After advice on DI & LR and Quantitative section, this third and final article looks at how to do well in Verbal Ability section.
Verbal Ability:
By Mr. Shiva Kumar, Director (R&D) & Academics
With the number of questions in this section coming down to 25 in 2006 and 2007, the focus is no longer on speed as on comprehension and accuracy.
- Tackle the two groups in this section, namely English Usage (i.e. sentence correction, paragraph completion, parajumbles, etc.) and Reading Comprehension separately.
- Next, choose the right questions (a mix of many easy questions with some difficult questions which are unavoidable would be appropriate) and attempt these questions. As an example, if the cut off (for selection into at least one IIM) for the Verbal Ability Section in 2007 was 25, analysis shows that attempting 13 out of the 25 questions in this section would have been enough. Attempting 13 (
i.e. 50% of the total number of questions in the section) would mean attempting 52 marks. To clear 25 marks one would have needed to get 8 correct (32 % of the total in the section) and could have afforded to get up to 5 wrong. - Use your knowledge of common idioms and grammar. Read sentences and try to identify if they read right or not often using your knowledge of everyday spoken English. This should go a long way in helping you tackle the easier questions in this section that you choose.
- Use and apply logic to see what comes first and what comes later (parajumbles) and which option among the paragraph completion answer choices ties in best with the main topic of the passage (paragraph completion).
- For the reading comprehension section, choose the easier of the passages (2 out of 3 or 3 out of 4) based on your comprehension and quickly grasp the main idea of each passage.
- Attempt those questions where the answer seems to be easily available in the passage (more factual type and less inferential type), often related to key sentences.
- Re-read the relevant portions in the passage carefully and choose the option that ties in best with the relevant portion.
The cricket council that was [A] / were [B] elected last March is [A] are [B] at sixes and sevens over new rules.
The critics censored [A] / censured [B] the new movie because of its social unacceptability.
Amit’s explanation for missing the meeting was credulous [A] I credible [B].
She coughed discreetly [A] / discretely [B] to announce her presence.
(1) BBAAA (2) AAABA (3) BBBBA (4) AABBA (5) BBBAA
Answer (4)
Cricket Council is a collective noun so it takes a singular verb. The reference is made to a group as a whole and not to an individual.
Censure implies harsh criticism.
Censor means to put a ban on something objectionable.
Credible means capable of being believed.
Credulous means tending to believe without evidence.
Discretely means distinct whereas discreetly means to carefully avoid social embarrassment or distress; tactful.
Watch out for more articles on CAT 2008 on MBAUniverse.com Aspirant Zone. Aspirant Zone on MBAUniverse.com is the dedicated platform for MBA aspirants. MBAUniverse.com Aspirants Zone includes MBA primer, Mastering Written Tests, Mastering GD and Interview and news for MBA-aspirants.
