CAT 2009 Question Paper was rated moderate. IIM Ahmedabad conducted CAT 2009 from November 28, 2009 to December 7, 2009. CAT 2009 Question Paper had 3 sections namely, Verbal Ability, Quantitative Ability, and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning. The duration of the test was 2 hours and 15 minutes. It was the first time for CAT to be a computer-based online test.
 

Candidates preparing for CAT 2025 can download the CAT VARC question paper with the solution PDF to get a better idea about the type of questions asked in the paper and their difficulty level.

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CAT 2009 VARC Question Paper with Solution PDF

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CAT 2009 Question Paper witjh solution

Question 1:

Comprehension: History has shaped academic medical centers (AMCs) to perform 3 functions: patient care, research, and teaching. These 3 missions are now fraught with problems because the attempt to combine them has led to such inefficiencies as duplication of activities and personnel, inpatient procedures that could and should have been out-patient procedures, and unwieldy administrative bureaucracies.
Read More One source of inefficiency derives from mixed lines of authority. Clinical chiefs and prac- titioners in AMCs are typically responsible to the hospital for practice issues but to the med- ical school for promotion, marketing, membership in a faculty practice plan, and educational accreditation. Community physicians with privileges at a university hospital add more com- plications. They have no official affiliation with the AMC’s medical school connected, but their cooperation with faculty members is essential for proper patient treatment. The frag- mented accountability is heightened by the fact that 3 different groups often vie for the loy- alty of physicians who receive research. The medical school may wish to capitalize on the research for its educational value to students; the hospital may desire the state-of-the-art treat- ment methods resulting from the research; and the grant administrators may focus on the re- searchers’ humanitarian motives. Communication among these groups is rarely coordinated, and the physicians may serve whichever group promises the best perks and ignore the rest — which inevitably strains relationships. Another source of inefficiency is the fact that physicians have obligations to many different groups: patients, students, faculty members, referring physicians, third-party payers, and staff members, all of whom have varied expectations. Satisfying the interests of one group may alienate others. Patient care provides a common example. For the benefit of medical students, physicians may order too many tests, prolong patient visits, or encourage experimental studies of a patient. If AMC faculty physicians were more aware of how much treatments of specific illnesses cost, and of how other institutions treat patient conditions, they would be better practitioners, and the educational and clinical care missions of AMCs would both be better served. A bias toward specialization adds yet more inefficiency. AMCs are viewed as institutions serving the gravest cases in need of the most advanced treatments. The high number of spe- cialty residents and the presence of burn units, blood banks, and transplant centers validate this belief. Also present at AMCs, though less conspicuous, are facilities for ordinary pri- mary care patients. In fact, many patients choose to visit an AMC for primary care because they realize that any necessary follow-up can occur almost instantaneously. While AMCs have emphasized cutting-edge specialty medicine, their more routine medical services need development and enhancement. A final contribution to inefficiency is organizational complacency. Until recently, most academic medical centers drew the public merely by existing. The rising presence, however, of tertiary hospitals with patient care as their only goal has immersed AMCs in a very com- petitive market. It is only in the past several years that AMCs have started to recognize and develop strategies to address competition.

The author's attitude toward the inefficiencies at academic medical centers is one of:

  • (A) reluctant acquiescence
  • (B) strident opposition
  • (C) agonized indecision
  • (D) reasoned criticism
Correct Answer: (D) reasoned criticism View Solution

Question 2:

The author of the passage would most likely agree with which of the following statements about primary care at AMCs?

  • (A) AMCs would make more money if they focused mainly on primary care.
  • (B) Burn and transplant patients need specialty care more than primary care.
  • (C) AMCs offer the best primary care for most patients.
  • (D) Inefficiencies at AMCs would be reduced if better primary care were offered.
     
Correct Answer: (D) Inefficiencies at AMCs would be reduced if better primary care were offered.
View Solution

Question 3:

The author's primary purpose in this passage is to:

  • (A) discuss the rise and fall of academic medical centers
    (B) list the main failings of academic medical centers
    (C) explain that multiple lines of authority in a medical centre create inefficiencies
    (D) examine the differences between academic and other health care entities
Correct Answer:(D) examine the differences between academic and other health care entities
View Solution

Question 4:

The author implies which of the following about faculty physicians at AMCs?

  • (A) Most of them lack good business sense.
  • (B) They put patients’ physical health above their hospitals’ monetary concerns.
  • (C) They sometimes focus on education at the expense of patient care.
  • (D) They lack official affiliation with the medical schools connected to AMCs.
     
Correct Answer:(C) They sometimes focus on education at the expense of patient care.
View Solution

Question 5:
Comprehension:Founded at the dawn of the modern industrial era, the nearly forgotten Women’s Trade
Union League (WTUL) played an instrumental line role in advancing the cause of working
women through the early part of the twentieth century. In the face of considerable adversity,
the WTUL made a contribution far greater than did most historical footnotes.
Read More The organization’s successes did not come easily; conflict beset the WTUL in many forms.
During those early days of American unions, organized labour was aggressively opposed by
both industry and government. The WTUL, which represented a largely unskilled labour
force, had little leverage against these powerful opponents. Also, because of the skill level
  of its workers as well as inherent societal gender bias, the WTUL had great difficulty find-
ing allies among other unions. Even the large and powerful American Federation of Labour
(AFL), which nominally took the WTUL under its wing, kept it at a distance. Because the
AFL’s power stemmed from its highly skilled labour force, the organization saw little eco-
nomic benefit in working with the WTUL. The affiliation provided the AFL with political
cover, allowing it to claim support for women workers; in return, the WTUL gained a potent
but largely absent ally.
The WTUL also had to overcome internal discord. While the majority of the group’s
members were working women, a sizeable and powerful minority consisted of middle- and
upper-class social reformers whose goals extended beyond labour reform. While workers ar-
gued that the WTUL should focus its efforts on collective bargaining and working conditions,
the reformers looked beyond the workplace, seeking state and national legislation aimed at
education reform and urban poverty relief as well as workplace issues.
Despite these obstacles, the WTUL accomplished a great deal. The organization was in-
strumental in the passage of state laws mandating an eight-hour workday, a minimum wage
for women, and a ban on child labour. It provided seed money to women who organized
workers in specific plants and industries, and also established strike funds and soup kitchens
to support striking unionists. After the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire of 1911, the
WTUL launched a four-year investigation whose conclusions formed the basis of much sub-
sequent workplace safety legislation. The organization also offered a political base for all
reform-minded women, and thus helped develop the next generation of American leaders.
Eleanor Roosevelt was one of many prominent figures to emerge from the WTUL.
The organization began a slow death in the late 1920s, when the Great Depression choked
off its funding. The organization limped through the 1940s; the death knell eventually rang in
1950, at the onset of the McCarthy era. A turn-of-the-century labour organization dedicated
to social reform, one that during its heyday was regarded by many as “radical,” stood little
chance of weathering that storm. This humble ending, however, does nothing to diminish the
accomplishments of an organization that is yet to receive its historical due.

The primary purpose of this passage is to:

  • (A) describe the barriers confronting women in the contemporary workplace
  • (B) call readers’ attention to an overlooked contributor to American history
  • (C) critique the methods employed by an important labour union
  • (D) rebuke historians for failing to cover the women’s labour movement adequately
Correct Answer:(B) call readers’ attention to an overlooked contributor to American history
View Solution

Question 6:

Which of the following best characterizes the American Federation of Labour’s view of the Women’s Trade Union League, as it is presented in the passage?

  • (A) The WTUL was an important component of the AFL’s multifront assault on industry and its treatment of workers.
  • (B) Because of Eleanor Roosevelt’s affiliation with the organization, the WTUL was a vehicle through which the AFL could gain access to the White House.
  • (C) The WTUL was to be avoided because the radical element within it attracted unwanted government scrutiny.
  • (D) The WTUL offered the AFL some political capital but little that would assist it in labour negotiations.
     
Correct Answer:(D) The WTUL offered the AFL some political capital but little that would assist it in labour negotiations.
View Solution

Question 7:

Each of the following is cited in the passage as an accomplishment of the Women’s Trade Union League EXCEPT:

  • (A) It organized a highly skilled workforce to increase its bargaining power.
  • (B) It contributed to the development of a group of leaders in America.
  • (C) It provided essential support to striking women.
  • (D) It helped fund start-up unions for women.
Correct Answer: (A) It organized a highly skilled workforce to increase its bargaining power.View Solution

Question 8:
Comprehension:The function of strategic planning is to position a company for long-term growth and ex- pansion in a variety of markets by analyzing its strengths and weaknesses and examining current and potential opportunities. Based on this information, the company develops strat- egy for itself. That strategy then becomes the basis for supporting strategies for its various departments.
Read More This is where all too many strategic plans go astray at implementation. Recent business management surveys show that most CEOs who have a strategic plan are concerned with the potential breakdown in the implementation of the plan. Unlike 1980s corporations that blindly followed their 5-year plans, even when they were misguided, today’s corporations tend to second-guess. Outsiders can help facilitate the process, but in the final analysis, if the company doesn’t make the plan, the company won’t follow the plan. This was one of the problems with strategic planning in the 1980s. In that era, it was an abstract, top-down process involving only a few top corporate officers and hired guns. Number-crunching experts came into a company and generated tome-like volumes filled with a mixture of abstruse facts and grand theories which had little to do with the day-to-day realities of the company. Key middle managers were left out of planning sessions, resulting in lost opportunities and ruffled feelings. However, more hands-on strategic planning can produce startling results. A recent survey queried more than a thousand small-to-medium sized businesses to compare companies with a strategic plan to companies without one. The survey found that companies with strategic plans had annual revenue growth of 6.2 percent as opposed to 3.8 percent for the other companies. Perhaps most important, a strategic plan helps companies anticipate and survive change. New technology and the mobility of capital mean that markets can shift faster than ever be- fore. Some financial analysts wonder why they should bother planning two years ahead when market dynamics might be transformed by next quarter. The fact is that it’s the very pace of change that makes planning so crucial. Now, more than ever, companies have to stay alert to the marketplace. In an environment of continual and rapid change, long range planning expands options and organizational flexibility.

The primary purpose of the passage is to:

  • (A) refute the idea that change is bad for a corporation’s long-term health
  • (B) describe how long-term planning, despite some potential pitfalls, can help a corporation to grow
  • (C) compare and contrast two styles of corporate planning
  • (D) evaluate the strategic planning of corporate America today
Correct Answer: (B) describe how long-term planning, despite some potential pitfalls, can help a corporation to grow
View Solution

Question 9:

It can be inferred from the passage that, in general, strategic planning during the 1980s had all of the following shortcomings EXCEPT:

  • (A) a reliance on outside consultants who did not necessarily understand the nuts and bolts of the business
  • (B) dependence on theoretical models that did not always perfectly describe the workings of the company
  • (C) an inherent weakness in the company’s own ability to implement the strategic plan
  • (D) an excess of information and data that made it difficult to get to key concepts
Correct Answer: (C) an inherent weakness in the company’s own ability to implement the strategic plan
View Solution

Question 10:

The author most likely mentions the results of the survey of 1,000 companies in order to:

  • (A) put forth an opposing view on strategic plans so that she can then refute it
  • (B) illustrate that when strategic planning is “hands-on,” it produces uninspiring results
  • (C) give a concrete example of why strategic planning did not work during the 1980s
  • (D) support her contention that strategic planning when done correctly can be very successful
Correct Answer:(D) support her contention that strategic planning when done correctly can be very successful

View Solution


Question 11:

Over the last 20 years the rate of increase in total production in Workland has been second to none in the world. However, the growth is more modest when calculated per capita of total population. Over the last ten years progress has been much slower. If the information above is accurate, which of the following must be true?

  • (A) Workland has a very large population.
  • (B) Productivity per capita has not grown as fast during the past ten years.
  • (C) Total production has increased faster than population growth.
  • (D) The birth rate has declined.
Correct Answer: (B) Productivity per capita has not grown as fast during the past ten years.
View Solution

Question 12:

Between 1979 and 1983, the number of unincorporated business self-employed women increased five times faster than the number of self-employed men and more than three times faster than women wage-and-salary workers. Part-time self-employment among women increased more than full-time self-employment. Each of the following, if true, could help to account for this trend except:

  • (A) Owning a business affords flexibility to combine work and family responsibilities.
  • (B) The proportion of women studying business administration courses has grown considerable.
  • (C) There are more self-employed women than men.
  • (D) Unincorporated service industries have grown by 300 percent over the period; the ratio of women to men in this industry is three to one.
Correct Answer:

(C) There are more self-employed women than men.
View Solution


Question 13:

There is no clear line between health and illness; it is easy to forget what it feels like to be really well and to get gradually used to often being a headache, feeling irritable, or tired. There is an unrecognized proportion of the population that has been tipped over the brink into ill health by ubiquitous contaminants. Which of the following statements best describes the purpose of the above?

  • (A) The public must be encouraged to have regular medical examinations.
  • (B) The public must be warned to be aware of various physical and chemical hazards.
  • (C) The public must be warned to treat seriously such symptoms as headaches, irritability, and tiredness.
  • (D) The medical professional is not always capable of diagnosing illness.
Correct Answer:

(B) The public must be warned to be aware of various physical and chemical hazards.
View Solution


Question 14:

The further [A] / farther [B] he pushed himself, the more disillusioned he grew.
For the crowds it was more of a historical [A]  historic [B] event; for their leader, it was just another day.
The old man has a healthy distrust [A] / mistrust [B] for all new technology. This film is based on a \textit{real [A] / {true [B] story.
One suspects that the compliment [A] / complement [B] was backhanded.

  • (A) BABAB
  • (B) ABABA
  • (C) BAABA
  • (D) BBAAB
Correct Answer:(B) ABABA
View Solution

Question 15:

Regrettably [A] / Regretfully [B] I have to decline your invitation.

I am drawn to the poetic, sensual [A] / sensuous [B] quality of her paintings.

He was besides [A] / beside [B] himself with rage when I told him what I had done.

After brushing against a stationary [A] / stationery [B] truck my car turned turtle.

As the water began to rise over [A] / above [B] the danger mark, the signs of an imminent flood were clear.

  • (A) BAABA
  • (B) BBBAB
  • (C) AAABA
  • (D) BBAAB
Correct Answer:(B) BBBAB
View Solution

Question 16:

Choose the correct option that best represents the meaning of the word "SORT" in each given sentence:

(a) Let’s sort these boys into four groups.
(b) They serve tea of a sort on these trains.
(c) Farmers of all sort attended the rally.
(d) What sort of cheese do you use in pizza?

  • (A) (a) arrange; (b) type; (c) kind; (d) category
  • (B) (a) arrange; (b) kind; (c) type; (d) category
  • (C) (a) arrange; (b) variety; (c) type; (d) category
  • (D) (a) arrange; (b) type; (c) variety; (d) category
Correct Answer:

(C) (a) arrange; (b) variety; (c) type; (d) category

View Solution

Question 17:

Choose the correct option that best represents the meaning of the word "HOST" in each given sentence:

(a) A virus has infected the host computer.
(b) Ranchi will play the host to the next national film festival.
(c) Kerala’s forests are host to a range of snakes.
(d) If you host the party, who will foot the bill?

  • (A) (a) receiver; (b) organizer; (c) habitat; (d) organize
  • (B) (a) main system; (b) organizer; (c) shelter; (d) entertain
  • (C) (a) primary device; (b) venue; (c) home; (d) invite
  • (D) (a) receiver; (b) entertainer; (c) carrier; (d) sponsor
Correct Answer: (C) (a) primary device; (b) venue; (c) home; (d) invite
View Solution

Question 18:

Select the one which would best fill the blanks:
Football evokes a _______ response in India compared to cricket, the almost _______ the nation.

  • (A) tepid, boiling
  • (B) lukewarm, electrifies
  • (C) turbid, fascinating
  • (D) apocryphal, genuinely fascinates
    (B) lukewarm, electrifies
Correct Answer:(B) lukewarm, electrifies
View Solution

Question 19:

Identify the pair or sequence of sentences that are chronologically and logically connected to form a coherent narrative:

A. Last Sunday, Archana had nothing to do.
B. After waking up, she lay on the bed thinking of what to do.
C. At 11 o’clock she took shower and got ready.
D. She spent most of the day shopping.

  • (A) B and C
  • (B) C
  • (C) A and B
  • (D) B, C and D
Correct Answer:(D) B, C and D
View Solution

Question 20:

Which sentence(s) can serve as the concluding statement(s) for the given paragraph?

A. Large reductions in the ozone layer, which sits about 15–30 km above the Earth, take place each winter over the polar regions, especially the Antarctic, as low temperatures allow the formation of stratospheric clouds that assist chemical reactions breaking down ozone.
B. Industrial chemicals containing chlorine and bromine have been blamed for thinning the layer because they attack the ozone molecules, making them break apart.
C. Many offending chemicals have now been banned.
D. It will still take several decades before these substances have disappeared from the atmosphere.

  • (A) D
  • (B) B & D
  • (C) A & D
  • (D) A & C
Correct Answer:(C) A & D
View Solution

Also Check:

CAT 2009 Quantitative Ability Question Paper Analysis

  • The question had various topic-based questions which involved simple calculations.
  • The difficulty level of this section was easy to moderate level.

Students should follow the below table for a better understanding of question distribution

Topics Number of Questions
Averages 1
Functions 1
Geometry 3
Logarithms 1
Mensuration 2
Mixture and Alligation 1
Percentage 1
Probability 1
Quadratic Equation 1
Sequence and Series 1
Set Theory 1
Simple and Compound interest 1
Simplification 1
Time and Distance 2
Time and Work 1
Trigonometry 1

CAT 2009 Verbal Ability Question Paper Analysis

  • The Verbal Ability section of CAT 2009 question paper was rated moderate to difficult.
  • Verbal Ability covered entirely every topic of English usages such as Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, Para Jumbles, Paragraph Completion, Paragraph Summary, and Reading Comprehension.

Students should follow the below table for a better understanding of question distribution

Topics Number of Questions
Reading Comprehension 13
Sentence Correction 2
Error Spotting 5

CAT 2009 Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning Question Paper Analysis

  • This section of CAT 2009 question paper had tedious calculations so it was a bit lengthy.
  • Pie charts, Venn Diagrams, and Logical DI were in the question paper.
  • Logical Reasoning questions were based on Logical arrangements and puzzles which required less or no calculations.

Students should follow the below table for a better understanding of question distribution

Topics Number of Question
Data Interpretation 10
Logical Puzzle 10

CAT Question Papers of Other Years

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