Despite equal weightage on all the questions, the weightage of sub divisions in Verbal Ability in CAT 2014 will be different. According to Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability preparation, candidates should frame their preparation strategy according to weightage on various segments in Verbal Ability section and devote more time on such topics that constitute more number of questions and common type of question.

The weightage on different sections of Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension has changed with the reduced number of questions since the year 2009. There used to be 3 sections in CAT even after it became an online computer based test in 2009. While Quant, Verbal had separate sections, DI & LR were clubbed in one section. It continued till 2010 and after that entire system was streamlined. CAT got clubbed in two sections- Quant+DI and Verbal Ability+LR. Number of questions which used to vary from year to year and created more confusion became fixed to 60 with 30 in each section and the total time granted as of now is 140 minutes to solve the entire question paper.

The principal reason behind this change in both the sections was more or less same. Data interpretation was found to be more close to Quant and the candidates who had to lose out due to less proficiency in Quant were able to compensate it with 8-10 questions on DI which doesn’t require so much proficiency in Quant.

Similarly Logical Reasoning is more associated to Critical Reasoning questions in Verbal Ability section and number of candidates not so strong in Verbal Ability could score good marks by attempting more LR questions and now this is happening in CAT as a result of which more candidates from diversified back grounds are now able to score high sectional percentile and can get admission in IIMs and other top B schools

Now the Verbal Ability+ Reading comprehension (taken together) has 20 questions and 10 questions are assigned to Logical reasoning in this section. If you attempt 12 questions from Verbal & RC and 6 questions from LR with 95% accuracy, it may award you with more than 90 percentile in this section.

Know the composition of Verbal Ability section

There are in total 30 questions in this section to be solved in 70 minutes. Probably none of the candidates solve all the questions fearing imposition of penalty marks. As such a candidate armed with the accurate solution of 22-24 questions get 99+ percentile in this section

The weightage at present, to various questions, as envisaged would be somewhat as given in the following table (based on the trend since CAT 2011)

Question segment                                                              Weightage to total %age of marks

Sentence correction/fill in the blanks                                                 12-15%

Grammar/phrases                                                                                5-8%

Correct usage/Vocabulary                                                                  10-15%

 Para jumbles/last sentence of paragraph                                          15-20%

Reading comprehension *                                                                  35-45%

(*CAT-2013 had 10 questions on RC out of 30 in VA/LR section 10 VA+10RC+10LR. 1/3rd weightage goes to RC) 

Parts of Verbal Ability

1. Error correction in paragraphs and sentences- Error correction in sentences forms an important part of Verbal Ability section in CAT/XAT/IIFT or any other reputed MBA entrance examination. If you can’t write a well worded grammatically correct sentence, how can you expect to communicate well in your managerial position in an organization? 

CAT asks 2-3 questions with a Weightage of 9 to 12 marks to the error correction questions and it may improve your percentile by 20 to 30. Error correction could be in correct usage of Grammar, punctuation, spelling, Tenses, compound or specific words- these areas are considered as the foundation on which the entire building of English language stands.

2. Correct Vocabulary Usage- Understanding the usage of vocabulary is very important. It is an important part of Verbal Ability section in CAT.  Correct Vocabulary usage can only empower you to communicate well in your managerial position. Despite the close synonyms – every word has specific usage – one cannot write ‘Pretty Boy’ or ‘Handsome woman’ -although pretty and handsome are the synonyms.

CAT is expected to have 3-4 questions on vocabulary usage with a Weightage of 9 to 12 marks to the questions based on correct usage of vocabulary and it may improve your percentile by 20 to 30.

3. Solving questions based on Reading Comprehension passages- CAT 2013 had ten questions based on RC passages.  With 3 marks assigned to each question an aspirant can score 30 marks out of three given Reading Comprehension passages. It constitutes one third of the Verbal Ability and LR section and 50 percent of the verbal ability part. One can imagine the importance of Reading comprehension part which may increase the percentile quite substantially.

Make it the regular practice to read the editorials, articles in the news paper, underline the difficult words-search out their meanings and put them to use in writing, in conversation etc.

4. Jumbled Paragraphs-   This part in CAT gives Weightage of 12 to 18 marks.  There were 4 to 6 questions in CAT 2013 of different types. This may improve percentile by 24 to 40

Following Sub-Topics require to be covered in paragraph preparation module-

a. Parajumbles - There are four types of jumbled paragraphs which may appear in CAT examination. It is of utmost importance to understand and solve the various types with ease.

b. Completion of last sentence in the paragraph – Concept, strategy to solve, exercises should be regularly solved. Tips are available on MBAUniverse.com site without any cost involved.

c. Out of Context sentence in jumbled paragraphs – This type of question appeared in CAT 2012 and CAT 2013, aspirants were confused. The concept was to decode the jumbled paragraph and pick out the out of context sentence as well.

Which part requires more attention; Preparation Strategy

The four parts of Verbal Ability section are interlinked and need devoted study pattern. With a view to form the preparation strategy for CAT 2014 you should devote your time as follows

RC- This part can be well prepared if you have well reading skills and your vocabulary is also well stocked.  So to prepare for this read more find out the meaning and references of the vocabulary words and next day find out how much you have improved. Attempting the mocks is a good idea but should not be opted in the beginning. It might require more than half an hour a day initially.

Jumbled sentences- It is a pure practice based module. Crack more cross word puzzles, exercises on jumbled paragraphs to gain expertise. Devote 20 minutes every day

Vocabulary- How much you can learn and how much you can use the words in context depends upon you. There is no shortage of material but your learning should be followed by regular practice. Questions on usage of common words and phrasal verbs are also present in CAT. Hence the best is to use regularly whatever you have learnt.

Error correction- Strong fundamental building is definitely required. Without this even the other 3 parts might ditch you and you may not be able to understand the tricky use of grammar and tenses in RC, parajumbles making the entire preparation futile.  It will be better to devote around 20-30 minutes to build your fundamentals beginning with grammar.

Practicing and solving more and more exercises will bring good level of confidence, speed, and accuracy.

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