CAT Exam Insider's Guide: Deep Insights into Previous Year Practice Sets for Top Scores- Day 32

As the CAT 2024 examination date approaches, the urge to prepare accurately grows. You may be wondering how to study, what technique to use, and which resources are ideal for practice. In this 60-day preparation plan from Careers360, On Day 32, we are focusing on the CAT Mock Test to assist you prepare.

CAT 2025: VARC, DILR, and Quant: MCQs & Weightages | Chapter-wise MCQs

CAT 2025 Study Material: VARC | Quantitative Aptitude | 60 Days Study Material by Experts

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This Story also Contains

1. CAT Mock Paper Part-1: Quantitative Aptitude for CAT exam
2. CAT Mock Paper Part-2: CAT 2024 Preparation Tips: CAT DILR Tips (Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation) Best Test Series for CAT
3. CAT Mock Paper Part-3: CAT Exam Preparation 2024: CAT Exam Tips for VARC (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension)
4. Free PDFs for CAT 2024 preparation

This article includes subject- and topic-specific sample papers with answers. To have a solid understanding of the CAT exam, download CAT practice papers from all three sections. The practice sets are based on what has been learned during the preceding 31 days. By working through these sample papers, you may avoid negative marking in objective questions while boosting your time management for the actual exam.

This Practice Set (best test series for CAT) consists of three Sections:

• CAT Exam Mock Test Part- A consists of 7 questions.
• CAT Exam Mock Test Part- B consists of 8 questions.
• CAT Exam Mock Test Part- C consists of 1 RC with 5 questions and 5 questions on Error detection.

CAT Mock Paper Part-1: Quantitative Aptitude for CAT exam

Q1. Neeru and Bajwa can do a piece of work in 10 days and Neeru alone can do half of it in 6 days. In how many days can Bajwa do 25% of the work alone?

1. 60 days

2. 30 days

3. 15 days

4. 45 days

Ans: (c)

Neeru can complete work alone in 12 days.

Neeru and Bajwa together can complete the work in 10 days.

Let the total work is 60 units (LCM of 10 and 12)

Neeru’s 1-day work = 60/12 = 5

Neeru and Bajwa’s 1-day work = 60/10 =6

Bajwa’s 1-day work = 6 – 5 = 1

Bajwa can complete total work in 60/1 = 60 days

So, Bajwa can finish 25% work in 15 days.

Q2. A, B and C can do some work in 36 days. A and B together do twice as much work as C alone and A and C together can do thrice as much work as B alone. If A got Rs 300 for his work. How much B will get?

1. Rs 72

2. Rs 180

3. Rs 90

4. Rs 120

Ans: (b)

Let the Total work is 36 units.

If C does 1 unit of work, A and B together will do 2 units of work.

So, work done by C = 1/3 (36) = 12 units

If B does 1 unit of work, A and C together will do 3 units of work.

So, work done by B = 1/4 (36) = 9 units

Amount of work done by A = 36- 12- 9 = 15 units

The ratio of wages of A, B and C

A: B: C = 15: 9: 12 = 5: 3: 4

Amount received by B = 300 x 3/5 = Rs 180

Q3. A finishes 6/7th of the work in 3z hours, and B works thrice as fast and finishes the remaining work. For how long did B work?

1. z/6

2. 3z/6

3. z/7

4. z

Solution: [A]

Since B is thrice as efficient as A. So, B will finish 6/7th work in z hrs.

Therefore, B finishes 1/7th of work (remaining work) in z/6 hrs.

Q4. Rosy and Harry travel the same distance at the rate of 7 km per hour and 13 km per hour respectively. If Rosy took 3 hrs longer than Harry, the distance travelled by each is

1. 6 km

2. 10 km

3. 45.5 km

4. 20 km

Ans: (c)

Since distance is the same

SR/ SH = TH/ TR

⇒ TH/ TR = 7/13

⇒ TR - TH = 13x -7x = 3hrs

⇒ x = 0.5 hrs

Time taken by Rosy = 13 x 0.5 = 6.5 Hrs

Distance = 7 x 6.5 = 45.5 Kms

Q5. Lonavala and Khandala are two stations 556 km apart. A train starts from Lonavala and moves towards Khandala at the rate of 27 km/h. After 4 hours, another train starts from Khandala at the rate of 29 km/h. How far from Khandala will they will cross each other?

1. 250 km

2. 300 km

3. 279.166 km

4. 232 km

Ans: [d]

According to the question:

After 4 hours distance between the two trains = 556 – 27x 4= 448 Kms

Relative speed = 27 + 29 = 56 Km/ Hr

Time taken to cross each other after the train from Khandala left the station = 448/56 = 8 hrs.

Distance from Khandala at the time of crossing = 8 x 29 = 232 Kms

Q6. Amit travels from A to B 1/3 of the distance by a car with a velocity of 10 km/h, the next 1/3 with a velocity of 25 km/h and the last 1/3 with a velocity of 40 km/h. In return journey, Amit travels with a velocity of 18 Km/Hr throughout. Which of the following is true?

1. Time taken in travelling distance from both sides is equal

2. Average Speed during A to B is less than Average speed from B to A.

3. Average Speed during A to B is 1% more than Average speed from B to A.

4. Average speed during B to A is 1% less than Average speed from A to B.

Ans: (c)

Let the total distance is 300 Km

Case 1: (A to B)

1/3rd of the distance (100) travelled with the speed of 10 km/hr; time taken = 100/10 = 10 hrs

1/3rd of the distance (100) travelled with the speed of 25 km/hr; time taken = 100/25 = 4 hrs

1/3rd of the distance (100) travelled with the speed of 40 km/hr; time taken = 100/40 = 2.5 hrs

Average Speed = 300/ (10+ 4+ 2.5) = 18.18 km/ hr

Case 2: In the return journey, average speed = 18 km/hr

Q7. After receiving two successive raises, Harish’s salary became equal to 21/7 times his initial salary. By how much percent was the salary raised the first time if the second raise was twice as high (in percent) as the first?

1. 15%

2. 20%

3. 25%

4. 50%

Ans: (d)

Let the first raise in salary be x%

Then the second raise be 2x%

Net percentage change = [x + 2x + x(2x)/100] % (Using the formula of net percentage change in successive change)

Harish’s salary became equal to 21/7 times his initial salary i.e. 3 times of initial salary which means there is a net increase of 200% in the salary.

Therefore,

x + 2x + x(2x)/100 = 200

⇒ 300x + 2x² = 20000

⇒ x² + 150x – 10000 =0

On solving, x = 50%

CAT Mock Paper Part-2: CAT 2024 Preparation Tips: CAT DILR Tips (Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation) Best Test Series for CAT

CAT Mock Paper Directions (Q1-Q4):

Comprehension:

A tour operator operates one tour package each in four different circuits. Each tour starts at 7 am from the office on a bus on the first day of the tour package and ends by dropping the tourists back at the office at 7 pm on the last day of the tour package. The four tour packages are

(i) Circuit A – Seven days duration which starts every Wednesday and Thursday

(ii) Circuit B – Three days duration which starts every Thursday and Friday

(iii) Circuit C – Four days duration which starts every Wednesday and Saturday, and

(iv) Circuit D – A daily tour of 12-hour duration.

Q1. If a person has started his tour with Circuit A, then what is the minimum number of days required for him to completely tour all the circuits?

1. 18 days

2. 17 days

3. 16 days

4. 15 days

Ans: B

The given information can be tabulated as below:

[Note: The subscript under the circuit name (A, B and C) is to differentiate the two tours in the same circuit that start on different days of the week.]

The subscript under the circuit name differentiates the two tours in the same circuit that start on different days.

Alternate solution: Starting with circuit A, it is clear that after taking two tours, one has to definitely wait (The waiting period is from Sunday to Tuesday). This wait can be minimized if the daily trip is planned for one of these three days. Further, the tour after the wait has to be A or C which starts on a Wednesday. Since we are starting with A, the last tour has to be C (for the minimum wait). Because A ends on Tuesday or Wednesday, D shall not be immediately after A, thus in the order A, B, D and C, with A starting on Thursday, the tour can be completed in 17 days. Choice (B)

Q2. To completely tour all four circuits in the shortest possible time, with which tour does a person shall start his touring?

1. Circuit C on Saturday

2. Circuit B on Friday

3. Circuit C on Wednesday

4. Circuit B on Thursday

Ans: A

If we observe the given information, out of all the tours that end and start on two consecutive days, all the tours are available between Tuesday and Thursday. C ends on Tuesday, A starts on Wednesday, which ends on Tuesday, D ends on Wednesday and B starts on Thursday. Hence, the tour shall start with C which starts on a Saturday.

Choice (A)

Q3. On which day of the week, will there be the least activity at the tour operator’s office?

1. Sunday

2. Friday

3. Monday

4. Saturday

Ans: C

Only on a Monday, tourists of only one tour come to the office (either start or end the tour).

Choice (C)

Q4. If a person wants to complete all the circuits in the shortest possible time but with one day rest between any two tour packages, what is the best day for a person to start touring?

1. Friday

2. Monday

3. Sunday

4. Wednesday

Ans: (D)

A (Wednesday – Tuesday) + B (Thursday – Saturday) + D (Monday) + C (Wednesday – Saturday). The tour shall start on a Wednesday.

Choice (D)

CAT Mock Paper Comprehension:

Cash Surplus is the excess of cash revenue over cash expenditure (deficit if this is negative). Rather than the absolute value of this surplus/deficit, it as a percentage of GDP is a more important measure. The following graph gives the cash surplus/deficit as a percentage of GDP for 6 countries for each year from 2003 to 2008. Deficits are shown above the X-axis and Surplus is below the X-axis.

The following graph gives the growth rate of the GDPs of the same countries for the same time interval.

Each of the questions below pertains to only the 6 countries for which data has been given in the above graphs.

Q5. Which country had the highest cash deficit in the year 2004?

1. Spain

2. Egypt

3. Poland

4. Cannot be determined

Ans: (d)

Since we do not know the actual GDP values for any of the countries, we cannot have any idea of the value of the cash deficit.

Q6. Which country’s cash deficit increased by the greatest rate from the year 2004 to 2005?

1. India

2. Czech Republic

3. Egypt

4. Cannot be determined

Ans: (c)

The growth rate of the cash deficit is the net effect of the growth rate in ‘deficit as a percentage of GDP’ and the growth rate of the GDP [because Cash deficit = (Deficit as a % of GDP) × (GDP)]

Looking at the options …

India: Growth rate of GDP in 2005 is 9.4% and the growth rate in ‘deficit as a percentage of GDP’ is almost negligible (from 3.25 to 3.3 i.e. a percentage increase of 0.05/3.25 i.e. 5/325 i.e. 1/65 i.e. approx 1.5%). Thus, the growth rate in the deficit will be a little more than 9.4%

Czech Republic: The growth rate of GDP in 2005 is 6.2% and the growth rate in ‘deficit as a percentage of GDP’ (from 3.25 to 3.5) is 0.25/3.25 i.e. 1/13 i.e. 7.7%. Thus, the growth rate in deficit will be 6.2 + 7.7 + (6.2 × 7.7)/100 = 13.9 + 0.4 = 14.3%

Egypt: Growth rate of GDP in 2005 is 4.6% and the growth rate in ‘deficit as a percentage of GDP’ (from 5.5 to 6.5) is 1/5.5 i.e. approximately 18%. Thus, the growth rate in the deficit will be 4.6 + 18 + 0.8 = 23.4%

Thus, the largest growth rate in the deficit will be for Egypt.

Q7. Find the ratio of the cash surplus of Spain in the year 2005 to its cash surplus in the year 2007.

1. 1: 2

2. 1: 2.15

3. 1: 2.3

4. 1: 2.5

Ans: (b)

If the GDP of Spain in 2005 is x, then the required ratio is

let’s use a + b + ab/100 to find the net effect of a 4% increase and 3.8% increase. It will be 4 + 3.8 + 0.152 = 7.95%, say approx 8%.

Thus, the required ratio will be i.e. 1: 2.16. The closest option choice is (b)

Q8. Find the ratio of the cash deficit of Poland and the Czech Republic in the year 2005.

1. 3: 4

2. 2: 3

3. 1: 2

4. Cannot be determined

Ans: (d)

Since the ratio of GDP’s of Poland and Czech are not known for any of the years, the ratio cannot be determined

CAT Mock Paper Part-3: CAT Exam Preparation 2024: CAT Exam Tips for VARC (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension)

CAT 2024 Sample Paper: Reading comprehension

The hotline conversation between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMO) of India and Pakistan and their agreement –

“To undertake sincere measures to improve the existing situation ensuring peace and avoidance of hardships to the citizens”

“To fully implement the ceasefire understanding of 2003 in letter and spirit forthwith” is a long-awaited development.

The wording of the near-identical statements issued by India and Pakistan is the most promising heard from the bilateral front in the last two years, especially the recommitment to the 2003 ceasefire. It was the ceasefire that paved the way for the Vajpayee-Musharraf statement of 2004 and the dialogue that lasted until the Mumbai attacks.

What Tuesday’s agreement may lead to is still uncertain. It is sufficient that the two sides have unequivocally said they will respect the ceasefire. Scores of civilians living along the LOC have perished in these incidents, which spiked after the 2016 attack on the URI garrison and the subsequent strike by India inside POK.

In the same period, India lost more soldiers in ceasefire violations than in any other period of peacetime. On the same day as the DGMOs spoke, the Kashmiri separatist leadership, responding to Union Minister Rajnath Singh’s offer of talks, indicated it was open to dialogue with the Centre, without any mention of its usual preconditions.

If all this does not square with the Pakistan Army-created commotion over a book-length conversation between two long-retired spy bosses of India and Pakistan in which neither says anything that is not already in the public realm, it is because in India-Pakistan relations, trying to reconcile everything is near impossible. The Pakistan Army’s decision to pull in its former DG ISI and put him on the “exit control list” for shooting the breeze with his friend, a former head of RAW, on Kargil among other things, should be seen as a piece with the power struggle in Pakistan.

A general election is due to be held in Pakistan in a couple of months, and a former chief justice has been appointed to head the caretaker government. The disqualified-for-life Nawaz Sharif has been addressing rallies and public meetings, alleging the Army was behind his removal, and indeed, behind all Pakistan’s problems. His remarks that “non-state actors” had been allowed to cross Pakistan’s borders and kill “common people” in Mumbai have not gone down well with the army. The Former DG ISI, not particularly known as a friend of Pakistan’s civilian governments, broadly vindicates Sharif’s position in the book co-authored with his Indian friend. His former institution had to act quickly before the carefully built-up narrative against the “anti-national” Sharif started disintegrating. For the Pakistan Army, though, the real message is that narratives cannot be controlled beyond a point. That the entire drama unfolded at a time when India and Pakistan have taken steps to reduce hostilities only makes the self-serving nature of nationalist narratives more obvious.

Q1- As per the passage, Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from his duties. Whom did he allege for his disqualification?

1. The DG, ISI

2. The Government

3. The Army

4. Civilians

5. None of these

Ans: (3)

Explanation: Refer to 3rd paragraph 2nd line.

Q2. Which of the following statements is/are correct in context to the passage?

1. Ceasefire paved the way for the Vajpayee-Musharraf statement of 2004.

2. The former DG ISI justifies Sharif’s position in a book co-authored with his Indian friend.

3. A general election is due to be held in Pakistan in a couple of months, and a former chief justice has been appointed to head the caretaker government.

1. Only 1

2. Only 2

3. Both 2 and 3

4. All are correct

5. None of the above

Ans: (4)

Explanation: Refer to 1st para 6th line, refer to 3rd para 6th line, Refer to 3rd para 1st line

Q3. As per the passage, what were the postulates of the agreement that awaited development between India and Pakistan?

1. Improving the existing situation and ensuring peace to citizens.

2. Full implementation of the ceasefire understanding of 2003 in letter and spirit forthwith.

3. To successfully conduct general elections to be held in Pakistan.

4. Both (a) and (b)

5. All the correct

Ans: (4)

Explanation: Refer to 1st para 1st four lines.

Q4- What is meant by the idiom “shooting the breeze” used in the passage?

1. Enjoying a pleasant weather.

2. Spend time thinking about good times.

3. To spend time talking about things that are not important.

4. To do something different and amazing.

5. None of these

Ans: (3)

Explanation: Shooting the breeze- to spend time talking about things that are not important.

Q5- Which of the following statements cannot be inferred from the following passage?

1. Scores of deaths of civilians along the LOC spiked after the 2016 attack on the URI garrison

2. India lost less soldiers in ceasefire violations than at any other period of peace time.

3. Restoring friendly relations between India and Pakistan is near to impossible.

1. Only 1

2. Only 2

3. Only 1 & 2

4. Only 3

5. All three

Ans: (2)

Explanation: Statement 2 is incorrect. Refer 1st para's last 4 lines.

Q6: Choose the word which is Most similar to the word PERISH given in the passage.

1. Revive

2. Flourish

3. Succumb

4. Thrive

5. Subsist

Ans: (3)

Explanation: Perish: to cause to die

Succumb: fail to resist pressure, temptation, or some other negative force/ die from the effect of a disease or injury

Error Detection

Q7: Her mother told her often (a)/ that she spent too much money (b)/ but she never listened. (c)/ No error (d)

Ans (a) her mother often told her in place of her mother told her often

Explanation: adverb of frequency always comes before the verb.

Q 8: If we had been one more good batsman in our team, we would have won the match.

1. Had had

2. Would have been

3. Would have

4. Would have had

5. No correction required

Ans (a) had had in place of had been

Explanation: this is also an example of an unfulfilled condition but in this sentence, we see the use of been is a conditional clause which is incorrect according to the grammar been is the form of be but here the meaning of the sentence is to have so we use had as the perfect form of have with the active verb had.

Question 9: He was so much (a)/ disappointed that he (b)/ hid himself in the room(c)./ No error(d)

Ans-(c) Remove ‘himself’

Explanation: we do not use reflexive with the verb hide.

Q10: Last month I went to mount Abu and enjoyed very much.

1. Enjoyed too much

2. Enjoyed myself very much

3. Enjoyed me very much

4. No improvement

Ans: (b)

Explanation: if there is no object given with Enjoy verb then we have to use reflexive.

Free PDFs for CAT 2024 preparation

• CAT preparation strategy by experts

• CAT 2020 Topper Interviews

With these free CAT mocks, an aspirant can strengthen his/her preparation. Also, we have provided CAT 2024 Sample Paper in the last of this series, which will be very helpful for all the aspirants.