CAT 2014 New Exam pattern: More options available; use smartly to choose from

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
November 4, 2014
More questions on more topics and variety of questions with different accent would appear in CAT 2014
Aspirants should not stick to the type of questions that appear in the practice test but should prepare and practice variety of questions on different topics
More questions on more topics and variety of questions with different accent would appear in CAT 2014. CAT Centre 2014 has issued an important notification after publication of CAT 2014 full length practice test “The objective of Mock CAT 2014 is to give the candidate an experience of the testing console. Question content and difficulty level is for demonstration purposes and will be different for the actual exam.”

The notification goes to clarify and shares the hidden guideline that the aspirants should not stick to the type of questions that appear in the practice test but should prepare and practice variety of questions on different topics.  Dr Rohit Kapoor, Faculty IIM Indore and CAT 2014 convener has briefly but categorically advised the CAT 2014 aspirants to “Gear up yourself and give your best”.  

CAT 2014: Expect more questions of similar type

With number of changes in the CAT 2014 new exam pattern, the practice test is supposed to be a good and authenticated guide. CAT 2014 aspirants can now very well familiarize themselves by practicing more variety of questions on similar and other pattern as many times as they like.

100 questions: More opportunities to choose from

There will be 100 questions on different topics and types in CAT 2014. Apart from the pattern suggested in CAT 2014 practice test the actual exam might contain questions on other pattern also. The questions will be divided in 2 sections with 50 questions each. Total allotted time to complete the test will be 170 minutes. Candidates can freely switch from one section to other during the overall time limit.

Earlier there were 60 questions in CAT. The candidates who could attempt 20-22 questions in each section with accuracy used to find their names among high percentilers. In view of Prof S K Agarwal, Verbal ability expert and mentor on CAT preparation if you are able to solve 34-38 questions in each section with accuracy you can expect a very high percentile.  The possibility is more since more number of questions on varying topics are available to attempt.

Verbal Ability: Practice more on following

6-7 questions on use of Grammar might appear in CAT 2014. Most of the topics covered are usage of articles, Adverbs, punctuation, adjectives, Nouns, Pronouns (Relative, personal, reflexive), Subject-verb agreement, detection of misplaced and dangling modifier, using the conditional sentences and so on so forth. According to Prof S K Agarwal, Verbal Ability expert  although practice test contains 7 questions of paragraph type, there could be questions on detecting the errors in the section of a sentence or rewriting the part or complete sentence and choose the most appropriate option out of the 4 given answer options.

See the example question

Q.1 Direction: In the following question there are four sentences or parts of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or part(s) that is/are incorrect or inappropriate in terms of grammar including, spelling, punctuation and usage. Select the option that indicates grammatically correct and appropriate sentence(s) out of the given options that follow the paragraph.

1. When virtuoso teams begin their work, individuals are in and group consensus is out.

2. As project progresses, however, the individual stars harness themselves to the product of the group.

3. Sooner or later, the members break through their own egocentrism and become a plurality with single-minded focus on the goal.

4. In short, they morph into a powerful team with a shared identity.   

1. A&C  2.A&D  3.B&D  4.A,C&D

How to choose the option now

Prof S K Agarwal suggests the aspirants to go for elimination method. If you can find out one sentence which is correct or incorrect, the thread is with you. Begin searching the options which indicate what you wish to eliminate and you will arrive at the right answer option.

Explained answer

Let us understand how to arrive at the appropriate answer option. Sentence A has correct use of conditional beginning with ‘when’ along with the usage of singular, plural and therefore is correct on subject verb agreement. Sentence ‘B’ talks about some project which must have been discussed prior to this paragraph. Now ‘project’ is predefined so use definite article ‘the’ before project. ‘B’ therefore is not correct. Sentence ‘C’, if you give a close reading has used indefinite article ‘a’ before plurality but the said article is missing before ‘single minded’ which makes the sentence not properly placed. It should be ‘a single-minded’. ‘C’ is inappropriate. ‘D’ has correctly used the article ‘a’ and is appropriately placed. Hence the correct answer option is 2.A&D

Opposite type of questions on error correction

You may also find following type of questions on error correction. Question above asks you to pick out the sentences which are correct and appropriate. The other type could ask you to pick out the incorrect sentence in the paragraph. Look at the following example

Direction: In each question there are four sentences or parts of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or part(s) that is/are incorrect in terms of grammar including, spelling, punctuation and usage. Pick out the most appropriate option, out of the given options that indicates the incorrect or inappropriate sentences..
 
Q.2

A. Children learn easily what they see but
B. life of the people in this area is difficult  because
C.there isn’t enough water. Although I have tried a lot,
D. the Japanese as I found, is a difficult language.

1.A&B  2.C&D  3. A&C  4. B&D

 

Q.3

A. I can’t play piano but she plays basket in a
B. famous team. Do you know music you’re listening to
C. isn’t modern but it’s very catchy. It has been a long wait,
D. since the friends I was waiting for arrived this morning.

1.A only   2. C only    3.A&B    4.C&D

Explained answer

Ans Q.2 – 4.B&D are incorrect. B the life; no definite article before name of  language like Japanese, Hindi, English.

Ans. Q.3 – 3-A&B - …’the piano’-musical instrument used for its basic purpose; ..’the music’…..
 
More questions on correction of Grammatical Errors on the existing CAT pattern or other pattern like error correction in sections of a sentence or rewriting the parts or complete sentences might appear in CAT 2014. In earlier CAT exams there used to be 1 or 2 such questions in a session. Now there are expected 5-7 questions of such type in CAT 2014.

Related Links

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Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT 2014 exam pattern