As the CAT 2024 exam date approaches, the pressure is high on every CAT aspirant. On November 24, the CAT exam 2024 for MBA admissions 2025–2027 will take place. Today, in this CAT 2024 60-day preparation guide series of Careers360, we will discuss the strategies for day 33 that can help you prepare well and crack the CAT entrance test 2024.
IIM Raipur, IIM Kashipur, IIM Ranchi, and IIM Tiruchirappalli have jointly launched a JAP admission process. In this joint admission process (JAP 2026), IIM Raipur will shortlist candidates and conduct the interview rounds on behalf of the other three institutions.
This article includes time, speed, and distance race questions, linear race questions for the CAT exam, an introduction to Venn Diagram and Verbal analogies questions. Time, Speed and Distance race questions are tricky and students should do a thorough revision for the same. CAT Preparation 2024 in 60 days
Part-1: Quantitative Aptitude for CAT exam
CAT Exam Important Topic: Strategy to Prepare “Time, Speed and Distance (Linear Races and Circular Races) and time speed distance race questions.
Students can also download time speed and distance questions for cat pdf
Important Concept/Formula Used/Tricks in Linear and Circular Races Concept for CAT exam & Time speed distance race questions
Linear Races for CAT entrance exam:
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Races problems shortcuts Trick: L/(x-y), when both are moving in the same direction.
L/(x+y), when both are moving in the opposite direction.
How many times do the participants meet?
Races problems shortcuts Trick: (x-y), when both are moving in the same direction.
(x+y), when both are moving in the opposite direction.
Here, x: y should be in its simplest form
When do they first time meet at the starting point or ending point? Circular Race questions shortcuts Trick: LCM (L/x, L/y)
3. Practice Sample papers and CAT Previous year questions.
Previous Year CAT Questions On Time, Speed Distance (Linear and Circular Races):
Q1. Mira and Amal walk along a circular track, starting from the same point at the same time. If they walk in the same direction, then in 45 minutes, Amal completes exactly 3 more rounds than Mira. If they walk in opposite directions, then they meet for the first time in exactly after 3 minutes. The number of rounds Mira walks in one hour is [TITA, CAT 2021, Slot 3]
Linear Races Questions for CAT Exam With Solution: Answer is 8.
Let Amal complete 1 round in x minutes and Mira complete the same in y minutes.
Since, Amal completes exactly 3 more rounds than Mira
So, 45/x – 45/y = 3
1/x−1/y = 1/15— (1)
If they walk in opposite directions, then they meet for the first time exactly after 3 minutes. It means, in 3 minutes, Amal and Mira together complete one round.
Therefore,
3/x+ 3/y= 1 — (2)
On solving both equations, we get y = 15/2
So, Meera requires 15/2 minutes to complete 1 round and hence will complete 8 rounds in an hour.
Circular Race Questions and Linear Races Questions for CAT Exam
Q2. In a car race, car A beats car B by 45 km, car B beats car C by 50 km, and car A beats car C by 90 km. The distance (in km) over which the race has been conducted is [CAT 2020, slot 2]
550
475
500
450
Time speed distance race questions with Solution: [4]
car A beats car B by 45 km
SA: SB = x/(x-45)
car B beats car C by 50 km
SB: SC = x/(x-50)
car A beats car C by 90 km
SA: SC = x/(x-90)
Also,
SA/ SC = (SA/ SB) x (SB/ SC)
So, x/(x-90) = [x/(x-45)] [ x/(x-50)]
On solving, we get x = 450 Kms.
Pre-requisite for time speed distance race questions
Start with Universal (A rectangle), Then a circle represents each set of values in the problem.
Where the circles overlap, the value belongs to more than one set.
CAT Exam:
CAT Past Year Venn Diagram Questions:
Q1. Each of the 74 students in a class studies at least one of the three subjects H, E and P. Ten students study all three subjects, while twenty study H and E, but not P. Every student who studies P also studies H or E or both. If the number of students studying H equals that studying E, then the number of students studying H is [CAT 2018]
Venn Diagram Questions for CAT:
According to information given in the question
According to given information:
a+ b+ c+ d+ 10 + 20 = 72
⇒ a+ b+ c+ d= 42
Also, a+ c+ 20 + 10 = b+ d+ 10+ 20
⇒ a+ c = b+ d
From above two equations;
2 (a+ c) = 42
⇒ a+ c = 21
Therefore, number of students studying H = a+ c+ 20 + 10 = 21+ 20+ 10 = 51.
CAT entrance exam: Prerequisite to Venn Diagram CAT Questions
CAT Exam Important Topic: Strategy to Prepare “Verbal Analogies”.
CAT Important Concepts
These pairs of words share some kind of relationship that must be deciphered.
Amongst four pairs, a pair of words share the same relationship with its pair as the pair given in the question.
CAT Previous Years' Questions on Verbal Analogies
Comprehension:
During the frigid season... it's often necessary to nestle under a blanket to try to stay warm. The temperature difference between the blanket and the air outside is so palpable that we often have trouble leaving our warm refuge. Many plants and animals similarly hunker down, relying on snow cover for safety from winter's harsh conditions. The small area between the snowpack and the ground called the subnivium... might be the most important ecosystem that you have never heard of.
The subnivium is so well-insulated and stable than its temperature holds steady at around 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degree Celsius). Although that might still sound cold, a constant temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit can often be 30 to 40 degrees warmer than the air temperature during the peak of winter. Because of this large temperature difference, a wide variety of species...depend on the subnivium for winter protection.
For many organisms living in temperate and Arctic regions, the difference between being under the snow or outside is a matter of life and death. Consequently, disruptions to the subnivium brought about by climate change will affect everything from population dynamics to nutrient cycling through the ecosystem.
The formation and stability of the subnivium require more than a few flurries. Winter ecologists have suggested that eight inches of snow are necessary to develop a stable layer of insulation. Depth is not the only factor, however. More accurately, the stability of the subnivium depends on the interaction between snow depth and snow density. Imagine being under a stack of blankets that are all flattened and pressed together. When compressed, the blankets essentially form one compacted layer. In contrast, when they are lightly placed on top of one another, their insulative capacity increases because the air pockets between them trap heat. Greater depths of low-density snow are therefore better at insulating the ground.
Both the depth and density of snow are sensitive to temperature. Scientists are now beginning to explore how climate change will affect the subnivium, as well as the species that depend on it. At first glance, warmer winters seem beneficial for species that have difficulty surviving subzero temperatures; however, as with most ecological phenomena, the consequences are not so straightforward. Research has shown that the snow season (the period when snow is more likely than rain) has become shorter since l970. When rain falls on snow, it increases the density of the snow and reduces its insulative capacity. Therefore, even though winters are expected to become warmer overall from future climate change, the subnivium will tend to become colder and more variable with less protection from the above-ground temperatures.
The effects of a colder subnivium are complex... For example, shrubs such as crowberry and alpine azalea that grow along the forest floor tend to block the wind and so retain higher depths of snow around them. This captured snow helps to keep soils insulated and in turn, increases plant decomposition and nutrient release. In field experiments, researchers removed a portion. of the snow cover to investigate the importance of the subnivium's insulation. They found that soil frost in the snow-free area resulted in damage to plant roots and sometimes even the death of the plant. [CAT 2017]
Verbal Analogies questions with solution
Q1: In paragraph 1, the author uses blankets as a device to
evoke the bitter cold of winter in the minds of readers.
explain how blankets work to keep us warm.
draw an analogy between blankets and the snowpack.
alert readers to the fatal effects of excessive exposure to the cold
Ans: [C]
From the 3rd and 4th paragraphs,
draw an analogy between blankets and the snow peaks
CAT 2024:
Prerequisite
Synonyms/ Antonyms
Vocabulary
Tips and Tricks for CAT Exam
Analogies are simple and fall into neat, distinguishable patterns. Understand these patterns quickly.
Practice analogies to get familiar with the patterns. This will help to identify the relations.
While solving an analogy question, look for the precise relationship.
Analogies involve exactness and precision in their solving.
It is also important to substitute the pair of words into sentences in the same order as they are given in. For example, “painter creates a painting” is correct and “a painting created by a painter” is incorrect and vice-versa.
CAT exam: References to Study (Theory)
How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay
CAT does not restrict eligibility based on stream. Candidates from commerce, arts, science, engineering or any other background can appear for CAT and apply to MBA programmes offered by IIMs and other top B-schools.
The basic eligibility criteria for CAT are:
You must hold a bachelor’s degree in any discipline from a recognised university with at least 50 percent marks (45 percent for SC, ST and PwD categories). Final-year graduation students are also eligible to apply.
Being a commerce graduate can actually be an advantage in areas such as accounting, finance, economics and business studies, especially during MBA coursework in finance, marketing and operations.
After qualifying CAT, admission depends on multiple factors including CAT percentile, academic background, work experience (if any), performance in GD, WAT and personal interview rounds. Many IIMs and B-schools follow a diverse academic background policy, which means non-engineering candidates, including commerce graduates, often receive additional weightage.
Apart from IIMs, several reputed institutes such as FMS Delhi, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, IMT Ghaziabad, and many state and private universities also accept CAT scores for MBA admissions.
So, as a commerce graduate, you are fully eligible to appear for CAT and pursue an MBA, provided you meet the minimum academic requirements and perform well in the selection process.
If you want, I can also help you with realistic CAT percentile targets based on your academic profile or suggest suitable MBA colleges.
With a CAT 2025 raw score of 84 and strong sectionals, your expected percentile may fail in the high 98 range , depending on scaling. Your excellent academics and 2 years of work experience strengthen your profile .IIM Lucknow calls are possible but competitive for EWS engineers , while FMS Delhi looks mainly at CAT score and VARC , so you have a reasonable chance there . Final calls depend on cutoffs and composite score.
For MANAGE Hyderabad MBA , the OBC cutoff in CAT 2024 was generally around 85-90 percentile for shortlist consideration , tough exact figures vary by section and profile . For CAT 2025, if fewer candidates appeared , the cutoff might slightly adjust , but percentile based cutoffs dont change drastically year to year. A minor decrease is possible , but you should still aim for 90+ percentile to be competitive. Factors like VARC, QA-LRDI and overall profile influence the final shortlist.
For a raw score of 56 in CAT 2025 Slot 3, your expected overall percentile is likely to be in the range of the 90th-95th percentile. The exact percentile can vary slightly on the final normalization process and the process and performance of all test-takers. In this
article
you'll find more about the CAT result.
Hello,
With a projected CAT percentile of 87% but not clearing sectional cutoffs, your chances at top IIMs are limited because they require both overall percentile and sectional minimums. However, you still have a good shot at other reputed management institutes and non-IIM B-schools. Consider colleges like NMIMS, SPJIMR, IMT, TAPMI, Great Lakes, and other well-ranked private or state-level B-schools that accept CAT scores and weigh your profile holistically. Your academic record, BSc in Animation with 80%, and 5 years of work experience at Ubisoft India are strong points and may help in institutes that value work experience in their selection process. Also, explore institutes that accept XAT, MAT, or CMAT, where your profile can be competitive.
Hope this helps you.
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