FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
From living as a single parent on state profits to a multi-millionaire today, J.K. Rowling has progressed beyond anyone's expectations from her humble beginnings and is a true embodiment of the 'rags to riches' story.
Quite often , Rowling has credited her impressive accomplishments to her capability to center all her concentration on the things that mattered to her the most.
The success of the Harry Potter series is a tribute to her narrative talent and a reminder that everybody has a hidden ability inside him or her. You simply need to connect to it and allow it to blossom.
If you are going to bell the CAT you must leverage your strengths and conquer your weaknesses !
Over the following months we will learn how !
Regards
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FORMAT OF CAT 2014?
After Prometric's "fantastic" performance over the last 5 years the IIMs may change the service provider and forums like Pagalguy.com claim that Tata Consultancy Services has been appointed as the next CAT testing agency
This may be important for students since a change in agency may mean a change in the structure of the exam itself!
The details of CAT 2013 were as follows -
The CAT 2013 will have only two sections. The first section isQuantitative Ability & Data Interpretation; the second section isVerbal Ability & Logical Reasoning. These two sections will be implemented sequentially with separate time limits. The examination will be 140 minutes. Candidates will have 70 minutes to answer 30 questions within each section which will have an on-screen countdown timer. Within the 70 min provided for the section, candidates can review the answers. Once the time ends for the first section, they will move to the second section and will no longer be able to go back.
Source - http://www.cat2013.iimidr.ac.in/testduration_patterns.htm
The above division means that a student needs to focus hard on LR
and and in order to taget an IIM call the following break up may be needed
LR - 9 RC -5 - VA -5 - 100% accuracy
You can read this article on the same theme
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How to get 99 percentile in Section II of the CAT
In the pursuit of that perfect VA score a lot of students tend to not focus on the big picture in the CAT. For example the average CAT aspirant will go hell for leather for Fill in the Blanks (FIB ), Word Usage (WU) , Commonly Confused Words ( CCW) and Sentence Correction (SC). The problem is that for most aspirants the probability of getting these questions correct is around the same as our beloved Prime Minister becoming loquacious anytime soon. It may happen any day. Or never.
So how do we hit that coveted 99 percentile? (By the way - this article is designed to add a few words to your vocabulary range - hence the verbosity)
We must realize that Section 2 is very clearly divided between 2 types of questions
Type A - These types of questions are skill based and can be improved by practice . You do a 100 LR sets / RC passages and you become better at the 101st one.These questions include LR RC PJ PC and CR
Type B - These types of questions are purely knowledge based. Solving even 300 FIBs / SCs/ WUs does not guarantee you that you can crack the next question! Each one is a separate unit and rarely do derivations work specially with a weak base in English
Target 1 : Logical Reasoning Questions : CAT will throw 3 sets at you . (Or 2 sets plus one off puzzles ) You need to crack ALL OF THESE or kiss top IIM calls goodbye!
And so please ensure that your coverage of LR types of questions is absolutely thorough!
LR PROBLEM TYPES TO BE COVERED
Venn Diagrams
Cubes
Binary Logic
Truth Teller and Liar sets
Seating Arrangement problems
Circular Arrangements
Blood Relations
Mapping and best routes
Games and Tournaments
Selection of Teams with Conditionals
Sense of Direction
Syllogisms and Logical Deductions
Puzzles ( Shakuntala Devi , George Summers , Martin Gardner)
Critical Reasoning
Statements Assumptions Conclusions
Deductions and Inductions
CAT/ XAT LR questions of last 6-8 years
Cracking LR is also significant for another reason. In CAT 12 many aspirants were surprised to find LR questions in Section 1 as well. Quite a few CAT takers had to tackle 5 LR sets in the paper !!
QUESTIONS CRACKED :9
Target 2 : Crack the RC Questions . At least 2 out of 3 paragraphs must be attempted with complete accuracy. How to achieve this ?
Refer :1) How to Analyse Reading Comprehension Passages of Mocks
2) RC Prep
QUESTIONS CRACKED :6
Target 3 : Solve all Parajumble and Paracompletion and Critical Reasoning questions
Gyan on these topics:
Critical Reasoning questions are also instrumental in solving some RC questions ( inference , conclusion and assumption based questions)
QUESTIONS CRACKED :3
Target 4 : FIBs CCWs WUs SCs
Reference: Phrasal Verbs
QUESTIONS CRACKED :3
TOTAL QUESTIONS CRACKED : 21 + = SUCCESS
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What constitutes the English portion of the CAT?
VA + RC + SC + CR = English fpr CAT
You CANNOT attack CAT without a plan !!
Divide Section 2 into two parts
Part 1
LR +RC+CR+PJ +PC
Part 2
All the rest ( FIB, PV, CCW, SC, WU)
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What questions come in VA??
Getting an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) call is the ultimate 'Holy Grail' for a CAT aspirant. But the quest itself is an arduous journey. And a good road map helps in making the journey easier. The hallmark of a good road map is to provide markers with the ups and downs of the journey. Keeping this in mind, let's take a look at the different types questions that you can expect in the VA part of the CAT.
VA is an important part of the whole (CAT Paper) and can be positioned at any part of the exam. In the beginning, in the middle or at the end. The positioning will differ even for students appearing in the same slot. The student can use the review button to toggle across sections and to choose which section he/she wants to attempt first.
The whole history of the CAT exam is such that the content of the paper have been shrouded in darkness except for a brief period of disclosure and light from 2003 - 2008 when aspirants were allowed to take home the CAT paper. Otherwise in the periods before 2003 and after 2008, students had no option but to depend on the coaching institutes to understand the type of questions that could appear in the CAT paper. In fact, in the pre -2003 period, at least students got a glimpse of the previous years' paper in the current year's prospectus. But post 2009, there has been no way of getting to know the exact questions that can appear in the CAT paper.
If we analyse the questions between 2003 -2008, we can see the major groups of Questions are under:
1. Parajumbles - - A jumbled set of sentences is given and you have to unjumble them.
2. Fill in the Blanks - A sentence is given from which 1 to 2 words have been removed and from the options given - you have to choose the best fit.
3. Sentence Correction : Sentences with grammatical mistakes are given and you have to identify which of those sentences are grammatically correct/incorrect.
4. Para-completion also called Deleted Sentences : A sentence (at the beginning or in the middle or at the end) is deleted from the paragraph. You have to identify which of the answer options is a good fit in the context of the passage. -
5. Inference Fact Judgement : You are given sentences and asked to identify whether it is an inference, fact or a judgement.Broadly speaking F is verifiable data ; I is a conclusion based on facts and J is an opinion. For more details refer here. -l
6. Critical Reasoning : These are question which present a main argument and the aspirant is asked whether the question statements would strengthen/weaken the argument.etc. and other similar types of analytical questions. These questions are especially important because they have been part of other online tests like GMAT etc.
7. Commonly Confused Words : These are pairs of words and you have to identify which word of the pair is appropriate in the context of the sentence.For example, you may have to choose between elude/delude while trying to fill in the blanks for a sentence. These types of questions have been coming quite frequently in the last four years.
8.Idioms: Idioms are defined by the Free Dictionary as a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in' keep tabs on' means keeping track of somebody's movement. Idioms can be part of the Verbal Ability test whereby the same word may be used in a number of sentences and the aspirant is asked to identify where it is incorrectly /correctly used.
9. Phrasal Verbs : A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition, any of which are part of the syntax of the sentence, and so are a complete semantic unit. Sentences may contain direct and indirect objects in addition to the phrasal verb. Phrasal verbs are particularly frequent in the English language. A phrasal verb often has a meaning which is different from the original verb.- (Source Wikipedia). Example - He is looking after the kids. here 'looking after' means taking care of the kids.
Reference :http://www.phrasalverbdemon.com/
10. Figures of Speech --- A figure of speech is the use of a word or words which diverge from the usual meaning. It can also be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, or a phrase with a specialised meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it. Ref: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech
Apart from the above, there are 3 more elements that are critical to the VA paper which are also applicable to the other sections as well.
a) Decision Making - You have to be very clear in terms of deciding which questions to do and which questions to leave out. Not all questions are meant to be done ! Some are purposely put there to consume your time!! Sometimes questions may carry unequal weightage (as in 2004, 2005) : then you have to decide whether attempting a 2-marks question is better than attempting a 1-mark one. This is crucial because the paper setters will slip in 2-3 questions in the 2 marks section which are less time consuming than the 1 mark section. Inside the 1 mark section there might be questions which are more time consuming than the 2 marks questions. People will often advise that you attempt everything in the English section. Please don't do that if you are not comfortable with the last few questions. You will only end up with negative marks!
b) Execution / Time Management : Once you have decided what is to be done -- just do it. Allot time to each question based on the amount of marks it carries in proportion to the marks of the full paper. Never exceed this time quota by more than a minute or two. In the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 the CAT paper had printing mistakes. For all you know, you are not able to arrive at an answer because of a printing mistake! (It could very well be lack of conceptual clarity also!)
c) Stress Management: Dont' Panic!! There are many candidates who can solve the same paper comfortably at home but panic in an exam situation. Just one piece of advice - Treat every mock CAT seriously, as if it were the real CAT paper. And take the real CAT like a mock CAT, with a calm frame of mind!
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In our question Bank - Today we will tackle
PARAJUMBLES
THEORY
Why are PJ questions important?
Para-jumbles are significant because they have been regularly appearing in the CAT and other MBA entrance tests. There is a good chance of three para-jumble questions appearing in the 20 questions of the Verbal Ability (VA) section. Which means that if you cracked the para-jumbles correctly --- 20% of your VA score stands secured (assuming that you will attempt 15-odd questions in the this section).
Secondly and more importantly --- PJs are one of those questions of the CAT in which you can improve your skills dramatically within a short span of time. Engineers have a special fondness for PJs as they appeal to the need for symmetry in their souls and let's face it --- it is probably one of the few areas of CAT VA where the scope of ambiguity is limited!
Types of PJ questions
Para-jumbles broadly fall in three categories. In each category, the jumbled sentences are coded with an alphabet (usually A, B, C and D).
1. 4/5 sentences are given in a random order and you have to unjumble all of them. Toughest of the lot!
2. The opening sentence + 4/5 sentences are given and you have to rearrange the group of 4/5 sentences, having been given prior knowledge of the thought that starts off the flow of the discussion.
3. 4/5 sentences + the closing sentence is given and you need to correctly sequence 4/5 sentences so that they flow into the last sentence.
4. Opening sentence + 4/5 Sentences + Closing Sentence are given. Easiest of the lot. You know where the story starts and where it ends. You only have to figure out the screenplay in between!
The smartest approach
a) The best approach to solving PJ questions is the 'free fall' one. That is, develop a high reading speed and scan all 4-5 sentences. Try to get a feel of what the passage is about.
b) At this point you need to decide whether this particular paragraph is one which you are comfortable with or not.
c) If you decide to go ahead, then scan the answer options. Are they of any help?
If , for example the options are,
a) BDAC b) BCAD c) CABD d) CBDA
Then you know for sure that this paragraph has to start either with B or C. A quick look at B and C will tell you which one looks like a better opening sentence and already your choices will be halved.
Similarly, with options,
a) BDCA b) CDBA c) DCAB d) ACDB
then we know that it has to end with either B or A. So browse sentences A and B and see if any one of them look like a concluding sentence.
There might be other indicators to keep an eye out for. For example if three of the five options start with A and the other two with C/B/D there is a good probability that A is the starting sentence.
If, say, a link CB occurs in more than 2 options then it is something worth paying attention to.
PJ strategies to save time and increase accuracy
Strategy 1: Once upon a time long ago... / ...and they lived happily after: Identify the opening/closing sentence using what we discussed above. Either the tone of the paragraph or the option elimination method.
Strategy 2: Where's the interlock dude? Identify links between two sentences and try to see if that link exists in multiple answer options (a sure way to know that you are on the right track). A combination of 1 and 2 will take you home most of the time.
Place your magnifying glass on the following,
Strategy 2a: Make it 'personal'. Look out for personal pronouns (he, she, it, him, her, you, they). Personal pronouns always refer to a person, place or thing. Therefore, if a sentence has a personal pronoun without mentioning the person, place or object it is referring to, mark it in your head and scan the paragraph for the original person, place or object that it refers to.
For example if you go back to the opening jumbled paragraph of this article, the third sentence starts with 'it'. We now need to figure out what 'it' refers to and the sentence containing the original 'it' will come before this sentence.
Strategy 2b: Look for 'Poriborton' (Change, in Mamata Banerjee's tongue). Certain words called 'transition words' help the author to shift from one thought flow to another. In other words, they usher in change. Some transition words that appear regularly are --- hence, besides, simultaneously, in conclusion, etc. While you practice PJs whenever you come across a transition word --- note it down. Make a list!
Strategy 2c: Demonstrate! Look for demonstrative pronouns --- this, that, these, those, etc. Again, if you look at our opening paragraph, the first line starts with 'for this' --- now we know that we need to figure out what 'this' refers to and the sentence containing the original 'this' will come before this sentence.
Strategy 3: Main samay hoon! Sometimes the events mentioned in the paragraph can be arranged in a chronological order making it easy for you to identify the sequence. Example,
A: Alexander Bain, Scottish clockmaker, patented the electric clock.
B: The next development in accuracy occurred after 1656 with the invention of the pendulum clock.
C: Clocks have played an important role in man's history.
D: Spring-driven clocks appeared during the 15th century, although they are often erroneously credited to Nuremberg watchmaker Peter Henlen around 1511.
It is quite obvious by studying the chronology what the sequence should be.
Strategy 4: The Chota Rajan Approach. Sometimes you will find that for some terms in the paragraph both the full form and the abbreviation have been used. For Example IMF --- International Monetary Fund, Charles Dickens --- Dickens, Dr Manmohan Singh --- Dr Singh. In these cases where both the full form as well as the abbreviation is present in different sentences, then the sentence containing the full form will obviously come before the sentence containing the abbreviation.
Strategy 5: What an Idea Sirji! If there are two sentences, one containing an idea and another giving examples of the same idea then the sentence containing the idea should come before the sentence containing the examples. But they need not necessarily be exactly side by side. Example,
A: Russia possesses the largest stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in the world.
B: 489 missiles carrying up to 1,788 warheads and 12 submarines carrying up to 609 warheads form a looming threat.
A will come before B in this case, even though there might be sentences in between.
Strategy 6: An article of faith. It is highly unlikely that the definite article 'the' will be part of an opening sentence. If 'a/an' and 'the' both are used for the same noun then the sentence containing 'the' will come after the sentence containing a/an.
Tips for beginners
Focus on improving your reading skills. Also try to improve your cognitive ability. For example --- Go to a random website article. Go immediately to the second paragraph and after reading it try to guess what the author could have possibly said in the previous paragraph and the next paragraph. This will help you with a couple of other types of questions as well which we shall discuss in later articles.
Tips for the 99 percentilers
Whenever you solve para-jumbles the accuracy and speed is a function of how quickly you can become comfortable with the topic. So from today for every PJ you solve, plug a sentence from the PJ into Google which will throw up the source of that PJ or similar articles. Read up that article fully. This will broaden the base of your reading.
To-do practice activity for all of you
Team up with another friend. Both of you select passages from newspaper editorials, magazines, etc. Paste them to Microsoft Word. Break them up into sentences. Jumble up the sentences. Exchange and solve.
Article 2 on Parajumbles - Source - Lofoya
What are Parajumbles?
Parajumbles are jumbled paragraphs. Basically, you are given a paragraph – but the sentences are not in the right order. It's up to you to untie this knot and rearrange the sentences so that they logically make sense. Normally instructions for this type of questions will read "Choose the most logical order of sentences from among the given choices to construct a coherent paragraph". Given below would be 4 or 5 perplexing sentences which he would need to sort and arrange like a jigsaw puzzle. Sounds fun? It is. If one knows how to go about it, that is. Solving jumbled paragraphs is a science. It is so much of a science that you can obtain an accuracy of 100% even if you are not a good reader.
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Establish Link Between Two Sentences and Then Examine The Options
Suppose you establish the link 'BA'. The given options are:
(a) DABC (b) ACDB (c) CBAD (d) DBAC.
Now you are left with option (c) and (d) to examine. You read the sentences in the order given by these two options and use your methods again to determine which one is correct.
Is establishing links between two sentences easy?
Not ALWAYS!!! However, easy or not, you can certainly establish links between two or more sentences with the help of some friends found in the sentences. These friends are:
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TRANSITION WORDS
Transition words make the shift from one idea to another very smooth. They organize and connect the sentences logically. Observing the transition words found in a sentence can often give you a clue about the sentence that will come before/after that particular sentence. Given below are some commonly used transition words:
also, again, as well as, besides, furthermore, in addition, likewise, moreover, similarly, consequently, hence, otherwise, subsequently, therefore, thus, as a rule, generally, for instance, for example, for one thing, above all, aside from, barring, besides, in other words, in short, instead, likewise, on one hand, on the other hand, rather, similarly, yet, but, however, still, nevertheless, first of all, to begin with, at the same time, for now, for the time being, in time, later on, meanwhile, next, then, soon, the meantime, later, while, earlier, simultaneously, afterward, in conclusion, with this in mind, after all, all in all to sum-up.
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Transition Words: Example from CAT
So how does knowledge of transition words helps us in parajumbles? Try out this CAT question:
(CAT 2001)
A. But in the industrial era destroying the enemy's productive capacity means bombing the factories which are located in the cities.
B. So in the agrarian era, if you need to destroy the enemy's productive capacity, what you want to do is bum his fields, or if you're really vicious, salt them.
C. Now in the information era, destroying the enemy's productive capacity means destroying the information infrastructure.
D. How do you do battle with your enemy?
E. The idea is to destroy the enemy's productive capacity, and depending upon the economic foundation, that productive capacity is different in each case F. With regard to defence, the purpose of the military is to defend the nation and be prepared to do battle with its enemy.
1. FDEBAC 2. FCABED 3. DEBACF 4. DFEBAC
Answer:
Look at the transition word "but" in the first sentence. It signifies that the sentence is expressing an idea contrary to an idea expressed in some previous sentence. Now we need to find that previous sentence. If we further look at the beginning of the first sentence, it says "but in the industrial era..." which suggests that the contrariness is with respect to eras. Looking further, we see that sentence B and C are also starting with statement about eras. But the transition word at the start of C is "now" which expresses present era and hence it cannot chronologically come before any other past era. That is, if information era is the present era, talk about any other era will come before this. So sentence B is the correct sentence to come before the first sentence.
Likewise, sentence C is the correct sentence to come after the first sentence (sentence C is continuing the idea). Therefore, we have the link BAC.
We see that option 1, 3 and 4 all have the link BAC. Furthermore, all the three options have the link EBAC. Therefore, we only need to arrange D and F. The sentence F states that "The purpose is...to battle with the enemy" and D questions "how do you battle with the enemy?" Therefore, D will come after F.
Hence FDEBAC is the correct arrangement.
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PERSONAL PRONOUNS
Personal pronouns are he, she, it, him, her, they, you, your etc. Remember that personal pronouns always refer to a person, place or thing etc. Therefore, if a sentence contains a personal pronoun without mentioning the person, place or object it is referring to, the person, place or object must have come in the previous sentence. Often, this is a good lead to identify a link.
Personal Pronouns: Example from CAT: 1
(CAT 2001)
A. Although there are large regional variations, it is not infrequent to find a large number of people sitting here and there and doing nothing.
B. Once in office, they receive friends and relatives who feel free to call any time without prior appointment.
C. While working, one is struck by the slow and clumsy actions and reactions, indifferent attitudes, procedure rather than outcome orientation, and the lack of consideration for others.
D. Even those who are employed often come late to the office and leave early unless they are forced to be punctual.
E. Work is not intrinsically valued in India.
F. Quite often people visit ailing friends and relatives or go out of their way to help them in their personal matters even during office hours.
1. ECADBF 2. EADCFB 3. EADBFC 4. ABFCBE
Answer:
Look at the personal pronoun "they" in sentence B: Once in office, they receive friends and relatives who feel free to call any time without prior appointment. This they must be referring to some people. The reference to some people only comes in sentences A, D, and F. Therefore, one of the sentences will come before sentence B. Let's see the link AB, DB, and FB;
Link AB- Although there are large regional variations, it is not infrequent to find a large number of people sitting here and there and doing nothing. Once in office, they receive friends and relatives who feel free to call any time without prior appointment.
Link DB- Even those who are employed often come late to the office and leave early unless they are forced to be punctual. Once in office, they receive friends and relatives who feel free to call any time without prior appointment.
Link FB- Quite often people visit ailing friends
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