NinetynineCAT 2020 Slot 1 question paper with answers and solutions
CAT 2020 Slot 1 had 76 questions: 26 in VARC (40 minutes), 24 in DILR (40 minutes), 26 in QA (40 minutes). 19 of them were TITA (type in the answer, no options). 26 have a worked solution here. Every question is tagged by topic, and answers are CAT's official key.
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) 26 questions · 40 min
| Question | Topic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Passage 1 | Q1–Q5 · The word ‘anarchy’ comes from the Greek anarkhia, meaning contrary to… | RC · Society, History & Politics | 5 questions |
| Passage 2 | Q6–Q9 · In the late 1960s, while studying the northern-elephant-seal… | RC · Science & Technology | 4 questions |
| Passage 3 | Q10–Q13 · Few realise that the government of China, governing an empire of some… | RC · Society, History & Politics | 4 questions |
| Passage 4 | Q14–Q18 · Vocabulary used in speech or writing organizes itself in seven parts… | RC · Humanities & Philosophy | 5 questions |
| Q19 | The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) below, when… | Para Jumbles | TITA |
| Q20 | Para Summary: Biologists have questioned the long-standing… | Para Summary | MCQ |
| Q21 | The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) below, when… | Para Jumbles | TITA |
| Q22 | Para Summary: Voice recognition has started to feature… | Para Summary | MCQ |
| Q23 | Para Summary: Europe has consistently changed in keeping with… | Para Summary | MCQ |
| Q24 | The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) below, when… | Para Jumbles | TITA |
| Q25 | Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given… | Odd Sentence Out | TITA |
| Q26 | Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given… | Odd Sentence Out | TITA |
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) 24 questions · 40 min
| Question | Topic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Set 1 | Q1–Q4 · The local office of the APP-CAB company evaluates the performance of… | Quant-based Puzzles | 4 questions |
| Set 2 | Q5–Q10 · Four institutes, A, B, C, and D, had contracts with four vendors W, X… | Scheduling | 6 questions |
| Set 3 | Q11–Q16 · In a certain board examination, students were to appear for… | Quant-based Puzzles | 6 questions |
| Set 4 | Q17–Q20 · Ten musicians (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J) are experts in at… | Venn & Set Puzzles | 4 questions |
| Set 5 | Q21–Q24 · 1000 patients currently suffering from a disease were selected to… | Venn & Set Puzzles | 4 questions |
Quantitative Ability (QA) 26 questions · 40 min
| Question | Topic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | How many 3-digit numbers are there, for which the product of… | Number Systems | TITA |
| Q2 | If f(5 + x) = f(5 - x) for every real x and f(x) = 0 has… | Functions & Graphs | MCQ |
| Q3 | Veeru invested Rs 10000 at 5% simple annual interest, and… | Interest | TITA |
| Q4 | A train travelled at one-thirds of its usual speed, and… | Time, Speed & Distance | MCQ |
| Q5 | If log_4 5 = (log_4 y) (log_6 √5), then y equals | Logarithms & Exponents | TITA |
| Q6 | The number of real-valued solutions of the equation 2^x +… | Logarithms & Exponents | MCQ |
| Q7 | A straight road connects points A and B. Car 1 travels from… | Time, Speed & Distance | MCQ |
| Q8 | Let A, B and C be three positive integers such that the sum… | Equations | MCQ |
| Q9 | If x = (4096)^7+4√3, then which of the following equals 64? | Logarithms & Exponents | MCQ |
| Q10 | The mean of all 4 digit even natural numbers of the form… | Ratio, Mixtures & Averages | MCQ |
| Q11 | The number of distinct real roots of the equation (x + 1/x… | Equations | TITA |
| Q12 | A person spent Rs 50000 to purchase a desktop computer and a… | Percentages & Profit-Loss | TITA |
| Q13 | Among 100 students, x_1 have birthdays in January, x_2 have… | Inequalities & Modulus | MCQ |
| Q14 | Two persons are walking beside a railway track at respective… | Time, Speed & Distance | MCQ |
| Q15 | How many distinct positive integer-valued solutions exist to… | Equations | MCQ |
| Q16 | The area of the region satisfying the inequalities |x| - y ≤… | Coordinate Geometry | TITA |
| Q17 | A solid right circular cone of height 27 cm is cut into 2… | Mensuration | MCQ |
| Q18 | A circle is inscribed in a rhombus with diagonals 12 cm and… | Geometry | MCQ |
| Q19 | Leaving home at the same time, Amal reaches office at 10:15… | Time, Speed & Distance | MCQ |
| Q20 | If a, b and c are positive integers such that ab = 432, bc =… | Number Systems | MCQ |
| Q21 | If y is a negative number such that 2 y^2log_35 = 5 log_23… | Logarithms & Exponents | MCQ |
| Q22 | On a rectangular metal sheet of area 135 sq in, a circle is… | Mensuration | MCQ |
| Q23 | In a group of people, 28% of the members are young while the… | Percentages & Profit-Loss | MCQ |
| Q24 | An alloy is prepared by mixing metals A, B, C in the… | Ratio, Mixtures & Averages | MCQ |
| Q25 | A gentleman decided to treat a few children in the following… | Equations | TITA |
| Q26 | A solution, of volume 40 litres, has dye and water in the… | Ratio, Mixtures & Averages | TITA |
Topic mix of CAT 2020 Slot 1
| Topic | Section | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Quant-based Puzzles | DILR | 10 |
| RC · Society, History & Politics | VARC | 9 |
| Venn & Set Puzzles | DILR | 8 |
| Scheduling | DILR | 6 |
| RC · Humanities & Philosophy | VARC | 5 |
| Equations | QA | 4 |
| Logarithms & Exponents | QA | 4 |
| RC · Science & Technology | VARC | 4 |
| Time, Speed & Distance | QA | 4 |
| Para Jumbles | VARC | 3 |
| Para Summary | VARC | 3 |
| Ratio, Mixtures & Averages | QA | 3 |
| Mensuration | QA | 2 |
| Number Systems | QA | 2 |
| Odd Sentence Out | VARC | 2 |
| Percentages & Profit-Loss | QA | 2 |
| Coordinate Geometry | QA | 1 |
| Functions & Graphs | QA | 1 |
| Geometry | QA | 1 |
| Inequalities & Modulus | QA | 1 |
| Interest | QA | 1 |