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SSC CGL Caselets (paragraph DI)

Study Material — 29 PYQs (2018–2019) · Concept Notes · Shortcuts

SSC CGL Caselets (paragraph DI) is a frequently tested subtopic — 29 previous year questions from 2018–2019 papers are included below with concept notes, key rules and shortcut tricks.

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2018–2019

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Previous Year Questions

SSC CGL Caselets (paragraph DI) — Past Exam Questions

29 questions from actual SSC CGL papers · all shown free · click option to reveal solution

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table and answer the questions. The table below shows the sales figures (in lakhs of rupees) of five product categories across four quarters of a financial year for TechCorp Industries.

Product Category	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Smartphones	150	180	210	240
Laptops	120	140	160	180
Tablets	80	90	100	110
Accessories	60	70	80	90
Software	40	50	60	70

Exam Q 12019Previous Year Pattern

What is the total sales of Smartphones across all four quarters?

Exam Q 22019Previous Year Pattern

Which product category had the highest total sales across all four quarters?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table and answer the questions. The table below shows the sales data (in lakhs of rupees) of five branches of a retail company across four quarters of a financial year.

Branch	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Delhi	120	150	180	210
Mumbai	140	160	175	185
Bangalore	100	120	140	160
Chennai	80	100	120	140
Kolkata	110	130	150	170

Note: All figures are in lakhs of rupees.

Exam Q 32019Previous Year Pattern

Which branch has the highest sales in Q3?

Exam Q 42019Previous Year Pattern

What is the ratio of Q1 sales of Mumbai to Q1 sales of Kolkata?

Exam Q 52019Previous Year Pattern

What is the percentage increase in sales of the Chennai branch from Q1 to Q4?

Exam Q 62019Previous Year Pattern

What is the average sales of the Bangalore branch across all four quarters?

Exam Q 72019Previous Year Pattern

What is the average quarterly sales of Tablets?

Exam Q 82019Previous Year Pattern

What is the ratio of Q4 sales of Software to Q4 sales of Accessories?

Exam Q 92019Previous Year Pattern

By what percentage did Laptop sales increase from Q1 to Q4?

Exam Q 102019Previous Year Pattern

What is the total sales of the Delhi branch across all four quarters?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table showing quarterly sales performance of ABC Electronics across four regions and answer the questions. Quarterly Sales Data (in ₹ Lakhs):

Region	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
North	450	540	630	720
South	380	420	480	560
East	320	360	400	480
West	400	500	600	700

Total Annual Sales: ₹8,540 Lakhs

Exam Q 112018Previous Year Pattern

By what percentage did the North region's sales increase from Q1 to Q4?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table and answer the questions. The table below shows the quarterly sales (in lakhs of rupees) of five product categories for a retail company across four quarters of a financial year.

Product Category	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Electronics	120	150	180	210
Clothing	80	100	120	140
Home & Kitchen	60	75	90	105
Sports & Outdoors	40	50	60	70
Books & Media	20	25	30	35

Exam Q 122019Previous Year Pattern

What is the total sales of Electronics category across all four quarters?

Exam Q 132019Previous Year Pattern

By what percentage did Clothing sales increase from Q1 to Q4?

Exam Q 142018Previous Year Pattern

What is the ratio of South region's Q4 sales to East region's Q4 sales?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table and answer the questions. The table below shows the production and sales data (in units) of five electronic appliance manufacturers across four quarters of a financial year.

Manufacturer	Q1 Production	Q1 Sales	Q2 Production	Q2 Sales	Q3 Production	Q3 Sales	Q4 Production	Q4 Sales
Alpha Corp	5000	4500	5500	5200	6000	5800	6500	6200
Beta Ltd	4800	4200	5200	4800	5600	5400	6000	5700
Gamma Inc	6000	5400	6500	6200	7000	6800	7500	7200
Delta Pvt	4500	4000	5000	4600	5500	5200	6000	5800
Epsilon Co	5500	5000	6000	5600	6500	6200	7000	6700

Note: All figures are in units. Sales efficiency = (Total Sales / Total Production) × 100

Exam Q 152019Previous Year Pattern

What is the average production across all manufacturers in Q2?

Exam Q 162019Previous Year Pattern

In Q3, what is the ratio of Sports & Outdoors sales to Books & Media sales?

Exam Q 172019Previous Year Pattern

In Q3, what is the ratio of total production of Beta Ltd and Delta Pvt combined to that of Gamma Inc?

Exam Q 182018Previous Year Pattern

Which region had the highest total sales across all four quarters?

Exam Q 192019Previous Year Pattern

What is the average quarterly sales of Home & Kitchen category?

Exam Q 202019Previous Year Pattern

Which manufacturer has the highest sales efficiency (sales as % of production) across all four quarters combined?

Exam Q 212019Previous Year Pattern

What is the percentage increase in total sales of Delta Pvt from Q1 to Q4?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table carefully and answer the questions given below. The table shows the number of units produced and sold by five companies (A, B, C, D, E) during the year 2023, along with the selling price per unit (in ₹) and the cost price per unit (in ₹).

Company	Units Produced	Units Sold	Selling Price/Unit (₹)	Cost Price/Unit (₹)
A	12,000	10,000	150	120
B	15,000	12,000	200	160
C	10,000	8,000	250	200
D	18,000	15,000	180	150
E	20,000	16,000	120	90

Note: Profit per unit = Selling Price per unit − Cost Price per unit. Total Revenue = Units Sold × Selling Price per unit. Total Profit = Units Sold × Profit per unit.

Exam Q 222018Previous Year Pattern

What is the total revenue (in ₹) earned by Company C and Company D together in the year 2023?

Exam Q 232019Previous Year Pattern

Which product category shows a consistent growth of 30 lakhs per quarter?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table carefully and answer the questions based on the data provided. A manufacturing company tracks quarterly production and sales data (in units) across four product lines for the financial year 2023-24.

Product Line	Q1 Production	Q1 Sales	Q2 Production	Q2 Sales	Q3 Production	Q3 Sales	Q4 Production	Q4 Sales
Product A	5000	4500	5500	5200	6000	5800	6500	6200
Product B	3000	2700	3200	3100	3500	3400	3800	3600
Product C	4000	3600	4500	4200	5000	4800	5500	5300
Product D	2500	2250	2800	2600	3200	3000	3500	3400

Note: All figures are in units. Sales represent actual units sold, while Production represents units manufactured.

Exam Q 242019Previous Year Pattern

For Product C, what is the percentage of total annual sales relative to total annual production?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table carefully and answer the questions based on the data provided. The table below shows the production and sales data (in units) for five manufacturing plants of TechCorp Industries across four quarters of a financial year:

Plant	Q1 Production	Q1 Sales	Q2 Production	Q2 Sales	Q3 Production	Q3 Sales	Q4 Production	Q4 Sales
Plant A	8000	7200	9000	8100	10500	9450	11000	10120
Plant B	6500	5850	7200	6480	8100	7290	9000	8370
Plant C	7500	6750	8400	7560	9200	8280	10000	9200
Plant D	5500	4950	6200	5580	7000	6300	7800	7020
Plant E	9000	8100	10000	9000	11500	10350	12500	11250

Note: Sales figures represent the actual units sold out of total production. The difference represents unsold inventory.

Exam Q 252019Previous Year Pattern

Which plant has the highest total unsold inventory (Production - Sales) across all four quarters combined?

Exam Q 262019Previous Year Pattern

Which product line has the highest total annual sales, and what is the difference between its sales and the product line with the lowest total annual sales?

Exam Q 272019Previous Year Pattern

What is the percentage increase in total production from Q1 to Q4 across all plants combined?

Exam Q 282019Previous Year Pattern

What is the average sales conversion rate (Sales/Production × 100) across all plants in Q2? (Round to nearest integer)

Exam Q 292019Previous Year Pattern

What is the average production across all four product lines for Q2?

Concept Notes

Caselets (paragraph DI)— Rules & Concept

1.Core Concept

Read this first — the foundation of the topic

Caselets in Data Interpretation are paragraph-based questions where data is presented in story format instead of charts or tables. These questions test your ability to extract numerical information from text and perform calculations. In SSC CGL, caselets typically appear as 3-5 questions based on one paragraph containing business scenarios, financial data, or statistical information. Key characteristics of caselets include mixed data presentation, multiple calculation steps, and real-world contexts like company profits, population studies, or survey results. The data is embedded within sentences, requiring careful reading to identify relevant numbers and relationships.

Common caselet patterns in SSC CGL include percentage calculations (profit/loss, growth rates), ratio and proportion problems, average and percentage combination, and simple interest/compound interest scenarios. Questions often involve finding missing values, comparing different entities, or calculating derived metrics. Formulas frequently used:

Percentage increase/decrease = (New Value - Old Value)/Old Value × 100 Average = Sum of all values/Number of values

Ratio calculation = Part/Whole × 100 Profit percentage = (Selling Price - Cost Price)/Cost Price × 100

2.Shortcuts

Use these to save 30–60 seconds per question

Create a data extraction table while reading. Write down all numerical values with their labels in tabular format. This prevents re-reading and saves 30-40 seconds per question.

3.Worked Example

Solve this step-by-step before moving on

1

Step 1

Extract data 2022 revenue = 50 lakhs 2023 revenue = 50 + 20% of 50 = 50 + 10 = 60 lakhs 2023 expenses = 60% of 60 = 36 lakhs 2023 profit = 16 lakhs

2

Step 2

Verify (Revenue - Expenses = Profit) 60 - 36 = 24 lakhs (but profit given as 16 lakhs, so expenses = 60 - 16 = 44 lakhs)

3

Step 3

Calculate expense percentage of 2022 revenue Expense percentage = (44/50) × 100 = 88% Another useful trick: Use approximation for quick elimination. If exact calculation seems time-consuming, round numbers to nearest 5 or 10 for faster computation, then match with closest option.

4.Exam Traps

Common mistakes students make — avoid these

include misidentifying which year/entity the question refers to, mixing up base values for percentage calculations, and not verifying if calculated values make logical sense. Always cross-check your final answer against the given constraints in the paragraph.

Key Points to Remember

Caselets present data in paragraph format rather than charts or tables
Extract all numerical data into a separate table while reading to avoid re-reading
Questions typically involve 2-3 calculation steps combining different concepts
Common themes include profit-loss, growth rates, surveys, and financial scenarios
Always verify which time period or entity the question is asking about
Use approximation technique to eliminate wrong options quickly
Cross-check final answers against logical constraints given in paragraph
Percentage base identification is crucial - carefully note what the percentage is calculated on

Exam-Specific Tips

SSC CGL typically includes 2-3 caselet sets with 3-5 questions each in Tier-1
Each caselet question carries 2 marks with 0.5 negative marking
Average solving time per caselet question should be 90-120 seconds
Caselets often combine 2-3 topics like percentages with ratios or averages with profit-loss
Data extraction from paragraph format appears in 15-20% of total DI questions
Business scenario caselets are 60% more frequent than survey-based caselets
Mixed calculation caselets have appeared in last 8 consecutive SSC CGL papers

Practice MCQs

Caselets (paragraph DI) — Practice Questions

87graded MCQs · easy to hard · full solution & trap analysis · showing 20 of 87

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📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table and answer the questions. The table below shows the sales figures (in lakhs of rupees) of five branches of a retail company across four quarters of a financial year.

Branch	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Delhi	120	150	180	210
Mumbai	140	160	200	240
Bangalore	100	120	140	160
Chennai	80	100	120	140
Kolkata	110	130	150	170

Note: All figures are in lakhs of rupees.

Practice 1easy

What is the difference between the total sales of Mumbai and Chennai across all four quarters?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Product Category	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Smartphones	120	150	180	210
Laptops	80	100	120	140
Tablets	60	75	90	105
Accessories	40	50	60	70
Software	50	60	70	80

Practice 2easy

What is the average quarterly sales of Tablets?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table and answer the questions. The table below shows the sales figures (in lakhs of rupees) of five branches of a retail company across four quarters of a financial year.

Branch	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
North	120	150	180	210
South	100	120	140	160
East	80	100	120	140
West	140	160	180	200
Central	110	130	150	170

Practice 3easy

Which branch had the highest sales in Q2?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table and answer the questions. The table below shows the sales figures (in lakhs of rupees) of five branches of a retail company across four quarters of a financial year.

Branch	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Delhi	120	150	180	210
Mumbai	140	160	200	240
Bangalore	100	120	140	160
Chennai	80	100	120	140
Kolkata	110	130	150	170

Practice 4easy

Which branch had the highest sales in Q3?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table showing quarterly sales data (in lakhs ₹) for four product categories of TechCorp Industries and answer the questions.

Product Category	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Smartphones	120	150	180	240
Laptops	80	100	120	160
Tablets	60	75	90	120
Accessories	40	50	60	80

Note: All figures are in lakhs of rupees. The company operates across four quarters in a financial year.

Practice 5easy

In Q3, what is the ratio of Smartphones sales to Accessories sales?

📊Data / Passage

Directions

Study the following table and answer the questions. The table below shows the sales revenue (in lakhs ₹) of five retail stores across four quarters of a financial year.

Store Name	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Store A	120	150	180	210
Store B	100	110	120	130
Store C	140	140	140	140
Store D	80	100	120	160
Store E	160	140	120	100

Practice 6easy

What is the total sales revenue of Store A across all four quarters?

Practice 7easy

By what percentage did Laptops sales increase from Q1 to Q4?

Practice 8easy

What is the total sales of Smartphones across all four quarters?

Practice 9easy

What is the total sales of the North branch across all four quarters?

Practice 10easy

What is the ratio of Bangalore's Q4 sales to Kolkata's Q4 sales?

Practice 11easy

What is the total sales revenue for Smartphones across all four quarters?

Practice 12easy

What is the average sales of the Bangalore branch across all four quarters?

Practice 13easy

What is the ratio of Q1 sales of South branch to Q1 sales of West branch?

Practice 14easy

What is the percentage increase in sales of the East branch from Q1 to Q4?

Practice 15easy

In Q2, what is the ratio of sales of Store A to Store B?

Practice 16easy

Which product category had the highest total sales across all four quarters?

Practice 17easy

What is the total sales of the Mumbai branch across all four quarters?

Practice 18easy

Which store has the highest average quarterly sales revenue?

Practice 19easy

What is the average sales of the Central branch across all four quarters?

Practice 20easy

What is the total sales of the Mumbai branch across all four quarters?

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60-Second Revision — Caselets (paragraph DI)

Remember: Create data table immediately after reading the caselet paragraph
Formula: Percentage change = (New-Old)/Old × 100, check the base value carefully
Trick: Use approximation for elimination, exact calculation only for final answer
Trap: Questions often mix time periods or entities - underline key terms
Pattern: Most caselets involve 2-step calculations combining different concepts
Strategy: Verify final answer makes logical sense within given constraints
Time management: Spend maximum 6-7 minutes on complete caselet set

←Mixed DI (2-graph sets)

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