The Hindu Business Line : Verbal ability test, easy but tricky

CAT 2006 - scheduled for November 19, 2006 - is just about 13 weeks away and for many aspirants to the prestigious IIMs and other top B-Schools; this is the last and most hectic stage in their preparation. This article, a part of an ongoing series, is going to focus on a section that is usually perceived to be the `easiest' but can often also be the `trickiest' of the lot — the Verbal Ability section.

Verbal Ability is an area that requires two basic skills to ace in — good grammar fundamentals, a good vocabulary and excellent grasp of usage. Traditionally, CAT had questions testing the knowledge level of a candidate in vocabulary and grammar but in the last few years, we have seen a distinct move towards reasoning-based questions even in this section. For example, in the CAT 2005 paper, there were several questions where a student could have reasoned out the correct answer (despite not knowing the meaning of the words in question!) by just concentrating on the usage of the words or eliminating options that will not fit the bill.

The questions in the Verbal Ability section usually are of six different types:

Direct vocabulary-based questions — synonyms, antonyms, fill-in-the-blanks, appropriate alternative to the underlined word, inappropriate word in the sentence etc.

Relationship-based vocabulary questions — Given the relationship between two words, find the option that has a similar / dissimilar relationship

Usage-based vocabulary questions — Identify the correct / incorrect usage among four different sentences using the given word

Grammar-based questions — Identify the correct / in-correct sentence or part of the sentence

Paragraph sequencing questions — Sequence a set of four - six given sentences (with the starting and / or ending sentence sometimes given) to form a meaningful paragraph

Reasoning-based questions — Paragraph summary, identify the central idea / tone etc for a short paragraph.

This section in CAT is touted to be the quickest to answer but before all you CAT aspirants start rejoicing, be warned that in the CAT 2005 this section was considered to be the `unexpectedly difficult' section. But there need be no cause for panicking — a few simple approaches to preparation in this section will definitely go a long way in cracking this section.

There is no short-cut to building a good vocabulary. Take a good book (like word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis or All About Words by Rosenblum and Nurenberg) and target to complete the book(s) and all the exercises given in the book(s) or material given by coaching institutes in the next one month. You will definitely need to go back to the exercises and revise them in the following 1-1.5 months).

Knowing a good number of words alone is not sufficient; you will also need to be comfortable with their usage. And the only way to be strong in usage is by reading more extensively. All your Reading Comprehension practice will pay-off for this section, too. Just remember to make it a point to identify all words you do not understand while reading a book / passage / article and learn the correct meaning. Even if you come across 20 new words per day, in the next 90 days, you can learn 1,800 new words!

If you are not strong in grammar basics, this would be a good time to brush up all the fundamentals in English grammar using a good book such as English Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin. Remember, CAT does not require exceptional expertise in grammar. It only requires a functional knowledge of the standard grammatical rules and usage. The only way to build this knowledge is practice.

Paragraph Sequencing tests your vocabulary, grammar and reasoning skills. While answering such questions, remember that identifying the starting and / or the concluding sentence is more than half the job done. Moreover, certain `links' would exist between two sentences and if you can identify the linked sentences and the order of the link, you will be able to eliminate a couple of answer choices given.

The importance of Verbal Ability becomes stark when you realise that a large number of candidates who have cracked the CAT in the past have had more than 50 per cent of their aggregate score coming from the English (VA + RC) section. Whether you are currently faring well or not in this section, this is one section where a daily, consistent effort in the next 90 days will definitely reap rich dividends. So what are you waiting for — get cracking!

(The writer, an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad and NIT-Allahabad, is Director of T.I.M.E., an education and student training/counselling organisation. You can mail her at chennai@time4education.com)

(This is the fifth part of the fortnightly series written by IIM-A alumni on cracking the CAT for MBA aspirants.)

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