Detailed Analysis of NMAT 2008

NMAT, the last test of this year, could boost the spirits of the test-takers. It was an
easy test with no surprise element. Like last year, it was a five-option test with 150
questions. The division of the sections and the names of the sections also remained
same. All the three sections were worth an attempt.

Structure of the Test

Total Duration of the Exam 120 minutes

Total number of questions 150

Number of choices per question 5

Marks per question 1

Negative marks per question 1/4th

Number of Sections 3

Section No Areas tested No. of Questions

I Language Skills 40

Quantitative Skills, Data Analysis

II 60
and Data Sufficiency

III Intelligence and Logical Reasoning 50 Section I –

Language Skills

The Language Skills section comprised questions on Verbal Ability (25 questions) and
Reading Comprehension (15 questions). In NMAT 2007, the weightage given to Verbal
Ability and Reading Comprehension was same, i.e., 20 questions of each area. This
time, in the verbal ability set, the focus was more on vocabulary.

Question Types No of Questions

RC passage (Transparency as an important element of progress) 15

Fill in the Blanks (paragraph) 10

Jumbled Paragraph 5

Sentence Correction (Highlighted) 5

Contextual Usage (synonym) 5

Reading Comprehension: Unlike last year, where there were 2 passages on which 2
questions were based, NMAT 2008 had only one passage with 15 questions. The
passage was an excerpt from Ignited Minds by our former President Dr. A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam. The excerpt was somewhat edited. Out of 15 questions, 5 were word-
based ones and rest 10 were a mix of direct and inferential questions. Overall, the
level of difficulty of the questions was not high. The words for which one had to look
for synonyms/antonyms were quite familiar ones like yardstick, enormous,
transparency, ignite and target. The options also gave away the correct answers.

In one of the questions, the word ‘incident’ was wrongly spelt as ‘incidence’ and
another questions was ambiguous because in the entire passage the author says that
India is still a developing country whereas one of the questions asked the test taker to
identify developments (mentioned in the options) that have transformed India into a
developed country. There was undoubtedly an option as ‘data inadequate’ but the
question contradicted the views of the author.

Verbal Ability:

Fill in the Blanks - A small passage (again an excerpt from Ignited Minds) was
given with ten blanks. The passage was easy to read and arriving at the correct
options was not much of a problem because none of the options were close and the
context was easy to interpret.

Jumbled Paragraph – In this set, six sentences were jumbled up followed by five
questions asking ‘which is the first sentence, second sentence and so on. This set was
a little tricky because two sentences could start the sequence. The easiest way of
solving would have been to link the other sentences and then decide on the first
sentence.

Sentence Correction - The 5 questions on sentence correction tested basic concepts

of grammar such as pronoun error, conditionals, parallel construction, double negatives
etc. This set was a ‘must attempt’ because it was very easy.

Contextual Usage – All the 5 questions in this set were very easy. Five sentences were
given with one word that was highlighted and one had to identify a synonym for the
word. The words were: lauded, repercussion, pernicious, obsolete and camaraderie.

In the Language Skills section one could attempt 30 to 35 questions with a

possible score of 25+.

Section II – Quantitative Skills, Data Analysis and Data Sufficiency

In this section, there were questions testing Quantitative Skills, Data Analysis and
Data Sufficiency.
Quantitative Skills

Topics Number of questions

BODMAS 15

Series (Find the wrong term) 5

Approximation 5

Compound & Simple Interest 2

Investment 1

Fractions 2

Square Root 1

Percentage 4 Questions based

on BODMAS and Series were easy but time consuming. Some were very elementary.
One should have solved Approximation based problems. Among BODMAS and Series,
BODMAS should have been attempted.

Data Analysis

Data Interpretation No. of questions

Table 1 - Number of enrolled in hobby classes 5

Caselet – Male & Female ratio in an organization 5

Table 2- Number of students passed/Failed in various standards 5

Bar graph - Number of students appearing for CEET 5

The questions based on Data Interpretation were on averages, ratios and percentages.
All the questions involved simple calculation. One should have selected any of the
Table based set and Caselet while attempting this section.

‘ None of these’ as an option in many question did not allow one to approximate or
guess the answer.

Data Sufficiency
Data Sufficiency No. of questions

Ratio 1

Profit and Loss 1

Simple and Compound Interest 1

Averages 1

Equation based 1 All the questions were easy

and should have been attempted.

In this section one could attempt around 40 questions with a possible score
of 32 +.

Section III – Intelligence and Logical Reasoning

This section comprised 45 questions on Logical Reasoning and 5 questions on

Verbal Reasoning.

Logical Reasoning

This was again an easy set with mixed variety of questions like word puzzle, letter
analogy, odd man out, codes, selection criteria, symbol based conclusion,
conditionality, sitting arrangement, sequential output tracing, relations, etc. All the
questions were worth an attempt.

Verbal Reasoning

There were only 5 questions on Syllogisms where 4 statements were given followed by
three conclusions. They were time consuming because one had to draw diagrams in
order to eliminate/select the conclusions. Moreover, one question had ‘None follows’ as
well as ‘None of these’ as options, which proved very tricky. Similarly, two questions
had ‘Either follows’ as well as ‘None follows’ as options which made elimination of
options tricky. The questions were a mix of easy and moderately difficult questions.

In this section one could attempt 35 to 40 questions with a possible score of

28+.