CAT 2016: Dont waste time to prepare 5 types of VARC questions; revised exam pattern omits many topics

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
November 7, 2016
CAT 2016 exam pattern as released by IIMB shares that questions on many VARC topics may not figure in the test on December 4
Now the CAT 2016 aspirants need not waste their valuable time on preparing and practicing with these topics and different type of questions

CAT 2016 exam pattern as revealed by IIM Bangalore on October 25 omits many VARC topics on which questions used to appear regularly in CAT year after year. According to Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT 2016 preparation, now the CAT 2016 aspirants need not waste their valuable time on preparing and practicing with these topics and different type of questions.

CAT 2016: Key exam features
With the release of CAT 2016 official mock test, the exact CAT 2016 exam pattern has been made clear. The exam is marked with following key features -

-- CAT 2016 exam will consist of 100 questions divided in 3 sections

-- Present will be 34 questions in the 1st section-Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) ; in 2nd section on Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) there will be 32 questions and the 3rd section on Quantitative Ability (QA) will consist of 34 questions.

-- An important aspirant friendly feature is that there will be a good number Non MCQ type of questions in CAT 2016 exam spread over the 3 sections. While VARC and QA sections are expected to have 10 non-MCQs each, the DILR section is expected to consist of 6-8 Non-MCQs

-- Total allotted time to complete the test will be 3 hours (180 minutes) divided in allocation of 1 hour time for each section.

-- You will not be allowed to move to and fro between the sections unless the allotted time for that section is over

-- All MCQs will carry a penalty of 1/3rd negative marking while there will be No Negative marking for Non-MCQs

VARC Section: Questions you need not prepare
The brunt of changes in CAT 2016 exam pattern has fallen on VARC section while the questions in DILR and QA sections remain more or less unchanged except the fact that they are divided in more MCQs and fewer Non MCQs as compared to last year exam.

CAT 2016 test takers will find a totally transformed VARC section in CAT 2016 exam since the scope of changes in source topics, question pattern, type and formation of questions is always more in Verbal Ability section.

Despite all the claims that the published one is only the CAT 2016 mock test to understand the format of CAT 2016, those who appeared in CAT 2014 and CAT 2015 might recall that the actual exam was not much different from the CAT Mock Test published by the CAT Centre.

Although it is not necessary that questions with similar content may be found in the actual examination but you cannot rule out to find the questions of similar type in the actual CAT 2016.

According to Prof S K Agarwal, Verbal Ability expert, candidates will miss the questions on many topics shared below and therefore they need not devote their time in preparing for them.

No Grammar based questions
Don’t expect any MCQ or Non-MCQ type question in VARC on correction of Grammatical Errors in sentences and paragraphs in CAT 2016. Such questions made their last appearance in CAT exam in 2014 with an increased number from 2 to 6. But now IIMs are in no mood to go ahead with such questions in CAT 2016 exam.

Those who are weak in usage of English Grammar may take a sigh of relief as the fear of losing marks due to wrong answers to the questions on error corrections no longer exists.

No questions on Vocabulary usage
Vocabulary based questions wouldn’t find place in CAT 2016. The mock test also does not share any question on contextual use of rich vocabulary. Earlier CAT exams used to have 4-5 questions on vocabulary usage, for example 1-2 questions were there on similar sounding/ confused words; 2 questions appeared to pick out the incorrect use of common words/phrasal verb; 1-2 questions were asked to fill in the blanks with most appropriate pair of  words.

The practice test for CAT 2016 has not shared even a single question on vocabulary usage and it appears that questions on Vocabulary may not be present in CAT 2016 exam, although CAT is famous for throwing surprise element in actual test.

No Question to find ‘Last sentence of Paragraph’
You should not expect any question on finding out the ‘last sentence of paragraph’ out of the given answer options. Such type of questions used to mark their presence in previous CAT exams. Hence it is also not advisable to devote time on preparing and practicing such questions.

No FIJ in CAT 2016
The new type of statement based question which was introduced in Verbal Ability section in CAT 2014 exam to identify whether the statement amounts to Fact, Inference or Judgement is also not expected to mark its presence in CAT 2016.

Question was based on 4 sequentially ordered statements. Each statement could be classified as Fact, Inference or Judgment. The question was followed by 4 options and the most appropriate option that describes the sequence of these statements had to be picked out. Such questions were not being asked in CAT exams before CAT 2014 and now they have again been withdrawn. These questions are more related to Critical reasoning. Now CAT 2016 aspirants may not expect such questions in the changed CAT 2016 exam pattern.

No Para Completion question
You will miss this type of question in CAT 2016. It used to be asked earlier but now it remains absent. So there is no need to waste your time on preparing for such questions for CAT 2016 exam.

Focus only on 4 topics
You must focus only on 4 topics to score high in VARC section in CAT 2016.

-- 24 RC Based questions: There will be 70% RC based questions in VARC section. There would be 24 RC based questions out of total 34 questions in VARC section. It is expected that CAT 2016 exam would contain 5 RC Passages. Make sure that you prepare the RC part well.

-- 3 Non-MCQs on Para Summary:  There would be 3 Non-MCQ type questions on summarizing a small paragraph of 40-50 words in a single line answer in VARC section. While the answer options for such questions will be present, CAT 2016 exam takers will have to type the answer option in the given space instead of ‘clicking’ on it. Prepare it with regular practice.

-- 4 Non-MCQs on Jumbled Paragraph: 4 non-MCQ type questions could be there on random type of Jumbled sentences in CAT 2016 exam. Again you will have to type the answer in the given space on the computer screen after forming the coherent paragraph.

-- 3 Non-MCQs on Picking the Odd sentence out: This type of question to pick the ‘out of context sentence’ after forming a coherent paragraph from the jumbled sentences was introduced in CAT in 2013. Number of such questions expected in CAT 2016 are 3. You are supposed to prepare extensively on such questions as they first required to be formed into a coherent praragraph and then you could pick the odd sentence out.

CAT 2016 aspirants need to change your next 30 days preparation strategy in accordance with the announced changes in CAT 2016 exam pattern especially for VARC.

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