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Checkmate XLRI! This year the XAT has cornered the student into a no win situation with its conventionally unconventional paper! Maintaining its tradition to be reasonable, all sections exhibited a similar difficulty level.
This paper tested the students’ astuteness in making shrewd decisions and not just his intelligence aptitude.
| OVERVIEW OF THE XAT 2009-10 PAPER |
Time |
120 mins |
Total no. of questions |
101 |
Total marks |
101 |
Progressive Negative marking (per section) |
0.20 for first five incorrect answers and 0.25 for each incorrect answer thereafter. |
SECTIONAL BREAK - UP
 Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning
A crafty section. Straightforward questions with sneaky answer options made the going tough even for a staunch English buff. Some solutions could be reached only by methodically eliminating the answer options. An above average to tough section.
Some of the question types include:
| AREA TESTED |
DESCRIPTION |
NUMBER OF QUESTIONS |
DIFFICULTY LEVEL |
Reading Comprehension |
Standard (Four Passages) |
8 |
Above Average |
Logical Reasoning |
Critical Reasoning (one Passage) |
2 |
Above Average |
Inductive Reasoning (FIJ) |
1 |
Easy to Average |
Critical Reasoning
(Single caselets) |
12 |
Average to Tough |
English Usage |
Jumbled Paragraph |
2 |
Average |
Fill in the blanks (passage: Grammar + Vocabulary based) |
2 |
Easy |
Analogies |
1 |
Average |
Fill in the blank (single Blank) |
3 |
Easy to Average |
| Total |
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31 |
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Data Interpretation and Quantitative Ability
“The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple”.Though the problems looked complex if an orthodox approach was adopted this section was not as tough as it appeared to be. In depth knowledge in areas of Geometry and Algebra was the need of the hour.
Some of the question types include:
| AREA TESTED |
NUMBER OF QUESTIONS |
DIFFICULTY LEVEL |
QUANTITATIVE ABILITY |
Numbers |
LCM/HCF |
2 |
Average |
Based on concepts |
1 |
Easy |
Geometry |
Circle |
1 |
Average |
Triangles |
2 |
Average |
Co-ordinate |
5 |
Above Average |
Mensuration |
1 |
Average |
Quadrilateral |
1 |
Average |
Algebra
|
Maxima Minima |
2 |
Average |
Functions |
1 |
Average |
Permutation and Combination |
1 |
Average |
Probability |
2 |
Above Average |
Progression |
1 |
Average |
Arithmetic
|
Percentage |
3 |
Average |
Speed-time-Distance |
1 |
Easy to Average |
Mixtures and Alligations |
1 |
Average |
Clocks |
1 |
Easy |
Data Sufficiency |
Numbers |
1 |
Average |
Geometry |
1 |
Average |
Data Interpretation |
Caselet based DI |
3 |
Tough |
Tabular form (Caselet Form) |
3+3+3 |
Average to Above Average |
Total |
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40 |
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Analytical Reasoning and Decision Making
XAT order of the day was “Decision Making caselets”! If one focused on the given facts from a business perspective then Decision Making caselets became simpler to attempt.
Having no predefined parameters, and coming up with the most optimal answer option in the stipulated time was a tough proposition. The student had to rely completely on his natural competence to scrutinize and contemplate on the given conditions.
Analytical Reasoning involved a lot of time spent on dissecting each caselet word to word. If at the end of it the answer option matched with the given answer options then a comfort level was generated. This part of the paper had by far the most ambiguous questions leaving the student with a bitter after taste.
If a ruling had to be passed then this section could be decreed as tough!
Some of the question types include:
| AREA TESTED |
NUMBER OF QUESTIONS |
DIFFICULTY LEVEL |
Matching |
5 + 3 + 3 + 5 |
Above Average |
Data Verification |
2 |
Above Average |
Decision Making (Calculation based) |
3 |
Above average |
Decision Making (Verbal) |
9 |
Above Average |
Total |
30 |
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