Math was a sitter, but English a tough ask

CAT ’06 came as a surprise to many. Like every year, this time too, the format was modified. Says Sujata Khanna, chairperson, Career Forum, “Every year, the CAT has a surprise. This year, it has been the increase in the number of marks per question, and a reduction in the number of questions.” Adds a a spokesperson for Indiatimes Mindscape Test Centre, “If CAT ’05 was the toughest CAT ever, students were treated to a pleasant surprise at CAT ’06.”

“It was a different format, but it wasn’t unexpected, because the CATs from the past two years were also different,” said Joy Krishnan who took the test in Mumbai. Some experts felt there were ambiguities in the question paper, especially in the English and problem solving sections. “Different people might have different right answers to the same question,” said Manek Daruwala, director of Ahmedabad-based coaching institute TIME. “The question paper speaks of changing global requirements. While new-age managers are expected to understand basic mathematics, they are expected to be more fluent in English,” Mr Lahiri added.

“Mathematics and data interpretation were up for grabs,” said a mathematics student from St Stephens College who took the CAT. This was neither an exclusive response nor one expected of a student of Mathematics Honours. The two sections of math and logic did come as relief for CATters with a background in economics, math or even history or English. “The English section was unexpectedly difficult,” said Mehak Sagar, a third year Economics Honours student from Lady Sri Ram College, Delhi. In English, with the added factor of increase in options that demanded more thinking, the options were also puzzling with the differential between them being microscopic. “Some of the options were ambiguous,” said Mehak.