CAT 50 Day Streak Day 8

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CAT 50 Day Streak – Day 8

30 questions across VARC, DILR & QA · +3 for a correct answer · −1 for a wrong MCQ · no negative marking for TITA

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VARC · Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension

Q1 – Q10 0/10

Passage · Q1 – Q4

Few foods can compete with olive oil. Its salubrious properties have turned it into one of the most recognisable symbols of healthy living as well as a sign of tacit resistance to the industrialisation of food and loss of authentic flavours. Its rich history, stretching back to the Greeks, Egyptians and Babylonians, plays an enormous part in its ongoing symbolic associations. Across a range of Mediterranean cultures, olive oil has been an inordinately versatile and useful product, even regarded as a means of connecting with the divine. Today, it sells in pricy green bottles that promise a ‘Mediterranean’ lifestyle. And yet, the distinctive flavour of extra virgin olive oil is a modern invention. The trail of its peppery note leads straight to the core of the Industrial Revolution and the reinvention of olive oil as a global commodity.

Homer calls Odysseus polytropos, a man of many ways, who can transform himself and adapt to any situation. Olive oil is often involved in these transformations, as when, on his return to Ithaca, Odysseus relies on olive oil – and Athena’s intervention – to become younger, stronger and more beautiful. He also carved his wedding bed in an olive tree that had grown deeply into the ground. These references are not incidental: the olive tree and the juice of its fruit are ancient symbols of vitality and rootedness. In Mediterranean cultures they signify adaptation, gnarly endurance and endless transformative possibilities.

First domesticated somewhere in the Fertile Crescent, the tree was cultivated by Babylonians, and by the 18th century BCE the Code of Hammurabi regulated the trade in olive oil. The tree steadily inched west, with its main centres of diffusion in Palestine, Syria and Crete. By the 5th century BCE, Thucydides felt he knew what separated civilisation from barbarism: the ability to graft the olive tree. The mythical foundation of Athens begins with the goddess Athena gifting the olive tree to the Greeks. Planting an olive grove was thus a sacred act. Especially revered were those trees whose oil served as prizes for the winners of the Panathenaic Games. In the 4th century BCE, cutting down or uprooting one of those trees could be punished with exile and confiscation of property. To this day in Italy, spilling oil on the table is viewed as a bad omen.

The Romans, too, loved their olive oil, which they consumed in mindboggling amounts. Monte Testaccio in Rome looks like a natural hill, but it’s an immense pile of broken oil amphoras, which were used only once to prevent rancidness. During the imperial age, more than 1 million people lived in Rome, each one consuming an average of two litres of oil per month. How was it even possible? They appreciated oil as food, but they used it mainly for other purposes, such as lighting their houses and anointing their bodies. ‘Wine inside and oil outside,’ sums up Pliny the Elder, who considered olive oil ‘an absolute necessity’ of human life.

Q1MCQ

The central argument of the passage is to:

Adetail the various mythological and religious roles of the olive tree in ancient civilizations.

Btrace the historical cultivation and trade of the olive tree from the Fertile Crescent to Rome.

Ccritique the commercialisation of the “Mediterranean lifestyle” through products like olive oil.

Dcontrast the ancient, versatile significance of olive oil with the modern reinvention of its flavor and image.

Solution Answer: D

The first paragraph sets up the contrast: olive oil’s ancient, versatile symbolism against the fact that its distinctive flavour “is a modern invention” of the Industrial Revolution. The rest of the passage develops the ancient side of that contrast.

A and B describe parts of the passage, not its argument. C overstates: the “pricy green bottles” line is an observation, not a critique.

Q2MCQ

It can be inferred that the olive oil consumed by the ancient Romans and Greeks:

Awas primarily used for religious ceremonies rather than consumption.

Bwas likely less flavourful and peppery than the high-quality oils sold today.

Cwas considered a luxury item available only to the elite.

Dhad a flavour profile identical to that of oils from the Fertile Crescent.

Solution Answer: B

If the peppery flavour of extra virgin olive oil is a modern invention, the ancient oils likely lacked it. B follows directly.

A: the Romans used oil mainly for lighting and anointing, not ceremonies. C contradicts a million Romans each using two litres a month. D has no support.

Q3MCQ

The author’s claim that the “distinctive flavour of extra virgin olive oil is a modern invention” would be most seriously weakened if which of the following were discovered?

AAncient Roman texts describing in detail a preference for a sharp, peppery taste in their finest olive oils, a taste they achieved through specific pressing techniques.

BEvidence that the Industrial Revolution led to a decline in the overall quality and variety of olive oils available.

CA chemical analysis showing that ancient amphoras absorbed the oil, making any flavor analysis of residue impossible.

DRecords indicating that Thucydides and Pliny the Elder had financial interests in the olive oil trade.

Solution Answer: A

If the Romans deliberately produced and prized a peppery oil, the flavour is ancient, not modern. A strikes directly at the claim.

B is about overall quality, not flavour origins. C only blocks one way of testing the claim. D is irrelevant to flavour.

Q4MCQ

The tone of the passage can best be described as:

ADidactic

BPerfunctory

CLaudatory

DSardonic

Solution Answer: C

The author opens with “Few foods can compete with olive oil” and praises its “salubrious properties”, its “rich history” and its “inordinately versatile” uses. The tone is admiring, i.e. laudatory.

The passage isn’t lecturing the reader (didactic), it isn’t casual or careless (perfunctory), and it isn’t mocking (sardonic).

Q5MCQ

There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence I began to notice this wasn’t just his gift; it was cultural.

Paragraph My grandfather, an unassuming church elder and community mediator, rarely gave advice or resolved conflict without invoking a proverb. ___(1)___. Whether calming tensions between feuding neighbours or offering a sermon on a quiet Sunday, he always reached for one. ___(2)___. And there was always one – perfectly timed, profoundly apt. ___(3)___. In weddings, funerals, markets and disputes, proverbs were deployed with grace and gravitas – to heal, to teach, to persuade. ___(4)___. They distilled complexity into clarity.

AOption 1

BOption 2

COption 3

DOption 4

Solution Answer: C (Option 3)

The first three sentences are about the grandfather’s own use of proverbs. The fourth widens to the whole community (weddings, funerals, markets). The sentence “this wasn’t just his gift; it was cultural” is the pivot between the two, so it belongs at blank 3.

At blanks 1 and 2 the focus is still on him. At blank 4 the cultural point has already been made.

Q6TITA

Five jumbled-up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.

A 2021 survey found that up to 82% of people have experienced what’s become known as impostor syndrome.
The term “impostor phenomenon” was coined in 1978 by American psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, who noticed their female students and therapy patients were full of doubt about their abilities.
It seems to be worse among high-achieving, very competent people who are outwardly very successful and experienced.
But what happens when you’ve “made it” but still feel like a total fraud?
Fake it till you make it, the saying goes.

Solution Answer: 3

The coherent paragraph is 5 → 4 → 2 → 1:

5: Opens with the saying “Fake it till you make it”.
4: “But” what if you’ve made it and still feel like a fraud?
2: Names the phenomenon and its 1978 origin.
1: A 2021 survey shows how common it is.

Sentence 3 (it is worse among high achievers) only repeats the idea already raised in 4. It adds a separate point about who suffers most, rather than continuing the arc from saying to definition to prevalence.

Q7TITA

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) given below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer.

In 1913, the value of exported goods made up 14 per cent of the world economy.
Both moments of peak globalisation came crashing down, in epochal, generation-defining ways.
By 1933, shattered by World War I and the Great Depression, it had slumped to 6 per cent, and it did not recover until the 1970s.
The backlash propelled the rise of right-wing authoritarian and fascist movements that promised to reverse or seize control of the forces of globalism.

Solution Answer: 2134

The order runs like this:

2: Both peaks of globalisation came crashing down.
1: In 1913, exports were 14% of the world economy.
3: “By 1933… it had slumped to 6 per cent”.
4: “The backlash” fed fascist movements.

Q8MCQ

The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Passage What is referred to as the American (or Second) Industrial Revolution started in the second-half of the 19th century, as the country was rebuilding following the Civil War, its bloodiest conflict to date. At the same time, waves of immigrants from Europe started arriving in America in search of jobs—a large proportion of which were in factories in industrial cities. “After the Civil War, the United States gradually transformed from a largely rural agrarian society to one dominated by cities where large factories replaced small shop production,” says Alan Singer, a historian at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, and the author of New York’s Grand Emancipation Jubilee. “Cities grew because industrial factories required large workforces and workers and their families needed places to live near their jobs. Factories and cities attracted millions of immigrants looking for work and a better life in the United States.”

AThe Second Industrial Revolution in the U.S. was largely driven by technological innovation and the expansion of agriculture, which encouraged immigrants to settle in rural communities.

BAfter the Civil War, the United States witnessed a surge in factory jobs and urban population, though agriculture remained the country’s dominant economic force for decades.

CThe influx of immigrants after the Civil War led to the rise of industrial cities in the U.S., while most Americans continued to live and work in rural areas.

DThe American Industrial Revolution marked a shift from a rural, agrarian economy to an urban, industrial one, as factories grew and attracted large numbers of immigrants seeking employment and better lives.

Solution Answer: D

D captures the shift from rural and agrarian to urban and industrial, driven by factories that drew immigrants.

A says immigrants went to rural areas, which is the opposite. B and C claim agriculture or rural life stayed dominant, contradicting “dominated by cities”.

Q9TITA

One of the things he hasn’t changed his mind about is “the belief that literature is the best system we have of understanding the world”.
Barnes is an esteemed British novelist, not a social scientist.
Research in recent decades shows that we are prone to “confirmation bias,” systematically interpreting new information in ways that favour our existing views and cherry-picking reasons to uphold them.
Where Barnes has changed his mind, he attributes the shift to quirks of experience or feeling, not rational thought.
But his shift in perspective resonates with a host of troubling results in social psychology.

Solution Answer: 4

Detailed solution coming soon.

Q10TITA

Over the past two centuries, nearly every society has reallocated land ownership and property rights.
It’s helped some countries become more egalitarian and productive, whereas for others it has embedded racial hierarchies, deep inequalities and economic stagnation.
And because of the power that land confers to those who hold it, this reshuffling has set societies on distinct trajectories of development.
Today, we are in the middle of a ‘great reshuffle’ of land.

Solution Answer: 4132

The order runs like this:

4: We are in a “great reshuffle” of land.
1: Over two centuries, nearly every society has reallocated land.
3: “And” this reshuffling has set societies on distinct paths.
2: “It’s helped some… whereas for others…” gives the contrasting outcomes.

DILR · Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning

Q11 – Q20 0/10

Set 1 · Q11 – Q15

A cricket team played four matches in a series. The top 4 batsmen for the team were Jatin, Kamal, Lokesh and Mohit. The stack graph below gives the contribution of these batsmen as a percentage of runs scored by the top 4 batsmen in that match. The line graph shows the runs scored by other batsmen as a percentage of runs scored by the top 4 batsmen in that match.

For example, in Match 1, Mohit scored 20% of the runs scored by the top 4 batsmen and the remaining team scored 25% of the runs scored by the top 4 batsmen.

Total runs by the team in matches 1, 2, 3 and 4 are 275, 252, 255 and 264, respectively.

Stack graph of Jatin, Kamal, Lokesh and Mohit's share of top-4 runs and line graph of other batsmen's runs in four matches

Q11MCQ

Who scored the maximum number of runs in the series?

ALokesh

BKamal

CMohit

DJatin

Solution Answer: C

“Others” is a percentage of the top-4 total, so top-4 runs = team total ÷ (1 + others%):

Match 1: 275 ÷ 1.25 = 220
Match 2: 252 ÷ 1.40 = 180
Match 3: 255 ÷ 1.50 = 170
Match 4: 264 ÷ 1.65 = 160

Applying each batsman’s share from the stack graph:

Match	Jatin	Kamal	Lokesh	Mohit	Others	Team
1	15% → 33	40% → 88	25% → 55	20% → 44	25% → 55	275
2	20% → 36	15% → 27	25% → 45	40% → 72	40% → 72	252
3	10% → 17	20% → 34	30% → 51	40% → 68	50% → 85	255
4	55% → 88	20% → 32	15% → 24	10% → 16	65% → 104	264
Total	174	181	175	200	316	1046

Mohit scored the most runs in the series (200).

Q12MCQ

In which match did Lokesh achieve his highest score in the series?

AMatch 1

BMatch 2

CMatch 3

DMatch 4

Solution Answer: A

Lokesh’s scores (from the table in Q11) are 55, 45, 51 and 24. His highest, 55, came in Match 1.

Q13MCQ

In the match in which the contribution by Mohit was equal to the contribution by other players, runs scored by Kamal were what percentage of the total runs?

A8.89%

B10.71%

C12.12%

D13.33%

Solution Answer: B

Mohit and the others are both at 40% (72 runs each) only in Match 2.

Kamal scored 27 of the team’s 252 runs in that match: 27 ÷ 252 = 10.71%.

Q14MCQ

Which of the following statements is correct?

AMohit scored his best in match 3

BLokesh’s score in all matches was a multiple of 5

CKamal scored more than half of his total runs in the series in match 1 itself

DJatin scored 1/3 of the total runs in match 4

Solution Answer: D

A: Mohit’s best was 72 in Match 2, not Match 3 (68) ✗
B: Lokesh scored 51 in Match 3, which isn’t a multiple of 5 ✗
C: Kamal’s Match 1 score (88) is less than half of 181 (90.5) ✗
D: Jatin scored 88 of 264 in Match 4, exactly 1/3 ✓

Q15TITA

What is the difference between the total runs scored by Kamal and Lokesh in the series?

Solution Answer: 6

Kamal: 88 + 27 + 34 + 32 = 181. Lokesh: 55 + 45 + 51 + 24 = 175.

Difference = 6.

Set 2 · Q16 – Q20

Seven teachers of an international B-school, Jen, Adam, Nina, Umar, Ava, Robin and Yana, belong to different countries, namely Brazil, Cuba, Egypt, Fiji, India, Spain and the UK. Each of these teachers teaches a different subject and has a different age (years): 43, 45, 48, 49, 53, 54 and 56.

The teacher from Fiji is five years older than Adam.
Only two teachers are younger than the one who teaches HRM.
The teacher who teaches Economics is three years older than the one from Spain.
The teacher from India is at least 7 years older than the one who teaches Branding.
The teacher who teaches Supply Chain is from Brazil and is the youngest.
The difference between the ages of the teachers from India and Fiji is at most 5 years.
The teacher from the UK is younger than the one from Cuba, who is not older than the teacher from Egypt.
Umar is from Cuba.
The 49-year-old teacher doesn’t teach Branding.
Jen is at least four years younger than Umar.
Ava is younger than Robin and Nina.
The teacher who teaches Finance is neither 53 nor 54 years old.
The teacher who teaches International Management is younger than the one who teaches Business Ethics.
Ava doesn’t teach Branding.
Robin is not from Fiji.

Q16MCQ

Which country does the oldest teacher belong to?

ASpain

BFiji

CEgypt

DIndia

Solution Answer: D

Fixed ages. Supply Chain = Brazil = 43. HRM has exactly two teachers younger, so HRM = 48.
Spain and Economics. Economics = Spain + 3 gives (45, 48) or (53, 56). 48 is HRM, so Spain = 53 and Economics = 56.
Fiji and Adam. Fiji = Adam + 5 gives (43, 48) or (49, 54).
- If Fiji = 48, India is within 5 of it (45 or 49). Branding would then have to be 42 or younger, which is impossible.
- So Fiji = 54 and Adam = 49.
India and Branding. India is 49 or 56. India = 49 again forces Branding to 42 or younger, so India = 56. The remaining ages 45, 48 and 49 go to UK < Cuba < Egypt, so Cuba = 48 (Umar, HRM) and Egypt = 49 (Adam).
Branding. It must be 49 or younger, and it isn’t 43, 48 or 49, so Branding = 45 (UK).
Jen. Jen is at least 4 years younger than Umar (48), so Jen = 43.
Ava, Robin and Nina. Ava is younger than both Robin and Nina, and isn’t 45 (Branding), so Ava = 53. Robin isn’t from Fiji (54), so Robin = 56 and Nina = 54. That leaves Yana = 45.
Remaining subjects. Finance isn’t 53 or 54, so Finance = 49. International Management is younger than Business Ethics, so IM = 53 and BE = 54.

Age	Teacher	Country	Subject
43	Jen	Brazil	Supply Chain
45	Yana	UK	Branding
48	Umar	Cuba	HRM
49	Adam	Egypt	Finance
53	Ava	Spain	International Management
54	Nina	Fiji	Business Ethics
56	Robin	India	Economics

The oldest teacher (56) is from India.

Q17MCQ

Who is from the UK?

AJen

BYana

CAva

DAdam

Solution Answer: B

From the table in Q16, the UK teacher is 45 years old: Yana.

Q18TITA

What is Nina’s age (in years)?

Solution Answer: 54

Ava (53) is younger than both Robin and Nina, so they are 54 and 56. Robin isn’t from Fiji (54), so Robin = 56 and Nina = 54.

Q19MCQ

Which subject does Ava teach?

AEconomics

BBusiness Ethics

CInternational Management

DFinance

Solution Answer: C

Ages 49, 53 and 54 share Finance, IM and BE. Finance isn’t 53 or 54, so it is 49. IM is younger than BE, so Ava (53) teaches International Management.

Q20MCQ

Who teaches Economics?

ARobin

BYana

CAva

DNina

Solution Answer: A

Economics is taught by the 56-year-old, who is Robin (India).

QA · Quantitative Ability

Q21 – Q30 0/10

Q21MCQ

If the roots of the equation ax² + bx + c = 0 are k + 1k and k + 2k + 1, then the value of (a + b + c)² is

Ab² − 4ac

Bb² + 4ac

Cb² − ac

Db² + ac

Solution Answer: A

Write the roots as α = 1 + 1/k and β = 1 + 1/(k + 1). Then (α − 1)(β − 1) = 1/(k(k + 1)), and α − β = 1/k − 1/(k + 1) = 1/(k(k + 1)). So the two are equal.

a + b + c = a(1 − α)(1 − β), since the quadratic equals a(x − α)(x − β) at x = 1. And b² − 4ac = a²(α − β)².

Since (α − 1)(β − 1) = α − β, (a + b + c)² = b² − 4ac.

Q22MCQ

Out of a total of 120 musicians in a club, 5% can play all three instruments — guitar, violin and flute. Each musician plays at least one instrument. The ratio of the number of musicians who can play different combinations of exactly two of the above instruments is 1 : 2 : 3. The number of musicians who can play the guitar alone is 40. Which of the following cannot be the ratio of those who can play violin alone and the flute alone?

A8 : 11

B7 : 10

C4 : 7

D4 : 5

Solution Answer: D

All three = 6, exactly two = k + 2k + 3k = 6k, and guitar only = 40. So violin only + flute only = 120 − 46 − 6k = 74 − 6k. This is always ≡ 2 (mod 6): 68, 62, 56, 50, 44, 38, …

8 : 11 (sum 19): 38 = 19 × 2 ✓
7 : 10 (sum 17): 68 = 17 × 4 ✓
4 : 7 (sum 11): 44 = 11 × 4 ✓
4 : 5 (sum 9): every multiple of 9 is ≡ 0 or 3 (mod 6), never 2 ✗

So 4 : 5 is impossible.

Q23TITA

After paying 30 out of 40 instalments of a debt of Rs 360000, one-third of the debt is unpaid. If the instalments form an arithmetic series, then what is the first instalment?

Solution Answer: 5100

Using the AP sum formula for all 40 instalments: 20(2a + 39d) = 3,60,000, so 2a + 39d = 18,000.

The first 30 instalments cover two-thirds of the debt, i.e. 2,40,000: 15(2a + 29d) = 2,40,000, so 2a + 29d = 16,000.

Subtracting: 10d = 2000, so d = 200. Then 2a = 18,000 − 7,800, giving a = Rs 5,100.

Q24TITA

A CAT aspirant appears for a certain number of tests. His average score increases by 1 if the first 10 tests are not considered, and decreases by 1 if the last 10 tests are not considered. If his average scores for the first 10 and the last 10 tests are 20 and 30, respectively, then the total number of tests taken by him is

Solution Answer: 60

Let n be the number of tests and m the overall average.

Dropping the first 10 (total 200): (nm − 200)/(n − 10) = m + 1. Dropping the last 10 (total 300): (nm − 300)/(n − 10) = m − 1.

Subtracting the two: 100/(n − 10) = 2, so n = 60. Check: the total is 1500 and the average 25; 1300/50 = 26 ✓ and 1200/50 = 24 ✓.

Q25MCQ

In the given figure, AD is a common tangent to the two circles. AB = 2, AE = 3, BC = x and EF = 5. Find the value of x.

Two circles touching at D with common tangent AD; secants ABC and AEF drawn from A

A12

B10

D7.5

Solution Answer: B

AD is tangent to both circles at D. By the tangent–secant theorem applied to each circle:

AD² = AB × AC = AE × AF, so 2(2 + x) = 3 × (3 + 5) = 24.

2 + x = 12, which gives x = 10.

Q26MCQ

When they work alone, B needs 25% more time to finish a job than A does. Both of them finish the job in 13 days in the following manner: A works alone till half the job is done, then A and B work together for four days, and finally B works alone to complete the remaining 5% of the job. In how many days can B alone finish the entire job?

A15

B25

C20

D22.5

Solution Answer: C

Let A take t days, so B takes 1.25t. Together for 4 days they do 4(1/t + 0.8/t) = 7.2/t of the job.

0.5 + 7.2/t + 0.05 = 1 gives 7.2/t = 0.45, so t = 16.

Check the 13 days: 8 (A alone) + 4 (together) + 0.05 × 20 = 1 (B alone) = 13 ✓. B alone takes 20 days.

Q27MCQ

In a triangle ABC, medians AD and BE are perpendicular to each other, and have lengths 15 cm and 16 cm, respectively. Then, the area of triangle ABC, in sq cm, is

A80

B120

C160

D240

Solution Answer: A

Detailed solution coming soon.

Q28TITA

A two-digit number, represented by the digits xy (where x is the tens digit and y is the units digit), is multiplied by another two-digit number ab. The product is a three-digit number pqr, where r = 2y, q = 2(x + y) and p = 2x, where x, y < 5, q ≠ 0. What is the number ‘ab’?

Solution Answer: 22

pqr = 100(2x) + 10 × 2(x + y) + 2y = 220x + 22y = 22(10x + y) = 22 × xy.

So ab = 22.

Q29MCQ

If a, b, and c are non-zero real numbers, how many values are present in the set of the expression a|a| + b|b| + c|c| + abc|abc|?

Solution Answer: A

Each term is ±1, and the last term is the product of the first three signs.

All positive: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 4
One negative: 1 + 1 − 1 − 1 = 0
Two negative: 1 − 1 − 1 + 1 = 0
All negative: −1 − 1 − 1 − 1 = −4

The set is {4, 0, −4}, which has 3 values.

Q30MCQ

Nethra can row a boat on still water at a speed of 5 km/hr. However, on a given river, it takes her 1 hour more to row the boat 12 km upstream than downstream. One day, Nethra rows the boat on this river from X to Y, which is N km upstream from X. Then she rows back to X immediately. If she takes at least 2 hours to complete this round trip, what is the minimum possible value of N?

A2.4

C4.8

D3.6

Solution Answer: C

12/(5 − s) − 12/(5 + s) = 1 gives 24s = 25 − s², so s = 1 km/h. Upstream speed is 4 km/h and downstream 6 km/h.

Round trip: N/4 + N/6 = 5N/12 ≥ 2, so N ≥ 4.8.

Day 8 complete! 🔥

0 / 90

Correct: 0 · Wrong: 0 · Accuracy: 0%

Keep the streak alive. See you tomorrow for Day 9.

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