must have whether they can pay for it or otherwise. Water,
roads, education, and cheap transport, are all illustrations of the public good. If people have to be given
this public good, then since they cannot afford to pay for them at market prices, the government gets into
supplying them. This calls for government spending which they can be reasonably expected to do only with
taxation footing the bill of this provision of public good. Thus the white man’s burden – tax levied by the
white man on his colonial subjects – would have to come in if the imperial power has to provide public good
to the colonial subjects.
The decreasing returns from imperial loot and increasing costs of conquest would call for tax and are
adequate reasons for the white man’s burden; the weakening of the immorality attached to an emperor’s
looting behaviour would dilute whatever moral compunctions that the white colonialist would have in taxing
his non-white subjects; if they loot less they would have to make up from tax.
If a white man wants to tax non-whites, he will certainly not be driven by ideas of equality among peoples.
He will then either tax both equally or tax none. So Option 4, which as we have said at the very outset is
not likely to be in the passage. This is logic at work.
Answer 18
Option 4 emerges nearly verbatim. Please see these words in paragraph 3: On the one hand, the
empire needed to be profitable. On the other hand, the white man’s burden made loot impossible. The
words need and imperative are synonyms. Brazen means the same thing as open. The word
impossible appears as it is. The white man’s burden came up as a new moral rationale for conquest. How
can conquest be good for the conquered (read natives) except in the viewpoint of the conqueror? If it was
to be Option 3, then one white man taxing another white man can hardly be referred to as white man’s
burden. It could be simply be man’s burden but not white man’s burden.
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Answer 19
Please see these words at paragraph 4: An additional factor deterring loot was the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny.
Though crushed, it reminded the British vividly that they were a tiny ethnic group who could not rule a
gigantic subcontinent without the support of important locals. After 1857, the British stopped annexing one
princely state after another, and instead treated the princes as allies.
That the British were an ethnic group was not a new thing for them. What they learnt from the mutiny was
that if they wanted to rule the gigantic sub-continent of India, they had to keep important locals with them.
These important locals could not have been the protagonists of the freedom movement. They could have
only been the local princes who had this common trait and objective with the British: both were
imperialists. About allies (people taking your side) and not foes, either a chap is an ally or he is a foe (or
enemy); he cannot be both simultaneously even if he is a spy. So Option 1 emerges verbatim.
About India becoming increasingly difficult to rule in 1857, this seems patently illogical from two
standpoints:
(A) The British would not have been able to crush this mutiny in the first place and
(B) They did not leave India in a few hours thereafter; they clung to it for another 90 years till 1947.
About dramatic decline in land revenues, since the British fixed it in absolute terms, as may be seen at
paragraph 4, the question of any decline – leave alone dramatic decline – does not arise.
Answer 20
Option 3 emerges verbatim provided one knows that jeopardised and paralysed contextually mean the
same thing the only difference being that paralysis is an extreme form of jeopardy. Please see these words
in the last paragraph: Churchill opposed this, and wanted to tax India rather than owe it money. But he
was overruled by India hands who said India would resist payment, and paralyse the war effort.
Answer 21
The players could sit as follows from left to right:
Seat 1 Seat 2 Seat 3 Seat 4 Seat 5 Seat 6 Seat 7

C or D E or F E or F B C or D A or G A or G
After you make the table as above, it is so easy to see that F cannot be sitting at either end.
Answer 22
After you make the table, it is so easy to see that E & A cannot be sitting together.
Answer 23
From the table in Answer 84 above you can see that E or F or C or D can sit to either side of B. That can
make the following combinations: E & C, E & D, F & C and F & D. However E & G cannot sit to either side of
B because G does not figure in the possible pairs to B’s either side.
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Answer 24
Let us call the housewife as Hw, the professor as Pf, Engineer as Er, Males as M and Females as Wo and so
on.
A B C D E F
C, the accountant, is married to F, who is a professor Ac Pf
M Wo
No woman in the group is either an engineer or an accountant M
A is married to a housewife M
E is not a housewife Hw
There are two housewives, one professor, one engineer, one Er or Hw Ac Hw Er or Pf
accountant and one lawyer in the group Lw Lw
M M
The lawyer is married to D, who is a housewife Lw Hw Ac Hw Er Pf
M Wo M Wo M Wo
The married men are C and A and there are two housewives: B and D. and one woman: F. One married
couple is already identified: C and F. Of the other married couple, the lawyer is married to a D who is a
housewife. A is married to a housewife and hence A is a lawyer.
Thus Option 4: A & D
Answer 25
E is an engineer as may be seen from the table.
Answer 26
A, C and E are the three males in the group as may be seen from the table in which we have mapped the
data.
Answer 27
The fact that S has four uncles means that between F and M there are four brothers. The fact that the
siblings of F and M are unmarried means that the seven – four uncles and three aunts – are sibling of either
F or M. The fact that F has two siblings can mean that M has five siblings and that the two siblings of F can
be any one among the following three combinations: (A) two brothers, (B) one brother and one sister or
(C) two sisters.
Now let us turn to Statement A: F has two brothers.
Since there are four males and three female siblings between F and M and M has Then M has
five siblings and F has two siblings and if the two siblings of F were:
(A) Two brothers Two brothers and
three sisters
Statement A is adequate to tell us that M has two brothers.
Statement B is unnecessary and can tell us nothing further to what has already been given at the very
outset since we learn from the initial information itself that there are seven siblings between F and M and
that since F has two siblings, M has five.
Since the answer can be derived from Statement A alone, choose 1.
Answer 28
If the game were to end normally, then Gain=100 - Entry Fee - Additional Fee (Number of tosses turning
tails or tails but not heads two times consecutively + 2 consecutive throws turning up heads); this is
because the entry fee is the fixed cost and there is an additional fee for each of the tosses regardless of
whether they turn up heads or tails; the tosses that turn heads are not on the house. Secondly that gain
can be in the positive (when it would be profit) or in the negative (when it would be loss)
23
If the game were to end prematurely, then Loss=Entry fee + Additional Fee (Number of tosses turning
tails); this is because there is no gain in the first place when the game ends prematurely. The chap has to
pay entry fee once and an additional fee of one rupee for every throw. If two heads were to turn up
consecutively, it would fetch him Rs.100 but this would then mean that the game would end normally and
not prematurely.
So we have been able to arrive at two linear equations apt for both the scenarios of a normal end a
premature end to the game. But yet we do not know as to how the game has ended and thus we should
see Statement A: The game ended normally. Since the game ended normally:
Gain=100 - Entry Fee of Rs.10 – [Re.1 the Additional Fee × (N, the number of tosses turning tails or tails
but not heads two times consecutively + 2 consecutive throws turning up heads), and so
-50 =100 – 10 – 1× (N + 2), or

N+2=140 and thus N=138.
There are two clear inferences that emerge:
The chap tossed the coin 140 times (138 times tails and 2 times heads)
The number of times the coins turned up tails was 138.
Statement B can as well tell us as to how many times did he toss the coin.
If the game were to end prematurely, then Loss=Entry fee + Additional Fee (N, the number of tosses
turning tails), or
50 = 10+(1×N) or N=40; this means that there would have been a loss of Rs.50 if the game has been
ended prematurely with 40 instances of the coins turning up heads or tails but not heads two times
consecutively. But since there are 138 times the coin has turned up tails, it means that a loss of Rs.50 is
only possible with 138 times the coin turning up tails and the 139th and 140th toss turning up heads. If we
did not know the loss figure, then 138 times the coin turning up tails would mean a total outflow of Rs.10
entry +Rs.138 by way of additional fee of Rs.1 for each toss of the coin. But since the loss is given, the only
situation in which this is feasible is with 138 tosses turning up tails leading to an outflow of
Rs.10+138=Rs.148 and 2 consecutive tosses each costing Rs.1 and thus increasing the outflow by another
two rupees to Rs.150 and these last two tosses turning up heads thereafter fetching Rs.100 and thus
reducing the loss to Rs.50. Since both the statements can individually enable one to answer the question,
choose 2.
Answer 29
The information given in the question states that the lady did get one set of coupons that formed the word
SOAP. With this let us see the statements one by one.
Statement A: The fact that she spent Rs.210 at Rs.10 per packet means that she bought 21 packets of
SOAP. The fact that she could get one set of coupons that formed the word SOAP means the last she got
was S and that she had twenty in all of O, A, and P before she got S. However, 20 of O, A, and P overall
does not mean anything. It could be 1 each of O and A and 18 of P or 1 each of O and P and 18 of A and
so on. Anything is possible. Statement A does not enable you to tell how many P’s she had.
Statement B: If the total number of vowels obtained was 18, it means that there was room for any number
of consonants since we do not know from Statement B as to how many packets this lady bought at all.
Statement B would not enable us to tell anything simply it does not tell us how many packets did the lady
buy.
If we were to read the two statements together, it would mean that:
(1) The lady bought 21 packets and got S at the 21st packet and therefore whatever O, A and P that
she had added up to 20
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(2) Since she had 18 vowels, there were 2 consonants. There are only two possible consonants: P and
S. The fact that she was able to get one set of coupons after buying the 21st packet in which she
got S means that S was not among those 2 consonants. If it were, she would have been able to
complete the word SOAP before the 21st packet. This means the 2 consonants that she had before
the 21st packet were both P.
Since we need both statements in order to answer the question, choose 3.
Answer 30
This is a matter of logic. When the main statement says that C maintains a uniform speed, it means that
when he competes with either A or B, C’s speed is the same. The absolute time taken by C can be found
out only if we know two things: The distance of the race and C’s speed. Let us see which statement(s)
would give us the requisite information so as to know the time taken by C to finish the race.
But let us assume that the speeds of A, B and C were A meters/second, B meters and C meters/second
respectively, provided A and B were to run at constant speeds in their races. Let us assume that
the length of the race was D meters. If A and B run a race, and then A wins by 60 seconds, and if B and C
run the same race, then B wins by 30 seconds it means that:
Equation 1: D/B - D/A = 60; this is because B takes more time (only then A could hope to win)
Equation 2: D/C - D/B = 30; this is because C takes more time (only then B could hope to win)
Adding the above two equations, we could get Equation 3: D/C - D/A = 90. This means that A beat C by
90 seconds provided A had constant speed in his race with both B and C. We know nothing about either A
or B’s speed as to whether these were uniform when A ran against B or when A ran against C or when B
ran against C. Equation 3 would be a stupid equation without this clear knowledge.
D/B will cancel out with D/B in adding equations 1 and 2 if D/B had the same value in both cases. But only
D could have had a constant value. We cannot assume that B or A had constant speed and thus B could
have run at a speed that was different in his race with A than in his race with C. Thus knowing that C
maintained constant speed is of no use in the absence of the knowledge whether A and B maintained
constant speeds as well. Statements A and B are both of no use. Thus choose 4.
Answer 31
Statement A: The success rate of moving from written test to interview stage for males in 2003 was
637/60133. Simplified by rounding off to the nearest hundred, 637/60133 is 6/601, which is just about 1%.
The success rate of moving from written test to interview stage for females in 2003 was 399/40763. This
could be rounded off to 4/408, which is less than 1%. Since the success rate of moving from written test to
interview stage for males in 2003 is higher than for females in 2003, Statement A is not true.
Statement B: The success rate of moving from written test to interview stage for females in 2002 was
138/15389 or 1/154 (after rounding off). The success rate of moving from written test to interview stage
for females in 2003 was 399/40763 or 4/408 = 1/102 (after rounding off). The success rate in 2003 is
higher than in 2002. Statement B is also not true. Thus choose 4.
Answer 32
Statement A: In 2002, the number of females selected for the course as a proportion of the number of
females who bought application forms was 48/19236.
In 2002, the number of males selected for the course as a proportion of the number of males who bought
application forms, was 171/61205.
What we are required to ascertain is which of the two fractions 48/19236 and 171/61205 is higher. The
fraction in which the denominator is the smallest multiple of the numerator is the highest.
In the fraction 48/19236, the denominator divided by the numerator would give 19236/48, which would
give 19200/50 if we were to round off both the numerator and the denominator to the nearest hundred and
this would then be 1920/5 or near 384.
25
In the fraction 171/61205, the denominator divided by the numerator would give 61205/171, which would
give 61200/170 if we were to round off both the numerator and the denominator to the nearest hundred
and this would then be 6120/17 or near 360.
171/61205 is higher than 48/19236 and thus Statement A is wrong since in 2002, the number of females
selected for the course as a proportion of the number of females who bought application forms, was
actually lower than the corresponding proportion for males
Statement B: In 2002, among those called for interview, males had a success rate of 171/684 and females
had a success rate of 48/138. The question is which is bigger: 171/684 or 48/138? AS we know, 171/684 is
nearly 17/68 or nearly 1/4th. On the other hand, 48/138 is nearly 50/140 or 5/14, which is nearly 35%.
Thus, among those called for interview in 2002, females had a better success rate than males. Statement B
is wrong as well.
So choose 4.
Answer 33
Statement A: The ratio of absentees in the written test among females in:
2002 was (19236-15389)/19236 = 3847/19236; in the fraction 3847/19236, the denominator divided by the
numerator would give 19236/3847, which would give 19200/3800 if we were to round off both the
numerator and the denominator to the nearest hundred and this would then be 190/38 or nearly 5. The
number of absentees in the written test among females in 2002 was 1/5, or 20%.
2003 it was (45292-40763)/45292 = 4429/45292; in the fraction 4429/45292, the denominator divided by
the numerator would give 45292/4429, which would give 45300/4400 if we were to round off both the
numerator and the denominator to the nearest hundred and this would then be 453/44 or over 10. The
number of absentees in the written test among females in 2003 was nearly 1/10, or 10%.
In 2003 this ratio was thus lower than in 2002 so Statement A is true.
Statement B: The ratio of absentees in the written test among:

Females in 2003 was (19236-15389)/19236 = 3847/19236; in the fraction 3847/19236, the denominator
divided by the numerator would give 19236/3847, which would give 19200/3800 if we were to round off
both the numerator and the denominator to the nearest hundred and this would then be 190/38 or near 5
Males in 2003 was (63298-60133)/63298 = 3165/63298; in the fraction 3165/63298, the denominator
divided by the numerator would give 63298/3165, which would give 63300/3200 if we were to round off
both the numerator and the denominator to the nearest hundred and this would then be 633/32 or over 19
but less than 20.
The ratio of absentees in the written test among females in 2003 was larger than the ratio among males
and thus Statement B is not true. Since only Statement A is true, choose 1.
Notice that we have been able to arrive at the correct answer without having to go through
the grind of calculating percentages although the question is about percentage terms. This is
because it is logical only to see which fraction is higher among those given; calculation of
percentages would enable you to derive the same inference but would take much longer
primarily because in calculating percentages, you are required to alter the fractions given so
that they are aligned with a common denominator of 100 in all cases. In this method of
comparison with the numerator and denominator unaltered, you are saving several steps and
thus time which is of the essence.
Answer 34
The given data has the cumulative number of children under each category. For example, in the age
category of not exceeding 5 years, there are 12 children but this means that there are 9 children of age not
exceeding 4 years and 3 children of age over 4 years but not exceeding 5 years so that the actual (and not
cumulative) number of children in column 2 of Table A is 9 in the case of row 3 and the number of children
is 3 in column 2 in row 4. It would be worthwhile to quickly work out the actual number of children in each
category like this; what you can do is to write the actual number of children in each category in pencil in
the book itself.
26
Table A Number Table Number Table C Number
of B of of
children children children
in this in this in this
group group group
Age Number Height Number Weight Number
(Years) (cm.) (kg.)
4 9 9 115 6 6 30 8 8
5 12 3 120 11 5 32 13 5
6 22 10 125 24 13 34 17 4
7 35 13 130 36 12 36 28 11
8 42 7 135 45 9 38 33 5
9 48 6 140 53 8 40 46 13
10 60 12 145 62 9 42 54 8
11 69 9 150 75 13 44 67 13
12 77 8 155 81 6 46 79 12
13 86 9 160 93 12 48 91 12
14 100 14 165 100 7 50 100 9
Total 100 Total 100 Total 100
We are to assume that an older child is always taller than a younger child. The total number of children of
various ages including and up to 9 years is 48. The cumulative number of children whose height does not
exceed 135 cm is 45 and yet their age does not exceed 9 years. So the total number of children of age 9
years or less whose height does not exceed 135 cm is 45 and hence Option 2.
Answer 35
The cumulative number of children of age up to 10 years is 60 so there are 40 children of age more than 10
(meaning in the age groups of 11, 12, 13 and 14).
The cumulative number of children of height up to 150 cm is 75 so the number of children who are taller
than 150 cm is 25.
The cumulative number of children of weight up to 48 kg is 91 so the number of children who are taller
than 150 cm and do not weigh more than 48 kg is 91-75=16. Thus Option 1.
Answer 36
The cumulative total of children up to 6 years is 22 whereas the cumulative total of children up to 12 years
is 77. Thus the number older than 6 years but not exceeding 12 years is 77-22=55.
The cumulative total of children weighing up to 38 kg is 33 whereas the cumulative total of children
weighing more than 38 kg but age not exceeding 12 years is 79. We have 46 children who weigh more than
38 kg but older than 6 years but not exceeding 12 years. But since the number of children whose ages are
less than 12 years is 77, we are to take the lower out of 77 and 79 (as may be seen from the cumulative
figure against the weight of 46 kg in Table C and in the same row as age 12 years in Table A). So we have
to deduct two children from the number of children who weigh more than 38 kg and older than 6 years but
not exceeding 12 years is 46-2=44. Hence Option 3.
Answer 37
This is a question of comparing the ratio of profit to sales. The ratios in the case of the four firms are as
follows:
Figures in Rs. A B C D Total

Profit 4914 4075 4750 3946 17684
Sales 24568 25468 23752 15782 89570
Profit/Sales after rounding off the numerator and the 5/25 4/25 5/24 4/16 18/90
denominator to the nearest thousands is =<1/4 =<1/4 =<1/4 =1/4 =1/5
27
D has the highest profitability and hence Option 4.
It is important to note that while we are given the definition of profitability in percentage terms, we have
deliberately ignored the bit about percentages because working out percentages is illogical when all you are
required to do is compare ratios. When, for example, you are required to compare two ratios – say one
fourth and one fifth – if you know which of the two is higher without having to go through the grind of
expressing these two fractions in percentage terms, then it makes no difference whether you compare the
fractions as they are or when expressed in percentage terms; the direct method is a matter of double
bonanza because it saves time and toil and yet leads to the correct conclusion.
Answer 38
If Firm A acquires Firm B, then aggregate sales of the new resultant entity will be 24568+25468= over
50000. The total sales of all firms are 89570. The percentage of the total market (total sales) they will
corner together will be >50000/89750=>50000/90000=>5/9 is>1/2 or >50%. Among the options only
Option 1 is over 50%. So Option 1 is correct.
Answer 39
As you might see, the options talk about the exact number of baskets shot by some boys whereas the
statements tell you who shot how many more than whom. If you are to derive exact figures from
comparative statements, it is important to see which of the statements can enable one to calculate the
exact number of baskets shot by any person.
Let us name the boys as A (for Ashish), R, D and so on. What statement (i) tells you is that A =G+8 and
statement (v) says that A+G=40. So now you know the relationship between A and G and what they add
up to. Nothing further is necessary to tell you that A=24 and G=16. Now statement (iv) says that A=D+5
and hence D=19. From statement (ii) which says that D+R=37 and since D=19, R=18. From statement (iii)
we know that J=27 since J=D+8.
From the above precise information, we can see that only Option 1 will work.
For those who can pull their guns out of their holsters in a flash – and it will be the objective of this
presentation to train all its readers to be able to whip their revolvers out of their holsters in a flash - we
might tell them that option 2 and 3 – all options are given hereunder - seem clearly contradictory to the
main statements:
1. Ramesh shot 18 baskets and Dhanraj shot 19 baskets. This is the only one workable.
2. Ganesh shot 24 baskets and Ashish shot 16 baskets; actually A>G and hence this is not
workable.
3. Jugraj shot 19 baskets and Dhanraj shot 27 baskets; J>D and hence this is not workable
either.
4. Dhanraj shot 11 baskets and Ashish shot 16 baskets; from statements (i) and (v) we know
that A=24 and hence this is wrong.
The point to be noted here is that calculations, no matter how small, are necessary and will give you the
precise picture, all the more so since there is another question that flows from the same set of information.
Answer 40
We have found that A=24, G=16, D=19, R=18 and J=27. Option 1 is staring you in the face.
Answer 41
There are two curves. The first is y=log x and the other is y= 1/x. Nobody wants to know where
exactly will they intersect. What you are asked essentially is whether they will intersect at all and,
if yes, how many times will they intersect if x were to be exactly equal to 1 to begin with and then rising
28
to higher values such as 10. As for values of x that are less than 1, the two curves can weave a merry
sweater for all we care. We want to know what these two curves will do once x=1 and thereafter when
x=10 and so on.
In the case of y=log x, when x=1, y=0 and when x=10, y=1. This curve will start from the point (1,0) and
then rise gently to (10,1) and (100,2) and so on. It will be rising all the while although only very slightly,
like the eyelid of someone who is being woken up from deep sleep sleep.
Take x=1 and then x=10. In the case of y=1/x, when x=1, y=1 and when x=10, y=1/10. This curve will
start from the point (1,1) and then fall gently to (10,0.1) and (100,0.01) and so on. It will be falling all the
while. The first curve will rise all the while from the point (1,1). The second curve will fall all the while from
the point (1,1) although only very slightly, like the eyelid of someone who is feeling very drowsy. The two
curves could afford to intersect only once. Hence Option 2.
Answer 42
An arithmetic progression is that which starts with a number that we shall refer to as A and has a common
difference that we shall call D. The nth term in the progression is A+ D(n-1). If the sum of the 3rd and 15th
elements of an arithmetic progression is equal to the sum of 6th, 11th and 13th elements of the same
progression, then A+ 2D + A+ 14D = A+ 5D+ A+ 10D+ A+ 12D, then 2A+ 16D= 3A+ 27D. And hence A+
11D=0 and so the 12th term has got to be zero. Mark Option 3.
Answer 43
Logically, the fellow has attempted more than 32 since his net score (after taking into account the negative
marking is 32). Logically, it makes sense to start with the minimum number of wrong answers out of the
options and this is 3. If this is correct, then he gets 1 mark off and thus he has attempted at least 35. If he
attempted at least 35, it means that the number of no attempts has to be somewhere near 15. For 15
instances of no attempts, he would get 15/6= 2.5 negative marks and this means that his net score would
be in decimals. If the net score is to be a whole number, then he could have left 12 questions. This means
that he would lose 2 marks for this. This means that he got 35 questions right, 3 wrong and 12 not
attempted. This means his score would be 35-1-2=32. Option 3 will do very well.
Those who are comfortable with small equations may see the following approach:
Let us refer to the number of correct answers as C, wrong answers as W and not attempted as N. Two
equations quickly emerge:
Equation 1: C+W+N=50
Equation 2: C-W/3-N/6=32
Subtract Equation 2 from Equation 1 and you will see that you will get Equation 3 as follows: 4W/3
+7N/6= 18. Multiply Equation 3 on both sides by 6 and you get 8W+7N=108. Put W=3 (again because it
makes sense to start with the minimum number of wrong answers out of the options and this is 3) and you
get 7N=108-24=84 and thus N=12. There can be another solution to 8W+7N=108 where you will get
integral values for W and N (and these values have necessarily got to be integral since you cannot have
fractional wrong answers and so on) and this is when W=10 when 7N=108-80=28 and thus N=4. This is
why the least possible value for the number of wrong answers is 3 (although even with 10 wrong answers
one can have a net score of 32).
It may be mentioned that the equation approach is awfully simple and one would do well to develop the
skill of forming such simple equations. This is to be sure of your answer in the eventuality of there being
none of these among the options – although it is a different matter that in the present case it is not –
since “none of these” is a test of your fundamentals and one must be ready for such a test, which the
competitive examination really is.
29
Answer 44
This question is one more testimony to the fact that the Quantitative Ability Section is almost entirely about
logic. Imagine that you have arrived at a party with 26 members of your class having reached there
already. You are that person who is acquainted with the 26 others. Option 1 is thus eminently possible.
Now imagine that you are in a party where each one says that he has a different number of acquaintances.
Let us call the first gentleman as Mr. 1, the second as Mr. 2 and so on. So if Mr. 1 has one acquaintance,
and Mr. 2 has two acquaintances, and so on, then if Mr. 27 had 27 acquaintances, this would make 28
persons: Mr. 27 himself and 27 of his acquaintances. This is why Option 2 is not possible.
Option 3 is absolutely possible since you may know only one person in the party (and that makes 2 of you)
whereas your spouse (or maybe your friend) may know 24 others and that makes 25 of them, adding up to
27 in all. Imagine a party where there are three students from each of Class 1, 2, 3 and so on till Class 9.
That would make 27 people such that there are 9 sets of three mutual acquaintances. Option 4 is possible
as well.
Answer 45
There would be 51 even integers in the range 100≤n≤200, the first being 100 and the last being 200. The
question is about even integers in this range that are divisible by neither 7 nor 9. This means we are to
eliminate even multiples of 7 and 9 that fall in this range. We shall first eliminate the even multiples of 7
(meaning, the multiples of 14). We know that 14×7=98 but 98 is less than 100 and hence the following 7
multiples of 14 fall in this range: 14×8, 14×9, 14×10, 14×11, 14×12, 14×13, and 14×14.
We should then move on to the six even multiples of 9 (which means multiples of 18) that fall in this range
that are as follows: 18×6, 18×7, 18×8, 18×9, 18×10, and 18×11. Thus 13 numbers in all (7 multiples of
14 and 6 multiples of 18) should be excluded from the 51 even integers in this range in order to arrive at
the number of even integers in the range 100≤n≤200 that are divisible by neither 7 nor 9, but since 18×7
is the same thing as 14×9, there are in all 12 numbers (not 13) that should be deducted from 51 so as to
find the answer, which would be 39. Hence Option 3.
Answer 46
The terms x, y, and z are variable whereas p, q, and r are constant terms. Whether p + q + r is equal to
zero or not equal to zero is dependent on the values of each of the three: p, q, and r. The values of these
three blighters (p, q, and r) are, in turn, dependent on the values of x, y, and z. We cannot even dream of
solving the three equations involving x, y and z unless we know the constant terms in the three equations.
Since we are not given the constant terms, the first thing to realise is that you will have to assume some
suitable values of x, y and z but it does not matter what values do you assume for x, y and z. The correct
answer does not depend on any specific values of x, y, and z. If it did, they would have given you the
values of p, q, and r. Therefore x=1, y=2, and z=3 come in very handy. So go ahead and assume these
values and you will find that p= -4, q= -19 and z=18. Thus p + q + r = -5 which too is non-zero. So far so
good! Now put p= -4, q= -19 and z=18 in Option 1 and you find that 5p – 2q – r= -20 – (-38) – (18) = -
20+38-18=0. Marvellous! Now put these values of p, q, and r in the other three options and you will find
that you will not be able to zero as the answer in any options except Option 1. This is why Option 1 is to
be marked as correct.
What the examiner is really trying to test is:
• Whether you understand that assuming only some values for the three unknowns can derive
solutions to an equation involving three unknowns –or even more –
• Whether you can experiment with any values at all for x, y and z
• Whether you can experiment with other than identical values for x, y and z
• Whether you understand that assuming zero as values for all three unknowns will not give any
solutions to any equation involving such unknowns because zero as a value for all three unknowns
is not a solution to an equation; if you are hungry the solution lies in eating something at least and
fasting cannot be a solution to hunger
30
Answer 47
This is a question entirely of logic. Let us see what values of x – 2 + 2.5 – x + 3.6 – x do we get
when we go from option to option.
Option 1: x=2.3; thus x – 2 + 2.5 – x + 3.6 – x = .3+.2+1.3=1.8.

Option 2: x=2.5; thus x – 2 + 2.5 – x + 3.6 – x = .5+0+1.1=1.6.
Option 3: x=2.7; thus x – 2 + 2.5 – x + 3.6 – x = .7+.2+.9=1.8.
At x=2.5, this seems to attain a minimum. But since “None of these” is an option, we must be sure that this
is indeed the minimum and that the minimum does not lie somewhere else. How does one see whether this
is indeed the minimum? Test this with x=2.4 and then with x=2.6. If x=2.4 then x – 2 + 2.5 – x + 3.6
– x = .4+.1+1.2=1.7 If x=2.6 then x – 2 + 2.5 – x + 3.6 – x = .6+.1+1=1.7. This means the
expression does indeed attain a minimum when x=2.5. Option 2 is correct for this logical reason.
Answer 48
This is a matter of sheer logic. The smallest possible value of max (5-x, x+2) is when 5-x= 2+x and this
means that when 2x=3 or x=1.5. When x=1.5, max (5-x, x+2) is max (3.5, 3.5) and is 3.5. To see
whether any higher value of max (5-x, x+2) is possible with values for x other than x, it is logical to take
two different values of x, one such that it is lesser than 1.5 and the other such that it is greater than 1.5
and thus let us assume x=1.4 in the first instance and then x=1.6 in the other and see for ourselves as to
where we stand. If x=1.4, then max (5-x, x+2)= max(3.6, 3.4)= 3.6. If x=1.6, then max (5-x, x+2)=
max(3.4, 3.6)= 3.6. Thus the smallest possible value of g(x) is 3.5 and hence Option 4: None of the
above. Please note that 1.5 has been given as one of the possible answers so as to ascertain whether you
can differentiate the value of x from g(x). In such cases the melee at the goalmouth should not lead to self-
goals. That care has to be taken at all times.
Answer 49
The number system that we normally use is the decimal system where the base number is 10. In the
decimal system, the rightmost digit is the digit representing 100 (which is the number 1), the digit just
before the rightmost digit represents 101 (which is the tens digit and so on). This why the number the digits
231 in the decimal system represent the sum of (2×102)+(3×101)+(1×100). Similarly the digits 456 in a
number system based on the number 7, for example, represent the sum of (4×72)+(5×71)+(6×70) which is
196+35+6=237 in the decimal system that we know so well.
With this at the back of our minds, let us go by the Options one by one:
9 16+8+4+2+1=31. The digits 11111 would represent the number 31 in the Number System based
on 2; the digits 11111 in this system based on number 2 would mean (1×24)+(1×23)+(1×22)
(1×21)+(1×20).
9 27+3+1=31. The digits 1011 would represent the number 31 in the Number System based on 3;
the digits 1011 in this system based on number 3 would mean (1×33)+(0×32)+(1×31) +(1×30).
9 25+5+1=31. The digits 111 would represent the number 31 in the Number System based on 5; the
digits 111 in this system based on number 5 would mean (1×52)+ +(1×51) +(1×50).
In all three cases, the leading digit is 1 and the last digit is 1 therefore Option 1 is not correct. Now let us
see Option 2. In the Number System based on:
9 Number 2, 63 will be written as 111111 which is 32+16+8+4+2+1
9 Number 3, 63 will be written as 2100 which is 54+9+0=2×33+1×32 +0×31+0×30
9 Number 5, 63 will be written as 223 which is 50+10+3=2×52+2×51 +3×50
This Option will not qualify since the leading digit is 1 in only one case.
Let us move on to Option 3. In the Number System based on:
9 Number 2, the number 75 will be represented by the digits 1001011 which is
64+8+2+1=1×26+0×25+0×24+1×23+0×22+1×21+1×20
31
9 Number 3, 75 will be written as 2210 which is 54+18+3=2×33+2×32 +1×31+0×30
9 Number 5, 75 will be written as 300 which is 75+0=3×52+0×51 +0×50
This Option will not qualify either since the leading digit is 1 in only one case. As a matter of fact, from the
result obtained in the case of writing 75 in the Number System based on 3, one must stop since the last
digit is zero whereas we are given that the last digit is 1 in all three cases.
Let us move on to Option 4. In the Number System based on the number:

9 2, the number 91 will be represented by the digits 1011011 which is 64+16+8+2+1 or
1×26+0×25+1×24+1×23+0×22+1×21+1×20
9 3, the number 91 will be written as 10101 which is 81+9+1=1×34+0×33+1×32 +0×31+1×30
9 5, the number 91 will be written as 3211 which is 75+10+5+1=3×52+2×51 +1×51 +1×50
This Option will qualify since the leading digit is 1 in exactly 2 out of 3 cases and the last digit is 1 in all
three cases. Hence mark Option 4.
Answer 50
It is necessary to see which of the options will fulfil the two clear criteria. The first criterion is the total time
on machines. If this criterion is met then only the profit is to be found. There is no use in slogging on
calculating the profit in any particular option if machine time is not available for producing the number of
bags in that option. Let us see which of the Options meet the time criterion:
No. of Time taken on Time taken on Profit @ Rs.20 on a

Standard (S) Machine A for Machine A for Standard Bag and
and Deluxe Standard Bags @ 4 Standard Bags Rs.30 on a Deluxe
(D)bags hours/bag and for @ 6 hours/bag and for Bag
Deluxe Bags @ 5 Deluxe Bags @10
hours/bag hours/bag
Option 75 S and 80 D 300+400=700 450+800=1250 1500+2400=3900

1
Option 100 S and 60 400+300=700 600+600=1200 2000+1800=3800
2 D
Option 50 S and 100 200+500=700 300+1000=1300; Option to be ignored
3 D exceeds the time limit of
1250 hours and thus not
to be considered
Option 60 S and 90 D 240+450=690 360+900=1260; exceeds Option to be ignored
4 the time limit of 1250
hours and thus not to be
considered
Option 1 is thus correct.
Answer 51
If the first Option was true and the faster runner does 4000 meters in 20 minutes, he can run @200 meters
per minute. At the end of the 5th minute he would be at the 1000-meter mark whereas the slower runner
who runs at half the speed of the faster runner will be at the 500 meters mark. They are not together at
the end of the 5th minute.
If Option 2 was true and the faster runner does 4000 meters in 15 minutes, he can run @4000/15 meters
per minute. At the end of the 5th minute he would be at the 4000/3 meter mark (which means 1000 meters
plus 1000/3 meters and hence the faster runner would have finished one lap and would be at one-third of
the second lap) whereas the slower runner who runs at half the speed of the faster runner will be at 2/3rd
of the lap. The two runners are not together when the faster runner has run five minutes. If Option 3 was
true and the faster runner does 4000 meters in 10 minutes, he runs @4000/10 or 400 meters per minute.
At the end of the 5th minute he would be at the 2000th meter mark whereas the slower runner who runs at
half the speed of the faster runner will be at the 1000th meters mark - meaning the starting point - for the
32
first time since the race began. This is why Option 3 is to be marked as correct. Just to check the next
option, if Option 4 was true and the faster runner does 4000 meters in 5 minutes, he runs @800 meters per
minute. At the end of the 5th minute he would be at the 4000th meter mark whereas the slower runner who
runs at half the speed of the faster runner will be at the 2000th meters mark. While the two runners are
together at the starting point, this is not for the first time after the start of the race. The two are runners
are meeting at the starting point for the second time in the race. They were together at the starting point
when the faster runner had done two laps and the slower (since his speed is half the speed of the faster
runner) had finished just one lap.
Answer 52
This is a matter of sheer logic and only the ability to see whether a pattern is emerging and if yes being
able to identify the precise pattern can help. Otherwise this may take whole day and yet no answer will
emerge at all. In fact trying to draw a polygon with each side parallel to either the x-axis or the y-axis and
with 25 convex corners will take a miniature eternity. This calls for thinking beyond convention and nothing
else.
Now let us see how this can be done. How does one draw a small polygon that has each side parallel to
either the x-axis or the y-axis and has an odd number of right angles?
A B
E F
D C
There are five right angles (or convex angles if you please) and these are A, B, C, D and E and there is one
concave angle: Angle F.
A B
J I
H G
E F
D C
In the above figure, there are seven right angles (or convex angles if you please) and these are A, B, C, D,
E, H and J and there is three concave angles: Angles F, G and I.
The number of concave angles is four less than the number of convex angles in each case and therefore if
the number of convex corners in such a polygon is 25, the number of concave corners must be 25-4=21.
Hence Option 3.
Answer 53
The meaning of the words “p and q are the roots of the quadratic equation…” is that the quadratic equation
in the question is effectively (x-p) ×(x-q)=0.
If the sum of the squares of the roots of an equation were to be 0 as per Option 1, then both the roots
cannot help being zero. This is because two quantities could add up to zero only if one of them is positive
and the other is equal but opposite in sign; for example only 4 and –4 could add up to zero. Since perfect
squares could never be negative, the only possible situation in which the sum of the squares of two
numbers adds up to zero is when both are zero. If both roots are zero, we are looking at (x-0) ×(x-0)=0 or
X2=0 which is not a quadratic equation since it has no solution other than zero.
The sign ∞ in the equation given in the question is confusing and could be safely replaced by the letter A.
Thus in the present case, the equation is x2 – (A - 2)x - A - 1 = 0 or x2 – (A - 2) x – (A+ 1). This means:
1. The quantities p and q add up to -(A-2)

2. The product of p and q is -(A+1)
33
Since p+q=-(A-2), (p+q)2=p2+2pq+q2 = A2–4A+4. Since pq= -(A+1), 2pq= -2(A+1). Substituting the
value of 2pq in p2+2pq+q2 = A2– 4A+4, we get p2-2(A+1)+q2 = A2– 4A+4 and hence p2+q2 = A2– 4A + 4
+2(A+1)= A2 – 4A+4 + 2A+2= A2 –2A+6. Since the mater is about the minimum possible value of p2+q2,
we should find the minimum possible value of A2 –2A+6, an expression in which A is the unknown term.
Like any unknown term, A could be (1) negative (2) Zero or (3) Positive. About negative values, one known
that the bottom of negative numbers is negative infinity but the numbers near the surface are the integers
such as –1, -2 and so on. About positive values, one known that the sky is the limit but at the floor of
positive numbers are small and manageable positive integers such as 1, 2 and so on. This means one will
have to first assume some small negative values for A, then zero and then positive value and see where the
answer lies.
Take A=-1 and the value of the expression A2 –2A+6 becomes 9 and as we assume lower values such as –
2 and –3 for A, the value of the expression would only rise. Since the matter is about finding the minimum
possible value for this expression, we shall have to move on to zero and then to positive values of A so as
to find that minimum.
At A=0, the expression A2 –2A+6 becomes 6.
At A=1, the expression A2 –2A+6 becomes 5. At A=2, the expression A2 –2A+6 becomes 6 and would rise
as we take higher values of A such as 3 and 4 and so on.
Hence Option 4.
In order to check whether the value of this expression is least when A=1, we may need to check the value
of the expression with A is a positive fraction such as ½ when the value of the expression becomes 5.25.
There is no need to struggle further. This means the least possible value of this expression is 5 when A=1.
Answer 54
If you know that the alphabet has 26 letters, then this is indeed a case of an arithmetic progression of the
first 26 natural numbers if you were to see a as 1, bb as 2, ccc as 3 and so on. By the time we come to the
last z, we should have had 26×(26+1)/2=351 such abbcccddddeeeee – terms that seem like Tarzan
swinging from branch to branch and greeting the animals below with full-throated screams. Subtract 26 and
you are at term 325 which is the last y. Subtract 25 more and you are at term 300 which is the last x which
starts from term 277. So x is your man and mark Option 4.
Answer 55
If the area of the outer circle is 4 times the area of the inner circle and if we were to denote their
respective radii as R and r, it means that π R2 = 4πr2 and thus R=2r. In the figure below, D and E are the
points of contacts of the tangents to the inner circle from A to B and C, which are on the perimeter of the
outer circle. Thus OD, OE and OF are each equal to r whereas OA, OB and OC are each equal to 2r since
these last three are the radii of the outer circle. AF is therefore equal to 3r. The height of triangle ABC is
thus 3r.
In triangle AOD which is right angled since a tangent and the radius subtend a right angle at the point of
contact of a tangent with the circle, AD2 = AO2 -OD2, and thus AD2 =4r2 - r2 or AD= r√3 and thus AB and
AC and CA are all equal to twice r√3 and hence BC= 2 r√3. In triangle ABC, the base BC= 2r√3 and the
height AF= 3r. Thus the ratio of the area of triangle ABC to that of the outer circle is= [1/2 × 2r√3 × 3r]/
[π × 4r2] = 3√3/4π. If the area of the outer circle is 12 units, then the area of the triangle ABC is (3√3/4π)
× 12 = 9√3/π. Hence Option 3.
34
See this figure:
A
D E
B C
F
As such we can crack this on the basis of logic alone. The area of a triangle is expressed in units that does
not have π. The area of a circle is expressed in units that are a multiple of π since the area of a circle is
denoted by the formula πr2. When comparing the area of a triangle with that of a circle, the numerator
does not have π but the circle can have π. We are therefore logically to look at only those options in which
there is π in the denominator.
Now this means that we are to look at Options 2, 3 and 4 only. We also know that π= 22/7 roughly and this
is more than 3. Thus the area of the triangle as per option 2 will be 9/π which is 9/(>3) and would thus be
<3 and this would be illogical since the triangle is outside a circle with area 3 units and thus should have an
area greater than 3 square units. Thus we are to look at Options 3 and 4 only.
As regards these two options, the height of the triangle will be 3 times the radius of the inner circle. Half of
the base of the triangle will be less than the radius of the outer circle since the radius of the outer circle is
the hypotenuse and the radius of the inner circle and the base of the triangle are the two other sides of the
right-angled triangle. The square of half the base will thus be = 4r2 – r2 = 3r2 and hence half the base of
the triangle ABC will be equal to r√3 and the base will thus be 2r√3. This means that the area of the
triangle ABC will be ½ × base × height = ½ × 2r√3× 3r = 3√3r2. And the ratio of the area of the triangle
ABC with the outer circle will be 3√3r2/ 4πr2 = 3√3/ 4π and since the area of the outer circle is 12, the area
of the triangle will be
12 × (3√3/ 4π) = 9√3/π.
Answer 56
You might like to see that m is a positive integer. This means there is no upper limit on the value of m.
Therefore there is no upper limit on the value of 4m+1 and thus there can be no upper limit on the values
of a, b, c and d or for that matter on their squares. Since we know that there are only lower limits on
positive integers, we are to see Options 1 and 2 only. It is fairly common knowledge that the lowest
positive integer is 1. Thus the lowest possible value of 4m+1 can be only 5, nothing else. Since a, b, c, and
d are also integers and that the lowest total of these four integers can be only 5, three of them can be
equal to 1 and the remaining integer can be 2. Thus let us assume that a=b=c=1, and d=2. Thus a2 + b2 +
c2+ d2=1+1+1+4=7. With m=1, you will find that between Options 1 and 2, only 4m2 + 2m + 1 (in the
case of Option 2) will add up to 7. Hence Option 2.
Answer 57
In the figure of the regular hexagon, mark the centre of the hexagon as H. Join O and A by straight lines to
H. You will see triangle FAH, which is one-sixth of the regular hexagon. Angles FAH and AHF and AFH are
all equal to 600; this is the property of a regular hexagon. In the two triangles FAO and AOH, angles AOF
and AOH are each equal to 900 and therefore these angles are equal. Angles FAO and AHO are each equal
to 600 and these two pairs of angles are equal. Angles FAO and OAH are thus each equal to 300 and
therefore these two angle pairs have equal measure. AO is common to both and thus in triangles FAO and
AOH, three pairs of angles are equal and one side is common. Thus these two triangles are equal in area.
35
Thus triangle FAO is one-half of the larger triangle FAH, which is one-sixth of the regular hexagon. Hence
triangle FAO is 1/12th of the area of the regular hexagon. Hence Option 1.
Answer 58
Mind the words non-negative. The root could be zero or a positive number. Since 2x – x – 1 = 0, it means
2x – x =1. Also bear in mind that one has to assume only integral values for x after zero since only then one
can be in a situation wherein 2x – x can be an integer because fractional values for x will make 2x an unreal
number whereas the fraction itself can be a real number but if you were to subtract a fraction from an
unreal number you will never get an integer (here the integer is 1) as the answer. If you were to take x=0,
then the expression 2x – x = 20 – 0= 1 - 0=1. If you were to take x=1 which incidentally is the smallest
possible positive integer, then the expression 2x – x = 21 – 1= 2 - 1=1. If you were to take x=2 which
incidentally is the second smallest possible positive integer, then the expression 2x – x = 22 – 2= 4 - 2=2.
This will not work nor will any higher positive integers as values for x. Thus there can be two real non-
negative roots for the equation 2x – x – 1 = 0 and these roots are zero and 1. Hence Option 3.
Answer 59
This is a matter of logic alone. AB is 6 and BC is 8. When you draw a circle with B as centre, then the
distance between B and the point where this circle cuts AB is the same as the distance between B and the
point where this circle cuts AC. Let the radius be R cm. AP is thus (6-R) and QC is (8-R). Regardless of the
value of R, AP will be less than QC for sure. The only option where AP is seen to be less than QC is at
Option 4 where their ratio of the measures of AP:QC is 3:8. So Option 4.
The matter is rather simple, when the same amount is reduced from two different amounts – say A and B
where A<B - then A is bound to be poorer on account of this reduction. If you had Rs.8 to start with and I
had Rs.6 and the same amount were to be deducted from what we have, what I am left with will always be
lesser than what you are left with. Here AP is the leftover after a constant distant is cut off from AB (the
point where the circle drawn from B as centre and with BD as radius – or any radius for that matter - cuts
AB and BC will be equidistant from B). QC is the leftover when the same distance is cut from BC. Since BC
was already longer than AB even before the process of cutting started, QC will always be longer than AP
and hence the ratio of AP: QC will always be lesser than 1 and among the options only Option 4 qualifies.
There is no geometry in this question worth the name. For those who would still want to slog – or for that
matter those who want to make sure that the correct answer is indeed 3: 8, please see this diagram.
D 10
6
B 8 C
The fact that the three sides are in the ratio of 3:4:5 means that the triangle ABC is right-angled. AB=6,
BC=8 and AC=10. BD is a perpendicular on AC. If AD= x, then DC= (10 -x). Since angle BDC is a right
angle, BD2 = 82 –(10 -x) 2 = 36 -x2. Thus 82 –(10 -x) 2 = 36 -x2 and hence 64-100+20x - x2 =36 -x2. So 20x=
72 and thus x= 3.6. Thus BD= 36 –3.62= 3.6×10 - 3.62= 3.6 (10 - 3.6)= 3.6×6.4=36×64×1/100 and thus
BD= 6×8/10=4.8. So BP=BQ=4.8 and hence AP= 6 –4.8 =1.2 and QC= 8 –4.8 =3.2 and hence AP: QC is
1.2:3.2 or 12:32 or 3:8.
An even faster method for verifying this mathematically, if the need would arise, is to go from
option to option. Let the measure of the radius BD be X units. This means that AP= 6 –X and QC= 8 –X,
Then:
If Option 1 is correct and the ratio between AP and QC is 1:1, (6 –X)/( 8 –X)= 1 and this means that 6=8
which is stupid.
If Option 2 is correct and the ratio between AP and QC is 3:2, (6 –X)/( 8 –X)= 3/2 and this means that 12 -
2X= 24 – 3X and so X=12; this would make the AP and QC both negative and this is stupid.
36
X= 32 – 4X and so X=26/3; this too would make the AP and QC both negative and this too is stupid.
8X= 24 – 3X and so X=24/5; this would make the AP and QC both positive and this is not only workable but
the only option left.
Before launching any laborious exercise, it is imperative to see whether the question is really of logic or
anything else. This is one more testimonial to the assertion that we have been making from time to time –
data backed, of course – that the CAT in specific and competitive examinations in general are heavily laced
with logic and this is what one must be prepared for if one is to emerge with flying colours.
Answer 60
There has been a steady number of questions each year in past CAT papers where the answer depends on
one being able to identify two right-angled triangles that have an angle (other than the right angle, of
course) in common. This would make the two right triangles equiangular. Once you identify this, the matter
pertains to ratio and proportion rather than to geometry because it is common knowledge that if two right-
angled triangles are equiangular, the ratio of their sides is the same even if one triangle fits on a postage
stamp and the other has one side of the same measure as the distance between Ahmedabad and Delhi and
another side of the same measure as the distance between Ahmedabad and Bangalore and so on.
This question has two sets of right-angled triangles with a common angle.
9 The first set has the triangles ABD and PQD that are both right-angled and have angle D in
common. That makes triangles ABD and PQD equiangular.
9 The other set has the triangles CDB and PQB that are both right-angled and have angle B in
common. That makes triangles CDB and PQB equiangular.
We are told that AB is three times CD. With this at the back of our minds, let us see the options one by
one. If Option 1 were correct, CD/PQ = 100/69. This means if we were to take CD as 100Y, then PQ=69Y
and AB=300Y since AB=3 times CD. Since right-angled triangles CDB and PQB are equiangular, the ratio of
CD/PQ = 100/69, so also BD/BQ=100/69. This means if we were to take BD as 100X, then BQ=69X and
hence QD=31X. The ratio between the side opposite and the side adjacent to angle D in triangle PQD
would then be 69Y/31X whereas the ratio between the side opposite and the side adjacent to angle D in
triangle ABD would then be 300Y/100X. Since 69Y/31X is not the same thing as 300Y/100X, let us move on
to the next option. If Option 2 were correct, CD/PQ = 100/75. This means if we were to take CD as 100Y,
then PQ=75Y and AB=300Y since AB=3 times CD. Since right-angled triangles CDB and PQB are
equiangular, the ratio of since CD/PQ = 100/75, so also BD/BQ=100/75. This means if we were to take BD
as 100X, then BQ=75X and hence QD=25X. The ratio between the side opposite and the side adjacent to
angle D in triangle PQD would then be 75Y/25X and the ratio between the side opposite and the side
adjacent to angle D in triangle ABD would then be 300Y/100X. Since 75Y/25X is the same thing as
300Y/100X, Option 2 is correct .
37
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CAT CBT 2 [CAT, 23rd Nov 2003]

E. On June 12th , PeopleSoft turned down Oracle

1. CABDE 2. CADBE 3. CEDAB 4. CAEBD

1. DABCE 2. DACEB 3. ADBCE 4. AECBD

1. admitted, acquire 2. conceded, offload

2. announced, dispose 4. ratified, auction

1. treatment, compounded 2. detection, facilitated

3. identification, complicated 4. prevention, helped

1. different, discrete 2. distinct, disparate

3. divergent, distinct 4. different, competing

1 The newborn baby was a bundle of joy for the family.

2 Mobile operators are offering a bundle of additional benefits

3 He made a bundle in the share market.

1 He is distinct about what is right and what is wrong.

2 Mars became distinct on the horizon in the month of August.

4 Ghoshbabu’s is a distinct case of water rising above its own level.

1. caustic 2. satirical 3. critical 4. hypocritical

3. Consumers are able to appreciate better quality wines.

1. Follow the labelling strategy of the English-speaking countries.

2. Give their wines English names.

3. Introduce fruity wines as Brazil has done.

1. The emergence of the idea of the public good as an element of governance.

3. The weakening of the immorality attached to an emperor’s looting behaviour.

4. A growing awareness of the idea of equality among peoples.

2. The inspiration for the French and American revolutions.

4. An imperative that made open looting of resources impossible.

1. That the local princes were allies, not foes.

2. That the land revenue from India would decline dramatically.

3. That the British were a small ethnic group.

4. That India would be increasingly difficult to rule.

Which of the following cannot be seated at either end?

Which of the following pairs cannot be seated together?

1. B & D 2. C & F 3. D & G 4. E & A

1. F & D 2. D & E 3. E & G 4. C & F

Which of the following is one of the married couples?

1. A & B 2. B & E 3. D & E 4. A & D

What is E’s profession?

1. Engineer 2. Lawyer 3. Professor 4. Accountant

How many members of the group are males?

Choose 2 if the question can be answered by using either statement alone.

A. F has two brothers.

B. M has five siblings.

A. The game ended normally.

B. The total number of tails obtained in the game was 138.

B. The total number of vowels obtained was 18.

A. A and C run the same race and A wins by 375 metres.

B. The length of the race is 1 km.

Male 61205 59981 684 171

Choose 1 if only A is true

Choose 2 if only B is true

Choose 3 if both A and B are true

Choose 4 if neither A nor B is true

Table A Table B Table C

Age (Years) Number Height (cm.) Number Weight (kg.) Number

14 100 165 100 50 100

Figures in Rs. A B C D Total

Sales 24568 25468 23752 15782 89570

Operating 17198 19101 16151 10258 62708

Interest costs 2457 2292 2850 1578 9177

Profit 4914 4075 4750 3946 17684

Which firm has the highest profitability?

1. 55% 2. 45% 3. 35% 4. 50%