GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) question paper PDF and answer key

The official GATE 2014 Computer Science & Information Technology (Set 1) paper, organised by IIT Kharagpur: 65 questions for 100 marks in 3 hours. Download the official question paper and answer key as PDFs. Below is how the marks were split by topic, the complete official answer key and 5 questions solved step by step.

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Question paper (PDF)Official answer key (PDF)

Source: the official paper and answer key published by IIT Kharagpur for GATE 2014. Spotted a mistake? Email team@lemyte.com.

General Aptitude: 10 · 15 marks
Computer Science & Information Technology: 55 · 85 marks
MCQ / MSQ / NAT: 40 / 0 / 25
Marks to all: None

Where the marks were

GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) topic-wise marks

Computer Science & Information Technology questions only; General Aptitude adds 15 marks on top. The top three topics carried 32 of the 85 subject marks.

Topic	Questions	Marks
Discrete Mathematics	8	14
Algorithms	6	9
Computer Networks	6	9
Databases	5	8
Operating System	5	8
Programming and Data Structures	5	7
Computer Organization and Architecture	4	7
Theory of Computation	4	6
Calculus	3	5
Digital Logic	3	4
Probability and Statistics	2	3
Compiler Design	2	3
Linear Algebra	2	2

Free solved questions

5 solved questions from GATE 2014 CS (Set 1)

Question text and figures as in the official paper, the answer from the official key, and a worked solution. The other 60 solutions are in your report after you take the paper.

Q5 · General Aptitude · MCQ · 1 mark

The roots of

ax^2+bx+c=0

are real and positive. Here $a$ , $b$ , and $c$ are real.

Then

ax^2+b|x|+c=0

has

(A)
no roots
(B)
2 real roots
(C)
3 real roots
(D)
4 real roots

Answer (official key): D

Solution

For $x \ge 0$ , $|x|=x$ , so the equation becomes:

ax^2+bx+c=0.

It has two positive real roots.

For $x<0$ , let $u=-x>0$ . Then $|x|=u$ and $x^2=u^2$ , so the equation again becomes:

au^2+bu+c=0.

This gives two negative real roots for $x$ .

Hence the equation has 4 real roots.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option D.

Q6 · General Aptitude · MCQ · 2 marks

The Palghat Gap (or Palakkad Gap), a region about 30 km wide in the southern part of the Western Ghats in India, is lower than the hilly terrain to its north and south. The exact reasons for the formation of this gap are not clear. It results in the neighbouring regions of Tamil Nadu getting more rainfall from the South West monsoon and the neighbouring regions of Kerala having higher summer temperatures.

What can be inferred from this passage?

(A)
The Palghat gap is caused by high rainfall and high temperatures in southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala
(B)
The regions in Tamil Nadu and Kerala that are near the Palghat Gap are low-lying
(C)
The low terrain of the Palghat Gap has a significant impact on weather patterns in neighbouring parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala
(D)
Higher summer temperatures result in higher rainfall near the Palghat Gap area

Answer (official key): C

Solution

The passage says the Palghat Gap is lower than the surrounding terrain and that this affects rainfall in Tamil Nadu and summer temperatures in Kerala. Therefore, the valid inference is that the low terrain significantly impacts neighbouring weather patterns.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option C.

Q26 · Probability and Statistics · Numerical · 1 mark

Suppose you break a stick of unit length at a point chosen uniformly at random. Then the expected length of the shorter stick is ________.

Answer (official key): 0.24 to 0.27

Solution

Let the break point be $X \sim U(0,1)$ . The shorter piece has length:

\min(X,1-X).

By symmetry:

E[\min(X,1-X)] =2\int_0^{1/2} x\,dx =2\left[\frac{x^2}{2}\right]_0^{1/2} =\frac14 =0.25.

The official accepted range is 0.24 to 0.27.

Therefore, the answer is 0.25.

Q27 · Databases · MCQ · 1 mark

Given the following statements:

S1: A foreign key declaration can always be replaced by an equivalent check assertion in SQL.

S2: Given the table R(a,b,c) where a and b together form the primary key, the following is a valid table definition.

CREATE TABLE S (
  a INTEGER,
  d INTEGER,
  e INTEGER,
  PRIMARY KEY (d),
  FOREIGN KEY (a) references R
);

Which one of the following statements is CORRECT?

(A)
S1 is TRUE and S2 is FALSE.
(B)
Both S1 and S2 are TRUE.
(C)
S1 is FALSE and S2 is TRUE.
(D)
Both S1 and S2 are FALSE.

Answer (official key): D

Solution

S1 is false because a foreign key is a referential integrity constraint involving another table and cannot always be replaced by a simple check assertion.

S2 is false because R has composite primary key (a,b), but the foreign key references only a.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option D.

Q41 · Algorithms · MCQ · 2 marks

Suppose a polynomial time algorithm is discovered that correctly computes the largest clique in a given graph. In this scenario, which one of the following represents the correct Venn diagram of the complexity classes P, NP and NP Complete (NPC)?

Answer (official key): D

Solution

Clique is an NP-complete problem. If a polynomial-time algorithm exists for computing the largest clique, then an NP-complete problem is in P, implying:

P = NP = NPC

under the simplified Venn-diagram interpretation used in the options.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option D.

The other 60 questions are solved in your report when you take GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) as a 3-hour test.

Take GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) as a test

Official answer key

GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) answer key

All 65 answers from the official key. Numerical answers are ranges; “or” means the key accepts either answer.

Download the official GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) answer key (PDF)

Q	Topic	Type	Marks	Answer
1	Quantitative Aptitude	Numerical	1	96
2	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	1	B
3	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	1	C
4	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	1	C
5	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	1	D
6	Analytical Aptitude	MCQ	2	C
7	Quantitative Aptitude	Numerical	2	48
8	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	2	B
9	Spatial Aptitude	Numerical	2	6
10	Quantitative Aptitude	Numerical	2	850
11	Theory of Computation	MCQ	1	C
12	Algorithms	MCQ	1	C
13	Computer Networks	MCQ	1	D
14	Programming and Data Structures	MCQ	1	D
15	Algorithms	MCQ	1	C
16	Discrete Mathematics	MCQ	1	C
17	Databases	MCQ	1	B
18	Operating System	Numerical	1	3
19	Algorithms	MCQ	1	B
20	Computer Organization and Architecture	Numerical	1	16383
21	Linear Algebra	Numerical	1	0
22	Computer Networks	MCQ	1	A
23	Programming and Data Structures	Numerical	1	1
24	Theory of Computation	MCQ	1	A
25	Discrete Mathematics	MCQ	1	D
26	Probability and Statistics	Numerical	1	0.24 to 0.27
27	Databases	MCQ	1	D
28	Programming and Data Structures	MCQ	1	B
29	Computer Networks	MCQ	1	C
30	Calculus	MCQ	1	C
31	Digital Logic	MCQ	1	A
32	Compiler Design	MCQ	1	D
33	Linear Algebra	Numerical	1	1
34	Operating System	MCQ	1	D
35	Digital Logic	Numerical	1	5
36	Calculus	MCQ	2	A
37	Discrete Mathematics	Numerical	2	88.9 to 89.1
38	Operating System	Numerical	2	7.2
39	Algorithms	MCQ	2	C
40	Compiler Design	MCQ	2	D
41	Algorithms	MCQ	2	D
42	Theory of Computation	MCQ	2	C
43	Computer Organization and Architecture	MCQ	2	A
44	Databases	MCQ	2	D
45	Computer Networks	Numerical	2	5
46	Databases	MCQ	2	A
47	Computer Organization and Architecture	Numerical	2	4
48	Discrete Mathematics	Numerical	2	506
49	Databases	MCQ	2	B
50	Discrete Mathematics	Numerical	2	16
51	Programming and Data Structures	MCQ	2	A
52	Discrete Mathematics	MCQ	2	C
53	Discrete Mathematics	Numerical	2	12
54	Computer Networks	Numerical	2	28 to 30
55	Computer Organization and Architecture	Numerical	2	1.6
56	Calculus	Numerical	2	-2
57	Operating System	Numerical	2	7
58	Probability and Statistics	Numerical	2	10
59	Algorithms	Numerical	2	147.1 to 148.1
60	Discrete Mathematics	MCQ	2	B
61	Programming and Data Structures	MCQ	2	A
62	Operating System	MCQ	2	B
63	Theory of Computation	MCQ	2	B
64	Digital Logic	MCQ	2	A
65	Computer Networks	Numerical	2	1100 to 1300

Questions about GATE 2014 CS (Set 1)

How many questions are in the GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) paper?

65 questions for 100 marks: 10 General Aptitude questions worth 15 marks and 55 Computer Science & Information Technology questions worth 85 marks. By type, there were 40 MCQs, 25 numerical answer (NAT) questions. The paper lasted 3 hours.

Is there negative marking in GATE 2014 CS (Set 1)?

Yes, for MCQs only. A wrong MCQ answer costs one-third of its marks (−⅓ for a 1-mark question, −⅔ for a 2-mark question). MSQ and numerical (NAT) questions have no negative marking, and an MSQ earns marks only when every correct option is chosen.

Which topics carried the most marks in GATE 2014 CS (Set 1)?

Outside General Aptitude, the biggest topics were Discrete Mathematics (14 marks), Algorithms (9 marks), Computer Networks (9 marks). The full topic-wise split is in the table on this page.

Were any GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) questions awarded marks to all?

No. Every question was graded with the answer in the official key.

Where does this GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) answer key come from?

From the official answer key published by IIT Kharagpur, which organised GATE 2014. Range answers for numerical questions and questions with more than one accepted answer are kept exactly as the key gives them.

GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) question paper PDF and answer key

GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) topic-wise marks

5 solved questions from GATE 2014 CS (Set 1)

GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) answer key

Questions about GATE 2014 CS (Set 1)

How many questions are in the GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) paper?

Is there negative marking in GATE 2014 CS (Set 1)?

Which topics carried the most marks in GATE 2014 CS (Set 1)?

Were any GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) questions awarded marks to all?

Where does this GATE 2014 CS (Set 1) answer key come from?

More GATE papers