An Easy approach to attempt Quant section in SBI Clerk Mains 2016 Exam

Dear Sehpaathians,

As you all know that State Bank of India has released the result of the prelims examination of clerical cadre on 17^th June 2016 and the qualified candidates are preparing themselves for the Mains exam to be held on 25^th and 26^th June, which is not far away. So it is essential now to understand the best approach to deal with different sections in Mains so that one can qualify the mains with better marks.

The mains paper of clerk has four sections and the most crucial section is the Quantitative Aptitude. 50 questions will be asked from this section and 45 minutes will be the allotted time to solve these 50 questions.

The best way to approach quant section is to start with the questions from those in which you have good command because that approach gives us a head start in this section and the confidence is high which enables us to deal with harder questions of the section as well.

This section can be divided into 6 main categories and these categories should be dealt in the same order as illustrated below.

(1) Simplification – (5 – 10 Questions)

(2) Number Series – (5 Questions)

(3) Quadratic Equations – (5 Questions)

(4) Data Sufficiency – (5 Questions)

(5) Miscellaneous – (10 – 20 Questions)

(6) Data Interpretation – (10 – 20 Questions)

Simplification:

This is the best category to start with. Let us see how we can approach Simplification in a smart way.

For Simplification, one needs to remember two rules:

1. Don’t hesitate in rounding the numbers to nearest integers. Most of the times the numbers are given in such a way that you can round them quickly and get the answer (Rounding should be done or not, It can be realized by looking at the given options).

2. Always keep in mind the “BODMAS” rule. These operations have priorities in the same order as mentioned.

B-Bracket
O-Of
D-Division
M-Multiplication
A-Addition
S-Subtraction

E.g. –

127.001 * 7.998 + 6.05 * 4.001
Using the rounding concept
127 * 8 + 6 * 4
Using the BODMAS rule
1016 + 24
1040

Number Series:

Number series is less about calculation and more about observation. Some of the most common patterns like similar differences, squares, cubes, increasing or decreasing differences can be checked first to deal with these questions quickly.

Number series is not much about calculation. It’s about observation. The quickly you observe, the quickly you can get the answer.

Quadratic Equations:

One thing that should be kept in mind while solving these questions is that if we have addition symbol before the constant then we have to find two numbers whose addition gives us the number that is with the variable. On the other hand, if we have subtraction symbol before the constant then we have to find the two numbers whose subtraction gives us the number that is with the variable.

e.g. –

x²+ 13x + 42 = 0 — 7*6=42, 7+6=13 — roots are -7, -6
y²+ y – 42 = 0 — 7*6=42, 7-6=1 — roots are -7, 6

If we quickly draw a number line then we will see that no relation can be established between x and y.

So we can see that solving quadratic equations is an easy task so we should not miss any question from this.

Data Sufficiency:

The best thing about data sufficiency questions is that we don’t have to solve the given questions. We only need to find out which statements are required / sufficient to solve the questions. So these questions are easy in comparison to other questions where we have to do the exact calculations.

e.g. – Amongst A, B, C, D, E and F, each are having a different height. Who is the shortest?

1. C is shorter than only B.

2. A is taller than only D and F.

So we can see the question and find the answer within seconds that even I and II together are not sufficient to give us the answer.

Miscellaneous:

This part has a variety of questions and after attempting initial 20 – 25 questions, this is the right time to do these questions and one can deal with those questions first at which one is more confident.

Data Interpretation:

This is one of the parts of Quant section which needs proper time. The most important thing that one should realize is that these questions are in the paper to check our observation and calculation both. Firstly, look at the data carefully, understand the small specifications and then look at the type of questions asked and It can be done within a minute. Now we have an idea of the complete data and the related questions so now it’s the time for some calculations.

Some key facts related to Data Interpretation Questions:

The questions consist of Percentage increase/decrease.
The questions consist of finding the average/ ratio.
The questions consist of finding total/ difference.

So we can say that a set of data interpretation questions are basically the normal questions using the huge amount of data given in the form of pie chart/ bar chart/ line chart/ tabular form etc.