How To Increase Your Verbal Ability Accuracy On The CAT

Crack the CAT: Tips for Verbal Ability Preparation

Comprehension of Reading

Let's begin with Reading Comprehension, which is arguably the most significant subject in the VA portion (RC). RC questions have never been absent from the CAT in any given year. While there is plenty that can be written on answering RC inquiries, I'll keep this essay short and sweet by focusing on three points:

• Selecting

A CAT aspirant typically misses the critical importance of selecting RC passages for the CAT exam. You must start with the best paragraph out of the oddball five found in the CAT. Picking the first passage should take into account the following factors:

1. The text is about: Pick the paragraph that is the shortest.
2. Subject: Pick a passage with a topic that you feel comfortable reading. For example, I favour paragraphs that are based on science or nature and avoid passages that are focused on philosophy.
3. Types of Questions: Skip the passages with inferential questions and pick the ones with descriptive questions at the end of the passage.

You should consider these three factors when choosing texts.

• Reading

As illogical as it may sound, understanding is crucial in RC. There is no way you can successfully answer the questions if you are unable to understand the passage. Therefore, it becomes crucial that you comprehend what the chapter is discussing when reading. Many candidates fall victim to the speedreading trap and read the paragraph so quickly that they are unable to recall what they have read by the end. I advise reading the passage normally and concentrating on understanding. Read the opening paragraph slowly because it sets up the author's main points. While reading the remaining section, you can read more quickly.

• Getting rid of

Become skilled at eliminating options. Options with extreme viewpoints are typically wrong. Always pick the softer alternative if you have to select between two possibilities. Make sure you read every word in the options. A tempting choice is one in which all but the final word, which completely alters the meaning of the statement, is accurate. This is a common ploy employed by those who create test questions to lure applicants into selecting the incorrect response.

Para Jumbles/Out-of-place Sentences

The second most typical question type in the CAT is the paragraph jumbles (PJ) question and its derivative, the odd sentence out question. You can use the following techniques to interpret these question types:

1. Pronouns/shortened names/surnames/nicknames

If a pronoun, such as he/she/it/they, is used in a phrase, there should typically be a preceding remark that introduces the subject. Paper setters attempt to undermine this tactic frequently by including two subjects in a para jumble and naming one of them after the pronoun for the other has been used up, confounding aspirants.

2. Tenses

In a perfect world, every sentence would be in the same tense. If a former incident is mentioned, you must make sure that any statements referencing the incident are close to one another.

3. Transitional Words

These include words like "but," "therefore," "therefore," etc. These words typically indicate which sentence came before this one in sentences that begin with them. For instance, the sentence that comes before this one will express the same concept as the present one for sentences beginning with "therefore" and "therefore," among other beginnings.

Language

Understanding grammar is similar to understanding a game. You can plan your play if you are familiar with the rules. The majority of the time, the errors are caused by discrepancies in the "number" of subjects and the singularity or plurality of the verb attached to each subject (commonly known and understood as the subject-verb agreement).

Finishing the Paragraph

The majority of the guidelines for resolving para jumbles apply to queries about paragraph completeness. Logical coherence, continuity with the previous section of the paragraph, the avoidance of introducing a new topic, maintaining the trend from general to specific or vice versa depending on the preceding phrases, continuity in terms of tenses, and other considerations are to be made here.

Analysis and Evaluation

You must once more use logic to think critically and distinguish between important and unimportant problems. You would be asked to use an appropriate response to either reinforce or weaken the argument in the form of a statement or a paragraph in the question.

Vocabulary

When it comes to the CAT, the vocabulary is not very wide and is just used for idioms and fill-in-the-blank questions. There is no need to memorize word lists, and Word Power Made Easy is, in my opinion, overrated (it adds little value and the prefixes and suffixes can be understood through focused casual reading as well).

Unspecified

There are a few other question types that sporadically appear in CAT, including Fact, Inference, and Judgement (FIJ) questions. It's better to spend less time on these questions kinds because there are more worthwhile things to do with your time in this section.