Posted by girish seshamani on July 6, 2010
The stage has been set for the CAT November 2010 exams. With the CAT going online from last year, and the format also undergoing a change, it is essential to ensure that we get the basics right.
One major factor, which I notice, is students complaining about CAT going online. There was this fear of the unknown which haunted nearly everyone.
The only difference is, instead of a paper and pencil test, the test will be online. Everything remains the same. Students are given sheets to make their rough calculations. The right answer has to be clicked using the mouse. Candidates can scroll the entire paper and start from wherever they want. Likewise they can also change their answers.
If we look at GMAT, it is a computer adaptive test. A computer adaptive test will throw up questions according to your level. Just to cite an example, if you have clicked on the right option of a question which is difficult, the next question will be more difficult than the previous one. If you get this question wrong, the system will again start throwing questions, depending on your level. The marking will also happen according to the level of difficulty. If a candidate has got lot of difficult questions right, he will obviously get a higher grading than a student who has answered all simple questions correctly.
Coming to CAT, we have three sections, Quantitative Aptitude and Data Sufficiency, Analytical and Logical Reasoning and the English Language which includes Comprehension also.
As individuals we have our strength and weakness. Go to the section, where you are very confident and finish it off first. Ensure that you crack it fully. Once you are over with this, come to the other questions, where you will need some time. Taking the new format into consideration, you are required to answer 60 questions in 90 minutes. Ensure that you manage your time well.
I would like to focus on the Verbal Ability Section. The English Language happens to be the section, where I have seen students take a huge beating. Let’s have a look at all the possible question formats:
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- One Word Substitutes
- Idiomatic Phrases and Phrasal Verbs
- Foreign words
- Jumbled Sentences
- Fill in the blanks with the right word
- Error Correction
- Cloze Test
- Sentence Improvement
- Reading Comprehension
If we look at the all the above exercises, the bottom line is vocabulary. If we do not have an excellent vocabulary, we are bound to take a beating. If you do not understand the meaning of one word, you will find it extremely difficult to pick the right option. This applies to all the sections in Verbal Ability. Unfortunately vocabulary is the most neglected part during the CAT preparation. I have seen all the so called reputed coaching classes giving a book full of words in alphabetical order from A till Z with their meanings and asking students to mug up all the words. Rote learning will never work for you. It is virtually impossible to recall the meaning and more importantly by doing this you are in a way, blocking your career also.
A committed vocabulary building exercise involves two major activities. The first is adding new words to your arsenal. The second is to keep in mind the vocabulary you already know. The English Language has over one million words and the average speaker is well versed with only 30000 words. You can see the huge gap. A good vocabulary is a prerequisite for professional growth.
There is only one proven method to increase your vocabulary and also ensure that you do not forget the usage of the words, which you know. Make it a habit to read a newspaper or magazine. You are bound to come across words whose meaning you do not know. First try to guess the meaning of the word with respect to the whole sentence. Only then look up the dictionary and understand the precise meaning. Once you comprehend the meaning, make a sentence using that word in a sentence and have it corrected by a person who is excellent at the language.
Another excellent technique is to use the word in any area of your liking, as in your hobbies or extra curricular activities. Since you already like that line, you will find it motivating to use the word and the learning process becomes interesting and quick. Once you do this you will never forget the meaning and application of that word. Vocabulary Building is a long term process. There are no short cuts.
Having an excellent vocabulary has got lot of advantages. A better vocabulary will help you to enjoy reading more. Likewise having an excellent vocabulary will also give you the confidence to interact with professionals at the highest level. It will undoubtedly be a huge boost for your self esteem.
Another effective method is to understand the meanings of root, prefix and suffix. A root is the basic building block or a key which will help you to understand the meanings of many words.
To understand the importance of a root, let us take the word ‘ali’ which means another. From this, we can easily get to know the meaning of the word, alias, which means an assumed name. Another example is the root ‘am’ which means love. From this, we can understand the meaning of the word, amiable, meaning friendly.
Coming to prefix, it is a word which comes at the beginning. For example, the prefix ‘bi’ means two. We can easily understand the meaning of the words; bisect, bimonthly, bigamy and so on.
A suffix is a word which comes at the end of the word. For example, if we take the suffix ‘cide’ it means killing. We can easily get to know the meaning of the words, homicide, patricide, matricide, regicide, etc. If we take the suffix ‘mania’ which means madness, we get the meaning of the words, megalomania, kleptomania, and so on.
Another area I would like to touch on is Synonym and Antonym. Synonym means words which are similar in meaning. But this does not mean it can be used interchangeably. The right synonym needs to be used taking into consideration the message, we want to communicate. For example, if we take the word active, we have lot of synonyms like, agile, alert, efficient, energetic, quick, prompt, assiduous, indefatigable, etc
Let us take three examples to understand the usage of synonyms:
Mahesh is an efficient worker
A prompt reply is always appreciated
The guard was quite alert and this helped to catch the thief
The same logic applies to antonyms also.
Lastly, coming to Reading Comprehension, lot of books mention words like speed reading, skimming, etc. Let me tell you that all these skills can be acquired only through practice. Start practicing with small comprehension passages and gradually go to bigger ones. Read the questions first and understand what is required. Then go through the passage. While going through the passage, try to get the answers and mark the respective option.
The same technique applies to Cloze Tests also. Go through the whole passage. You will get an idea of what the passage is about, as in, the central idea. After this, filling up the blank with the right option becomes easy.
With this, I conclude my write up and wish you all the best. Ensure that you
BELL THE CAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by TCYonline.com on July 5, 2010
People often go to soothsayers and astrologers to find the most opportune time to embark upon a project of importance. Whether or not that helps is a matter of personal belief. We, however, have some timely advice for those preparing for CAT this year. Most serious CAT aspirants will give anything to find out the perfect moment to start preparing for the exam. We spoke to Vaishnu Dass, Quant faculty at TCY and sought his expert views.
Vaishnu is an authority on Quant preparation and gives coaching for CAT, GRE & GMAT. Faculty at TCY, he has been coaching aspirants for these exams for the last 14 years.
Is there a ‘magic number’ of hours of coaching that one should get while preparing for Quant part of CAT?
There is no ‘magic number’ of hours as such. Nevertheless, there are an optimum number of hours of classroom lectures that are required. From my experience of over 14 years, I feel that at least 84 hours must be allocated for Quant in order to excel in it.
How do you divide these hours? How many hours a day? How many days a week?
I would divide CAT test prep into three distinct categories. Rush Hour, Optimum and Ideal. Let’s talk about ‘Rush Hour’ first.
Rush Hour: is when a candidate sincerely starts his CAT prep after his final year exam. With just about six months to go for the CAT, the entire preparation schedule has to be completed in a relatively short time. For instance, at TCY, classes are scheduled six days a week and here, the onus is on the student to keep up with the hectic pace.
The student has to understand that a very self-disciplined effort in self-study will be required on his part to make it to the top.
Optimum: is when a student is in his final year and starts preparing in January/ February of his graduation year. With around 9-10 months to go, the pace of instruction is brisk but not as breathless as ‘Rush Hour’. For Instance, at TCY, classes are scheduled three days a week and a student gets optimum time to revise what is being taught in the classroom. A break of one day between classes allows students the luxury of self studying at the pace most suited to their temperament.
Even an average student who studies sincerely and consistently has every chance of making it to the B- School list.
Ideal: This is when a student enters the penultimate year of his graduation degree course. A good faculty gets the time to teach students to crawl before making them walk and run hard! Basics are covered in depth and preparation starts at the very grassroot level. At TCY, we schedule classes only twice a week over the weekend initially.
The first few months are spent entirely in concept building. It can be compared to being able to dig the foundations oneself before laying them and finally constructing upon them. By the time a student reaches the final year of his degree course, his foundation is so strong that he is more than halfway ready to take on the CAT. The best part about this is that it is of longer duration and more exhaustive than Optimum, but generally costs less.
What preparation strategy would you suggest for each of the three distinct categories you just mentioned?
In Rush Hour, I would recommend the student to take a Diagnostic Test first. A diagnostic test is a mock test especially made to gauge an aspirant’s grasp of concepts. Once the strengths and weaknesses are clear to a student, it is recommended that a student start working on his weak areas first as they are the ones that offer maximum chance of improvement. Areas of strength can be worked upon later in the day. At TCY, we put such students on extensive online testing with a strong focus on performance analysis with the help of TCY Analytics. With TCY Analytics, a student is able to benchmark his performance of each sub-section, section and subject against all his previous attempts. This helps him in analyzing his progress with each test. Later on, the aspirant can start benchmarking his attempt against lacs of other aspirants on our website, www.TCYonline.com.
The success in ‘Optimum’ category rests majorly on the optimum trade-off between self study and disciplined prep. Self study is any day the best test prep strategy. However, disciplined prep calls for following a light but consistent weekly schedule. The CAT programme on TCYonline works on lecture by lecture schedule for each test section. This helps the candidate decide what fraction of the total available time for CAT prep he should invest in a particular month.
Additionally, joining a classroom programme would add to your disciplined effort.
The ideal prep calls for, obviously, the ideal way. For a candidate, this means understanding what skills the exam tests and taking a few sample tests in each area to know his ‘Best’ and ‘Worst’ areas. A good faculty will help the student by chalking out a plan till December to develop the lower and middle level skills required. For instance, working on one’s vocabulary, reading regularly on topics that come in the exams, improving one’s reasoning ability and re-visiting the Class VIII, IX and X math concepts of 2-3 major boards viz. CBSE, ICSE and Maharashtra SSC can be very useful. One can find a lot of this basic stuff on TCYonline and can generate customized tests on any topic to move up the learning curve skill by skill.
What advice would you give to CAT aspirants?
First, the student has to be very clear ‘if’ he wants to go for MBA. To explain, let us take a hypothetical situation. A BBA student is in his second year and he has consistently been getting good percentage so far. If he is extremely sure that he will not take up a job straight after graduating, he can afford to take his foot off the pedal a little bit and start preparing for CAT. As long as his overall percentage remains above 50%, he can appear for CAT. A high CAT score will see him secure a call from the best B- Schools in the country.
On the other hand, even if he gets overall 70% in BBA, he can’t secure a call from a good business school with a low CAT score. I again say, vision is very important. If MBA is not of paramount importance, focus fully on your current academic pursuit. If MBA is your ultimate goal, learn to keep your focus and prioritise accordingly.
Posted by tilak yagnik on May 29, 2010
I passed CAT in 2008 and got admitted at school of petroleum management. Well if i talk about my preparation of CAT it was not too voracious or rigorous, but it was surely a smart work. I was in third year of my engineering when I started off with the preparation at my coaching classes. My initial attempt was to get clear in concepts and solve the lower difficulty problems and questions which are generally asked in state entrance. What i feel is that daily four hours of practicing continuously for four months is enough to crack CAT provided you divide your time equally in all segment and not the one you are comfortable with. My practice pattern was to solve the papers I use to get from coaching classes “during and after the exam”. Also CAT is hell lot of dependent on the approach you solve your papers. Usually people decide to complete the section they are comfortable with first and then move further but what I feel is one should be flexible and move across sections in the paper. Do not try to complete one section at one go. We get messed up when the segment we first target turns out difficult and spoils our confidence. And it is very difficult to maintain same amount of confidence and concentration through out the paper. I wish all the aspirants all the very best.
Posted by TCYonline.com on September 3, 2009
How many times have you experienced the itchy feeling of having to re-read a quant question the second time after once finding your way through the complex inequalities and question statement that never seems to end? How many instances can you recall when after scanning the complete RC you have to RE-RE-RE-DO the same scan based on what is asked in a question?
Reality is – This is a typical problem that a fledgling CAT aspirant faces in the initial months. However, with time and strategies he learns the art of finding the keywords, judging the tone and in case of quant and DI, drawing the framework or formulating the problem to plug in the answer options of the problem at hand. Life becomes easier after that. You take more tests, do more practice, use these strategies – you improve. Almost every CAT aspirant undergoes this process of improvement every year.
And then comes July 2009 when CAT takers get ready for the MOCKs (rather some may have started giving). But this year scenario doesn’t seem to be the same. Almost all are facing the RE-RE-RE-DO problem on the computer screen even after mastering the strategies on paper. The frustration is unsettling. The fact that CAT 09 is just a few months away is creating immense time pressure. How can this NEW challenge be met? There must be a way!
Yes! There is one and that requires a paradigm shift in our CAT test taking approach. We must admit that the NEW CAT needs NEW approach. Further, one needs to understand that it’s not the CAT that has changed but the medium of taking it. Only paper based strategies won’t work. We have to master new ways to increase our concentration and comprehension. We will discuss some FRESH approaches to CAT in this series; would apply those on the CAT 2008 questions in order to try them and exercise those on the past CAT questions in order to master them.
Reading Comprehension:
Master the art of constructing a Dot-Diagram
RC is considered to be the first area where concentration plays a major role. Moreover, one should be able to link the information and consciously map the development of the topic. However, reading on the computer screen hampers both the objectives. The major problem that we face is to re-scan the passage for the relevant sentence(s) when we attempt to answer second question based on the RC. It seems that one will have to scan the whole passage again to find out where the topic is being discussed. And the test taker gets confused on whether to read the whole passage first or to read only the opening sentences. Verbal experts at TCYonline have a workable strategy for this. It is called – Constructing a Dot-Diagram.
The Process:
The process is very simple and starts with something that you are all already doing – reading opening, closing lines and finding the gist. Here is how to proceed:
- The First step is to “Read the opening 2-3 lines of the first para”. 2-3 lines – because the CAT makers deliberately set passages where opening lines rarely discuss the main point. It is very important to read the closing line(s) of the first para, so do not ignore them. This way the first para is very important and is supposed to set the course of the issue under question. Now what? – Write the adverbs and adjectives that qualify as “strong words” by the author and gist in a few phrases on the scratch paper and give it title “1”. Also note down if a phrase is given in inverted commas.
- Just read 1-2 opening sentences of the remaining paras and note down the important words and phrases on the scratch paper. Remember to give then the titles “2”, “3” and so on which will act as pointers to trace the answers to specific questions. Remember not to read these stanzas completely. An average human mind can only remember the development of a topic after one reading and not the complete understanding of each event that cause this development. We will read each event when a question asks us to.
- Now, based on your understanding out of the written summary on the scratch sheet, write down the important words that are core to overall idea of the whole passage. We call these words as DOTs and the process of identifying and listing them as JOINING THE DOTs.
- Now, 90% of your job is done. Let us tell you how helpful these dots are:
- Read a question, match the keywords with the words and phrases that you noted on the scratch paper to see which para focuses on it. Read the relevant 1-2 lines match them with the answer options. Finally verify the right choice by noticing the use of your dot in it.
- If you are in hurry, just see which answer options comprise your dots or their synonyms. Following these dots can ensure 90% accuracy.
- If you are stuck at 2 choices, go for the one that contains your dot.
Illustration from CAT 2008:
Let’s now apply our strategy on the following para adopted from CAT 2008:
Language is not a cultural artifact that we learn the way we learn to tell time or how the federal government works. Instead, it is a distinct piece of the biological makeup of our brains. Language is a complex, specialized skill, which develops in the child spontaneously, without conscious effort or formal instruction, is deployed without awareness of its underlying logic, is qualitatively the same in every individual, and is distinct from more general abilities to process information or behave intelligently. For these reasons some cognitive scientists have described language as a psychological faculty, a mental organ, a neural system, and a computational module. But I prefer the admittedly quaint term “instinct”. It conveys the idea that people know how to talk in more or less the sense that spiders know how to spin webs. Web-spinning was not invented by some unsung spider genius and does not depend on having had the right education or on having an aptitude for architecture or the construction trades. Rather, spiders spin spider webs because they have spider brains, which give them the urge to spin and the competence to succeed. Although there are differences between webs and words, I will encourage you to see language in this way, for it helps to make sense of the phenomena we will explore.
Thinking of language as an instinct inverts the popular wisdom, especially as it has been passed down in the canon of the humanities and social sciences. Language is no more a cultural invention than is upright posture. It is not a manifestation of a general capacity to use symbols: a three-year-old, we shall see, is a grammatical genius, but is quite incompetent at the visual arts, religious iconography, traffic signs, and the other staples of the semiotics curriculum. Though language is a magnificent ability unique to Homo sapiens among living species, it does not call for sequestering the study of humans from the domain of biology, for a magnificent ability unique to a particular living species is far from unique in the animal kingdom. Some kinds of bats home in on flying insects using Doppler sonar. Some kinds of migratory birds navigate thousands of miles by calibrating the positions of the constellations against the time of day and year. In nature’s talent show, we are simply a species of primate with our own act, a knack for communicating information about who did what to whom by modulating the sounds we make when we exhale.
Once you begin to look at language not as the ineffable essence of human uniqueness but as a biological adaptation to communicate information, it is no longer as tempting to see language as an insidious shaper of thought, and, we shall see, it is not. Moreover, seeing language as one of nature’s engineering marvels – an organ with “that perfection of structure and co-adaptation which justly excites our admiration,” in Darwin’s words – gives us a new respect for your ordinary Joe and the much-maligned English language (or any language). The complexity of language, from the scientist’s point of view, is part of our biological birthright; it is not something that parents teach their children or something that must be elaborated in school – as Oscar Wilde said, “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” A preschooler’s tacit knowledge of grammar is more sophisticated than the thickest style manual or the most state-of-the-art computer language system, and the same applies to all healthy human beings, even the notorious syntax-fracturing professional athlete and the, you know, like, inarticulate teenage skateboarder. Finally, since language is the product of a well-engineered biological instinct, we shall see that it is not the nutty barrel of monkeys that entertainer-columnists make it out to be.
Read the passage and answer the questions below:
1. According to the passage, which of the following does not stem from popular wisdom on language?
1. Language is a cultural artifact.
2. Language is a cultural invention.
3. Language is learnt as we grow.
4. Language is unique to Homo Sapiens.
5. Language is a psychological faculty.
2. Which of the following can be used to replace the “spiders know how to spin webs” analogy as used by the author?
1. A kitten learning to jump over a wall
2. Bees collecting nectar
3. A donkey carrying a load
4. A horse running a Derby
5. A pet dog protecting its owner’s property
3. According to the passage, which of the following is unique to human beings?
1. Ability to use symbols while communicating with one another.
2. Ability to communicate with each other through voice modulation.
3. Ability to communicate information to other members of the species.
4. Ability to use sound as means of communication.
5. All of the above.
4. According to the passage, complexity of language cannot be taught by parents or at school to children because
1. children instinctively know language.
2. children learn the language on their own.
3. language is not amenable to teaching.
4. children know language better than their teachers or parents.
5. children are born with the knowledge of semiotics.
5. Which of the following best summarizes the passage?
1. Language is unique to Homo Sapiens.
2. Language is neither learnt nor taught.
3. Language is not a cultural invention or artifact as it is made out.
4. Language is instinctive ability of human beings.
5. Language is use of symbols unique to human beings.
Was it that simple?
1. SKIMMING THE PASSAGE:
Introductory phrases:
‘Language is not a cultural artifact that we learn’
‘It is a distinct piece of the biological makeup’
Concluding phrase (a repetition):
‘language is the product of a well-engineered biological instinct’
The opening and the concluding sentences say it all.
2. DRAWING A SNAPSHOT:
Let’s consider the Para-wise minor detail.
1. Describing ‘LANGUAGE’ | (Others) ‘describe language as a psychological faculty’ | (The author) prefers “Instinct”. | And then the author gives the analogy of the “instinct” – ‘people à how to talk ||| spiders à how to spin webs’.
2. Author sticks to “instinct”. | And finally states that language is ‘far from unique’ to humans. It is only “modulating the sounds we make”.
3. Biological adaptation to communicate | Product of well-engg biological instinct.
3. IDENTIFYING DOTs:
A casual look at the passage reveals that the words language, biological, psychological and instinct keep occurring again and again in the passage and the word instinct has even been put in quote marks to attract our attention.
4. JOINING THE DOTs:
Language
Biological
Psychological
‘Instinct’
Not unique
5. AND THE ANSWER IS…
Can we now answer the questions only by joining these dots? Let’s see.
Q1. Only option (5) uses our selected dot: ‘psychological’.
Q2. Which analogy is similar to ““spiders know how to spin webs”? Only ‘bees collecting nectar’ is instinctive. (2)
Q3. What is unique to humans? Only voice modulation (2)
Q4. Only option (1) uses our selected dot: ‘instinct’.
Q5. Only option (4) uses our selected dot: ‘instinct’.
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