Top 103 CAT Data Interpretation Basics Questions With Video Solutions
Practice Data Interpretation Basics questions for CAT with detailed video and text solutions. Each and every questions is solved by the CAT Topper. These sets are essentially basic in nature and are easy to be solved if appeared in the exam. These sets essentially tests the calculation skills of the candidate. Approximation becomes a very important skill for solving DI Basic sets and also check out the free CAT mocks and understand the types of questions that are likely to appear on the exam.
Tips to Ace Data Interpretation Basic Questions
- Keep solving questions from past CAT Previous Papers which will help you gain a fair understanding of the type and different level of questions that are being asked.
- Learn approximation techniques.
- Learn all the reciprocals of percentages.
- Learn multiplication tables until 20.
- Learn squares, and cubes until 40.
- Learn techniques of vedic mathematics which be helpful while dealing with complex calculations.
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CAT DI Basic Questions Weightage Over Past 4 Years
Year | Weightage |
| 2023 | 2 |
2022 | 3 |
2021 | 5 |
| 2020 | 4 |
CAT 2020 Data Interpretation Basics questions
In a certain board examination, students were to appear for examination in five subjects:
English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Due to a certain emergency situation, a few of the examinations could not be conducted for some students. Hence, some students missed one examination and some others missed two examinations. Nobody missed more than two examinations.
The board adopted the following policy for awarding marks to students. If a student appeared in all five examinations, then the marks awarded in each of the examinations were on the basis of the scores obtained by them in those examinations.
If a student missed only one examination, then the marks awarded in that examination was the average of the best three among the four scores in the examinations they appeared for. If a student missed two examinations, then the marks awarded in each of these examinations was the average of the best two among the three scores in the examinations they appeared for. The marks obtained by six students in the examination are given in the table below. Each of them missed either one or two examinations.
The following facts are also known.
I. Four of these students appeared in each of the English, Hindi, Science, and Social Science examinations.
II. The student who missed the Mathematics examination did not miss any other examination.
III. One of the students who missed the Hindi examination did not miss any other examination. The other student who missed the Hindi examination also missed the Science examination.
Question 1
Who among the following did not appear for the Mathematics examination?
correct answer:-2
Instruction for set 1:
In a certain board examination, students were to appear for examination in five subjects:
English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Due to a certain emergency situation, a few of the examinations could not be conducted for some students. Hence, some students missed one examination and some others missed two examinations. Nobody missed more than two examinations.
The board adopted the following policy for awarding marks to students. If a student appeared in all five examinations, then the marks awarded in each of the examinations were on the basis of the scores obtained by them in those examinations.
If a student missed only one examination, then the marks awarded in that examination was the average of the best three among the four scores in the examinations they appeared for. If a student missed two examinations, then the marks awarded in each of these examinations was the average of the best two among the three scores in the examinations they appeared for. The marks obtained by six students in the examination are given in the table below. Each of them missed either one or two examinations.
The following facts are also known.
I. Four of these students appeared in each of the English, Hindi, Science, and Social Science examinations.
II. The student who missed the Mathematics examination did not miss any other examination.
III. One of the students who missed the Hindi examination did not miss any other examination. The other student who missed the Hindi examination also missed the Science examination.
Question 2
Which students did not appear for the English examination?
correct answer:-4
Instruction for set 1:
In a certain board examination, students were to appear for examination in five subjects:
English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Due to a certain emergency situation, a few of the examinations could not be conducted for some students. Hence, some students missed one examination and some others missed two examinations. Nobody missed more than two examinations.
The board adopted the following policy for awarding marks to students. If a student appeared in all five examinations, then the marks awarded in each of the examinations were on the basis of the scores obtained by them in those examinations.
If a student missed only one examination, then the marks awarded in that examination was the average of the best three among the four scores in the examinations they appeared for. If a student missed two examinations, then the marks awarded in each of these examinations was the average of the best two among the three scores in the examinations they appeared for. The marks obtained by six students in the examination are given in the table below. Each of them missed either one or two examinations.
The following facts are also known.
I. Four of these students appeared in each of the English, Hindi, Science, and Social Science examinations.
II. The student who missed the Mathematics examination did not miss any other examination.
III. One of the students who missed the Hindi examination did not miss any other examination. The other student who missed the Hindi examination also missed the Science examination.
Question 3
What BEST can be concluded about the students who did not appear for the Hindi examination?
correct answer:-2
Instruction for set 1:
In a certain board examination, students were to appear for examination in five subjects:
English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Due to a certain emergency situation, a few of the examinations could not be conducted for some students. Hence, some students missed one examination and some others missed two examinations. Nobody missed more than two examinations.
The board adopted the following policy for awarding marks to students. If a student appeared in all five examinations, then the marks awarded in each of the examinations were on the basis of the scores obtained by them in those examinations.
If a student missed only one examination, then the marks awarded in that examination was the average of the best three among the four scores in the examinations they appeared for. If a student missed two examinations, then the marks awarded in each of these examinations was the average of the best two among the three scores in the examinations they appeared for. The marks obtained by six students in the examination are given in the table below. Each of them missed either one or two examinations.
The following facts are also known.
I. Four of these students appeared in each of the English, Hindi, Science, and Social Science examinations.
II. The student who missed the Mathematics examination did not miss any other examination.
III. One of the students who missed the Hindi examination did not miss any other examination. The other student who missed the Hindi examination also missed the Science examination.
Question 4
What BEST can be concluded about the students who missed the Science examination?
correct answer:-1
Instruction for set 1:
In a certain board examination, students were to appear for examination in five subjects:
English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Due to a certain emergency situation, a few of the examinations could not be conducted for some students. Hence, some students missed one examination and some others missed two examinations. Nobody missed more than two examinations.
The board adopted the following policy for awarding marks to students. If a student appeared in all five examinations, then the marks awarded in each of the examinations were on the basis of the scores obtained by them in those examinations.
If a student missed only one examination, then the marks awarded in that examination was the average of the best three among the four scores in the examinations they appeared for. If a student missed two examinations, then the marks awarded in each of these examinations was the average of the best two among the three scores in the examinations they appeared for. The marks obtained by six students in the examination are given in the table below. Each of them missed either one or two examinations.
The following facts are also known.
I. Four of these students appeared in each of the English, Hindi, Science, and Social Science examinations.
II. The student who missed the Mathematics examination did not miss any other examination.
III. One of the students who missed the Hindi examination did not miss any other examination. The other student who missed the Hindi examination also missed the Science examination.
Question 5
How many out of these six students missed exactly one examination?
correct answer:-3
Instruction for set 1:
In a certain board examination, students were to appear for examination in five subjects:
English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Due to a certain emergency situation, a few of the examinations could not be conducted for some students. Hence, some students missed one examination and some others missed two examinations. Nobody missed more than two examinations.
The board adopted the following policy for awarding marks to students. If a student appeared in all five examinations, then the marks awarded in each of the examinations were on the basis of the scores obtained by them in those examinations.
If a student missed only one examination, then the marks awarded in that examination was the average of the best three among the four scores in the examinations they appeared for. If a student missed two examinations, then the marks awarded in each of these examinations was the average of the best two among the three scores in the examinations they appeared for. The marks obtained by six students in the examination are given in the table below. Each of them missed either one or two examinations.
The following facts are also known.
I. Four of these students appeared in each of the English, Hindi, Science, and Social Science examinations.
II. The student who missed the Mathematics examination did not miss any other examination.
III. One of the students who missed the Hindi examination did not miss any other examination. The other student who missed the Hindi examination also missed the Science examination.
Question 6
For how many students can we be definite about which examinations they missed?
correct answer:-4
Instruction for set 2:
XYZ organization got into the business of delivering groceries to home at the beginning of the last month. They have a two-day delivery promise. However, their deliveries are unreliable. An order booked on a particular day may be delivered the next day or the day after. If the order is not delivered at the end of two days, then the order is declared as lost at the end of the second day. XYZ then does not deliver the order, but informs the customer, marks the order as lost, returns the payment and pays a penalty for non-delivery. The following table provides details about the operations of XYZ for a week of the last month. The first column gives the date, the second gives the cumulative number of orders that were booked up to and including that day. The third column represents the number of orders delivered on that day. The last column gives the cumulative number of orders that were lost up to and including that day. It is known that the numbers of orders that were booked on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of the last month that took two days to deliver were 4, 6, and 8 respectively
Question 7
Among the following days, the largest fraction of orders booked on which day was lost?
correct answer:-1
Instruction for set 2:
XYZ organization got into the business of delivering groceries to home at the beginning of the last month. They have a two-day delivery promise. However, their deliveries are unreliable. An order booked on a particular day may be delivered the next day or the day after. If the order is not delivered at the end of two days, then the order is declared as lost at the end of the second day. XYZ then does not deliver the order, but informs the customer, marks the order as lost, returns the payment and pays a penalty for non-delivery. The following table provides details about the operations of XYZ for a week of the last month. The first column gives the date, the second gives the cumulative number of orders that were booked up to and including that day. The third column represents the number of orders delivered on that day. The last column gives the cumulative number of orders that were lost up to and including that day. It is known that the numbers of orders that were booked on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of the last month that took two days to deliver were 4, 6, and 8 respectively
Question 8
On which of the following days was the number of orders booked the highest?
correct answer:-3
Instruction for set 2:
XYZ organization got into the business of delivering groceries to home at the beginning of the last month. They have a two-day delivery promise. However, their deliveries are unreliable. An order booked on a particular day may be delivered the next day or the day after. If the order is not delivered at the end of two days, then the order is declared as lost at the end of the second day. XYZ then does not deliver the order, but informs the customer, marks the order as lost, returns the payment and pays a penalty for non-delivery. The following table provides details about the operations of XYZ for a week of the last month. The first column gives the date, the second gives the cumulative number of orders that were booked up to and including that day. The third column represents the number of orders delivered on that day. The last column gives the cumulative number of orders that were lost up to and including that day. It is known that the numbers of orders that were booked on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of the last month that took two days to deliver were 4, 6, and 8 respectively
Question 9
The delivery ratio for a given day is defined as the ratio of the number of orders booked on that day which are delivered on the next day to the number of orders booked on that day which are delivered on the second day after booking. On which of the following days, was the delivery ratio the highest?
correct answer:-4
Instruction for set 2:
XYZ organization got into the business of delivering groceries to home at the beginning of the last month. They have a two-day delivery promise. However, their deliveries are unreliable. An order booked on a particular day may be delivered the next day or the day after. If the order is not delivered at the end of two days, then the order is declared as lost at the end of the second day. XYZ then does not deliver the order, but informs the customer, marks the order as lost, returns the payment and pays a penalty for non-delivery. The following table provides details about the operations of XYZ for a week of the last month. The first column gives the date, the second gives the cumulative number of orders that were booked up to and including that day. The third column represents the number of orders delivered on that day. The last column gives the cumulative number of orders that were lost up to and including that day. It is known that the numbers of orders that were booked on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of the last month that took two days to deliver were 4, 6, and 8 respectively
Question 10
The average time taken to deliver orders booked on a particular day is computed as follows. Let the number of orders delivered the next day be x and the number of orders delivered the day after be y. Then the average time to deliver order is $$\frac{(x+2y)}{(x+y)}$$. On which of the following days was the average time taken to deliver orders booked the least?
correct answer:-3
CAT 2008 Data Interpretation Basics questions
Directions for following three questions: Answer the following questions based on the information given below: There are 100 employees in an organization across five departments. The following table gives the department-wise distribution of average age, average basic pay and allowances. The gross pay of an employee is the sum of his/her basic pay and allowances.
There are limited numbers of employees considered for transfer/promotion across departments Whenever a person is transferred/promoted from a department of lower average age to a department of higher average age, he/she will get an additional allowance of 10% of basic pay over and above his/her current allowance. There will not be any change in pay structure if a person is transferred/promoted from a department with higher average age to a department with lower average age.
Questions below are independent of each other.
Question 1
What is the approximate percentage change in the average gross of the HR department due to transfer of a 40-year old person with basic pay of Rs. 8000 from the Marketing department?
correct answer:-3
Instruction for set 1:
Directions for following three questions: Answer the following questions based on the information given below: There are 100 employees in an organization across five departments. The following table gives the department-wise distribution of average age, average basic pay and allowances. The gross pay of an employee is the sum of his/her basic pay and allowances.
There are limited numbers of employees considered for transfer/promotion across departments Whenever a person is transferred/promoted from a department of lower average age to a department of higher average age, he/she will get an additional allowance of 10% of basic pay over and above his/her current allowance. There will not be any change in pay structure if a person is transferred/promoted from a department with higher average age to a department with lower average age.
Questions below are independent of each other.
Question 2
There was a mutual transfer of an employee between Marketing and Finance departments and transfer of one employee from Marketing to HR. As a result, the average age of finance department increased by one year and that of Marketing department remained the same. What is the new average age of HR department?
correct answer:-3
Instruction for set 1:
Directions for following three questions: Answer the following questions based on the information given below: There are 100 employees in an organization across five departments. The following table gives the department-wise distribution of average age, average basic pay and allowances. The gross pay of an employee is the sum of his/her basic pay and allowances.
There are limited numbers of employees considered for transfer/promotion across departments Whenever a person is transferred/promoted from a department of lower average age to a department of higher average age, he/she will get an additional allowance of 10% of basic pay over and above his/her current allowance. There will not be any change in pay structure if a person is transferred/promoted from a department with higher average age to a department with lower average age.
Questions below are independent of each other.
Question 3
If two employees (each with a basic pay of Rs. 6000) are transferred from Maintenance department to HR department and one person (with a basic pay of Rs. 8000) was transferred from Marketing department to HR department, what will be the percentage change in average basic pay of HR department?
correct answer:-2
CAT 2007 Data Interpretation Basics questions
DIRECTIONS for the following four questions:
A low-cost airline company connects ten India cities, A to J. The table below gives the distance between a pair of airports and the corresponding price charged by the company. Travel is permitted only from a departure airport to an arrival airport. The customers do not travel by a route where they have to stop at more than two intermediate airports.
Question 1
What is the lowest possible fare, in rupees, from A to J?
correct answer:-1
Instruction for set 1:
DIRECTIONS for the following four questions:
A low-cost airline company connects ten India cities, A to J. The table below gives the distance between a pair of airports and the corresponding price charged by the company. Travel is permitted only from a departure airport to an arrival airport. The customers do not travel by a route where they have to stop at more than two intermediate airports.
Question 2
The company plans to introduce a direct flight between A and J. The market research results indicate that all its existing passengers travelling between A and J will use this direct flight if it is priced 5% below the minimum price that they pay at present. What should the company charge approximately, in rupees, for this direct flight?
correct answer:-2
Instruction for set 1:
DIRECTIONS for the following four questions:
A low-cost airline company connects ten India cities, A to J. The table below gives the distance between a pair of airports and the corresponding price charged by the company. Travel is permitted only from a departure airport to an arrival airport. The customers do not travel by a route where they have to stop at more than two intermediate airports.
Question 3
If the airports C, D and H are closed down owing to security reasons, what would be the minimum price, in rupees, to be paid by a passenger travelling from A to J?
correct answer:-3
Instruction for set 1:
DIRECTIONS for the following four questions:
A low-cost airline company connects ten India cities, A to J. The table below gives the distance between a pair of airports and the corresponding price charged by the company. Travel is permitted only from a departure airport to an arrival airport. The customers do not travel by a route where they have to stop at more than two intermediate airports.
Question 4
If the prices include a margin of 10% over the total cost that the company incurs, what is the minimum cost per kilometer that the company incurs in flying from A to J?
correct answer:-2
Instruction for set 1:
DIRECTIONS for the following four questions:
A low-cost airline company connects ten India cities, A to J. The table below gives the distance between a pair of airports and the corresponding price charged by the company. Travel is permitted only from a departure airport to an arrival airport. The customers do not travel by a route where they have to stop at more than two intermediate airports.
Question 5
If the prices include a margin of 15% over the total cost that the company incurs, which among the following is the distance to be covered in flying from A to J that minimizes the total cost of travel for the company?
correct answer:-4
CAT 2006 Data Interpretation Basics questions
In a Class X Board examination, ten papers are distributed over five Groups - PCB, Mathematics, Social Science, Vernacular and English. Each of the ten papers is evaluated out of 100. The final score of a student is calculated in the following manner. First, the Group Scores are obtained by averaging marks in the papers within the Group. The final score is the simple average of the Group Scores. The data for the top ten students are presented below. (Dipan's score in English Paper II has been intentionally removed in the table.)
Note: B or G against the name of a student respectively indicates whether the student is a boy or a girl.
Question 1
How much did Dipan get in English Paper II?
correct answer:-3
Instruction for set 1:
In a Class X Board examination, ten papers are distributed over five Groups - PCB, Mathematics, Social Science, Vernacular and English. Each of the ten papers is evaluated out of 100. The final score of a student is calculated in the following manner. First, the Group Scores are obtained by averaging marks in the papers within the Group. The final score is the simple average of the Group Scores. The data for the top ten students are presented below. (Dipan's score in English Paper II has been intentionally removed in the table.)
Note: B or G against the name of a student respectively indicates whether the student is a boy or a girl.
Question 2
Students who obtained Group Scores of at least 95 in every group are eligible to apply for a prize. Among those who are eligible, the student obtaining the highest Group Score in Social Science Group is awarded this prize. The prize was awarded to:
correct answer:-4
