CAT 2024 Slot 1 Review: No parajumbles in VARC, DILR analytical; difficulty level, topics asked

NEW DELHI: The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2024 slot 1 exam tested analytical skills and time management, particularly in the VARC and DILR sections, as per expert analysis. The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta conducted CAT slot 1 exam 2024 for two hours from 8:30 am to 10:30 am today. CAT 2024 live updates.

Students who prepared well for formula-based questions in Quant and tackled VARC strategically could have performed well, according to Sumit Singh Gandhi, CEO and founder, CATKing.

The CAT 2024 slot 1 exam was overall easier compared to CAT previous years’ papers, according to the expert.

CAT 2024 slot 1 review

Total Questions: 68

Overall Difficulty Level: Easy

Here's a section-wise analysis of CAT slot 1 question paper 2024:

VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension)

Difficulty Level: Toughest of the three sections

The section featured four Reading Comprehension (RC) passages with no parajumbles this year.

Breakdown:

• 1 RC: Doable
• 1 RC: Followed by odd-one-out questions
• 1 RC: Followed by para-completion questions
• 1 RC: Followed by para-summary questions

Topics included:

• Craftsmanship in the AI era (easy)
• Netflix-related topic (moderate)
• Animals-related RC (difficult)

Odd-one-out and para-summary questions were challenging

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QA (Quantitative Ability)

Difficulty Level: Easy

Good attempts: 14-15 questions

Approximately 10 direct formula-based questions from key topics such as Time, Speed, Distance (TSD), profit and loss, roots, and ratios.

Breakdown by topic:

• Arithmetic: 9-11 questions
• Algebra: Easy
• Geometry: 2 questions
• Modern Math: Included Sequences and Series, but no questions on Permutation & Combination (PnC) or Probability.

DILR (Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning)

Total Number of Questions: 22

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Featured 3 DI sets (4 questions each) and 2 LR sets (5 questions each):

• Set 1 (DI): Stock market candle chart
• Set 2 (DI): Set theory-based, involving multiple people traveling to different countries, unique and overlapping travel combinations
• Set 3 (DI): Star distribution involving 3 judges and their allocations
• Attempting 3 sets accurately could ensure a high percentile.

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CAT Slot 1 Analysis 2024: Key highlights

• VARC: Tougher than the last two years, with longer RCs and the absence of parajumbles.
• DILR: More analytical and included two additional questions compared to previous years.
• QA: Easier than expected, despite being set by IIM Calcutta.
• Overall Question Count: Increased to 68 (compared to 66 in CAT exam last year).

CAT 2024 Expected Cut-off

Given the overall ease of the paper and an easier Quant section, cutoffs for IIMs are likely to go higher, as per Gandhi.