MBA / CAT SPECIA .............................How to deal with CAT’s verbal section

How to deal with CAT’s verbal section

WAY WITH WORDS Attempt questions from a topic you are well-versed with in the English section of the test

VOCABULARY AND SENTENCE CORRECTION ARE KNOWLEDGE-BASED QUESTIONS AND SHOULD ONLY BE ATTEMPTED IF YOU ARE CONFIDENT THAT YOU KNOW THE ANSWER.

A third of the CAT paper comprises of questions that check your verbal skills. More often than not, this is the Achilles heel for a majority of CAT takers. In this article, we look at the key issues that need to be tackled to ace the verbal section.

In the VA section, attempt only those questions that you are sure of to avoid negative marking. THINKSTOCK

To understand the section, we will look carefully at the question types that appear in English or the VA (verbal ability) section and identify the skills required to answer them and the approach to attempting these questions.

Reading comprehension (RC) covers varied topics and the questions are either factual or inferential. As a test-taker, attempt the passages that are from a subject you are comfortable with. If you are not good in critical reasoning, leave the inferential questions. This strategy will help you cut down on the negative score and gain leverage on the sections you understand better.

Vocabulary questions are knowledge-based and can be answered correctly only if you know the meaning of the word and/or of the choices. It is advisable to leave these questions if you are not able to remember the answer in a single reading.

Sentence correction, like vocabulary, is based on your knowledge. If you do not know the rules of grammar to be applied, you are unlikely to get it correct and hence the question should be left unattempted.

Sentence correction and vocabulary-based questions typically contribute towards the most of the negative score of students because of the low chance of guessing. Guesswork should be avoided in all such questions. We suggest that you read the question once and mark the answer, only if you are sure about it.

Sentence completion (fill-inthe-blanks) questions are based on your strength of vocabulary as well as grammar but can be worked out based on the context and elimination of choices, especially if the question has more than one blank. It will be worth your while to read the question statement two or three times.

Parajumbles and deductive logic are logic-based questions and need no prior knowledge. Use of choices is a great help in answering them. Critical reasoning and para completion questions should be attempted only if you understand the logic.

All VA questions look easy to solve so one might be tempted to attempt all questions. However, the golden rule is to leave the question when in doubt.

Here are some rules f or attempting the VA section. A paper is not a place for chance attempts, hence try a new type of question only if you can peg it to an existing question type which you know Read the question as well as the choices When in doubt skip it. In Round 1 (R1) sequentially attempt the following questions: Vocabulary and sentence completion, grammar, deductive l ogic, parajumbles. Glance through the RC passages to understand the length, subject and the question type of the passage. In Round 2, attempt logical reasoning, critical reasoning, para- completion and summary questions, and in Round 3, attempt the RC passages. If these rules don’t seem to work in mock tests, create your own.

Compiled by HT Education and Career Launcher