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Getting an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) call is the
ultimate Holy Grail for a CATaspirant. But the quest itself is an
arduous journey. And a good road map helps in making thejourney
easier. The hallmark of a good road map is to provide markers with
the ups anddowns of the journey. Keeping this in mind, lets take a
look at the different types questionsthat 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 theexam. In the beginning, in the middle
or at the end. The positioning will differ even forstudents
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 shroudedin darkness except for a brief period
of disclosure and light from 2003 2008 when aspirantswere allowed
to take home the CAT paper. Otherwise in the periods before 2003
and after2008, students had no option but to depend on the coaching
institutes to understand the typeof questions that could appear in
the CAT paper. In fact, in the pre -2003 period, at leaststudents
got a glimpse of the previous years paper in the current years
prospectus. But post2009, there has been no way of getting to know
the exact questions that can appear in theCAT paper.
If we analyse the questions between 2003 -2008, we can see the
major groups of Questionsare under:
1. Parajumbles - A jumbled set of sentences is given and you
have to unjumblethem.
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61598-parajumbles-for-cat-2011-a.html
Refer
.http://www.pagalguy.com/2011/06/the-pagalguy-guide-to-para-jumbles/
..
2. Fill in the Blanks A sentence is given from which 1 to 2
words have been removed andfrom the options given you have to
choose the best fit.
http://www.pagalguy.com/2011/07/forum/english-resources/63722-fill-in-blanks-cat-2011-a.html
3. Sentence Correction : Sentences with grammatical mistakes are
given and you have toidentify which of those sentences are
grammatically correct/incorrect.
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61597-sentence-correction-for-cat-2011-a.html
4. Para-completion also called Deleted Sentences : A sentence
(at the beginning or in themiddle or at the end) is deleted from
the paragraph. You have to identify which of the answeroptions is a
good fit in the context of the passage. -
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/62055-para-completion-sentence-deletion-cat.html
5. Inference Fact Judgement : You are given sentences and asked
to identify whether it is aninference, fact or a judgement.Broadly
speaking F is verifiable data ; I is a conclusion basedon facts and
J is an opinion. For more details refer
here.-http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/62056-fact-inference-judgement-cat-2011-a.html
6. Critical Reasoning : These are question which present a main
argument and the aspirantis asked whether the question statements
would strengthen/weaken the argument.etc. and
other similar types of analytical questions. These questions are
especially important becausethey have been part of other online
tests like GMAT etc.
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61598-parajumbles-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61598-parajumbles-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/2011/06/the-pagalguy-guide-to-para-jumbles/http://www.pagalguy.com/2011/06/the-pagalguy-guide-to-para-jumbles/http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/63722-fill-in-blanks-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/63722-fill-in-blanks-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61597-sentence-correction-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61597-sentence-correction-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61597-sentence-correction-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61597-sentence-correction-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/62056-fact-inference-judgement-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/62056-fact-inference-judgement-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61598-parajumbles-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61598-parajumbles-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/2011/06/the-pagalguy-guide-to-para-jumbles/http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/63722-fill-in-blanks-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/63722-fill-in-blanks-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61597-sentence-correction-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61597-sentence-correction-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61597-sentence-correction-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/61597-sentence-correction-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/62056-fact-inference-judgement-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/62056-fact-inference-judgement-cat-2011-a.html
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http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/64412-critical-reasoning-for-cat-2011-a.html
7. Commonly Confused Words : These are pairs of words and you
have to identify whichword of the pair is appropriate in the
context of the sentence.For example, you may have tochoose between
elude/delude while trying to fill in the blanks for a sentence.
These types ofquestions have been coming quite frequently in the
last four years.
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/44418-commonly-confused-words.html
8.Idioms: Idioms are defined by the Free Dictionary as a speech
form or an expression of agiven language that is peculiar to itself
grammatically or cannot be understood from theindividual meanings
of its elements, as in keep tabs on means keeping track of
somebodysmovement. Idioms can be part of the Verbal Ability test
whereby the same word may be usedin a number of sentences and the
aspirant is asked to identify where it is incorrectly
/correctlyused.
9. Phrasal Verbs : A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and
a preposition, a verb and anadverb, or a verb with both an adverb
and a preposition, any of which are part of the syntax ofthe
sentence, and so are a complete semantic unit. Sentences may
contain direct and indirectobjects in addition to the phrasal verb.
Phrasal verbs are particularly frequent in the Englishlanguage. 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 takingcare 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 divergefrom 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 meaningof the words in it. Ref:
Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech
Apart from the above, there are 3 more elements that are
critical to the VA paper which arealso applicable to the other
sections as well.
a) Decision Making - You have to be very clear in terms of
deciding which questions to doand which questions to leave out. Not
all questions are meant to be done ! Some arepurposely put there to
consume your time!! Sometimes questions may carry unequalweightage
(as in 2004, 2005) : then you have to decide whether attempting a
2-marks questionis better than attempting a 1-mark one. This is
crucial because the paper setters will slip in 2-3questions 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 dont do that if you are
not comfortable with the last few questions. You will only endup
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 marksof the full
paper. Never exceed this time quota by more than a minute or two.
In the years2006, 2007 and 2008 the CAT paper had printing
mistakes. For all you know, you are notable to arrive at an answer
because of a printing mistake! (It could very well be lack
ofconceptual 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 - Treatevery mock CAT seriously, as if it were
the real CAT paper. And take the real CAT like amock CAT, with a
calm frame of mind!
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/64412-critical-reasoning-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/44418-commonly-confused-words.htmlhttp://www.phrasalverbdemon.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speechhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/64412-critical-reasoning-for-cat-2011-a.htmlhttp://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/44418-commonly-confused-words.htmlhttp://www.phrasalverbdemon.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech
