General Aptitude
General Aptitude carries 10 marks in GATE ME - five 1-mark and five 2-mark questions - and it is the most efficient place to gain rank. It tests verbal ability (grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension), quantitative aptitude (percentages, ratios, time–work, speed–distance, interest, counting, mensuration) and analytical aptitude (number series, coding, blood relations, seating, syllogisms, data interpretation).
Verbal
- Reading comprehension answers must be supported by the passage, not by outside knowledge or personal opinion.
- Grammar items usually test subject–verb agreement, parallelism, modifiers and prepositions; vocabulary items test usage in context rather than isolated definitions.
Quantitative
- Percentages are asymmetric: a 20% increase needs a 16.67% decrease to return to the original.
- For work problems, add rates: combined rate = 1/t₁ + 1/t₂, and time = 1/(combined rate).
- Average speed over equal distances is the harmonic mean 2xy/(x+y), never the arithmetic mean.
- Probability of "at least one" = 1 − P(none).
Analytical
- Number series often hide two interleaved sequences or a difference-of-differences pattern.
- In syllogisms, draw the minimum-overlap Venn diagram: a conclusion is valid only if it holds in every diagram satisfying the premises.
Worked example
A finishes a job in 12 days, B in 18 days. Rates are 1/12 and 1/18; the sum is 3/36 + 2/36 = 5/36 per day, so together they take 36/5 = 7.2 days. Sanity check: the answer must lie between 6 (both as fast as A) and 12 (both as slow as B).
Traps
Averaging two speeds arithmetically; applying a discount and then a markup as if they cancel; ignoring units such as km/h versus m/s; choosing a comprehension option that is true in general but not stated in the passage.