Summary: Dive into the CAT Exam's mysteries with our in-depth guide. Discover section-wise strategies, analyze past trends, and understand expert tips to ace this MBA entrance test. 

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a critical examination for MBA aspirants in India. In recent years, the CAT has evolved in its format and content, challenging students to adapt and prepare strategically.

With its rigorous testing of quantitative, verbal, and logical reasoning abilities, the CAT serves as a gateway to premier business schools across India. 

Understanding the nuances of the CAT exam is essential for aspirants aiming to secure admission to top-tier MBA programs. The exam not only tests the academic prowess of candidates but also their ability to manage time and stress under pressure.

This makes the CAT not just a test of knowledge but a comprehensive assessment of one's analytical, decision-making, and time-management skills.  

The dynamic nature of the CAT, with its changing patterns and types of CAT exam questions, requires aspirants to be versatile and well-prepared across all sections of the exam. 

Download FREE Study Material for CAT Exam 2024 by SuperGrads

CAT Question Paper Overview 

The CAT exam, conducted across 159 cities in India, comprises three sections within a total duration of 120 minutes. Each section is allotted 40 minutes. The exam features 66 questions, testing candidates on various skills.

Preparing for CAT requires understanding its pattern, which includes familiarizing oneself with CAT question papers and mock tests. This preparation is crucial for achieving a good score. 

CAT Exam Question Paper Section-Wise Breakdown  

• Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC): This section, with 24 questions of moderate difficulty, tests skills in Para Summary, Para Completion, and Para Jumbles. It assesses the candidate's ability to comprehend and analyze written material, a key skill in the business world. 
• Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR): Comprising 20 questions, this section includes problems from Venn Diagrams, Scatter Plots, and other areas of logical reasoning. It evaluates the aspirant's ability to interpret data and make logical deductions, essential for data-driven decision-making in business. 
• Quantitative Aptitude (QA): With 22 questions, this segment challenges students with 14 MCQs and 8 TITA (Type In The Answer) questions. This section tests mathematical aptitude and problem-solving skills, crucial for the analytical aspect of management. 

 Check CAT Exam Pattern to know about how many questions in CAT exam?

CAT Exam Question Paper PDF 

Access to past CAT question papers is invaluable for practice. These resources help build confidence and improve speed and accuracy in answering CAT exam questions. Regular practice with these papers also helps identify areas of strength and weakness, allowing for focused preparation. 

CAT Question Paper	Important Details
Exam sections	3
Total questions	66 questions
Total duration	120 minutes
Sectional time-limit	40 minutes
Marking scheme	+3 for every correct answer -1 for every incorrect answer No mark deductions for unattempted answers No negative markings in TITA questions
Total Marks	198

Check: CAT Marking Scheme

CAT Exam Questions and Answers

Sample CAT Exam Questions are provided below to offer you an understanding of what type of questions are asked in CAT entrance exam:

Q1. There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.  

Sentence: Having made citizens more and less knowledgeable than their predecessors, the Internet has proved to be both a blessing and a curse.  

Paragraph: Never before has a population, nearly all of whom has enjoyed at a least a secondary school education, been exposed to so much information, whether in newspapers and magazines or through YouTube, Google, and Facebook. ___(1)___. Yet it is not clear that people today are more knowledgeable than their barely literate predecessors. Contemporary advances in technology offered more serious and inquisitive students access to realms of knowledge previously unimaginable and unavailable. ___(2)___. But such readily available knowledge leads many more students away from serious study, the reading of actual texts, and toward an inability to write effectively and grammatically. ___(3)___. It has let people choose sources that reinforce their opinions rather than encouraging them to question inherited beliefs. ___(4)___.  

• A) Option 1  
• B) Option 2  
• C) Option 3 
• D) Option 4 

Prepare with: CAT Online Coaching 2024 by SuperGrads

Q2. The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.  

It’s not that modern historians of medieval Africa have been ignorant about contacts between Ethiopia and Europe; they just had the power dynamic reversed. The traditional narrative stressed Ethiopia as weak and in trouble in the face of aggression from external forces, so Ethiopia sought military assistance from their fellow Christians to the north. But the real story, buried in plain sight in medieval diplomatic texts, simply had not yet been put together by modern scholars. Recent research pushes scholars of medieval Europe to imagine a much more richly connected medieval world: at the beginning of the so-called Age of Exploration, there is evidence that the kings of Ethiopia were sponsoring their own missions of diplomacy, faith and commerce.  

• A) Medieval texts have documented how strong connections between the Christian communities of Ethiopia and Europe were invaluable in establishing military and trade links between the two civilisations.  
• B) Historians were under the illusion that Ethiopia needed military protection from their neighbours, but in fact the country had close commercial and religious connections with them. 
• C) Medieval texts have been ‘cherry-picked’ to promote a view of Ethiopia as weak and in need of Europe’s military help with aggressive neighbours, but recent studies reveal it was a well-connected and outwardlooking culture. 
• D) Medieval historical sources selectively promoted the narrative that powerful European forces were called on to protect weak African civilisations such as Ethiopia, but this is far from reality. 

Q3. Which of the following is the correct sequence of goals scored in matches 1, 3, 5 and 7? 

• A) 5, 1, 0, 1  
• B)    3, 1, 2, 1  
• C)   3, 2, 1, 2  
• D)    4, 1, 2, 1 

Check: CAT Exam Syllabus

Q4. Which of the following statement(s) is/are true?  

Statement-1: Amla and Sarita never scored goals in the same match.  

Statement-2: Harita and Sarita never scored goals in the same match.  

• A) Statement-1 only  
• B) Statement-2 only  
• C) Both the statements  
• D) None of the statements 

Q5. The average weight of students in a class increases by 600 gm when some new students join the class. If the average weight of the new students is 3 kg more than the average weight of the original students, then the ratio of the number of original students to the number of new students is  

• A) 1:4  
• B) 1:2  
• C) 4:1  
• D) 3:1 

Check: CAT Exam Subjects List 2024

Q6. The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage. Today, many of the debates about behavioural control in the age of big data echo Cold War-era anxieties about brainwashing, insidious manipulation and repression in the ‘technological society’. In his book Psychopolitics, Han warns of the sophisticated use of targeted online content, enabling ‘influence to take place on a pre-reflexive level’. On our current trajectory, “freedom will prove to have been merely an interlude.” The fear is that the digital age has not liberated us but exposed us, by offering up our private lives to machine-learning algorithms that can process masses of personal and behavioural data. In a world of influencers and digital entrepreneurs, it’s not easy to imagine the resurgence of a culture engendered through disconnect and disaffiliation, but concerns over the threat of online targeting, polarisation and big data have inspired recent polemics about the need to rediscover solitude and disconnect.  

• A) Rather than freeing us, digital technology is enslaving us by collecting personal information and influencing our online behaviour.  
• B) With big data making personal information freely available, the debate on the nature of freedom and the need for privacy has resurfaced.  
• C) The role of technology in influencing public behaviour is reminiscent of the manner in which behaviour was manipulated during the Cold War.  
• D) The notion of freedom and privacy is at stake in a world where artificial intelligence is capable of influencing behaviour through data gathered online. 

Q7. The number of integers greater than 2000 that can be formed with the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, using each digit at most once, is  

• A) 1440  
• B) 1200  
• C) 1480  
• D) 1420 

Q8. Let be a quadratic polynomial in x such that f(x)≥0 for all real numbers x. If f(2) = 0 and f( 4) = 6, then f(-2) is equal to  

• A) 12  
• B) 24  
• C) 6  
• D) 36 

Know more: How to Prepare for CAT Exam at Home?

Q9. The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:  

• 1. If I wanted to sit indoors and read, or play Sonic the Hedgehog on a red-hot SegaMega Drive, I would often be made to feel guilty about not going outside to “enjoy it while it lasts”.  
• 2. My mum, quite reasonably, wanted me and my sister out of the house, in the sun.  
• 3. Tales of my mum’s idyllic-sounding childhood in the Sussex countryside, where trees were climbed by 8 am and streams navigated by lunchtime, were passed down to us like folklore.  
• 4. To an introverted kid, that felt like a threat - and the feeling has stayed with me. 

Q10. Consider six distinct natural numbers such that the average of the two smallest numbers is 14, and the average of the two largest numbers is 28. Then, the maximum possible value of the average of these six numbers is  

• A) 23  
• B) 24  
• C) 23.5  
• D) 22.5 

Read more: CAT Preparation in 3 Months

Previous Year CAT Exam Question Paper Pattern 

Sections	Total Questions	MCQs	TITA	Maximum Marks
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	24	21	3	72
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	20	14	6	60
Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	22	14	8	66
Total	66	49	17	198

Refer: CAT Exam Verbal Ability Questions with Solutions

Tips for Preparing for CAT Exam Questions 

Here are some tips for preparing for CAT exam questions: 

Solve CAT past year's papers: This will give you a good understanding of the types of questions that are asked in the exam, as well as the difficulty level of the exam. 

• Take mock tests: CAT Mock tests are a great way to practice under time pressure and get feedback on your performance. 
• Focus on your weaker areas: Identify your weaker areas and spend extra time p
• racticing those topics. 
• Work on your speed and accuracy: The CAT exam is a timed test, so it is important to work on your speed and accuracy. 
• Develop a strong vocabulary: Having a strong vocabulary will help you to understand the passages in the VARC section. 
• Practice data interpretation and logical reasoning: These skills are essential for the DILR section. 
• Brush up on your math skills: The QA section tests your mathematical aptitude and problem-solving skills. 
• Stay motivated: Preparing for the CAT exam can be challenging, but it is important to stay motivated and focused on your goals. 

Read more: CAT Exam Study Plan 2024

In conclusion, the CAT exam is a multifaceted challenge that tests more than just academic knowledge. It assesses analytical skills, decision-making, and time management, crucial for future business leaders.

As you embark on your CAT preparation journey, remember that understanding the exam pattern, practicing with past papers, and focusing on your weaknesses are key to success.

Stay motivated, embrace the challenge, and let this guide be your roadmap to achieving excellence in the CAT exam. 

Know more: CAT Exam Jobs