NMAT 2017 Slot 2 - 23 Oct, 11:30 a.m. was pretty predictable as far as the paper pattern and the difficulty level were concerned. There were three sections namely Language Skills, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Skills. As usual, there was no negative marking and the choice of deciding the sequence of the mentioned sections was given to the candidates. The Language Skill section was a little difficult as compared to that of the last year papers. However, it was compensated by the Logical Reasoning section which was very easy to attempt. The Quantitative Skills section was of a similar level of difficulty as that of last year.
As far as paper of this slot is concerned, one should have solved close to 85-94 questions (across the sections) in 120 minutes. A student should have made educated guesses in rest of the questions as there was no negative marking. Based on our experience, we observed that the questions and the question pattern varied for different candidates in the same slot. However, the difficulty level didn't vary drastically. As there were sectional time constraints, a good time-management strategy was required on the part of candidates.
Based on our analysis, the cut-off will likely remain in the same range (208-210 for Mumbai Campus) as that of last year. An advice for students would be to start with the Quantitative skills section and end with the Logical Reasoning section.
The pattern of the paper was as follows:
S. no |
Section |
No. of Questions |
Time (in Minutes) |
Difficulty Level |
Serious Attempts |
1 |
Language Skills |
32 |
22 |
Moderate |
24-26 |
2 |
Quantitative Skills |
48 |
60 |
Moderate-Difficult |
32-36 |
3 |
Logical Reasoning |
40 |
38 |
Easy |
29-32 |
|
Total |
120 |
120 |
Easy-Moderate |
85-94 |
The Logical Reasoning section was easy.
The Analytical Reasoning questions were from familiar areas. Some questions were very easy to attempt and could have been solved within seconds of reading. Others demanded some time as they involved a lot of calculations. The direction and the blood relation questions were very easy.
The LR set on arrangement was time consuming. The singlets were quite easy except for those on finding the missing number in the diagrams. The input-output questions were moderate in difficulty. One should have just guessed these.
There were 11 questions in total from the area of Verbal Logic. We found all these questions to be very easy. There was one Syllogism based question, one Course of Action question, one question on Strong and Weak Arguments and one Statement-Conclusion question. There were six Critical Reasoning questions in this paper and all of them were very easy as there were no close options. There was one more Course of Action question and it was structured in a format commonly found in decision making section of XAT. Overall, this section was a cakewalk for those who were aware of the concepts and the question-types. An attempt of 29-32 with 90% accuracy was achievable.
Topic |
No. of Questions |
Coding |
2 |
Blood Relation |
3 |
Direction |
1 |
Critical Reasoning |
6 |
Statement-Argument |
1 |
Statement Conclusion |
1 |
Course of Action / Decision making |
2 |
Syllogism |
1 |
Logical Reasoning(arrangement and ranking) |
8 (2 sets, 4 questions each) |
Input/output |
4 |
Diagram Based (Find the missing number) |
3 |
Mathematical Puzzles |
3 |
Singlets (Contained Visual Reasoning and Venn diagram based) |
5 |
Total |
40 |
The questions in Quantitative Aptitude section ranged from moderate to difficult level. Number System and Arithmetic are the main areas from which the questions were asked in this section.
While some questions were of moderate difficulty level, others were quite difficult as they were very lengthy. Questions from Time and Work, P&C, Probability, and Set Theory didn’t require any struggle. The questions on Time, Speed and Distance were very lengthy.
The section contained 5 DI sets which included 2 tables, 2 bar graphs, and a combination of a bar graph and a line graph. Two of these sets were calculation intensive. The remaining 3 sets were easy. A well prepared student would not have had much difficulty in going through this section. 32 to 35 proper attempts were certainly possible.
Topic |
No. of Questions |
Profit & Loss |
2 |
Percentages |
2 |
Ratio & Mixture, Proportion |
2 |
Time, Speed & Distance |
1 |
Work & Time |
2 |
Number System |
5 |
Progression |
2 |
Logarithm |
1 |
Polygon |
1 |
Geometry |
2 |
Mensuration |
1 |
P &C / Probability |
2 |
Data Sufficiency |
5 |
DI |
20(5 sets, 4 questions each) |
Total |
48 |
The Language Skills section was dominated by vocabulary questions. These questions were of moderate level of difficulty. A few tough words given as answer choices made these questions a little difficult. There were 2 RCs in this section. The passages were from familiar areas of Environmental Science and Economics. The first passage was on Global Warming & Climate Change and the second passage was on Gambling & Taxation. Both the passages contained the central idea question. Though most of the questions on RCs were idea-based, two questions were asked on the contextual meaning of the words/phrases used in the passages. As usual, the passages were easy to read but the options were very close. Overall, RC was really time-consuming. Fill in the blank and Para Jumble questions were fairly easy and predictable. The spot the error questions in Grammar covered mostly Tenses and Parts of Speech (concepts like Gerund). There were two types of FIB questions: the first type was based on prepositions and the second type was based on vocabulary.
The pattern of this section was almost similar to that of the last year and the previous window. Overall, the section was of moderate level of difficulty keeping in mind the time constraint. An overall attempt of 24-26 with 95% accuracy is realistic.
Topic |
No. of Questions |
Reading Comprehension Passages |
8 (1P-5 questions, 2P – 3 questions) |
Para Jumble |
4 (Easy) |
Error Spotting |
3 (Moderate- Difficult) |
FIBs (Prepositions) |
3 (3 blanks each) (Easy) |
FIBs (Vocabulary) |
3 (2 blanks each) (Easy - Moderate) |
Synonyms |
3 (Moderate) |
Antonym |
3 (Moderate) |
Analogy |
1 (Easy) |
Cloze Test |
4 (Easy) |
Total |
32 |
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