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CAT and MBA Entrance Preparation Module 8

Practice papers: three sections in six parts interview questions

Interview questions on “Practice papers: three sections in six parts”: warm-ups, then what each harder question tests and how a good answer starts.

4 questions: 1 warm-up and 3 with model answers · Levels: Fresher to mid

Warm-up questions

Short questions with short answers, each answered in full.

Fresher

How is a practice paper scored?

The way the CAT 2026 FAQs score CAT, in every section alike: a right answer earns 3 marks, a wrong answer to a question with options costs 1, and a wrong typed answer or a question left blank earns 0. A part of this track's DILR paper has eight questions, so it is worth 24 marks. Mark each part on its own and add the two parts for the whole section. Then read the analysis sheet before the score, because the score only adds up what the sheet explains.
From the lesson CAT DILR practice paper: part 1 of 2

Questions with model answers

What each question tests, the first step of a good answer and the follow-ups to expect.

Fresher to mid

Under time pressure in a data-interpretation set, a candidate works out how far one branch's sales exceed another's and divides the gap by the larger figure. Explain the slip, how much it can change the answer, and a check that catches it in seconds.
What it tests

Choosing the base of a percentage change from the wording, and a size estimate that exposes a wrong base.

First step

Read the comparison as "A exceeds B by …%": the base is B, the figure that is being exceeded. Compute the gap, divide by B, then check the size: if A is about one and a half times B, the answer must be near 50 %, not near a third.
Follow-ups
- How does "A is what percentage less than B" differ?
- When is the answer the same on either base?
- How do you type such an answer?
From the lesson CAT DILR practice paper: part 1 of 2
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In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

In a seating set, a question begins "Suppose one person sat in a different seat, and every other clue still held". A candidate moves that person in the solved grid and answers. Why can that go wrong, and how should such a question be solved?
What it tests

Telling a conditional that adds a fact from one that replaces a clue, and testing must-be-true options in every case.

First step

Ask whether the new fact adds to the clues or replaces one. A replaced clue frees the grid, so solve the set again from the remaining clues and the new fact, list every arrangement that fits, and keep the option that holds in all of them.
Follow-ups
- How do you tell an adding conditional from a replacing one?
- What if the new fact makes the clues impossible?
- How long should such a question be allowed?
From the lesson CAT DILR practice paper: part 1 of 2
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

A candidate's analysis shows that decoding one DILR set took 8 minutes against a plan of 4, and that set earned under half a mark a minute while the next set earned well over one. What should change before the next paper, and how will the sheet show whether it worked?
What it tests

Turning a decoding time sink into a set order and a leave point, both fixed before the section starts.

First step

Compare the sets' marks a minute, then set two rules for the next paper: a set scan that ranks the sets by how fast they decode and how sure their questions look, and a leave point for each set, its planned decoding time plus about a minute.
Follow-ups
- What should she do with a half-built grid at the leave point?
- Is a set that decodes slowly ever worth starting first?
- Which line of the next sheet shows whether the change worked?
From the lesson CAT DILR practice paper: part 1 of 2
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes

All CAT and MBA Entrance Preparation interview questions · The CAT and MBA Entrance Preparation track

Warm-up questions

How is a practice paper scored?

Questions with model answers

Under time pressure in a data-interpretation set, a candidate works out how far one branch's sales exceed another's and divides the gap by the larger figure. Explain the slip, how much it can change the answer, and a check that catches it in seconds.

In a seating set, a question begins "Suppose one person sat in a different seat, and every other clue still held". A candidate moves that person in the solved grid and answers. Why can that go wrong, and how should such a question be solved?

A candidate's analysis shows that decoding one DILR set took 8 minutes against a plan of 4, and that set earned under half a mark a minute while the next set earned well over one. What should change before the next paper, and how will the sheet show whether it worked?