With the two sections – Quantitative Aptitude (QA) & Verbal Ability (VA), comprising 30 questions each in Common Admission Test (CAT), an equal emphasis on both the section is required. But the number of hours that you may need to put weekly on a particular section during the next five months should entirely depend on your strength & weaknesses in each section.
This article from MBAUniverse.com preparation team of experts brings you insights into the Verbal Ability (VA) section.
Be open to attempt all questions:
With CAT undergoing perceptible changes & the competition getting tougher over the last few years, focus on speed as well as accuracy has emerged as the key to success in both the sections of CAT.
The second section in CAT- a mix of Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning, is agonising for those who do not begin their preparation a little early. At least a six months’ thorough preparation is required to be well conversant with this section. Unlike the earlier CAT pattern or the paper-pencil mode, the candidates have more time with lesser number of questions but this relaxation is there at the cost of difficulty level. The difficulty level, however, has increased and more versatile study is required.
The section broadly carries three parts - Verbal Ability -10-11 questions; Reading Comprehension – 9-10 questions; & logical Reasoning-10 questions. Overall, the section carries 30 questions and time allotted to solve the same is 70 minutes.
It is always advisable not to have a biased mind or limit oneself to attempt a limited number of questions in this section. An open mind set may lead you to end up attempting and solving more questions than anticipated in your D-day strategy. With 70 minutes in hand, you get more than 2 minutes for each single question in the section.
Key to success: Good understanding of language & regular practice
In the last few years, size and length of questions have been reduced. Especially in Verbal Ability section, there are no more Vocabulary questions with big sets of direct synonyms and antonyms. The pattern has been changed to usage of words in different contexts and this requires more understanding as well as regular practice, else one may forget whatever has been learnt. There are no mixed-up questions now. They are well defined and placed in proper section in the question paper.
Other parts in Verbal Ability section will have questions based on Error corrections in grammar usage, contextual usage of vocabulary, jumbled paragraphs, completion of last sentence in a paragraph, using one word in different ways etc. All these questions, taken together will not be more than 11. Where is the catch – the level of difficulty which is good enough to keep you thinking.
Reasoning Comprehension: Read between the lines
The RC passages, although reduced from 1200/1400 words to 800+ words, are followed by 3 to 4 questions based on each of the passage. One can expect three passages in CAT 2013 followed by 9-10 questions in all. The difficulty level is moderate to tough. The passages are embedded with phrases/idioms and indirect references. It is necessary to read them between the lines and understand them. The questions based on them are also not direct one and CAT takers need to understand the meaning and the indirect reference before proceeding to answer them.
You should also focus on your studies with the intense desire to get the utmost clarity especially on the topics, you know are the tricky. For example, aspirants find it difficult to get the tone of the RC passage; fail to catch the dangling modifiers in error correction in the sentences etc. The key words are speed and accuracy.
Mr S K Agarwal is a CAT Expert, a seasoned CAT trainer with over 25 years of experience, & author of many CAT books. He also guides Verbal Ability Section to CAT Aspirants through MBAUniverse.com online coaching classes.
MBAUniverse.com offers a comprehensive preparation package coupled with over 200 online interactive classes with Top CAT experts including from IIMs for CAT 2013 preparation.
Visit the link below for more information and new batch schedules:
http://www.mbauniverse.com/mba-exam-preparation/CAT_Preparation/mba_preparation_package.php
The next article will bring you detailed analysis of Logical Reasoning, clubbed with VA as the second section of CAT.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more news & features on CAT 2013.
