CAT 2008: How to do well in Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, answers Career Launcher

After publishing articles from IMS Learning on CAT 08, MBAUniverse.com Aspirant Zone is now publishing a seriesof articlesby CAT experts fromCareer Launcher (mba.careerlauncher.com).

In this three-part series, experts from Career Launcher offer advice on how to preparekey sections: Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, Quantitative and Verbal Ability. We start the series with first article titled Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning by Mr. Gautam Lachiramka, National Product Head, Career Launcher.

Next article in this series will focus on Quantitative Section.

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
Article by Mr. Gautam Lachiramka, National Product Head, Career Launcher
Lets talk about the Data Interpretation (DI) section for a moment. If your basic fundas are clear you will immediately understand the question. And out of a set of five questions, at least three are bound to be easy.
Learn the art of skipping questions in DI. The misconception is that you have to solve the whole set before you move on to the next set.

LR & DI:

DI is generally tough and students know that. Possibly only few can crack all the sets. So at the very beginning you should know that you need to clear the cutoff.
If you are not aiming IIMs and a few other institutes, you should not worry about cutoffs and. should maximize the score in whatever section you are comfortable in.
Attempting this sections is like a typical one-day international match (or a Twenty20 match!). You need to choose the right bowler to target.
The division of time that you allow will be crucial. Ideally for DI it should be slightly less than one-third of the total time, definitely not more than one-third time. Allow more time to English or quant so that you can maximize your score according to your ability and try to clear the cutoff for LR&DI.

The key in DI lies in choosing the set. Actually, no paper is tough, no paper is easy. There is a very clever mix of easy, difficult and tough questions in all CAT papers. Devote 10 minutes without bothering yourself, think of it as an investment, and read the sets thoroughly. If you do not invest those five to 10 minutes, actually you have no basis of a choice. If you choose at random, luck factor comes in!
Do not get sentimental about any particular set/question. Being a fighter is good but there is no point fighting a battle you are sure to lose. Try to be practical rather than foolhardy. Move on in case you are stuck up on a question for much time.
Be ready for surprises. That means new sorts of questions and sets. Something that may look like alien may not actually be incomprehensible. In fact many a times the new types of sets a re a shade easier than the questions you are well accustomed to. Be a calculated risk taker but do not totally come out of your comfort zone.

Sample Question- Answer the following questions based on the information given below:
The proportion of male students and the proportion of vegetarian students in a school are given below.
The school has a total of 800 students, 80% of whom are in the Secondary Section and rest equally divided between Class 11 and 12.

Male (M)
Vegetarian (V)

Class 12
0.6

Class 11
0.55
0.5

Secondary Section
0.55

Total
0.475
0.53

38. What is the percentage of male students in the secondary section?
(1)40 (2) 45 (3) 50 (4) 55 (5) 60
39. In Class 12, twenty five per cent of the vegetarians are male. What is the difference between the number of female vegetarians and male non-vegetarians?
(1) less than 8 (2) 10 (3) 12 (4) 14 (5) 16
40. What is the percentage of vegetarian students in Class 12?
(1) 40 (2) 45 (3) 50 (4) 55 (5) 60
From the given information the following table can be formed:

M
F
V
NV
Total

Class 12
48
32
32
48
80

Class 11
44
36
40
40
80

Secondary Section
288
352
352
288
640
Total

380
420
424

800
38. (2) From the above table
Percentage of male students in the secondary section = 288/640X100=45%

39. (5) From the above table
Male vegetarians = 8
Female vegetarians = 24
So, their difference is 16.

40. (1) Percentage of vegetarian students in Class 12 = 32/80X100=40%
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