XAT 2014: Focus more on Reading Comprehension

The very first prestigious MBA entrance examination in 2014 will be XAT-2014, going to be held on Sunday, January 5, 2014. More than 110 coveted B-schools accept XAT scores for admission to their various MBA courses.

XAT although quite different from CAT is one of the most sought after MBA entrance examination. Prof. S. K. Agarwal, expert and mentor in Verbal Ability shares the key preparation strategy for the benefit of XAT aspirants for this forthcoming examination. Candidates preparing for XAT 2014, have to understand the test pattern and follow the guidelines to score more in Verbal Ability.

XAT 2014: Test Pattern
XAT is based on conventional paper pencil mode. Candidates have to mark their answers with ball point pen on OMR sheet. Ink or gel pens are not allowed. XAT remains pen-paper based to ensure that candidates of all backgrounds are at par. Those who have pre-familiarity of operating computers, specially coming from privileged background or having worked in IT sector, do not get any advantage over others who do not have access to computers.  The paper-pen mode also ensures that all candidates are tested on exactly the same set of questions, and not on different sets. 

The test is conducted on a single day all across the country and in a single session with time duration of 140 minutes to solve those questions in examination which are taken into account to calculate the percentile. XAT 2014 however, may change its number of questions and time duration in any of their examinations, although the same will be published before hand on their website. 

XAT 2014: Composition of Verbal Ability section
There will be 30-32 questions based on Verbal and Logical Ability. Surprisingly, role of logical ability in this section is not very prominent and you may expect 3-4 questions on arguments, followed statements on LA. Questions based on Reading comprehension constitute 60% of the total number of questions in this section. 

There were 18 questions based on Reading comprehension passages in XAT 2013. One can imagine the importance of RC. Interestingly, if you can crack only this part of Verbal Ability section with 95 percent accuracy, probably you don’t need to cover any other part in VALA section. But getting biased is never a good thought and other12-14 questions based on grammar; vocabulary and logical Ability also come as saviour when passages are beyond reach.   

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XAT 2014: How to prepare the RC
There are four passages in XAT followed by 16-18 questions in all. Passages are more or less based on abstract and philosophical topics. While two passages are of approximately 500 words another two are a bit longer say around 700 words. All the passages are rich in vocabulary and literary language. Another interesting feature with the RC passages is that they are inclined more toward philosophical thought, even if the contents were based on business and economy.  Answers to the questions are little direct than in CAT which has more indirect questions and can be understood by close reading of the passages. 

XAT 2014: Next one month Preparation Plan for RC

XAT 2014 aspirants are advised to follow the undernoted strategic preparation plan for next one month.

Make it the regular practice to read the editorials, articles in the news paper and check how many words are there which you do not know. Tests have shown that the number of unfamiliar words in a passage, if exceeds about one in twenty, the reader will lose track. If the proportion is lower, the reader may skip over the unfamiliar words and grasp, at least the general meaning.  Use the words in conversation to practice more on them.

Prepare General Awareness section for XAT 2014
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While you are reading an article, passage, book – pick out the words which are of interest to you- find out their meaning-try to understand the context in which they are used and follow the structure of sentence. When you write, try to frame good sentences using the new words. This will give you ample opportunity to rectify the errors in sentences, improving the vocabulary, improving the speed and accuracy of reading and the skill to pick out the wrong sentences as well as how to complete the sentence or paragraph

Have a good book on grammar and reading comprehension with plenty of exercises. Get your concepts cleared and then attempt the exercises. At a later stage mock tests will enable you to have proper feel of examination hall and your level of preparation as well. So take on the challenge.

Read the passage/article fairly quickly to get the general idea. Read again, a little slowly so as to understand the details. Write a summary in your own words neatly and precisely – with one third/fourth in length to the original length of the passage.

Use complete sentences, take care to understand, make a chart on time consumed in reading and writing the summary of the passage. Check whether the time is getting reduced after a day or two.

Devote 20-30 minutes every day. Go for versatile reading with different topics. Try to mark and note down the interesting/important words or sentences.

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XAT 2014: Improve your Reading style

Concentrate on main/important words in the sentence and while you go on reading try to link their reference to other parts. Central Idea of the passage, inferring the various types of information, goes on to cover all of them while you are reading the passage. This will help you to promptly answer the questions accurately.

XAT 2014: How to locate right answer options

Keep a plain paper and pencil with you while reading a passage and proceeding to solve the questions based on it.

The sentences and paragraphs in passage have important phrases and words that determine the main idea of the passage. Note them down, by the time you finish reading the passage you have all the material with you to answer almost all the questions based on the passage like ‘the central/main idea of the passage’; the meaning of various phrases and parts as given in the passage. You may not need third reading of the passage.

Questions on certain words used in paragraph are something to test your vocabulary. Even if they are unfamiliar you may check for the general meaning of the part of the paragraph. This will enable you to understand the options and mark your answer. 

XAT 2014 Result

The XAT 2014 Result will be declared on Friday, January 31, 2014 on the XAT 2014 website. On the basis of the XAT 2014 Result, you will be shortlisted by XLRI and other participating institutes for XAT 2014. After taking part in the Group Discussion and Personal Interview rounds, you can get the final admission offer.

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MBAUniverse.com offers a comprehensive preparation package coupled with interactive online interactive classes and reading material with Top XAT experts including from XLRIs for XAT 2014 preparation. 

Visit the link below for more information and new batch schedules:

http://www.mbauniverse.com/mba-exam-preparation/xat_preparation/xat_preparation_package.php

Stay tuned to MBAuniverse.com for more news and updates on XLRI and XAT 2014