The saga of the tough Non-CAT exams continues. SNAP, which for the first time went Green this year (computer based exam) took a leaf straight out of IIFT’s play book. It presented a paper which was unlike anything we had seen in SNAP before. The types of questions differed significantly from the last few years. Overall, the paper was more difficult as compared to that of last year. There were four sections viz. General English, Quantitative Ability, Current Affairs and Analytical & Logical Reasoning in the paper with 40, 40, 30 and 40 questions in each section respectively. The sections were jumbled up. There were 1 mark given for each correct answer and 0.25 marks penalty for each incorrect answer. The total time given for the paper was 120 minutes.
The English section was dominated by RC and vocab. The Reasoning section had only one question on Verbal Logic.
Overall, the English and GK sections became much tougher. While LR continued its saga of incomprehensible question types. Quant turned out to be more painstaking as compared to previous years.
A detailed analysis of the paper is as follows:
The General English section was dominated by vocabulary and RC based questions. In a major deviation from previous years’ papers, there were two RC passages with six questions each. Both were extremely lengthy. The passage on Australia and its founders was very easy to answer as most of the questions were factual in nature. However, the other passage which talked about the issue of privacy among Indians was slightly trickier. Out of the six questions, three were inferential in nature. So, a student would have had to be very careful while answering the questions.
The vocabulary questions also contained some unusually tough words. How many of us would have heard “tergiversate”? Even GRE doesn’t give such words anymore. Around 5 vocab questions were easy. The FIB questions could have been answered by using common sense. The grammar based questions were tough. However, the two questions on voice change were extremely easy. There was one sentence correction question on subjunctive mood. The concept of compound relative adverb is something no one has thought of in ages. So, these questions were difficult to attempt. The two para jumble questions were very easy.
Overall, it was a tough section to attempt. An attempt of 25-26 in 35 minutes with 90% plus accuracy is desirable.
A detailed break-up of the question patterns is as follows:
| Question type | No of questions |
Level of Difficulty |
Synonym/Antonym |
8 |
Tough |
FIB (Vocab) |
5 |
Moderate |
RC (2 passages) |
6X2=12 |
Easy – Moderate |
Para Jumble |
2 |
Easy |
Idioms and phrases |
4 |
Moderate |
Verbal Analogy |
2 |
Easy |
Identify parts of speech |
2 |
Tough |
Word usage |
2 |
Easy |
Sentence correction |
1 |
Easy |
Voice Change |
2 |
Easy |
Overall |
40 |
Moderate - Tough |
The quantitative ability section turned out to be much more time consuming as compared to previous years. The weightage to Geometry and Modern Math increased considerably and the lack of a calculator meant that estimates had to be used while answering quite a few questions.
While the questions weren’t very difficult it was important for students to spend a good amount of time on this section. An attempt of 28-30 in 45 minutes with 90% accuracy would be ideal.
Topic |
No of questions |
Level of Difficulty |
|
Percentages, SICI |
6 |
Moderate |
|
P&L |
1 |
Easy |
|
TSD, Work |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Averages |
2 |
Easy |
|
Number System |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Algebra |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Geometry |
5 |
Moderate |
|
Series |
2 |
Moderate |
|
P&C |
2 |
Moderate |
|
Probability |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Set Theory |
1 |
Easy |
|
DI-Pie Chart |
5 |
Moderate |
|
DI-Line Chart |
2 |
Moderate |
|
Total |
40 |
Moderate |
|
The saga of weird and incomprehensible Reasoning questions continued. After including whatsapp jokes in their SNAP 2015 paper, SNAP decided to include a pintrest post this year.
Quant questions (chessboard etc) made their way into this section as well. Verbal Reasoning was almost completely absent this year.
Family tree and set on Mathematical functions (odd, composite odd, even, perfect square etc) should have been attempted and maximized
| Topic | No of questions |
Level of Difficulty |
Mathematical |
10-11 |
Moderate - Difficult |
Input-output |
1 |
Moderate |
Game Based |
2-3 |
Moderate |
Blood Relation |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
Analogy |
2-3 |
Moderate |
Direction |
1 |
Moderate |
Coding-decoding |
2-3 |
Easy - Moderate |
Clock |
1 |
Easy |
Series |
2 |
Easy - Moderate |
Meaningful word |
1 |
Moderate |
Visual Reasoning |
2 |
Easy - Moderate |
Matrix |
1 |
Moderate |
Verbal Reasoning |
1 |
Easy |
Misc. Reasoning |
6 |
Easy - Moderate |
Total |
40 |
Moderate |
The section had different kinds of questions and was dominated by Personalities, BA and Science & Technology. Overall the section was slightly tougher than last year, and students would have done well to attempt about 10-12 questions with 60-65% accuracy in about 8-10 minutes.
Topic |
Number of questions |
Difficulty |
Personalities |
7 |
Moderate |
Business Awareness |
6 |
Easy – Moderate |
Sports |
4 |
Easy – Moderate |
Current affairs- Science & Technology |
5 |
Easy – Moderate |
Current affairs-Awards |
2 |
Easy – Moderate |
Current affairs-Geography |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
Current affairs-Miscellaneous GK |
3 |
Moderate |
Overall the paper was slightly tougher than last year, and students would have done well to attempt about 85-90 questions with 80-85% accuracy.
Suggested time distribution and attempts:
Sections |
Time (min) |
Good Attempts |
Good Net Score |
Quantitative Aptitude |
45-50 |
26-28 |
22-24 |
Logical & Analytical Reasoning |
40-45 |
24-26 |
22-23 |
General English |
25-30 |
28-30 |
22-23 |
Current Affairs |
10-12 |
11-13 |
7-8 |
Total |
120 |
79-87 |
68-70 |