Sample · 03-Numerical Reasoning
Chapter 3 Overview
Bocconi Online Test · CHAPTER 3: Numerical Reasoning
Numerical Reasoning contributes 6 of the 50 questions. These questions do not require advanced mathematics. Instead, they test whether you can read a chart or table correctly, understand what it shows, and separate the information that matters from the information that is merely there to distract you. The calculations, when needed, are simple. This book explains a reliable method and then gives you five sets of practice questions, each built around tables, with fully explained solutions.
3.1 How to Read the Data
3.1 How to Read the Data
The most common mistake in this section is answering too quickly, before you have understood exactly what the question asks. A table often contains more numbers than you need, and some of them are placed there precisely to tempt a careless reader. Your job is to find the few figures that matter and ignore the rest.
📋 A four-step method
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1. Read the question first | Know what is being asked before you study the table |
| 2. Locate the right cells | Match row and column labels carefully |
| 3. Ignore the superfluous | Rows or columns you do not need are distractors |
| 4. Check units and wording | Percentage vs amount, per item vs total, hours vs minutes |
⚠️ Common traps
Confusing a total with a per-unit figure; reading the wrong row or column; measuring a time gap from the wrong starting point; and being pulled toward a distractor value that appears in the table but does not answer the question.
Worked Example — Ignoring a distractor
Question: The table lists three products with their price and weight. If you buy two of Product B at \( 4 \) each, what do you pay? The weights are given only to distract you.
Working: Use only the price of B: \( 2\times 4 \). The weight column is irrelevant.
📋 Chart types on the real Bocconi test
| Chart | How to read it |
|---|---|
| Stacked bar | Each bar is split into parts (e.g. "with" and "without" defects, or male and female). The whole bar is the total; read each segment's own value and, when asked, its share of the total. |
| 100%-stacked bar | Every bar has the same length; only the proportions differ. To compare totals you must use the absolute numbers printed on the segments, not the bar lengths. |
| Grouped bars (produced vs sold) | Compare paired bars. Watch for questions about the ratio produced:sold, or the number left unsold (produced minus sold). |
⚠️ Multi-step data traps
Bocconi data questions often need two steps: first compute a total or a share, then compare or track a change. A classic version moves items from one category to another (for example, repairing defective units) and asks how a ratio changes — recompute both the numerator and the denominator after the move. Also distinguish an average of totals from a ratio, and a percentage share from an absolute count.
Worked Example — A ratio that changes after an operation
Question: A firm produced 1,800 mopeds without defects and 450 with defects, then repaired \( \tfrac{4}{9} \) of the defective ones (moving them to "without defects"). How does the ratio defective : non-defective change?
Working: Original ratio \( =\dfrac{450}{1800}=0.25 \). Repairs \( =\tfrac49\times 450=200 \), so defective \( \to 250 \) and non-defective \( \to 2000 \).
Continue reading — 1 chapters, worked examples and practice.
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