Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) 2013

Januar y 06, 2013

SUBJECTIVEANALYSIS
CATv/stheXAT
Academicallyandexperientially,threethingsmakeXATeminentlyabetterexaminationascomparedtotheIIMCAT.
1 .

TheXATisdesignedbeautifully.Itismoreholistic(becauseoftheEssayandtheGK)ascomparedtotheCAT.Acandidate
reallyneedstodoa360degreespreparation.

2 .

TheXATisapaperbasedtest,andconductedonasingleday.Thishelpsitretaintheoldworldtouchofacompetitivetest,
withhundredsorthousandsateachtestvenue,unlikethetotallyfizzledoutfeelonegetswhilewritingtheIIMCAT(10or
20peopleinaslotsittinginacomplab).ThecrowdatXATvenuesmakesabigdifferencetoacandidatesmindset,and
perhaps,isinstrumentalinbringingoutthebestinmany.

3 .

TheDecisionMakingsection,whichtrulystandsapartinitsmeritofjudgingwhattesttakersreallybelievein(thevalue
systemsstuff,andcommonsenseetc.)

TalkingofXAT2013
Theymodifiedthepatternonceagain,andremovedallthedifferentialscoringacrosssections.Thismusthavemadethingsalot
easierwhilestrategizingatthebeginningofthetest.Sinceallquestionscarryequalmarks,theSSSStechniquecanbeapplied
directlyScanandSearchfortherelativelyeasyones,Selectthem(andmarkwithapenorpencil),andSolvethem.Doitasecond
timeforthesecondroundoftougherquestions.Andsoon.
TheXAT2013wasintwoparts:
Part1AptitudeTest140minutescoveredthreesections:VerbalandLogicalAbility,Decisionmaking,QuantitativeAbilityand
DataInterpretation
Part2GeneralKnowledgeandtheEssay.
SeparateOMRsheetswereprovidedforboththestages,somaybethescoreswillbeusedseparately.Nosuretythough!
FIRSTPART
APTITUDETEST
SectionA.VerbalandLogicalAbility(30questions12EU/VA,18RC)
Difficultylevel:Tough.
Wasabrilliantlydesignedsetofquestionsthatcheckedthreeskills:
1 .

Areyouaregular,seriousreaderinEnglishlanguage?

2 .

Doyoupayattentiontothesmallthingsthatmatter?

3 .

Doyouthinkandanalysefactsandfigureswhenyouread,andhaveyouropinion?
The12questionsinEnglishUsage/Verbalweredesignedwithalotofthought.

Thefillintheblankquestionswerequitetricky.Withfiveblanksineachquestion,mostlybasedonarticles(a,an,the),onlythose
withamplereadingpracticecouldhaveattemptedthemsafely!Questionsbasedongrammarandparajumbleswerestraightforward,
butindeedrequiredhigherthannormallanguageskills,forsure!Reasoningquestionsweretough.
TheRCpassagesfourinnumberwerefromthemesasdiverseasthelawsofKarma,Scientificmeasurementandestimation
systems,Freemarketcapitalism,andScientificbeliefsandverification/falsification.Asonecansee,thesearenoteasythemes
thatanyonecanattemptofftheshelf.TheXATrepeatedlyremindsitscandidatesthatifyouhavenotbeenseriouswithlearning
thelanguageoverseveralyears,youwontgetthroughtheportalseasily.InseveralquestionsinRC,theuseofwordslikeimplies
thatandarguablyetc.madethingsmoredifficultaspersonalinterpretationcomesintoplay.Inall,18questionsinRCgavethe
seriousreaderagoodchancetosurgeahead.
Youshouldgetatleast1012correctinthissectiontostandafairchanceatXLRI.Cutofftablegivenattheend
also.
IC : PTpnrXAT2013

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SectionB.DecisionMaking(25questions)
Difficultylevel:Moderatetotough.
Howdoesamanagerorbusinessleaderworkinreallife?Withallfactsathis/herdisposal?Orwithhalffactsandhalftruths?More
likely,thelatterversionreflectstherealworldssubjectivereality.AndtheDecisionMakingsectionofXATpreciselychecksthis
nuancedabilitytolookbetweenthelines(yes,yes,readalsowilldo),andgobeyondtheobvious.AlittlebitofGK,alittletouch
ofcommonsense,somemaths,andalotofluckissurelyagoodcombinationtocrackmostoftheDMquestions.
Asexpected,thequestionsforcedthestudentstotrymakingpracticaldecisionsorchartaspecificcourseofaction.Thesection
thisyearhadagoodnumberofmathematicalquestionstoo.Manyquestionsreflectedthehappeningsinourcorporateand
nationallife,inrecenttimes.Sothatmadeitslightlyeasytoputaquestionincontext.CommonsensequestionsliketheBankof
Bharatlosingcustomersyetimprovingitssharepricecheckastudentspresenceofmind,andreadingspan(ET,etc.).Questions
onprobabilitywereinterestingandnoteasy.Somequestionswereverylengthy,makingthemunwieldy.TheseweretheRCtype
cases/caselets,againreinforcingthebeliefthatXATreallywantsyoutobegoodatreadingspeedandcomprehension(ok,ok,
thatsthelasttimewesayit).
Youshouldgetatleast810correctinthissectiontostandafairchanceatXLRI.Cutofftablegivenattheendalso.
SectionC.QuantitativeAbilityandDataInterpretation(36questions)
Difficultylevel:Easytomoderate.
ThiswastheeasiestofthethreesectionsinAptitudetest.IfyouhavepreparedfortheCATthoroughly,thenthissectionwasvery
doable.ThetopicswereallstandardArithmetic,Geometry,Statistics,Numbersystem,Algebra,P&CandProbability,Settheory,
andofcourse,DIcaselets.Itisimportanttousetheeliminationofoptionstechniquetoimproveyourchances.Thisissomething
wehavestresseduponinallourPercentileBoosterSessionsalso.
Thegoodpartinthissectionwasthatidentifyingthespeedbreakerswaseasy.Theyshouldhavebeenreallyavoided.Spotting
theeasyonesandattemptingtheminthefirstroundisveryimportant.Itbuildyourconfidenceasyoumovethroughthesection.
TheDIquestionslookedlongandcomplex,butwereeasyifthegraphsweredecipheredwithsomeeffort.
Youshouldgetatleast15correctinthissectiontostandafairchanceatXLRI.Cutofftablegivenattheendalso.
SECONDPART
GKANDESSAYTEST
GeneralAwareness/GK/CurrentAffairs
Difficultylevel:Moderate.
Theexamineristryingtojudgethefollowingthings:AreyoureallyawareofwhatthecorporateworldinIndiaisupto?Doyouhave
ideaofthescaleandscopeofwhatcorporateandorganizationsdo?DoyouknowthatthereisaworldgatheringcalledWEF?Do
yourealizethatbigcompaniesarelistedinarankingcalledFortune500?Areyougenerallyawareofthematerialandsocial
challengesthatpolicymakersface?DoyouknowwhatGDPreallymeans,andhowitisbrokenupinto3majorcomponents?Areyou
awareofthemajorabbreviationsandacronymsinusepresently?Areyouintheloopregardingmajorpoliticalandsocioeconomic
movementsinIndia,andaroundtheworld?Ifyouareaskedtowritethetop10sociopoliticaleconomicheadlinesoftheworld,will
youbeabletodoitcorrectly?
Theoptionswereverycloseinmanyquestions.Thestudentshouldhaveverycarefullyeliminatedsomechoicesbeforegoingto
therightones.Cautionaquestionmaylookeasy,butthecloselyplacedoptionsmaymakeansweringquitedifficult.Hencetake
anextratensecondsbeforejumpingtoconclusions.
Thequestionsclearlyprovethatyouneedtopreparefor12monthspriortotheexam,withadailyreadingofatleasttwoEnglish
newspapers,underexpertsupervision.Wearehappytosharethatalmost100%ofthequestionsthatappearedinXAT2013GK
sectionweredirectlydiscussedinPTclasseswithlotsofexamplesandexplanation.Allthesewerealsouploadedthroughvideos
insidethePTSRC.TherigourwithwhichPThascoveredtheGKsectionisabsolutelyunmatched.
ThetipsforstudentstargetingXAT2014:
1 . StartreadingTheEconomicTimes,andTheHindurightfromtoday(1hreach)
2 . Tryreadingatleast1businessmagazineregularly.
3 . AttendtheentireLTSseriesofPTtotal8lecturesforgettingasolidgriponmajortopics
4 . BeregularwiththeGKCAsessionsatPTalsorevisebywatchingthevideosonSRC
5 . SolveallthetestsintheSRCputinsidetheGKCAbuilder
6 . Attendalltestspecificrevisionsessions
Rememberstudents:Thereisnoalternativetoregularreadingofnewspapers,andregularmentoringbyaprofessionallydesigned
courseandsystem.
Youshouldgetatleast20correctinthissectiontostandafairchanceatXLRI.Cutofftablegivenattheendalso.
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IC : PTpnrXAT2013

The Essay
CorruptionistherootcauseofeconomicslowdowninIndia200wordsonlyplease:)
Whilethetopiclooksprettydirectandsimple,writingameaningfulessayonitwillbefarfromanythingsimple.Areallygoodeffort
shouldincludethefollowingideas:

DefinitionofwhatCorruptionreallymeans(deviationfromsetpolicies,personalgreed,MahatmaGandhisfamousquote,
etc.)

Definitionofwhateconomicgrowthratemeans(GDPgrowthrate,qualityofliving,purchasingpower,etc.)

Arethetworeallyconnecteddirectlyandindirectly?

WhatdoesgrowthratemeantoanaverageIndiancitizen?

Isthereanyconnectionbetweeninflation,growthrate,andqualityofdaytodaylife?

Examples of leading nations Scandinavian nations, the US, Singapore, Japan, China to probe the relation between
CorruptionandGrowthRatefurther

Citingtherecentexamplestoillustratehowpolicymakingandbigbusinessmaycolludeattimes,atleastintheeyesofthe
mediaandNGOs

RoleofMediainexposingsuchpracticesdoesthatslowthingsdownfurther?

Roleofanactivejudiciaryandcivilsocietyinexposingandtakingactiononsuchnewsdoesthatfurtherslowthingsdown?

Afearpsychosisgrippingthebureaucracyleadingtopolicyparalysis

Isbigbusinessandbigdecisionmakingreally,inherentlycorruptionprone?

Whatarethedifferencesincorruptpracticesbetweenthecentreandstatelevelbodies?

Howdotheanticorruptionbodiesworktheworldover?WhataboutIndiasCAG,CVCetc.?

Yoursuggestionstoimprovethesystem(insyncwithyouroveralltoneintheessay)

Asageneralrule,youshouldmakeagoodstartadramaticquoteisalwaysappreciated.Similarly,youshouldendonagoodnote,
withasolution,andahintofoptimism.
Asyoucansee,thetopiclookseasy,butthequalityofwrittenwordwillvarysignificantly.AtPT,wetriedtocoverallthese
conceptsatagreatlengthinourclasses.Wearesuremanyofourstudentsmusthavepiecedtogethertheideasattherighttime.
Connectingthedots,aswecallit!
OVERALL,adifficulttest,beautifullydesigned,andrequiringthebestofeachcandidate.Pleasegothroughthe
restoftheanalysis,andPredictedCutOffs,andandAnswerKeysbelow.

CUTOFFS
Seetableattheend.

AllthebestKarkedikhayenge!

IC : PTpnrXAT2013

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OBJECTIVEANALYSIS
Wepresenthereanobjectiveanalysisof XavierAptitudeTest(XAT) heldonJanuary06,2013in43cities
acrossIndiaand2Internationallocations,Dubai,Kathmandu.
XAT2013concentratedoncheckingthereadingskillsofstudents.Theverbalabilitysection,decisionmaking
section,essaywritingandthenewlyintroducedgeneralawarenesssectionbearatestimonytothat.
Manychangeswereintroducedthisyear.
First,differentialmarkingwasnotthere,i.e.,allquestionscarriedequalmarksandthetotalnumberofquestions
increasedfrom85to91inpartA.So,forastudent,selectionbecameaveryimportantfactor.
Second,inthesecondpartofthepaper,30questionsofgeneralawarenesswereintoduced.
TheDecisionMakingSectionhadveryfewquestionsfromAnalyticalReasoningandthiswasthetrickiestsection.
TheEnglishLanguageAbilityandLogicalReasoningsectionwasofmoderatedifficultylevelandtheQuantitative
Abilitysectionwasmanageableandeasyascomparedtolastyear.ThetopicforEssaywritingwasverygeneral.
OnehadtomarktheanswersontheOMRsheetwithapenunlikesomeotherexams,wherethemediumof
markingispencil.Sotherewasnochanceofchanginganansweratthelastmoment.Thiswasdangerousforthe
lesspreparedorfortheonesinajiffy!
Thus,thepaperwasfullofsurprises,whichcametolightsectionbysectionin3hrs.

Bir ds Eye View XAT 2013

Total Number of Questions 91 in PartA and 30 in PartB
Total Time 180 minutes (140 min for PartA and 40 min for PartB)
The Marking Scheme It was mentioned that all questions carry equal marks, and negative marking was 25%
Number of Options 5
Sections/Sectional Time Limit Three sections in PartA and Two in PartB
Essay Writing Topic Corruption is the root cause of economic slowdown in India
Medium of marking Blue or Black pen.
Sectional Breakup
Part

Sections

Questions

VerbalandLo gicalAbility

30

DecisionMaking

25

QuantitativeAbilityandDataInterpretation

36

GeneralAwareness

30

B
Essay
Total

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121

IC : PTpnrXAT2013

Verbal and Logical Ability

This section was of moderate difficulty level. The vocabulary based questions, para jumbles and fill in the blanks were
easy. The reading comprehension based questions and logical reasoning questions were slightly difficult. Their options
were confusing.
The detailed breakup of this section is given below:

Topic

No.of Questions

DifficultyLevel

LogicalReasoning

Moderate

Grammar

Easy

ParraJumbles

Easy

ReadingComprehension

18

ModeratetoDifficult

Total

30

Moderate

A score of 10+ can be considered good in this section.

Decision Making
This section was of higher difficulty level. The questions required the skill of prudent and speedy judgement.
A score of 8+ can be considered good in this section.

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

This section was easy. With good selection and speed a student could manage to get a high score. DI sets looked
lengthy, with a lot of data, but could be attempted eaily, because the questions did not require lengthy calculations.
The detailed breakup of this section is given below:

Topic

No.of Questions

DifficultyLevel

Arithmetic

Easy

Geometry

EasytoModerate

Statistics

Easy

Numbers

Moderate

Algebra

Easy

PandCandProbability

Moderate

DI

13

EasytoModerate

SetTheory

Moderate

Total

36

Easy

A score of 15+ can be considered good in this section.

IC : PTpnrXAT2013

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General Awareness and Essay Writing

These sections were included in the second part of the paper and were easy to moderate. To score high one needed
a good reading habbit as the fundamental skill. The essay topic was very general, the GA questions laid importance on
current business and economic senario in the country. As observed in previous years, this part of the paper will not be
counted in the cutoff while giving calls, but might play a part during GD PI in XLRI.
A score of 12+ can be considered good in this section.

EstimatedCutoffs
Sections

Topic

XLRIBM

XLRI
PMandIR

XIMB

VAandLA

10+

8+

7+

II

DM

8+

6+

5+

III

QAandDI

15+

13+

12+

Total

35+

30+

27+

~Kar ke Dikhayenge~
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ANSWERKEY
Q.No.

Question

C orrect
option

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

VerbalandLogicalAbility
Whetherduetohasteordesign..
Ifthereisanyendeavourwhose ..
Businessschoolsareideallypositioned..
..wolf,meetingwith..
batwhofellupon..
Hegot..nextmorning ..
Tobeagreatmanagerrequires..
ThetremendousinsightofEinstein..
Economictheoryfailsto explain..
Iwasscarcelyinposition..
Finallyhetookawrongturn ..
Aschro niclersofanincrementalprocess..
"Futureexistences"inthe..
Assertion:Themeaningofkarma ..
Highersatisfactio nleads..
Temporaryfeelingsand..
Amanagerwentoutothave..
Supposeyouapplythesamelogic..
Quickestimate,asperFermi, ..
Givenbelowaresomestatements..
Atomicbombdetonationwasaresult..
Aspertheparagraph,authorbelieves..
Aspertheparagraph,whichofthefollowing..
Accordingtotheauthor,A.GeorgeSoros..
AccordingtotheauthorA.Ideasofcritical..
Theworddeterministic.
AccordingtoPopper .
Thestatement,"this'asymmetry'.
Verificationisbetterthan.
Falsificationgivesusan.
DecisionMaking

E
B
C
A
D
B
B
B
D
B
C
E
D
A
C
D
C
A
D
D
E
B
D
C
E
D
D
E
D
A

31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

Overthelastfive..
Gastricbypasssurgery ..
StatementI:Onlinestoreaccounted..
Whatistheprofit/loss..
Whichretailformatis..
Whichretailformatgivesthe ..
Isitpossiblefortheteacher..
Threegoodstudentswere..
Studentsfromfoursections..
Thereisalotofinterestin..

C
A
C
D
B
A
C
C
E
A

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Q.No.
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
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Question
MaratheshouldtransferKale ..
Marathesoughtanappointment..
AGovernmentofIndiastudy..
Vardarajandoesno tfindthework..
GiveVardarajanamorechallenging..
Youoverheardaconversation..
People'slatentangeragainst..
Thecommonmanhadbecome..
Mediareportssuggested..
Subsequently,theminister..
Lookingatthepublicunrest..
IfyouwereVijya ..
Itwasfoundthatalargesection..
Asapotentialentrant ..
Vijyafoundthatthereweremanysuch..
QuantitativeAbilityandDataInterpretation
Prof.Mandalwalkstothe..
Atthecentreofacity's..
Mr.Mehraisplanning..
Themeanofsixpositive..
Rameshboughtatotalof ..
SarahasjustjoinedFacebook..
Albela,BobandChulbul..
ThetaxisplayinnginWasseypur..
Considertheexpression..
Arunhastotogotothe..
However,Arun'smanagerhastold ..
Theradiusofacircle..
Sixplayingcardsare..
70%ofthestuden ts ..
pandqarepositivenumbers..
Ram,ShyamandHari..
Thecentralparkofthecity ..
InasquarePQRS..
Howmanywholenumber..
p,qandr..
Anumberisinteresting..
Considertheexpression(xxx)b..
103and7aretheonly..
Considerafunctionf(x)..
Inthecountryoffo ur..
Thefigurebelowshowsthegraph..
Consideringawaymatchesonlywhichofthefollowingteams..
Consideringawaymatchesonlytheleastnumberofteams..

C orrect
option
A
E
A
E
C
B
B
C
E
B
E
E
D
B
D
D
A
E
D
E
B
A
C
E
B
E
A
E
B
D
A
A
C
B
C
E
E
C
D
B
C
D
D
IC : PTpnrXAT2013

Q.No.
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91

Question

Letusdefineaterm ..
Howmanyuniquevalues..
WhichisthefastesttrainbetweenHHH ..
WhichisthefastesttrainbetweenAAA..
IfyouhavetotravelfromAAA..
Whatistheratioofthecurrent..
Exportsweremore..
Whatwastheapproximate..
GeneralAwareness
1
WhichofthefollowingIndiancompanies.
2
Whichofthesebodies .
3
CPIandWPI .
4
WhatisDavosfamous.
5
Whichofthefollo wingsaremillenium.
6
WhichofcountriesinEurope.
7
Whichofthefollowingco untrieswouldaccount.
8
Whichofthefollo wingwasnotthereason.
9
Whichoffollowingscombination.
10
Earthsummitisheld..
11
Whichofthefollowingcountriesmeetmore..
12
Picktherightmatchfrom.
13
HarishHandewho won .
14
Indiangovernmentisplanning
15
Whoisthechairmanof.
16
Givenbelowareso mewellknownawards
17
Afewcombinationsofnameofthecompanies.
18
Excisedutyisatax.
19
Fromwhichofthefollowingitems.
20
Whichofthefollowingassets
21
Whichofthefollowingistherightmatchfor.
22
WhichofthefollowingAfricancountries.
23
Whichofthefollowingeducationinstitutions
24
Whichcountrywasthehighest .
25
Whatistheapproximateshare..
26
Whichofthefollowingcombinations ..
27
Forwhichofthefollowingreasons
28
Whatisthemeaningo foneunit
29
Whoistheauthorof ..
30
VKurienwas.
*Noneo ftheoptionsiscorrect

IC : PTpnrXAT2013

C orrect
option
A
B
D
A
D
E
C
A
A
A
C
D
E
D
B
E
A
B
B
A
E
E
C
E
B
D
D
C
*
A
E
E
D
A
C
C
B
A

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