TISS-NET 2014 Question Paper Analysis

By Vinayak Kudva

The structure of TISS-NET 2014 was a bit different from that of the previous year. This year, the test was online and was divided into three sections - General Awareness (30 questions), Mathematical and Logical Reasoning (35 questions) and English (30 questions). There were 95 questions for 100 marks. There was no negative marking. The overall difficulty level of the exam was also comparatively higher than that of last year.

Section	Subject Area	Number of Questions	Marks
Section I	General Awareness	30	30
Section II	Mathematical & Logical Reasoning	35	35
Section III	English	30	35

Section I: General Awareness

Some students reported having got slightly different questions. The analysis of each of the sections (based on some students’ reports) is as given below.

This section comprised 30 questions, each carrying 1 mark. Unlike last year, this year the General Awareness section had questions from various topics like history, geography, science, government & politics, awards, art and literature. Out of the 30 questions, there were only 5-6 questions based on current affairs. There were around 15-16 questions on international affairs. About 6 questions were easy, 9 were medium and 15 difficult. A score of 15+ would be a good benchmark.

Section II: Mathematical and Logical Reasoning

What was surprising was that compared to last year, when questions were based on arithmetic, word problems and simple BODMAS, this year, a number of questions were based on modern math (with about 5-6 questions on permutations & combinations and 3-4 on set theory). Also, there were 3 questions on geometry (with 2 on mensuration and 1 on polygons), which though not difficult, would require elementary knowledge of formulae in geometry. The 7 questions on numbers and letter series were quite easy with, again, some being slightly tricky. Though most of the questions were sitters, students not comfortable with mathematics would have found a few of the questions on modern math and geometry slightly tricky and therefore these have been classified as having a ‘medium’ level of difficulty. It would have been better for such students to select the right questions in a judicious manner. The questions on arithmetic were by and large all easy and should have all been attempted.

The breakup of the questions was as follows:

Area	Topic	LOD
Numbers (1)	LCM	Easy - Medium
Modern Math (10)	Permutations & Combinations-6, Set Theory-4	Easy - Medium
Arithmetic (14)	Time & Work-3, Time Speed & Distance-3, Ratios & Proportion-5,Profit & Loss-2, Simple Interest-1	Easy
Geometry (3)	Cuboid, Cylinder, Polygons	Easy - Medium
Series (7)	Number-5 & Letter Series-2(Completion & Odd Man Out)	Easy

Section III: English

By allotting 35 minutes to this area, one should have ideally solved at least 30 questions correctly and marked the answers to the remaining, as there was no negative marking.

This section comprised 30 questions, out of which the 5 reading comprehension questions carried 2 marks each. There were 5 analogies, 5 single fill in the blanks, 5 double fill in the blanks, 5 questions on choosing the inappropriate word and 5 jumbled paragraphs. Out of the 5 reading comprehension questions, 4 were direct and could be easily answered, 1 question required some inferential skills. Most of the questions in this section were of an easy to moderate level.
A good score for this section would be 28+.

Topics	No of Questions	Level of Difficulty
Reading Comprehension	1 passage with 5 questions	Easy
Fill in the Blanks (double blanks)	5	Moderate
Fill in the Blanks (single blank)	5	Easy- Moderate
Jumbled Paragraphs	5	Easy – Moderate
Inappropriate Word	5	Moderate
Analogies	5	Easy - Moderate

Overall, the cutoff for the general category students is expected to be 74 – 76 marks and that for other candidates is expected to be 5-7 marks less.

About the Author

Vinayak Kudva is the product head at IMS Learning Resources - a popular coaching institute that trains students for MBA entrance exams like CAT, XAT  and GMAT.