Month: October 2015

CAT Quantitative: How to approach a problem

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One of the things that weighs constantly on CAT test-takers is how they can increase their speed and accuracy. More often than not test-takers discover the right way to solve a problem mid-way through the problem – after they have spent about 2 minutes following one approach. So what is the best way to increase speed and accuracy? Identify the right way to approach a problem before you start solving it. Let us examine how to do this by taking an old SimCAT problem.   Given that f(x) = sec x – tan x. If f(x) = k, then what is the value of cosec x? 1-k/1+k 1+k2/1-k2 1-k2/1+k2 k2/1+k2   Rule # 1: Do not leave this problem thinking — “It is Functions + Trigonometry!“ As we discussed in a previous post, CAT problems are deliberately designed to be seemingly tough or unapproachable! This problem has nothing to do with functions, it is just a fancy way of saying if sec x – tan x = k then cosec x = ? Rule # …

CAT Quantitative – Identifying the topic of the question

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One of the reasons why the CAT seems tough to test-takers is that the questions are deceptively framed. Test-takers tend to expect questions to be neatly classified — areas, topics, concepts — so that the moment they see the problem they know what to do. But the objective of the test is to not to make things so obvious, not to make a question a matter of plugging numbers into to formulas. There are many questions that on the face of it seem to belong to one area but on closer inspection reveal their origins to be in a different area.