CAT Past Year Question Paper Solution - 1997 | Additional Study Material for CAT PDF Download

 Page 1


Page 1
CAT 1997 Actual Paper
1 c 2 d 3 b 4 a 5 d 6 d 7 b 8 c 9 a 10 a
11 a 12 b 13 c 14 d 15 a 16 b 17 d 18 a 19 c 20 a
21 b 22 c 23 a 24 a 25 b 26 b 27 b 28 a 29 a 30 b
31 c 32 d 33 d 34 a 35 b 36 a 37 a 38 b 39 a 40 b
41 c 42 c 43 c 44 a 45 b 46 b 47 c 48 a 49 d 50 d
51 c 52 b 53 c 54 a 55 c 56 d 57 c 58 a 59 b 60 c
61 a 62 c 63 c 64 b 65 b 66 d 67 a 68 d 69 b 70 a
71 d 72 b 73 c 74 c 75 b 76 d 77 c 78 d 79 b 80 d
81 a 82 b 83 b 84 d 85 c 86 d 87 d 88 a 89 d 90 a
91 b 92 d 93 c 94 a 95 c 96 c 97 d 98 c 99 d 100 a
101 c 102 b 103 c 104 d 105 c 106 c 107 c 108 b 109 c 110 a
111 d 112 d 113 b 114 c 115 a 116 d 117 b 118 a 119 a 120 c
121 b 122 c 123 a 124 d 125 b 126 d 127 c 128 b 129 b 130 c
131 c 132 b 133 d 134 b 135 c 136 d 137 c 138 c 139 b 140 a
141 a 142 a 143 b 144 c 145 b 146 d 147 b 148 b 149 d 150 d
151 c 152 b 153 c 154 d 155 d 156 a 157 c 158 c 159 a 160 b
161 a 162 d 163 c 164 c 165 c 166 c 167 b 168 c 169 a 170 c
171 b 172 b 173 a 174 b 175 a 176 d 177 b 178 a 179 b 180 d
181 b 182 c 183 b 184 a 185 b
Scoring table
    Section
EU 1 to 50 50
RC 51 to 100 50
QA + DS 101 to 155 55
DI 156 to 185 30
T otal 185
T otal
questions
T otal
attempted
T otal
correct
T otal
wrong
Net
Score
 Time
T aken
Question
number

	






Page 2


Page 1
CAT 1997 Actual Paper
1 c 2 d 3 b 4 a 5 d 6 d 7 b 8 c 9 a 10 a
11 a 12 b 13 c 14 d 15 a 16 b 17 d 18 a 19 c 20 a
21 b 22 c 23 a 24 a 25 b 26 b 27 b 28 a 29 a 30 b
31 c 32 d 33 d 34 a 35 b 36 a 37 a 38 b 39 a 40 b
41 c 42 c 43 c 44 a 45 b 46 b 47 c 48 a 49 d 50 d
51 c 52 b 53 c 54 a 55 c 56 d 57 c 58 a 59 b 60 c
61 a 62 c 63 c 64 b 65 b 66 d 67 a 68 d 69 b 70 a
71 d 72 b 73 c 74 c 75 b 76 d 77 c 78 d 79 b 80 d
81 a 82 b 83 b 84 d 85 c 86 d 87 d 88 a 89 d 90 a
91 b 92 d 93 c 94 a 95 c 96 c 97 d 98 c 99 d 100 a
101 c 102 b 103 c 104 d 105 c 106 c 107 c 108 b 109 c 110 a
111 d 112 d 113 b 114 c 115 a 116 d 117 b 118 a 119 a 120 c
121 b 122 c 123 a 124 d 125 b 126 d 127 c 128 b 129 b 130 c
131 c 132 b 133 d 134 b 135 c 136 d 137 c 138 c 139 b 140 a
141 a 142 a 143 b 144 c 145 b 146 d 147 b 148 b 149 d 150 d
151 c 152 b 153 c 154 d 155 d 156 a 157 c 158 c 159 a 160 b
161 a 162 d 163 c 164 c 165 c 166 c 167 b 168 c 169 a 170 c
171 b 172 b 173 a 174 b 175 a 176 d 177 b 178 a 179 b 180 d
181 b 182 c 183 b 184 a 185 b
Scoring table
    Section
EU 1 to 50 50
RC 51 to 100 50
QA + DS 101 to 155 55
DI 156 to 185 30
T otal 185
T otal
questions
T otal
attempted
T otal
correct
T otal
wrong
Net
Score
 Time
T aken
Question
number

	






Page 2 CAT 1997 Actual Paper
1. c (c) is a pair of homophones. (a), (b) and (d) do not
have pairs of homophones.
2. d Doggerel is a badly written verse, which is written by
a poet. Pulp fiction is a badly written piece of fiction,
written by a novelist. (a), (b) and (c) do not show this
derogatory relationship.
3. b A premise is evidence which leads to a conclusion.
An assumption does not lead to an inference. An
assumption, if wrong, will weaken an inference. But a
hypothesis does lead to a theory. A hypothesis is a
suggested explanation for a group of facts or
phenomena that is accepted as likely to be true.
4. a A barge is a kind of a vessel, and a shovel is a kind of
an implement. (b), (d) and (e) do not show this item to
categorise relationship.
5. d The second word in the pair is a higher degree of the
first. (a), (b) and (c) do not display such a relationship.
6. d The second word belongs to the family in the first
word. (a), (b) and (c) do not display such a relationship.
7. b
M
V
B
8. c
Wor
Wom
N
9. a
S
O
A
10. a
z
M
F
11. a
D
O
S
12. b Sam is not drunk, so he must be ill. One of the either
... or condition is true.
13. c As Ram did not lose sleep, it shows that he did not
hear of the tragedy. When A, then B. Not B,
hence not A.
14. d The train is not late, so it must have derailed. One of
the either ... or condition is true.
15. a I did not have a nightmare, so I must not have read a
horror story. When A, then B. Not B, hence not A.
16. b I did not get rashes which shows that I did not eat
berries. When A, then B. Not B, hence not A.
17. d The sentence is incomplete as 'will do' does not have
an object. It should therefore be followed by 'so'. (a) is
not correct as ‘government’ is repeated. ‘policy’ is
undefined in (b) and (c).
18. a We let go ‘of’ something, but we turn ‘off’ the lights.
The proposals in (b) and (d) might go beyond the
scope of the sentence.
19. c The correct idiomatic usage to refer to a proliferation
of something is 'have mushroomed'. ‘blooming’ and
‘blossoming’ are not words that we use to indicate
that a lot of schools have come up overnight.
‘Mushrooming’ is most apt, literally and figuratively, in
this regard. ‘all over’ is a more generic term than ‘in
every corner’; the latter term is more specific.
20. a The phrase used is grammatically correct. There is a
huge difference between ‘important’ and ‘fact’. (d)
similarly overlooks the serious tone of the sentence.
(c) sounds verbose.
21. b We take ‘note’ of an important clause. There is nothing
to ‘notice’ in the sentence, so (a) and (d) are ruled out.
(c) sounds awkward when read along with the rest
of the sentence.
22. c An act of vengeance relates to the 'beginning' of the
misdeeds, and thus reopens the first chapter. Look
for a suitable complement in sentences split with a
semicolon. When there is a semicolon in the sentence,
one has to look for a logical complement — ‘closes :
reopens’.
23. a The correct idiomatic usage is 'as far as' something
can go. (b) and (d) sound extremely confusing as
they add parameters. (c) sounds needlessly verbose.
24. a One sets out to achieve something. ‘thought of’ is not
right as it should be followed by ‘achieving’. ‘thought
to’ does not sound as active as the author might wish
it to be. ‘went to’ sounds similarly vague.
Page 3


Page 1
CAT 1997 Actual Paper
1 c 2 d 3 b 4 a 5 d 6 d 7 b 8 c 9 a 10 a
11 a 12 b 13 c 14 d 15 a 16 b 17 d 18 a 19 c 20 a
21 b 22 c 23 a 24 a 25 b 26 b 27 b 28 a 29 a 30 b
31 c 32 d 33 d 34 a 35 b 36 a 37 a 38 b 39 a 40 b
41 c 42 c 43 c 44 a 45 b 46 b 47 c 48 a 49 d 50 d
51 c 52 b 53 c 54 a 55 c 56 d 57 c 58 a 59 b 60 c
61 a 62 c 63 c 64 b 65 b 66 d 67 a 68 d 69 b 70 a
71 d 72 b 73 c 74 c 75 b 76 d 77 c 78 d 79 b 80 d
81 a 82 b 83 b 84 d 85 c 86 d 87 d 88 a 89 d 90 a
91 b 92 d 93 c 94 a 95 c 96 c 97 d 98 c 99 d 100 a
101 c 102 b 103 c 104 d 105 c 106 c 107 c 108 b 109 c 110 a
111 d 112 d 113 b 114 c 115 a 116 d 117 b 118 a 119 a 120 c
121 b 122 c 123 a 124 d 125 b 126 d 127 c 128 b 129 b 130 c
131 c 132 b 133 d 134 b 135 c 136 d 137 c 138 c 139 b 140 a
141 a 142 a 143 b 144 c 145 b 146 d 147 b 148 b 149 d 150 d
151 c 152 b 153 c 154 d 155 d 156 a 157 c 158 c 159 a 160 b
161 a 162 d 163 c 164 c 165 c 166 c 167 b 168 c 169 a 170 c
171 b 172 b 173 a 174 b 175 a 176 d 177 b 178 a 179 b 180 d
181 b 182 c 183 b 184 a 185 b
Scoring table
    Section
EU 1 to 50 50
RC 51 to 100 50
QA + DS 101 to 155 55
DI 156 to 185 30
T otal 185
T otal
questions
T otal
attempted
T otal
correct
T otal
wrong
Net
Score
 Time
T aken
Question
number

	






Page 2 CAT 1997 Actual Paper
1. c (c) is a pair of homophones. (a), (b) and (d) do not
have pairs of homophones.
2. d Doggerel is a badly written verse, which is written by
a poet. Pulp fiction is a badly written piece of fiction,
written by a novelist. (a), (b) and (c) do not show this
derogatory relationship.
3. b A premise is evidence which leads to a conclusion.
An assumption does not lead to an inference. An
assumption, if wrong, will weaken an inference. But a
hypothesis does lead to a theory. A hypothesis is a
suggested explanation for a group of facts or
phenomena that is accepted as likely to be true.
4. a A barge is a kind of a vessel, and a shovel is a kind of
an implement. (b), (d) and (e) do not show this item to
categorise relationship.
5. d The second word in the pair is a higher degree of the
first. (a), (b) and (c) do not display such a relationship.
6. d The second word belongs to the family in the first
word. (a), (b) and (c) do not display such a relationship.
7. b
M
V
B
8. c
Wor
Wom
N
9. a
S
O
A
10. a
z
M
F
11. a
D
O
S
12. b Sam is not drunk, so he must be ill. One of the either
... or condition is true.
13. c As Ram did not lose sleep, it shows that he did not
hear of the tragedy. When A, then B. Not B,
hence not A.
14. d The train is not late, so it must have derailed. One of
the either ... or condition is true.
15. a I did not have a nightmare, so I must not have read a
horror story. When A, then B. Not B, hence not A.
16. b I did not get rashes which shows that I did not eat
berries. When A, then B. Not B, hence not A.
17. d The sentence is incomplete as 'will do' does not have
an object. It should therefore be followed by 'so'. (a) is
not correct as ‘government’ is repeated. ‘policy’ is
undefined in (b) and (c).
18. a We let go ‘of’ something, but we turn ‘off’ the lights.
The proposals in (b) and (d) might go beyond the
scope of the sentence.
19. c The correct idiomatic usage to refer to a proliferation
of something is 'have mushroomed'. ‘blooming’ and
‘blossoming’ are not words that we use to indicate
that a lot of schools have come up overnight.
‘Mushrooming’ is most apt, literally and figuratively, in
this regard. ‘all over’ is a more generic term than ‘in
every corner’; the latter term is more specific.
20. a The phrase used is grammatically correct. There is a
huge difference between ‘important’ and ‘fact’. (d)
similarly overlooks the serious tone of the sentence.
(c) sounds verbose.
21. b We take ‘note’ of an important clause. There is nothing
to ‘notice’ in the sentence, so (a) and (d) are ruled out.
(c) sounds awkward when read along with the rest
of the sentence.
22. c An act of vengeance relates to the 'beginning' of the
misdeeds, and thus reopens the first chapter. Look
for a suitable complement in sentences split with a
semicolon. When there is a semicolon in the sentence,
one has to look for a logical complement — ‘closes :
reopens’.
23. a The correct idiomatic usage is 'as far as' something
can go. (b) and (d) sound extremely confusing as
they add parameters. (c) sounds needlessly verbose.
24. a One sets out to achieve something. ‘thought of’ is not
right as it should be followed by ‘achieving’. ‘thought
to’ does not sound as active as the author might wish
it to be. ‘went to’ sounds similarly vague.
Page 3
CAT 1997 Actual Paper
25. b One does 'tough talking'. ‘talk tough’ is a general
idiomatic expression. ‘has done some’ should be
followed by an -ing form of the verb, such as
‘investigating’ or ‘probing’.
26. b 'Year by year' is the correct idiomatic usage here.
‘annually’ and ‘progressively’ are not the right words
to use as we are just making a general observation,
not dealing with statistics. The singular stress on ‘each’
is unwarranted in this sentence.
27. b 'Amendments' is a countable noun and so 'many' should
be used as a quantifier for it. (c) and (d) tamper with
the pronouncement in the sentence by using weak
quantifiers.
28. a 'More crucial than ever' shows that though they were
important earlier too, now they are even more
important. (a) matches the verbal tense in the sentence
‘more crucial than (they have) ever (been)’.
29. a 'Break down' is the correct idiomatic use here. ‘barriers’
are not ‘crumbled’ or ‘dismantled’. We can ‘break’ a
record. For an erect barrier, the appropriate verb would
be ‘break down’.
30. b C gives some examples to support 1. B introduces the
era of computers as another example, A talks about
the increasing technical terms, D introduces the idea
of slangs, which is continued in 6.
31. c 6 speaks of a study of IIT undergraduates’ mindset. C
speaks of culture developed by IIT students. Therefore,
C6 is mandatory. D speaks of success stories of IIT
graduates and therefore follows A.
32. d A talks about the taste of the Maharaja of Kapurthala,
B introduces another Maharaja with an exquisite taste,
D introduces something in contrast to this, C continues
with the idea which is exemplified in 6.
33. d A shows how 'his' gifts were unveiled, B states the
effect it had on McLaughlin, D states his reaction to
the same and C states the ultimate outcome.
34. a C states why India is on the brink of a major public
health disaster, A states what happens if TB is
untreated for 5 years, D presents some statistics to
highlight the point, B states how the disease spreads
and 6 continues with the fact.
35. b B introduces atypical pneumonia as the subject of the
passage, D states that it appears like an ordinary flu,
A states its symptoms and C states how these
symptoms progress to give rise to complications.
36. a B introduces the problem of snakes, C states why
there is not enough anti-snake serum, A elaborates on
non-availability of the same, and D concludes the
passage by stating what the final outcome could be.
37. a B talks about the previous records of mid-term elections,
and its implications on the present situation, A presents
a contradictory fact, and C states the implications of
this fact. D concludes the passage.
38. b A introduces critical elections as the subject of the
passage, B explains it, D states that none of the Indian
elections so far has been a critical election, instead as
C states, there have been many semi-critical ones.
39. a A introduces the subject, B elaborates on it, D states
who is the current champion of the game and C states
who other contenders are.
40. b A introduces the benefit of good advertising, C states
why this benefit is important, B gives an example and
D concludes by saying that in spite of this a minimum
quality has to be maintained.
41. c B uses the word ‘it’ that refers to the ‘philosophy’ in C
and so CB is a mandatory pair. Moreover, A ‘century
ago’, C ‘for 90 years’, and B ‘today’, makes a chain and
D concludes the passage.
42. c B states that RBI has wrested many powers from the
government, A states that in spite of this the government
has the final say, C elaborates on this fact and D
questions this state of affairs.
43. c B introduces the fact that the author was depressed,
D gives a reason for the same, C shows the extent of
his depression and A concludes the passage.
44. a B introduces the idea of the possibility of stopping the
decline in writing skills, C states how this is being
done, D talks about a number of programmes being
developed for the same and A gives the example of
one such programme.
45. b All others except ‘kin’ are synonyms.
46. b All others except ‘adapt’ are synonyms.
47. c All others except ‘bell’ refer to circular shapes. Bell is
an object.
48. a All others except ‘computer’ refer to some kind of a
network.
49. d Withstand is almost the opposite of the other three
words.
50. d All others except ‘bridge’ refer to some kind of a gap
or opening.
51. c In the first five paragraphs, the author makes it clear
that Indians do not understand themselves yet. (a) is
far from the truth. (b) is unlikely and (d) is not true.
52. b The author tries to show what exactly was India's
history like and what are the prospects for the future.
The writer is making observations and analysing these,
hence there is no reason why the attitude should be
critical, cynical or cold.
53. c Through the example he has tried to show us what
centuries of slaughter and plunder actually meant for
the country. (a) and (b) are not true, the writer is not
glorifying the Vijayanagar empire.
Page 4


Page 1
CAT 1997 Actual Paper
1 c 2 d 3 b 4 a 5 d 6 d 7 b 8 c 9 a 10 a
11 a 12 b 13 c 14 d 15 a 16 b 17 d 18 a 19 c 20 a
21 b 22 c 23 a 24 a 25 b 26 b 27 b 28 a 29 a 30 b
31 c 32 d 33 d 34 a 35 b 36 a 37 a 38 b 39 a 40 b
41 c 42 c 43 c 44 a 45 b 46 b 47 c 48 a 49 d 50 d
51 c 52 b 53 c 54 a 55 c 56 d 57 c 58 a 59 b 60 c
61 a 62 c 63 c 64 b 65 b 66 d 67 a 68 d 69 b 70 a
71 d 72 b 73 c 74 c 75 b 76 d 77 c 78 d 79 b 80 d
81 a 82 b 83 b 84 d 85 c 86 d 87 d 88 a 89 d 90 a
91 b 92 d 93 c 94 a 95 c 96 c 97 d 98 c 99 d 100 a
101 c 102 b 103 c 104 d 105 c 106 c 107 c 108 b 109 c 110 a
111 d 112 d 113 b 114 c 115 a 116 d 117 b 118 a 119 a 120 c
121 b 122 c 123 a 124 d 125 b 126 d 127 c 128 b 129 b 130 c
131 c 132 b 133 d 134 b 135 c 136 d 137 c 138 c 139 b 140 a
141 a 142 a 143 b 144 c 145 b 146 d 147 b 148 b 149 d 150 d
151 c 152 b 153 c 154 d 155 d 156 a 157 c 158 c 159 a 160 b
161 a 162 d 163 c 164 c 165 c 166 c 167 b 168 c 169 a 170 c
171 b 172 b 173 a 174 b 175 a 176 d 177 b 178 a 179 b 180 d
181 b 182 c 183 b 184 a 185 b
Scoring table
    Section
EU 1 to 50 50
RC 51 to 100 50
QA + DS 101 to 155 55
DI 156 to 185 30
T otal 185
T otal
questions
T otal
attempted
T otal
correct
T otal
wrong
Net
Score
 Time
T aken
Question
number

	






Page 2 CAT 1997 Actual Paper
1. c (c) is a pair of homophones. (a), (b) and (d) do not
have pairs of homophones.
2. d Doggerel is a badly written verse, which is written by
a poet. Pulp fiction is a badly written piece of fiction,
written by a novelist. (a), (b) and (c) do not show this
derogatory relationship.
3. b A premise is evidence which leads to a conclusion.
An assumption does not lead to an inference. An
assumption, if wrong, will weaken an inference. But a
hypothesis does lead to a theory. A hypothesis is a
suggested explanation for a group of facts or
phenomena that is accepted as likely to be true.
4. a A barge is a kind of a vessel, and a shovel is a kind of
an implement. (b), (d) and (e) do not show this item to
categorise relationship.
5. d The second word in the pair is a higher degree of the
first. (a), (b) and (c) do not display such a relationship.
6. d The second word belongs to the family in the first
word. (a), (b) and (c) do not display such a relationship.
7. b
M
V
B
8. c
Wor
Wom
N
9. a
S
O
A
10. a
z
M
F
11. a
D
O
S
12. b Sam is not drunk, so he must be ill. One of the either
... or condition is true.
13. c As Ram did not lose sleep, it shows that he did not
hear of the tragedy. When A, then B. Not B,
hence not A.
14. d The train is not late, so it must have derailed. One of
the either ... or condition is true.
15. a I did not have a nightmare, so I must not have read a
horror story. When A, then B. Not B, hence not A.
16. b I did not get rashes which shows that I did not eat
berries. When A, then B. Not B, hence not A.
17. d The sentence is incomplete as 'will do' does not have
an object. It should therefore be followed by 'so'. (a) is
not correct as ‘government’ is repeated. ‘policy’ is
undefined in (b) and (c).
18. a We let go ‘of’ something, but we turn ‘off’ the lights.
The proposals in (b) and (d) might go beyond the
scope of the sentence.
19. c The correct idiomatic usage to refer to a proliferation
of something is 'have mushroomed'. ‘blooming’ and
‘blossoming’ are not words that we use to indicate
that a lot of schools have come up overnight.
‘Mushrooming’ is most apt, literally and figuratively, in
this regard. ‘all over’ is a more generic term than ‘in
every corner’; the latter term is more specific.
20. a The phrase used is grammatically correct. There is a
huge difference between ‘important’ and ‘fact’. (d)
similarly overlooks the serious tone of the sentence.
(c) sounds verbose.
21. b We take ‘note’ of an important clause. There is nothing
to ‘notice’ in the sentence, so (a) and (d) are ruled out.
(c) sounds awkward when read along with the rest
of the sentence.
22. c An act of vengeance relates to the 'beginning' of the
misdeeds, and thus reopens the first chapter. Look
for a suitable complement in sentences split with a
semicolon. When there is a semicolon in the sentence,
one has to look for a logical complement — ‘closes :
reopens’.
23. a The correct idiomatic usage is 'as far as' something
can go. (b) and (d) sound extremely confusing as
they add parameters. (c) sounds needlessly verbose.
24. a One sets out to achieve something. ‘thought of’ is not
right as it should be followed by ‘achieving’. ‘thought
to’ does not sound as active as the author might wish
it to be. ‘went to’ sounds similarly vague.
Page 3
CAT 1997 Actual Paper
25. b One does 'tough talking'. ‘talk tough’ is a general
idiomatic expression. ‘has done some’ should be
followed by an -ing form of the verb, such as
‘investigating’ or ‘probing’.
26. b 'Year by year' is the correct idiomatic usage here.
‘annually’ and ‘progressively’ are not the right words
to use as we are just making a general observation,
not dealing with statistics. The singular stress on ‘each’
is unwarranted in this sentence.
27. b 'Amendments' is a countable noun and so 'many' should
be used as a quantifier for it. (c) and (d) tamper with
the pronouncement in the sentence by using weak
quantifiers.
28. a 'More crucial than ever' shows that though they were
important earlier too, now they are even more
important. (a) matches the verbal tense in the sentence
‘more crucial than (they have) ever (been)’.
29. a 'Break down' is the correct idiomatic use here. ‘barriers’
are not ‘crumbled’ or ‘dismantled’. We can ‘break’ a
record. For an erect barrier, the appropriate verb would
be ‘break down’.
30. b C gives some examples to support 1. B introduces the
era of computers as another example, A talks about
the increasing technical terms, D introduces the idea
of slangs, which is continued in 6.
31. c 6 speaks of a study of IIT undergraduates’ mindset. C
speaks of culture developed by IIT students. Therefore,
C6 is mandatory. D speaks of success stories of IIT
graduates and therefore follows A.
32. d A talks about the taste of the Maharaja of Kapurthala,
B introduces another Maharaja with an exquisite taste,
D introduces something in contrast to this, C continues
with the idea which is exemplified in 6.
33. d A shows how 'his' gifts were unveiled, B states the
effect it had on McLaughlin, D states his reaction to
the same and C states the ultimate outcome.
34. a C states why India is on the brink of a major public
health disaster, A states what happens if TB is
untreated for 5 years, D presents some statistics to
highlight the point, B states how the disease spreads
and 6 continues with the fact.
35. b B introduces atypical pneumonia as the subject of the
passage, D states that it appears like an ordinary flu,
A states its symptoms and C states how these
symptoms progress to give rise to complications.
36. a B introduces the problem of snakes, C states why
there is not enough anti-snake serum, A elaborates on
non-availability of the same, and D concludes the
passage by stating what the final outcome could be.
37. a B talks about the previous records of mid-term elections,
and its implications on the present situation, A presents
a contradictory fact, and C states the implications of
this fact. D concludes the passage.
38. b A introduces critical elections as the subject of the
passage, B explains it, D states that none of the Indian
elections so far has been a critical election, instead as
C states, there have been many semi-critical ones.
39. a A introduces the subject, B elaborates on it, D states
who is the current champion of the game and C states
who other contenders are.
40. b A introduces the benefit of good advertising, C states
why this benefit is important, B gives an example and
D concludes by saying that in spite of this a minimum
quality has to be maintained.
41. c B uses the word ‘it’ that refers to the ‘philosophy’ in C
and so CB is a mandatory pair. Moreover, A ‘century
ago’, C ‘for 90 years’, and B ‘today’, makes a chain and
D concludes the passage.
42. c B states that RBI has wrested many powers from the
government, A states that in spite of this the government
has the final say, C elaborates on this fact and D
questions this state of affairs.
43. c B introduces the fact that the author was depressed,
D gives a reason for the same, C shows the extent of
his depression and A concludes the passage.
44. a B introduces the idea of the possibility of stopping the
decline in writing skills, C states how this is being
done, D talks about a number of programmes being
developed for the same and A gives the example of
one such programme.
45. b All others except ‘kin’ are synonyms.
46. b All others except ‘adapt’ are synonyms.
47. c All others except ‘bell’ refer to circular shapes. Bell is
an object.
48. a All others except ‘computer’ refer to some kind of a
network.
49. d Withstand is almost the opposite of the other three
words.
50. d All others except ‘bridge’ refer to some kind of a gap
or opening.
51. c In the first five paragraphs, the author makes it clear
that Indians do not understand themselves yet. (a) is
far from the truth. (b) is unlikely and (d) is not true.
52. b The author tries to show what exactly was India's
history like and what are the prospects for the future.
The writer is making observations and analysing these,
hence there is no reason why the attitude should be
critical, cynical or cold.
53. c Through the example he has tried to show us what
centuries of slaughter and plunder actually meant for
the country. (a) and (b) are not true, the writer is not
glorifying the Vijayanagar empire.
Page 4 CAT 1997 Actual Paper
54. a The author is critical of people having a child's view of
history and equates it with the slave's idea of the
ruler's mercy. (b) is not true as the writer does take a
critical stand on history. (c) is besides the fact.
55. c The writer says that during British rule, and for 50
years after that, there was a revival of energy and
intellect. (d) is not true in light of facts presented in the
passage. (a) and (b) are not true in an isolated context.
56. d With self-awareness, people ask for more of
everything. (b) and (c) are both found in the ninth
paragraph. (a) is simply not true.
57. c He says that India's present situation is 'primitive and
messy'. The writer has not expressed any pessimistic
opinion ‘bleak’ or an extreme opinion ‘horrific’.
58. a Self-criticism is important for a country to be alive and
progressive. Refer to the last paragraph. (b) and (c)
are thus not true.
59. b The writer says that the future will be fairly chaotic.
(a), (c) and (d) find no mention in the passage.
60. c Every invasion was accompanied by slaughter of the
country's most talented people. (a) and (b) did take
place, but it is (c) which is the main feature of the
tyranny of foreign rulers.
61. a The author is critical of the government policies. Refer
to the beginning of each paragraph. The writer is not
rude enough to be derisive. There is no reason for the
writer to be sarcastic or ironical.
62. c He is surprised as in all other cases government looked
at the industrialists as crooks. (a) is a different point
of view. (b) is a fact presented in the passage that
does not contribute to the writer’s surprise. (d) is not
true as the reason is cited below the writer’s feelings.
63. c Foreign exchange bankruptcy and paucity of funds
compelled government to open up its economy. (a)
and (b) in no way influenced the government’s move.
64. b The author says that in another 50 years the world
would have moved even further ahead. Hence, there
is no room for any kind of optimism or pragmatism.
65. b Its infrastructure should have helped India to perform
better than other Asian countries. (c) is not cited in the
passage. Given (b), (a) cannot be a better answer as
India’s infrastructure is compared with the
infrastructure of the other countries.
66. d (a) and (b) are reasons for India being in a better
condition than other nations. Refer to the third
paragraph. (c) is not stated in the passage.
67. a Economic isolationism has led to India's poor
performance. Refer to the beginning of the fourth
paragraph. Hence, (b) and (c) are rendered void.
68. d Government tried to protect its own industries through
discouraging imports. Refer to the beginning of the
fourth paragraph. Hence, (a), (c) and (b) are not the
best answers.
69. b While Korean Cielos are sold in India, no Indian cars
are sold abroad. (a), (c) and (d) are opinionated
answers, hence, not necessarily true.
70. a Indian politicians are unable to see beyond their noses.
Whether (b) and (c) are true or not is unclear from the
passage.
71. d The passage actually talks about the advantages of
democracy. Hence, the opinions expressed in (a), (b)
and (c) find no place in the passage.
72. b The passage says that there is no guarantee that all
dictatorships will be enlightened. Refer to the beginning
of the third paragraph. Hence, there is no reason to
mark (a), (c) or (d), though they may have a shade of
truth.
73. c The author sees a low but unfaltering rate of growth
as a sign of stability amidst growth. (b) and (d) are not
true. (a) is also doubtful, after all, how low can the
growth be?
74. c Dictatorships are more prone to making huge mistakes
and risking everything on a single decision. (c) is a
more complete answer as compared to (a) and (b).
75. b The writer does not support statism under any
circumstances. Refer to the penulitmate paragraph.
(a) is a confusing response. (c) and (d) do not address
the question.
76. d All the choices (a), (b) and (c) have been implied in the
sixth paragraph.
77. c The passage states that Internet will play an important
role in the decades to come. Refer to the eighth
paragraph. We cannot infer (b) for sure. (a) is almost
stated in the passage.
78. d Though (a) and (b) are desirable outcomes, they are
not specifically stated in the passage.
79. b The main reason is (b), the dictatorship factor that
figures so often in the passage. (a), (c) and (d) may
be desirable factors, but not conclusive.
80. d (a), (b) or (c) have not been distinctly mentioned in the
passage.
81. a Infosys has awarded stock options among its
employees.  (b) has not been mentioned in the passage.
Refer to the second paragraph.
82. b Infosys does have a hierarchy, it does not have a
hierarchy ‘just’ for control. Refer to the third paragraph.
(d) may be true, but it is a rather vague response. (a)
and (c) are not true.
83. b He believes that betterment of man can happen through
creation of wealth, ethically and legally. Refer to the
sixth paragraph. Given (b), (a) and (c) are weaker
choices.
84. d The example highlights all the given facts. The qualities
stated in (a), (b) and (c) are evident in the case.
Page 5


Page 1
CAT 1997 Actual Paper
1 c 2 d 3 b 4 a 5 d 6 d 7 b 8 c 9 a 10 a
11 a 12 b 13 c 14 d 15 a 16 b 17 d 18 a 19 c 20 a
21 b 22 c 23 a 24 a 25 b 26 b 27 b 28 a 29 a 30 b
31 c 32 d 33 d 34 a 35 b 36 a 37 a 38 b 39 a 40 b
41 c 42 c 43 c 44 a 45 b 46 b 47 c 48 a 49 d 50 d
51 c 52 b 53 c 54 a 55 c 56 d 57 c 58 a 59 b 60 c
61 a 62 c 63 c 64 b 65 b 66 d 67 a 68 d 69 b 70 a
71 d 72 b 73 c 74 c 75 b 76 d 77 c 78 d 79 b 80 d
81 a 82 b 83 b 84 d 85 c 86 d 87 d 88 a 89 d 90 a
91 b 92 d 93 c 94 a 95 c 96 c 97 d 98 c 99 d 100 a
101 c 102 b 103 c 104 d 105 c 106 c 107 c 108 b 109 c 110 a
111 d 112 d 113 b 114 c 115 a 116 d 117 b 118 a 119 a 120 c
121 b 122 c 123 a 124 d 125 b 126 d 127 c 128 b 129 b 130 c
131 c 132 b 133 d 134 b 135 c 136 d 137 c 138 c 139 b 140 a
141 a 142 a 143 b 144 c 145 b 146 d 147 b 148 b 149 d 150 d
151 c 152 b 153 c 154 d 155 d 156 a 157 c 158 c 159 a 160 b
161 a 162 d 163 c 164 c 165 c 166 c 167 b 168 c 169 a 170 c
171 b 172 b 173 a 174 b 175 a 176 d 177 b 178 a 179 b 180 d
181 b 182 c 183 b 184 a 185 b
Scoring table
    Section
EU 1 to 50 50
RC 51 to 100 50
QA + DS 101 to 155 55
DI 156 to 185 30
T otal 185
T otal
questions
T otal
attempted
T otal
correct
T otal
wrong
Net
Score
 Time
T aken
Question
number

	






Page 2 CAT 1997 Actual Paper
1. c (c) is a pair of homophones. (a), (b) and (d) do not
have pairs of homophones.
2. d Doggerel is a badly written verse, which is written by
a poet. Pulp fiction is a badly written piece of fiction,
written by a novelist. (a), (b) and (c) do not show this
derogatory relationship.
3. b A premise is evidence which leads to a conclusion.
An assumption does not lead to an inference. An
assumption, if wrong, will weaken an inference. But a
hypothesis does lead to a theory. A hypothesis is a
suggested explanation for a group of facts or
phenomena that is accepted as likely to be true.
4. a A barge is a kind of a vessel, and a shovel is a kind of
an implement. (b), (d) and (e) do not show this item to
categorise relationship.
5. d The second word in the pair is a higher degree of the
first. (a), (b) and (c) do not display such a relationship.
6. d The second word belongs to the family in the first
word. (a), (b) and (c) do not display such a relationship.
7. b
M
V
B
8. c
Wor
Wom
N
9. a
S
O
A
10. a
z
M
F
11. a
D
O
S
12. b Sam is not drunk, so he must be ill. One of the either
... or condition is true.
13. c As Ram did not lose sleep, it shows that he did not
hear of the tragedy. When A, then B. Not B,
hence not A.
14. d The train is not late, so it must have derailed. One of
the either ... or condition is true.
15. a I did not have a nightmare, so I must not have read a
horror story. When A, then B. Not B, hence not A.
16. b I did not get rashes which shows that I did not eat
berries. When A, then B. Not B, hence not A.
17. d The sentence is incomplete as 'will do' does not have
an object. It should therefore be followed by 'so'. (a) is
not correct as ‘government’ is repeated. ‘policy’ is
undefined in (b) and (c).
18. a We let go ‘of’ something, but we turn ‘off’ the lights.
The proposals in (b) and (d) might go beyond the
scope of the sentence.
19. c The correct idiomatic usage to refer to a proliferation
of something is 'have mushroomed'. ‘blooming’ and
‘blossoming’ are not words that we use to indicate
that a lot of schools have come up overnight.
‘Mushrooming’ is most apt, literally and figuratively, in
this regard. ‘all over’ is a more generic term than ‘in
every corner’; the latter term is more specific.
20. a The phrase used is grammatically correct. There is a
huge difference between ‘important’ and ‘fact’. (d)
similarly overlooks the serious tone of the sentence.
(c) sounds verbose.
21. b We take ‘note’ of an important clause. There is nothing
to ‘notice’ in the sentence, so (a) and (d) are ruled out.
(c) sounds awkward when read along with the rest
of the sentence.
22. c An act of vengeance relates to the 'beginning' of the
misdeeds, and thus reopens the first chapter. Look
for a suitable complement in sentences split with a
semicolon. When there is a semicolon in the sentence,
one has to look for a logical complement — ‘closes :
reopens’.
23. a The correct idiomatic usage is 'as far as' something
can go. (b) and (d) sound extremely confusing as
they add parameters. (c) sounds needlessly verbose.
24. a One sets out to achieve something. ‘thought of’ is not
right as it should be followed by ‘achieving’. ‘thought
to’ does not sound as active as the author might wish
it to be. ‘went to’ sounds similarly vague.
Page 3
CAT 1997 Actual Paper
25. b One does 'tough talking'. ‘talk tough’ is a general
idiomatic expression. ‘has done some’ should be
followed by an -ing form of the verb, such as
‘investigating’ or ‘probing’.
26. b 'Year by year' is the correct idiomatic usage here.
‘annually’ and ‘progressively’ are not the right words
to use as we are just making a general observation,
not dealing with statistics. The singular stress on ‘each’
is unwarranted in this sentence.
27. b 'Amendments' is a countable noun and so 'many' should
be used as a quantifier for it. (c) and (d) tamper with
the pronouncement in the sentence by using weak
quantifiers.
28. a 'More crucial than ever' shows that though they were
important earlier too, now they are even more
important. (a) matches the verbal tense in the sentence
‘more crucial than (they have) ever (been)’.
29. a 'Break down' is the correct idiomatic use here. ‘barriers’
are not ‘crumbled’ or ‘dismantled’. We can ‘break’ a
record. For an erect barrier, the appropriate verb would
be ‘break down’.
30. b C gives some examples to support 1. B introduces the
era of computers as another example, A talks about
the increasing technical terms, D introduces the idea
of slangs, which is continued in 6.
31. c 6 speaks of a study of IIT undergraduates’ mindset. C
speaks of culture developed by IIT students. Therefore,
C6 is mandatory. D speaks of success stories of IIT
graduates and therefore follows A.
32. d A talks about the taste of the Maharaja of Kapurthala,
B introduces another Maharaja with an exquisite taste,
D introduces something in contrast to this, C continues
with the idea which is exemplified in 6.
33. d A shows how 'his' gifts were unveiled, B states the
effect it had on McLaughlin, D states his reaction to
the same and C states the ultimate outcome.
34. a C states why India is on the brink of a major public
health disaster, A states what happens if TB is
untreated for 5 years, D presents some statistics to
highlight the point, B states how the disease spreads
and 6 continues with the fact.
35. b B introduces atypical pneumonia as the subject of the
passage, D states that it appears like an ordinary flu,
A states its symptoms and C states how these
symptoms progress to give rise to complications.
36. a B introduces the problem of snakes, C states why
there is not enough anti-snake serum, A elaborates on
non-availability of the same, and D concludes the
passage by stating what the final outcome could be.
37. a B talks about the previous records of mid-term elections,
and its implications on the present situation, A presents
a contradictory fact, and C states the implications of
this fact. D concludes the passage.
38. b A introduces critical elections as the subject of the
passage, B explains it, D states that none of the Indian
elections so far has been a critical election, instead as
C states, there have been many semi-critical ones.
39. a A introduces the subject, B elaborates on it, D states
who is the current champion of the game and C states
who other contenders are.
40. b A introduces the benefit of good advertising, C states
why this benefit is important, B gives an example and
D concludes by saying that in spite of this a minimum
quality has to be maintained.
41. c B uses the word ‘it’ that refers to the ‘philosophy’ in C
and so CB is a mandatory pair. Moreover, A ‘century
ago’, C ‘for 90 years’, and B ‘today’, makes a chain and
D concludes the passage.
42. c B states that RBI has wrested many powers from the
government, A states that in spite of this the government
has the final say, C elaborates on this fact and D
questions this state of affairs.
43. c B introduces the fact that the author was depressed,
D gives a reason for the same, C shows the extent of
his depression and A concludes the passage.
44. a B introduces the idea of the possibility of stopping the
decline in writing skills, C states how this is being
done, D talks about a number of programmes being
developed for the same and A gives the example of
one such programme.
45. b All others except ‘kin’ are synonyms.
46. b All others except ‘adapt’ are synonyms.
47. c All others except ‘bell’ refer to circular shapes. Bell is
an object.
48. a All others except ‘computer’ refer to some kind of a
network.
49. d Withstand is almost the opposite of the other three
words.
50. d All others except ‘bridge’ refer to some kind of a gap
or opening.
51. c In the first five paragraphs, the author makes it clear
that Indians do not understand themselves yet. (a) is
far from the truth. (b) is unlikely and (d) is not true.
52. b The author tries to show what exactly was India's
history like and what are the prospects for the future.
The writer is making observations and analysing these,
hence there is no reason why the attitude should be
critical, cynical or cold.
53. c Through the example he has tried to show us what
centuries of slaughter and plunder actually meant for
the country. (a) and (b) are not true, the writer is not
glorifying the Vijayanagar empire.
Page 4 CAT 1997 Actual Paper
54. a The author is critical of people having a child's view of
history and equates it with the slave's idea of the
ruler's mercy. (b) is not true as the writer does take a
critical stand on history. (c) is besides the fact.
55. c The writer says that during British rule, and for 50
years after that, there was a revival of energy and
intellect. (d) is not true in light of facts presented in the
passage. (a) and (b) are not true in an isolated context.
56. d With self-awareness, people ask for more of
everything. (b) and (c) are both found in the ninth
paragraph. (a) is simply not true.
57. c He says that India's present situation is 'primitive and
messy'. The writer has not expressed any pessimistic
opinion ‘bleak’ or an extreme opinion ‘horrific’.
58. a Self-criticism is important for a country to be alive and
progressive. Refer to the last paragraph. (b) and (c)
are thus not true.
59. b The writer says that the future will be fairly chaotic.
(a), (c) and (d) find no mention in the passage.
60. c Every invasion was accompanied by slaughter of the
country's most talented people. (a) and (b) did take
place, but it is (c) which is the main feature of the
tyranny of foreign rulers.
61. a The author is critical of the government policies. Refer
to the beginning of each paragraph. The writer is not
rude enough to be derisive. There is no reason for the
writer to be sarcastic or ironical.
62. c He is surprised as in all other cases government looked
at the industrialists as crooks. (a) is a different point
of view. (b) is a fact presented in the passage that
does not contribute to the writer’s surprise. (d) is not
true as the reason is cited below the writer’s feelings.
63. c Foreign exchange bankruptcy and paucity of funds
compelled government to open up its economy. (a)
and (b) in no way influenced the government’s move.
64. b The author says that in another 50 years the world
would have moved even further ahead. Hence, there
is no room for any kind of optimism or pragmatism.
65. b Its infrastructure should have helped India to perform
better than other Asian countries. (c) is not cited in the
passage. Given (b), (a) cannot be a better answer as
India’s infrastructure is compared with the
infrastructure of the other countries.
66. d (a) and (b) are reasons for India being in a better
condition than other nations. Refer to the third
paragraph. (c) is not stated in the passage.
67. a Economic isolationism has led to India's poor
performance. Refer to the beginning of the fourth
paragraph. Hence, (b) and (c) are rendered void.
68. d Government tried to protect its own industries through
discouraging imports. Refer to the beginning of the
fourth paragraph. Hence, (a), (c) and (b) are not the
best answers.
69. b While Korean Cielos are sold in India, no Indian cars
are sold abroad. (a), (c) and (d) are opinionated
answers, hence, not necessarily true.
70. a Indian politicians are unable to see beyond their noses.
Whether (b) and (c) are true or not is unclear from the
passage.
71. d The passage actually talks about the advantages of
democracy. Hence, the opinions expressed in (a), (b)
and (c) find no place in the passage.
72. b The passage says that there is no guarantee that all
dictatorships will be enlightened. Refer to the beginning
of the third paragraph. Hence, there is no reason to
mark (a), (c) or (d), though they may have a shade of
truth.
73. c The author sees a low but unfaltering rate of growth
as a sign of stability amidst growth. (b) and (d) are not
true. (a) is also doubtful, after all, how low can the
growth be?
74. c Dictatorships are more prone to making huge mistakes
and risking everything on a single decision. (c) is a
more complete answer as compared to (a) and (b).
75. b The writer does not support statism under any
circumstances. Refer to the penulitmate paragraph.
(a) is a confusing response. (c) and (d) do not address
the question.
76. d All the choices (a), (b) and (c) have been implied in the
sixth paragraph.
77. c The passage states that Internet will play an important
role in the decades to come. Refer to the eighth
paragraph. We cannot infer (b) for sure. (a) is almost
stated in the passage.
78. d Though (a) and (b) are desirable outcomes, they are
not specifically stated in the passage.
79. b The main reason is (b), the dictatorship factor that
figures so often in the passage. (a), (c) and (d) may
be desirable factors, but not conclusive.
80. d (a), (b) or (c) have not been distinctly mentioned in the
passage.
81. a Infosys has awarded stock options among its
employees.  (b) has not been mentioned in the passage.
Refer to the second paragraph.
82. b Infosys does have a hierarchy, it does not have a
hierarchy ‘just’ for control. Refer to the third paragraph.
(d) may be true, but it is a rather vague response. (a)
and (c) are not true.
83. b He believes that betterment of man can happen through
creation of wealth, ethically and legally. Refer to the
sixth paragraph. Given (b), (a) and (c) are weaker
choices.
84. d The example highlights all the given facts. The qualities
stated in (a), (b) and (c) are evident in the case.
Page 5
CAT 1997 Actual Paper
85. c Murthy believes that learning is a process that helps
him learn through failure. (a) is not the focus of the
question. Learning transcends (b) as per information
given in paragraph 9.
86. d Today the company works backwards to achieve its
goals. Refer to the penultimate paragraph. Given (d),
the other choices (a), (b) and (c) are weak.
87. d Openness at Infosys includes payment of taxes as
well as giving complete information. (c) sounds rather
ambiguous.
88. a (a) is stated in the last paragraph. (b) and (c) sound
rather extreme.
89. d Infosys’ HR treats its employees as customers. (d) is
directly stated in the passage in paragraph 4, line 3.
(a), (b) and (c) are generic and not very strong
contenders for the answer.
90. a The CEO's actions set the template for all Infoscians.
(b), (c) and (d) do not reflect the truth as per the
passage.
91. b The diverse cultural and socio-economic factors are
a major problem affecting the Indian education system.
(a) and (c) are not stated in the passage.
92. d 'Grizzled mandarins' refers to bureaucrats. It would
be unfair to label the mandarins as (a), (b) or (c).
93. c Those in charge of education are totally out of touch
with the ground reality. This point is given in the fourth
paragraph. Hence, it will not be necessary to mark
(a), (b) or (d) as the answer.
94. a The author advocates decentralizing education
planning and implementation to improve the education
system. This point is given in the fourth paragraph.
Hence, it will not be necessary to mark (b), (c) or (d)
as the answer.
95. c Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh show very low
education levels. The answer is given in the second
paragraph. We are not sure about (a), (b) or (d).
96. c The programme, launched in 1994, has been
successful in 122 districts. The answer is given in the
fifth paragraph. Choices (a), (b) and (d) are thus
rendered void.
97. d The village panchayats are responsible for
scholarships, construction and maintenance of primary
schools and for organizing non-formal education. We
do not know if (a) forms part of the portfolio.
98. c Politicians are specially responsible for obstructing
the implementation of education policies as
decentralization of educational administration will take
away certain powers from them. We are not sure
about the intentions of (a), (b) or (d).
99. d None of the given statements can be related to primary
education, on the basis of the passage.
100. a The author advocates greater community involvement
for successful implementation of education policy. This
point is given in the fourth paragraph. We are not sure
about either (b) or (c).
101. c If he travels at minimum speed over stretch A (i.e.
40 km/hr), the total time taken to cover this stretch
= (
40
2
) = 
20
1
 hr = 3 min.
If he then travels at the fastest speed over stretch B
(i.e. 50 km/hr), the total time taken to cover this stretch
= (
50
2
) = 
25
1
 = 2.4 min.
Thus, total time taken over the first two stretches
= (3 + 2.4) = 5.4 min.
In order to break the previous record he will have to
cover the third stretch in (10 – 5.4) = 4.6 min.
To do this he will have to cover the third stretch at
(
6 . 4
2
) = 0.434 km per minute or 26.08 km/hr. But the
maximum speed over the stretch C is 20 km/hr. Hence,
it is not possible for C to break the previous record.
102. b The minimum speed in stretch A is 40 km/hr. If Mr Hare
travels the first stretch at this speed, then the time
taken by him to cover this stretch = 
2
40
??
??
??
 = 3 min. Also
he takes 3 min to cover stretch B. And he covers the
entire race in (1.5 × 10) = 15 min. This means that he
should have taken (15 – 3 – 3) = 9 min to cover stretch
C. Hence, his speed over this stretch should be (
9
2
) =
0.22 km per minute or 13.3 km/hr.
103. c Let his average speed over the last stretch be x.
Hence, his average speed for first two stretches =
4x. So the total time taken to cover the three stretches
= (
x 4
4
) + (
x
2
)
His average speed over the race is 20 km/hr.
Hence, the time taken to complete the race = 
20
6
Hence, we have the equation 
x 4
4
 + 
x
2
 = 
20
6
 Solving
this equation, we get x = 10 km/hr.
104. d Although the number of students in group D is more
than in any other group, we still cannot say anything
about the average weight of this group as nothing is
mentioned about the average weights of any of the
groups or of the individual students.
105. c Although one student is shifted from group A to group
B, the number of students in the class and the total
weight of the students remain the same. Therefore,
the average weight of the class remains the same.