Analysis of XAT-2004

The paper was perceived more or less as a pushover. Due to the jolt given by
the Math section last year, most of the test-takers were bracing themselves
for staggering questions. There were a sizeable number of single questions
unlike caselets that were predominant last year. The English section as usual
gave some reasons to relax. The change was brought in by the poetry, which
hobbled the performance added by deceptively close options in analogies.
The GK section had a mix of questions based on science, management,
famous quotes, et al.

It was a three-section paper just like last year with sectional timings and had
a total of 200 questions to be attempted in two hours followed by a 20-
minute essay.

The optimum number of attempts was in the range of 120 to 130 (for XLRI).

As far as the individual sections are concerned, English was the one, which
would fetch the maximum score, followed by Maths.

Sectional Breakup

No. Of Time Difficulty

Section
Questions Limit Level
English (Verbal Ability +
80 40 Average
Reading Comprehension)
Reasoning & Quantitative
60 40 Average
Ability
General Awareness 60 40 Tough
Section 1: English

Verbal Ability

Area Tested No. Of Questions Difficulty Level Comments

Analogies 20 Average Tricky
Fill in the Blanks 10 Average
Synonyms 20 Average
Total 50 Average

Reading Comprehension

No. of
Passage Difficulty Level Comments
Questions
King HenryIV
7 average Poem
‘s speech
Hamlet 6 average Poem
Indians building
Conventional
American 7 easy
passage
economy
Antonyms
Painter 10 easy
based questions
Total 30 Average

A total of 80 questions were to be solved in 40 minutes. Here the ideal

number of attempts would be 60+ and the cutoff would be 45+(for XLRI)
Section 2 : Reasoning & Quantitative Ability

Total of 60 questions to be solved in 40 minutes. Compared to last year,

Quantitative ability questions were easier.

Caselet type Number of questions Difficulty level

Functions 10 Average
Probability (balls in
10 Average
urns)
Spring balance
6 Average (tricky)
(reasoning)
Number Series 8 Tough
Pie-chart (DI) 5 Easy
Table (DI) 6 Average
Others 15 Very Easy
Total 60 Average

Ideal attempts would be 40+ and cutoff would be30+(for XLRI).

Section 3: General Awareness

A total of 60 questions to be solved in 40 minutes. The ideal number of

attempts would be 35+and the cut off would be in the range of 20+(for
XLRI).

Essay:

When asked which of his works was a masterpiece, the 83-year-old architect
Frank Llyod Wright replied" my next one."

Total cut-off could be safely pegged at 95+ for XLRI.