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I am a fresher & just finished my final year B.Tech in Information Technology.Being fully prepared for the selection test for Infy on June 19th, and with God’s grace I was able to get an appointment letter frm Infosys.I would like to give back to the group the 10 day schedule that i followed, which may be of use in CRACKING the Infy test. If 10 days arent there for you, then you cud leave out the days that i have used for Ravi Narula and the quantitaive Aptitude. That would bring down the number of days to 7 or 8. You need to manage your time very effeciently. Spend your itme in studying, and prayers. Prayers do help a lot .

Usually when you register with Infosys, you woul get a mail atleast 10 to 12 days before the written test either by email, or by Post.Let us keep this as 10 days.Before we start off, three rules must be kep in mind.

FIRST RULE : While job hunting , check your mail on a daily basis, so that you dont get delayed info regarding test or other such details . Even the appointment order comes by email.

SECOND RULE : Once you do receive the intimating or hall ticket, check for the following books.Not all chapters need to be followed in each book and i have given the need ones in the daily schedule .

(1) Puzzles to Puzzle you - Shakuntala Devi (very Important)
(2) More Puzzles - Shakuntala Devi (very Important)
(3) Puzzles and Teasers - George Sammers (very very Important)
(4) Brain Teasers - Ravi Narula (Optional, but few old sums are here)
(5) Quantitative Aptitude - R.S Agarwal ( Important)
(6) Verbal Reasoning - R.S Agarwal (very very Important)
(7) Previous Papers - Chetana group, Mail me for more (Important)

THIRD RULE : YOU must forget all your previosu failures and start afresh with firm determination and enthusiasm. Once you do this , solving puzzles become easy . I solved 9 out of 10 puzzles. Concentrate on the bigger puzzles first . This may be the way the marks are distributed:

8 marks and 6 marks - George Sammers and Verbal Reasoning (R.S Agarwal)
4 marks and 5 marks and 3 makrs - Shakuntala Devi books and Ravi Narula and Quantitative Aptitude(R.S Agarwal)

Some questions from Previous Papers

Now lets start of with the schedule :

DAY 1 : Start off with Puzzles to Puzzle you - Shakuntala Devi and finish as mush as possible.Decide to only finish the book and call the day off. Note down the sums which you are not able to solve or need the answers to solve and keep this list safely. After you go through the whole book, go back to thses questions and just check out the way they are solced. Sometimes they will not be explained. In this case you have no choice but to leave them. But some sums will have some funny explanations.Just rememeber the way or method.

DAY 2 : Now take a break off from Shakuntala Devi and then start Verbal Reasoning - R.S Agarwal . In this you just have to do the Puzzle Test Chapter fully , and have a look at the Number, Ranking and Sequence Test chapter. I contains fully George Sammers type question on easier scale but you woudl be able to uderstand the basic logic of solving George Sammers type questions.Finish off the whole book during the second day.There is just one or two methods to solve these sort of questions and the explanation is very clear . Once you get the method , you can solve al the puzzles in this, but just in case do go through all the puzzles. there have been puzzles in previous papers from here.Once ou get the method well, there will not be any revision necessary in this book . But you will have to concentrate on the method.

DAY 3 : Now back to More Puzzles - Shakuntala Dei and follow the same procedure you followed for the first book.

DAY 4 and DAY 5: Get your George Sammers book and start off solving the puzzles. The first half is kind of easy, btu dont be worried if your not able to solve much. Even one or two is enough . The Rest , you just have to use the scheme and the solutions and then understand the puzzle thoroughly. Many papers have similar sums with the names changed. Try to finish the first half in a day . And start off the second half . The second half is relatively tougher, and it will be very confusing. Just try to solve some. The second half , even the solutions will confuse you more. So just solve as many as you can. The rest you can make use of the soultions . If they are too complex, Leave them aside. Note down all sums you could not solve or could solve only using the solutions and list them . When you are through the whole book, just revise all the sums, giving preference to the ones that you have listed . It si okay even if you sit with George Sammers for three days. But you must fully be able to undertsand all the question in the First part. The second part , atleast maybe few sums are optional.

DAY 6 : Take your quantitative Aptitude book by R.S Agarwal and work out the following chapters fully. Note down tough sums and their solutions and come back to solve thme and revise them .
The chapters to be done are :
(1) Time and Distance (very important)
(2) Time and Work
(3) Pipes and Cisterns
(4) Trains
(5) Boats

DAY 7 : Revise Shakuntala Devi book-1 and revise it well. Not necessary to wokr out the porblems. Just check if your method is correct . The sums you have listed, give them extra importance. By the end of this day , you must Shakuntala Devi book-1(Puzzles to Puzzle you ) on your finger tips.

DAY 8 : Revise the book-2 of Shakuntala Devi , just how you revised the first book.End of this day you shoudl ahve both Shakuntala devi books at your finger tips.

DAY 9 : Revise George Sammers, such that you can easily solve the whole first part . The second part , leave ii , if it is tough.

DAY 10 : Check out Ravi Narula. The sums are very tough . It will be enough if you just c the solutions and understand them . Some sums are asked in some papers.( There is one questin abt some ANYMAN reaching ANYWHERE. His tyre gets punctured and he reaches late.If his tyre got punctured earlier / later then he would have reached earlier/later. How far did he travel..soemthing like that).that is form this book . Many papers have this sum repeated. But the names are changed. Ravi Narula is just optional, but I suggest that you go through all sums and their solution atleast once.Dont take too much time on Ravi Narula. Just three or four hours would be sufficient.

INTERVIEW : Interview is Casual.If you have done excellently well in the test , your interview process is very simple and a walkthrough if you have good communication skills ( Speak clearly, frankly). My Interview Panle consisted of one Madame and one Sir. They asked me abt Team Wokr, Abt my College, Abt my family, My hobbies, My interests, Certain changes i would like to bring out in the current socio-economic development (I said to remove unemployment).I was nto asked any puzzles in my interview. But I do have a list of puzzles that coudl be possibly asked. I would post them too on this forum . Interview was very friendly. You are free to ask the panel your performance and expectation of your order. Be positive. Thats a very very big Point in your HR interview.My friend had a stress interview. Be cool, Dont react.

Pls do mail me in case you have any doubts. Also mail me if this post has helped you become an Infosion. I would be very happy if this post has helped few fellow Infosions out there .pls do lemme know if you do get selected. You can also add me in your messenger. I will be online everyday, and u can send me offlines to clarify certain doubts.

Every Problem has a Solution.

Wishing you all the Best Efforts …..
C you in Infy.
with luv and prayers,
Rajiv

Strategies for a succesful GD

admin — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 18:20:57 +0000

Sailing through Group Discussions successfully is an art. Heres a look at some strategies that will take you a long way in winning the day.

BE NATURAL: The best mantra is ‘to be your natural self’. Do not manufacture artificial responses. See a GD or an interview as just an extension of any other routine situation you encounter. This will induce spontaneity in your responses and will save you the unnecessary “What should I do if . . .?” problem.

MUST SPEAK: The first principle of participating in a GD is that you must speak.

For any GD, take a piece of paper and a pen with you and use them unless specifically asked by the evaluators not do so. Before you start speaking, think through the major issues in the topic in the first two minutes. Jot down points on the paper or mentally work out the framework for analysis. Start speaking only when you have understood and analysed the topic. If another participant has started the discussion even before you have read and understood the topic, you could try to ask the person to wait while you finish. It may, however, be better to continue with your analysis, while listening to what is being said, and to speak only when you are ready.

If you do not understand the topic, then either ask the group what the topic means and accept that your ignorance will be obvious to all or else wait. May be the meaning will become clear after a few minutes of the discussion, when someone else discusses it.

Avoid speaking in turn as it leads to an unnatural discussion. A GD involves a free-flowing exchange of ideas among participants. Even though there will definitely be chaos in most competitive GDs, as all participants will be keen to be heard, any suggestion of order, such as speaking, in turn, is unacceptable.

We have never seen a strategy of speaking turn by turn succeed in the hundreds of GDs we have evaluated so far. Also there have been no instances of anyone being selected after suggesting that participants speak turn by turn.

OPENING AND CLOSING A DISCUSSION: Opening a discussion is a high risk — high return strategy. In most GDs, the opening speaker is the person who is likely to get the maximum uninterrupted air time. The reason is simple — most other participants will still be trying to understand the basic issues in the topic, or are too nervous to speak and are waiting for someone else to start. Therefore, the evaluators get the best chance to observe the opening speakers. Now this is a double-edged sword. If the opening speaker talks sense, he will get credit because he opened the discussion and took the group in the right direction.

If, on the other hand, the first speaker’s start lacks substance, he will attract the undivided attention of the evaluators to his shortcomings. He will be marked as a person who speaks without thinking and merely for the sake of speaking. Also, he may be marked as someone who leads the group in the wrong direction and does not make a positive contribution to the group.

So remember, speaking first can make or mark your GD performance depending on how you handle it. Speak first only if you have enough sensible things to say. Otherwise, keep yourself silent and let someone else start.

Try and summarise the discussion at the end. In the summary, do not merely restate your point of view, also accommodate dissenting viewpoints. If the group did not reach a consensus, say so in your summary, but remember, do not force a consensus. Forcing a consensus could end up working against you.

Quantitative Aptitude - Practice Exercise 16 (Work)

admin — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 18:14:45 +0000

1. If A and B work together, they will complete a job in 7.5 days. However, if A works alone and completes half the job and then B takes over and completes the remaining half alone, they will be able to complete the job in 20 days. How long will B alone take to do the job if A is more efficient than B?

(1) 20 days (2) 40 days (3) 30 days (4) 24 days
——————————————————-
2. Four men and three women can do a job in 6 days. When five men and six women work on the same job, the work gets completed in 4 days. How long will a woman take to do the job, if she works alone on it?

(1) 18 days (2) 36 days (3) 54 days (4) None of these
——————————————————-
3. Shyam can do a job in 20 days, Ram in 30 days and Singhal in 60 days. If Shyam is helped by Ram and Singhal every 3rd day, how long will it take for them to complete the job?

(1) 12 days (2) 16 days (3) 15 days (4) 10 days
——————————————————-
4. Two workers A and B manufactured a batch of identical parts. A worked for 2 hours and B worked for 5 hours and they did half the job. Then they worked together for another 3 hours and they had to do (1/20)th of the job. How much time does B take to complete the job, if he worked alone?

(1) 24 hours (2) 12 hours (3) 15 hours (4) 30 hours
——————————————————-
5. A and B working together can finish a job in T days. If A works alone and completes the job, he will take T + 5 days. If B works alone and completes the same job, he will take T + 45 days. What is T?

(1) 25 (2) 60 (3) 15 (4) None of these
——————————————————-
6. A man can do a piece of work in 60 hours. If he takes his son with him and both work together then the work is finished in 40 hours. How long will the son take to do the same job, if he worked alone on the job?

(1) 20 hours (2) 120 hours (3) 24 hours (4) None of these
——————————————————-
7. A, B and C can do a work in 5 days, 10 days and 15 days respectively. They started together to do the work but after 2 days A and B left. C did the remaining work (in days)

(1) 1 (2) 3 (3) 5 (4) 4
——————————————————-
8. X alone can do a piece of work in 15 days and Y alone can do it in 10 days. X and Y undertook to do it for Rs. 720. With the help of Z they finished it in 5 days. How much is paid to Z?

(1) Rs. 360 (2) Rs. 120 (3) Rs. 240 (4) Rs. 300
——————————————————-
9. Ram starts working on a job and works on it for 12 days and completes 40% of the work. To help him complete the work, he employs Ravi and together they work for another 12 days and the work gets completed. How much more efficient is Ram than Ravi?

(1) 50% (2) 200% (3) 60% (4) 100%
——————————————————-
10. A red light flashes 3 times per minute and a green light flashes 5 times in two minutes at regular intervals. If both lights start flashing at the same time, how many times do they flash together in each hour?

(1) 30 (2) 24 (3) 20 (4) 60
——————————————————-
——————————————————-

Answers :
1. (3)
2. (3)
3. (3)
4. (3)
5. (3)
6. (2)
7. (4)
8. (2)
9. (4)
10. (1)

Synonyms

admin — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 18:12:52 +0000

1. Latent                           =         potential (inactive)
2. Momentary                    =         transient
3. Latitude                        =         scope
4. Heap                            =          to pile (collect)
5. Adhesive                       =          tenacious
6. Veer                             =         diverge (turn)
7. Concur                          =         acquiesce (accept)
8. Subside                         =         wane (drop)
9. Enounce                        =         reject
10. Hover                          =         linger (stay close)
11. Tranquil                       =          serene (calm)
12. Admonish                    =          usurp (reprove)
13. Alienate                       =          estrange (isolate)
14. Instigate                      =           dissipate (dismiss)
15. Belief                           =           conviction
16. Covet                          =           crave (desire)
17. Belated                        =           too late
18. Solicit                          =          beseech (seek)
19. Brim                            =          border
20. Divulge                        =          reveal
21. Tamper                        =         obstruct
22. Caprice                        =          whim (impulse)
23. To merit                      =          to deserve
24. Stifle                           =          suffocate (smother)
25. Lethargy                      =          stupor (lazy)

Synonyms

admin — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 18:10:59 +0000

English Usage Practice Ex

admin — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 18:02:38 +0000

1. By sheer hard work, he has ___ out a niche for himself.
(A) worked
(B) derived
(C) occupied
(D) carved

2. Tears ___ anger and tension naturally.
(A) relieve
(B) follow
(C) throw away
(D) release

3) This book is not long. I ____________ it by lunch time (will be reading, will have read)

4) Shiela _________ her case book (packed , has packed , had packed )

5) When I _________ my dinner I went to bed (had , have had, had had )

6) Perhaps we ____________ Mahabaleshwar next month (visit, will visit)

7) wood: sand ::

(a) coal: burn
(b) brick: lay
(c) oil: polish
(d) metal: burnish
(e) stone: quarry

8) carpenter: saw ::

(a) stenographer:typist
(b) painter:brush
(c) lawyer:brief
(d) runner:sneakers
(e) seamstress:scissors

9) crow:boastful ::

(a) smirk:witty
(b) conceal:s;y
(c) pout:sulky
(d) blush:coarse
(e) bluster:unhappy

10) glossary:words ::

(a) catalogue:dates
(b) atlas:maps
(c) almanac:synonyms
(d) thesaurus:rhymes
(e) lexicon:numbers

Answers

1) d
2) a
3) will have read
4) has packed
5) had had
6) will visit
7) a
8) b
9) a
10) a

Entering a Discussion

admin — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 17:57:48 +0000

Identify the way to enter the discussion. In a loud GD where there are three or four aggressive participants, and where a number of people tend to speak at the same time, it becomes difficult for others to get a chance to speak. This is the most frequent problem encountered by participants. There is no foolproof solution to this problem. And such a situation is pretty much likely to prevail during the actual GD that you participate in. However, it is crucial that you speak. How can you do this?

Some guidelines on interjecting in a loud GD: You will have to decide which one is appropriate.

Enter the troughs: Every GD has its highs and lows. There are times when the noise level is high and times when it is low. You could wait for the lows and time your interjection then. However, in some GDs, if one waits for lows, he/she would never get a chance to speak.

Enter after a person has made his point: The success of an interjection depends not only on assertiveness but also on the receptiveness of others. If you interject when someone else has just begun speaking, before he has made his point, it is unlikely that he will let you have your way. On the other hand, if you wait till he has made some of his points, he will be more amenable to letting you speak. But don’t wait too long!

Enter with a supportive statement: A useful way of starting your interjection is by supporting a point that has just been made. People will let you speak if they think you agree with them or if you praise them. Try starting by saying something like, “I agree with that point and I would like to add . . .”
Alternatively, praise the person who had just spoken by saying, “I think that is a very important point . . . “. In all probability, he will let you speak. Once you have the floor, you could either extend the argument or you could switch tracks by saying, ” . . . however, before we spend more time on that issue we should be discussing . . .”

Enter by increasing volume: The most natural way of entering when you find that others are not listening is to raise your voice. This is not the smartest way of interjecting and in a GD where everyone is shouting, there is a only slight chance that it would work. To be effective, however, you will have to combine this tool with some of the others mentioned, as it is unlikely to succeed on its own.

Critical Reasoning - Ex 2

admin — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 17:56:13 +0000

* In the past helicopters were forced to ground or crash because of the formation of the ice on the rotors and engines. A new electronic device has been developed which can detect the water content in the atmosphere and warns the pilot if the temperature is below freezing temp about the formation of the ice on the rotors and wings.

1. The electronic device can avoid formation of the ice on the wings.
2. There will be the malfunction of rotor & engine because of formation of ice.
3. The helicopters were being crashed or down.
4. There is only one device that warn about the formation of ice.

Answers:
1. False
2. True
3. True
4. Can’t Say

* My father has no brothers. he has three sisters who has two Childs each.

1. My grandfather has two sons.
2. Three of my aunts have two sons.
3. My father is only child to his father.
4. I have six cousins from my mother side.
5. I have one uncle.

Answers:
1. False
2. Can’t Say
3. Can’t Say
4. Can’t Say
5. Can’t Say

* Senior managers warned the workers that because of the introductory of Japanese industry in the car market. There is the threat to the workers. They also said that there will be the reduction in the purchase of the sales of car in public. The interest rates of the car will be increased with the loss in demand.

1. Japanese industry might be taking over the jobs of Indian workers.
2. Managers said car interests will go down after seeing the raise in interest rates.
3. Japanese investments are ceasing to end in the car industry.
4. People are very much interested to buy the cars.

Answers:
1. True
2. True
3. False
4. False

* There should be copyright for all arts. The reele has come that all the arts has come under one copy right society, they were using the money that come from the arts for the developments . There may be a lot of money coming from the Tagore works. We have to ask the benifiters from Tagore work to help for the development of his works.

1. Tagore works are came under this copy right rule.
2. People are free to go to the court because of the copy right rule.
3. People gives to theater and collect the money for development.
4. We have ask the Tagore resedents to help for the developments of his work.(can’t say)

Answers:
1. True
2. Can’t Say
3. Can’t Say
4. True

* Alpine tunnels are closed tunnels. In the past 30 yrs not even a single accident has been recorded for there is one accident in the railroad system. Even in case of a fire accident it is possible to shift the passengers into adjacent wagons and even the living fire can be detected and extinguished with in the duration of 30 min.

1. No accident can occur in the closed tunnels.
2. Fire is allowed to live for 30 min.
3. All the care that travel in the tunnels will be carried by rail shutters.
4. 30 years ago, few accidents took place in alpine tunnels

Answers:
1. True
2. False
3. True
4. Can’t Say

* Copernicus was an intelligent boy. In the days of Copernicus the transport and technology development was less & it took place weeks to communicate a message at that time. Where in, now we can send it through satellite with in no time. Even with these fast developments it has become difficult to understand each other.

1. People were not intelligent during Copernicus days.
2. Transport facilities are very much improved in now a days.
3. Even with the fast developments of the technology we can’t live happily.
4. We can understand people very easily with the development of communication.

Answers:
1. False
2. True
3. Can’t Say
4. False

ALGEBRA: Equations and Inequalities

admin — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 22:08:44 +0000

• While solving simultaneous equations of the form x2 + y2 = 65 and x + y = 3, there is no real need to solve it theoretically, which turns out to be a laborious process. Consider perfect squares and by hit and trial see if two perfect squares add up to 65. x2 cannot be 4, 9, 25, 36 as then y2 has to be 61, 56, 40, 29 which are not perfect squares. Thus the possible values for x and y are (±1, ±8) and (±4, ±7). The values that satisfy x + y = 3 are 7 and -4. The only assumption in the above is that x and y are rational. And this can be ascertained by looking at option choices or certain other data in the question or else one can simply take chances. If one does not get perfect squares adding up to 65, only then work theoretically.

Consider this question:
If x2 + y2 = 0.1 and |x – y| = 0.2, what is the value of |x| + |y|?

1. 0.3 2. 0.4 3. 0.6 4. 0.2
Consider the square of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 i.e. 0.01, 0.04, 0.09, 0.16 and it is obvious that 0.01 + 0.09 = 0.1. Thus x and y are 0.1 and 0.3. And these values also satisfy the second equation. Also the answer choices make it evident that one should not be thinking of multiple values or solutions. Thus answer has to be 0.4

• In simultaneous equations please remember that we need as many independent equations as the number of variables used ONLY when we have to find the unique value of all the variables. If we do not need the values of all the variables but only the value of an equation using the variables, we can possibly find the answer even when the number of equations is less than the number of variables. So do not be in a hurry to mark “Cannot be determined” as the answer in such case.

Even after having as many equations as the number of variables, it is not necessary that we will be able to fid the values of all the variables. To be able t do so, all the equations should be independent. Check to see if by adding or subtracting two of the equations (including use of multiples if needed) we can derive one of the given equation. If we can do this, all the given equations are not independent.

• Whenever the question deals with roots of any polynomial, axn + bxn-1 + cxn-2 + …… + px + q = 0, remember to check options such that sum of roots = -b/a and product of roots = ±q/a. Thus if a = 1 (as is usually the case or else you could make a = 1 by dividing the entire equation by a) and q is an integer and it is also known that the roots are also integers, then the roots have to be factors of q.

• For a quadratic expression used in an inequality and that cannot be factorized, find the determinant and see if the quadratic expression takes only positive or negative values or takes all values:
For a quadratic ax2 + bx + c with imaginary roots i.e. b2 – 4ac < 0,
(ax2 + bx + c) is always positive if a is positive OR
(ax2 + bx + c) is always negative if a is negative