SNAP 2014 – 21st December – An Analysis
OVERVIEW:
The overall structure of the SNAP exam remained the same as that of the previous years’. The exam consisted of 3
sections having 40 questions of 1 mark each (Quantitative Ability, General English and General Awareness) and one
section having 30 questions of 2 marks each (Analytical and Logical Reasoning). The overall difficulty level of the
exam did not vary much from that of the previous SNAP exams’ but the English section was perceptibly more
challenging than before. A majority of the questions varied between an easy to moderate level of difficulty. The best
way to maximize one’s score would have been to select questions judiciously and read quickly.
Section
Subject Area
Number of
Questions
Marks per question
Total marks
Section I
Quantitative Ability
40
1
40
Section II
General English
40
1
40
Section III Analytical and Logical Reasoning
30
2
60
Section IV General Awareness
40
1
40
Total
150
180
The analysis of each of the sections is as given below.
QUANTITATIVE ABILITY
This section was dominated by arithmetic and modern mathematics. There was one DI set with five questions, based
on a pie chart. Additionally, there were two questions on sequences (odd-man-out and complete-the-series). There
was no question on data sufficiency. A majority of the questions in this section were of an easy to moderate level of
difficulty. However, a few questions on modern mathematics, especially those on logarithms and probability, were
somewhat tricky. Therefore judicious selection of questions was of utmost importance.
It has been observed that over the last two years, the level of difficulty of the Quantitative Ability section in SNAP
has gone up.
Topics
No. of questions
Level of difficulty
Arithmetic
Time-Speed-Distance
4
Easy-Moderate
Percentages
3
Easy
Partnership
1
Easy – Moderate
Ratio-Proportion
1
Easy-Moderate
Profit and Loss
1
Easy-Moderate
Averages
1
Easy
Work, Pipe and Cisterns
1
Easy-Moderate
Simple & Compound Interest
1
Easy
Total
13
Modern Mathematics
Probability
3
Moderate-Difficult
Logarithms
2
Moderate-Difficult
Permutation & Combination
1
Moderate
Functions
1
Moderate
Total
7
Geometry
Mensuration
2
Easy
Trigonometry
1
Difficult
Co-ordinate Geometry
1
Moderate
Circles
1
Easy
Quadrilateral
1
Easy
Total
6
Numbers
Divisibility
2
Easy
Properties of Numbers
2
Easy
Total
4
Algebra
Factorization
1
Easy
Linear Equations
1
Easy
Quadratic Equations
1
Moderate
Total
3
Data Interpretation
Pie chart
5
3 questions were easy, 2 were
difficult
Others
Sequences-Complete the sequence
1
Easy
Sequences-Odd man out
1
Easy
A good strategy would be to attempt about 26-28 questions in 30-35 minutes with 85% accuracy.
GENERAL ENGLISH
This section was more challenging than the previous years’ SNAP English sections. There were about 14 pure
vocabulary questions (we are including vocabulary questions requiring knowledge of grammar under ‘grammar’), 16
grammar questions, 9 RC questions and 1 verbal reasoning question. About 18 questions were very easy, about 11
were of a moderate level and about 11 were quite challenging (either due to difficult words or due to difficult-toeliminate options) It was very important not to keep pondering over questions that were confusing and instead be
decisive. Though students prefer to avoid RC, this time the RC questions were much simpler than many non-RC ones.
So, students should have attempted them. For the longer passage, reading one paragraph at a time and solving one
question alongside helped as the questions were in the same order as their answers were in the passage and one
could save spending time on scanning. In 25-30 minutes, one could go through all the questions and attempt about
30 questions with 80% accuracy.
Topic
VOCABULARY
Antonyms
Synonym
Spellings
Single FIB
Double FIB
GRAMMAR
Description
Native, Attenuate, Cajole
Consanguinity
Demurrage, Pernicious
Shut/Lock, Polemical/Commercial,
Likewise/Furthermore, Giving free
rein/Airing/Venting, Thumbnail/Thumbprint
Temerity…Courteous, Forehandedness…Stinginess,
Incongruous… A contestant
Qns. Level
3 e/m/e
1 E
2 d/m
5 d/d/d/m/d
3 m/m/e
Flies to honey, Turn tail, Broke new ground, With
Idiom based FIB
bated breath, Selling family silver, End of tether
Phrasal verb based FIB
Cast off
Proverb meaning
Half a loaf is better….
Preposition based FIB
Travel by/in…
Tenses based FIB
Enter…would be
Choose grammatically
correct sentence
More nearly square than…., Stuck in a jam
Determiner based FIB
Fewer/less
Contextual idiom
meaning
Knock the bottom out means…
Word type
Which is not a compound word?
Grammar FIB
Such as...but...like
READING
COMPREHENSION
Passage 1 – about 500
words on “what to keep
in mind while establishing
an export business”
All questions were direct and specific
Passage 2 – about 190
words on “Francis Bacon’s One vocabulary question (meaning of confute) and
views on reading”
two direct questions
VERBAL REASONING
A sentence with its parts
arranged in 4 ways
• E= easy, M = medium, D = difficult
6
1
1
1
1
e/d/e/e/d/d
m
e
E
M
2 m/m
1 E
1 d
1 E
1 D
6 e/m/e/e/e/m
3 e/e/d
1 E
ANALYTICAL & LOGICAL REASONING
Overall, the level of difficulty of the logical reasoning questions could be termed as moderate, not easy, mainly
because of one set on circular arrangement (of 6 Germans and 6 Americans, which had an additional condition of
sequencing of communication between people on both the tables). This set was best left out. All other questions
were solvable and very much like the SNAP questions of previous years. There were 5 single questions and 17
questions in sets. The single questions and the question set based on Venn diagrams (students passing in English, GK
and Mathematics) were the easiest of the lot. Using options to your advantage in the single question on matrix
arrangements (5 persons – 5 professions) and family tree (6 people A, B, C, R, S, T) would have saved you time. Also,
the single question on clocks could have been answered by a lot of you just by looking at the options.
The Verbal Reasoning questions (8 in number) were welcome as they required hardly a minute per question and
were quite simple.
The overall break-up of the questions was as follows:
Topic
Symbol based family tree
Clocks
Matrix Arrangements
Family Tree
Series (Completion)
Matrix Arrangements (set)
Set Theory (set based)
True/False statement (set)
Circular Arrangement
Description
X+Y -X is mother of Y….
No. of times 2 hands meet in 24 hours
5 people A, B, C... And 5 professions Pharma,
Bank…
Family of 6 A, B, C are males & R, S, T are
females
N2WF, LT3G…
6 girls Shobha, Sayali, Rupa…6 institutes…
No. of people passing in English, GK and Math
NICE, MICE, RICE belonging to JIM, SIM & LIM
6 Germans and 6 Americans on 2 different
tables
Qns. Level
1 Easy
1 Easy
1 Easy
1
1
4
4
2
Moderate
Easy
Easy-Moderate
Easy
Easy-Moderate
5 Moderate-Difficult
Linear Arrangement
3 females A,B,E and 4 males C,D,F,G in a line
VERBAL REASONING
No. of people passing in English, GK and Math
Analogies
Vertex: pyramid, Piety: Pilgrim
Critical Reasoning
What is the conclusion/supporting statement
3 statements & 4 conclusions
(Venn diagram based)
Which conclusion follows?
Statement and 3
assumptions
Which assumptions are implicit?
Statement and 2 conclusions Which conclusion follows?
2
4
2
2
Easy-Moderate
Easy
d/m
e/e
1 e
2 m/m
1 e
Ideally, one should have allotted 45 minutes to this section and solved about 22-24 questions with about 85%
accuracy.
GENERAL AWARENESS
This section contained a healthy mix of questions from various areas (politics, government, awards and personalities,
sports, literature, etc…) There were about 31 questions based on static GK and 9 based on current affairs. Most
questions (25) were based on world affairs, while 15 had to do with national affairs/events. About 12 questions
would have been very simple for someone who had prepared for SNAP GK, 13 would have been moderately
challenging and about 15 would have been tough. So, in 10-15 minutes, students should have been able to attempt
18-20 questions with about 70% accuracy.
We expect the cut-offs for SIBM to be about 105 marks and for SCMHRD to be about 95 marks.