Verbal Ability

CAT VA shikhamaru style

2008-11-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

Consider the situation ..

1.you have a reading speed of around 400-500 words per min .

2.Good Critical reasoning skills but sometimes sometimes take more time than necessary in questions.

3.Grammar is above average and so is diction .

4.Vocab is weaker but manageable.

5.Mock scores in VA have been above cutoffs and in higher 90's ..(basically u are acing the section but still underperforming)

plan A

Read passages First then attack verbal ability questions.

Assuming 25 questions per section.

No of passages =3 10 questions on RC rest 15 (para completion , SC ,FIJ ,parajumbles)

Now you are slower in FIJ rather than the rest FIJ comes ..

Sentence correction question can be attempted in 2 mins per question.

paracompletion too 2 mins .. so basically its 30 mins ..

for these

but we got 10 min per passage and answering . ..so basically we gotta do something faster..

how to go about passages ,reading comprehension.

Scan and solve when in a hurry.

rather than reading the passage read the question and then pinpoint the choices given in the passage,this decreases time taken.

paracompletion- this is faster to solve critical reasoning.Understanding the tone of the passage is important here.Just read the passage with choices would be it for this .

parajumbles -find links ,look for common words in the sentences given ,where they maintain flow of thought and just check the final product by reading it as a passage.

FIJ -remember ,facts can be verified ,judgements have to sound judgemental ,inferences are about the unknown on the basis of facts.

SC -well this is something which includes subject verb agreement ,infinitives gerunds .. etc longlist of grammar rules which we have been learning since we were kids .

Vocab based - this is our virendra sehwag this guy might get you a hundred but might get out for zero.Not dependable some CR can help but not too much.

plan A is RC first max limit is 25-30 mins then EU 25 mins or less.

plan B ,i see EU and RC are same 13,12 (15 ,10)questions each ,here we might need a couple of mins for RC here the 30 min 20 min split works best.

take your time and get 12/15 in RC .EU will be the bonus .

plan C 5 passages

easy passages expected here ,scan and move.no point in hanging around.

30 mins-35 min 10-15 mins split

plan D 2 passages and loads of verbal stuff

believe in yourself ,this still can work out ,the passages will be easy in this case

this will help to decrease the time taken.40 mins should be enough in this case.

Homonym or Similiar sounding words..

2008-10-03T06:21:00.000-07:00

I see a tendency of the examiners to test us on similir sounding words from the dictionary.

here is a link which can help us

http://www.frostburg.edu/clife/writingcenter/handouts/homonym.htm

consider

ascent and assent

auger and augur

aural oral

allusion vs illusion

eminent vs imminent

http://www.business-words.com/dictionary/A_1.html#accede

Common Mistakes 2

2008-10-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

EFFECT vs AFFECT

Another one from CAT 07

Find the correct sentences

A. So once an economy is actually in recession,

B. the authorities can, in principle, move the economy

C. out of slump - assuming hypothetically

D. that they know how to - by a temporary stimuli.

E. In the longer term, however, such policies have no affect on the overall behaviour of the economy.

(1) A, B&E (2) B,C&E (3) C&D (4) E only (5) B only

let's talk about E

affect is a verb meaning to influence, act upon, or change something or someone.

effect in comparison means to have an impact on something or someone.

in C its out of the slump not out of slump.In D the correct word usage is stimulus not stimuli

A is wrong So is not needed .

Common mistakes in Sentences

2008-10-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Except Vs Accept

Accept is a verb which means to agree to take something

Except is an conjunction which means not including

eg:

I teach every day accept Sunday

I always except good advice

both are wrong

SC mistakes

2008-10-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

Hi all

this is a question which was widely debated and came in cat 07.I found it hard in the exam

the following below is a passage ,which consists of five sentences connected ,we need to point the ones correct.

A. It is sometimes told that democratic

B. government originated in the city-states

C. of ancient Greece. Democratic ideals have been handed to us from that time.

D. In truth, however, this is an unhelpful assertion.

E. The Greeks gave us the word, hence did not provide us with a model.

(1) A, B&D (2) B,C&D (3) B&D (4) B only (5) D only

now A is the sentence

It is sometimes told that democratic

TOLD -verb ,simple past and past particple of to tell

it is used in reported speech i.e it is used to talk about people (followed by an object + that:):

eg : i told him that i will be late

SAID - verb /adjective-simple past and past particple of to said

here comes what they asked, SAID can be used with that for reported speech

e.g:"The criminal said that he was sorry".

So A is wrong it is sometimes said is the correct phrase

In C The correct idiomtic expression is "handed down"

in E hence is incorrect but is correct

So B and D is the answer (3)

Parallelism II

2008-09-29T03:34:00.000-07:00

Strike as I would

Have struck those tyrants!

Strike deep as my curse!

Strike! and but once

— Byron

This is an example of anaphora,anaphora is a style which uses repeated words to emphasize them in the beginning of the sentence.I think many of you might have read the speech my martin luther king ,i have a dream

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state, sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

if the repeated at the end of the sentence its called a epistrophe

eg:

Where affections bear rule, there reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, good will is subdued, and all things else that withstand evil, for ever are subdued. — Thomas Wilson

Symloce -when they are both used together

for eg

"When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it." Bill Clinton

Asyndeton -When conjunctions are deliberately omitted from a series of related clauses.

"Thus strings of unconnected words, and constant repetitions of words and phrases, are very properly condemned in written speeches: but not in spoken speeches — speakers use them freely, for they have a dramatic effect. In this repetition there must be variety of tone, paving the way, as it were, to dramatic effect; e.g. 'This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated you, who meant to betray you completely.'" Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book III, Chapter 12 (trans. W. Rhys Roberts).

Parallelism

2008-09-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

well if are attempting 10 questions in 10 mins ,you have to give each question in 1 min each ,well most of us don't do it but in a ideal situation this is what we should do.Equality has been the cornerstone of our society and so is the GMAT.

GMAT and CAT both require strong foundation in English Grammar.See what i just did ,i gave equal importance to both gmat and cat.

Consider

Some bat caves, like honeybee hives, have residents that take on different duties such as defending the entrance, acting as sentinels and to sound a warning at the approach of danger, and scouting outside the cave for new food and roosting sites.

(A) acting as sentinels and to sound

(B) acting as sentinels and sounding

(D) to act as sentinels and to sound

(E) to act as a sentinel sounding

here all except B violate parallelism by using the infinitve to

check out how defending and scouting(present participial) are in parallel ,so sounding is the best answer.InE sentinel is singular not in sync with residents(subject verb agreement).

another one

The only way for growers to salvage frozen citrus is to process them quickly into juice concentrate before they rot when warmer weather returns.

(A) to process them quickly into juice concentrate before they rot when warmer weather returns

(B) if they are quickly processed into juice concentrate before warmer weather returns to rot them

returns

(D) if the fruit is quickly processed into juice concentrate before they rot when warmer weather returns

(E) to have it quickly processed into juice concentrate before warmer weather returns and rots the fruit

The only way .. to salvage X ...is to process..,now citrus is singular and doesn't agree with them and they ,so setence A is wrong.B,C,D have reference errors ,E is best as it uses parallel infinitives and uses fruit to directly refer to citrus.

References :Manhattan SC

Official Guide for GMAT

Split Infinitives

2008-09-22T19:45:00.001-07:00

Split Infinitives

The infinitive form of the verb consists of the word "to" followed by the base form of the verb: "to be," "to serve," "to chop," etc. Inserting a word or words between the "to" and the verb of an infinitive creates what is known as a split infinitive. Prescriptive grammarians, who knew Latin grammar better than English, once decreed that a split infinitive was an error, but now it is growing increasingly acceptable even in formal writing. Nevertheless, some careful writers still prefer to avoid splitting infinitives altogether.

In general, you should avoid placing long, disruptive modifiers between the "to" and the verb of an infinitive. However, you must use your judgement when it comes to single-word modifiers. Sometimes a sentence becomes awkward if a single-word modifier is placed anywhere but between the elements of the infinitive:

[WRONG] The marketing team voted to, before they launched the new software, run an anticipatory ad campaign. (disruptive -- the infinitive should not be split)

[RIGHT] The marketing team voted to run an anticipatory ad campaign before they launched the new software.

Dangling Modifiers

2008-09-22T19:39:00.001-07:00

Dangling Modifiers

The dangling modifier, a persistent and frequent grammatical problem in writing, is often (though not always) located at the beginning of a sentence. A dangling modifier is usually a phrase or anelliptical clause -- a dependent clause whose subject and verb are implied rather than expressed -- that functions as an adjective but does not modify any specific word in the sentence, or (worse) modifies the wrong word. Consider the following example:

Raised in Nova Scotia, it is natural to miss the smell of the sea.

The introductory phrase in the above sentence looks as if it is meant to modify a person or persons, but no one is mentioned in the sentence. Such introductory adjective phrases, because of their position, automatically modify the first noun or pronoun that follows the phrase -- in this case, "it." The connection in this case is illogical because "it" was not raised in Nova Scotia. You could revise the sentence in a number of ways:

For a person raised in Nova Scotia, it is natural to miss the smell of the sea. (the phrase no longer functions as an adjective)

Raised in Nova Scotia, I often miss the smell of the sea. (the phrase functions as an adjective but now automatically modifies "I," a logical connection)

A dangling modifier can also appear when you place an elliptical clause improperly:

Although nearly finished, we left the play early because we were worried about our sick cat.

The way this sentence is structured, the clause "Although nearly finished" illogically modifies "we," the pronoun directly following the clause. An easy way to rectify the problem is to re-insert the subject and verb that are understood in the elliptical clause:

Although the play was nearly finished, we left early because we were worried about our sick cat.

reference :http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/msplmod.html

Modifiers

2008-09-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

To modify means to describe, modifiers need to attach themselves closely to the phrase they describe.What is a modifier ,an adjective modifies a noun eg yellow flower ,yellow modifies the flower so yellow is a modifier.

Wrong: Sifting the sand of a river bed, gold was discovered by prospectors in California in 1848.

now you see the problem here ,the sentence is saying the gold is shifting the sand,which is cannot be true.

Right : Sifting the sand in a river bed, prospectors discovered gold in California in 1848.

heere the phrase or clause directly precedes or follows the noun it describes which is correct.

try another one

Wrong: Engraved, printed, and colored by hand,William Blake could make only a few copies of each of his books of poetry.

Engraved ,printed ,and colored by hand refers to William Blake rather than his books of poetry

Right: William Blake could make only a few copies of each of his books of poetry, which he engraved,printed, and colored by hand.

Though i have discussed the dangling modifier i will again refer to it here with this sentence.

Wrong: Desiring to free his readers from superstition, the theories of Epicurus are expounded in Lucretius’s poem De rerum natura.

Now the first part of the sentence refers to theories rather than Lucretius .To check whether sentence is correct ,you can ask the question who expounded the theories.Lucretius is acting as an adjective here.

Right: Desiring to free his readers from superstition, Lucretius expounded the theories of Epicurus in his poem De rerum natura.

Another type of error is he misplaced modifier

Wrong: That night they sat discussing when the cow might calve in the kitchen.

which is wrong misplaced modifier.

Right :That night they sat in the kitchen discussing when the cow might calve.

reference to modifiers

:Kaplan grammar workbook ( i recommend it)

:Manhattan SC

:http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/modifier.html

Less vs Fewer

2008-09-18T17:22:00.001-07:00

We will consider a sentence correction question ,today and try to understand the difference between less and fewer.

example

When drive-ins were at the height of their popularity in the late 1950’s, some 4,000 existed in the United States, but today there are less than one-quarter that many.
A. there are less than one-quarter that many
B. there are fewer than one-quarter as many
C. there are fewer than one-quarter of that amount
D. the number is less than one-quarter the amount
E. it is less than one-quarter of that amount

well fewer is to be used in case of count nouns and less in case of mass nouns

now ,you might ask me what are they ,or might say this is more complicated than i expect and close the window,trust me i was one of those who used to close the window but now i realise that the human mind is the only thing that grows when used more.

Mass nouns vs Count Nouns

"10 items or fewer" vs "ten items or less"

TIP 1: whenever you can count use fewer

all of you must love to have coffee ,well i do so i will use it as an example

"coffee " is what is a mass noun ,you say bring me coffee i use it as a mass noun.

less coffee please while you pour it but if the waiter comes with 10 coffees and you are only 4 then you might ask him to get fewer coffees next time.what you have done here is converted a mass noun into a count noun.

here it goes what's the difference between them

i have score less than yours vs i have a score fewer than yours ..

which one is correct

exceptions

time, distance and money , in these its customary to use less.

eg:I hope is costs less than 20$ rather than saying fewer than 20$.

References :http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/less-versus-fewer.aspx

really nice tip about the fewer fish and less water.

http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxlessvs.html

http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/miflessvsfewer.shtml

fewer" helps to distinguish "fewer successful professionals" (fewer professionals who are successful) from "less successful professionals" (professionals who are less successful)

Ellipsis

2008-09-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

Ellipsis is something i love to use sometimes in a incorrect way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis

ellipsis are three dots used to indicate an intentional omission of a word or a phrase from the original text. An ellipsis can also be used to indicate a pause in speech, an unfinished thought or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence .

we shall consider all form of ellipses today

http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/lrw/grinker/LwtaEllipses.htm

Consider

i love quant and i say i love.. quant are too different sentences

i don't love her and i don't love ... her (... can be used to implicate loving something else)

we also encounter sentence in which Ellipsis has gone too far and essential parts of the sentences have been removed.

Consider

Wrong: Byron admired Dryden more than Wordsworth.

Correct: Byron admired Dryden more than he didWordsworth.

Also Correct: Byron admired Dryden more than Wordsworth did.

We shall also encounter sentences in which prepositions, articles, possessives, and so on that have been incorrectly left out .

Ezra Pound was interested but not very knowledgeable about economics.

This is wrong because the preposition that’s needed after the word interested (in) is not the same as the

preposition that follows the word knowledgeable (about).

Correct: Ezra Pound was interested in but not very knowledgeable about economics.One way to check for faulty ellipsis is to complete each component idea in the sentence. Unless each part of the

sentence can stand alone, you’ve found a case of faulty ellipsis. Trying that with our wrong example, we have:

Wrong: Ezra Pound was interested about economics, but Pound was not very knowledgeable about

economics.

References :KAPLAN GRAMMAR WORKBOOK

Throat Clearing Phrases

2008-09-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

Now the question is ,why such a title.Well most of us like to think of wordiness and a false sense of importance is necessary to suceed in life.Try to use heavy words ,use complicated sentences etc.

I remember my roomate in college telling me specifically to use the word vectorization whenever possible in my answers (the prof loved such words ..). "These unnecessary phrases often are called "throat-clearing phrases."

Consider

It is important to remember that in our legal system the jury must convict only upon evidence that proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Better: The jury must convict only upon evidence that proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Petitioner contends in this Court that Respondent's actions violate the First Amendment.

Better: The Respondent's actions violate the First Amendment.

Pronoun Errors

2008-09-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

I am going to discuss about pronoun errors today

1)Pronoun error

There are 3 main types of pronoun errors encountered by us during setence correction questions in CAT and GMAT

a.Plural and Singular
Once you start with one, you need to stay in the same quantity (singular or plural).basically it means if we talk about one cat,we talk about one cat not ten .

§Singular Pronouns (Memorize these)
Hint: Do you see the categories I setup? It's SANE to memorize this
Some---
Any—
No—
Every—

Everyone,Everybody,Everything
Someone,Somebody,Something
Either,Neither,One,Each
Anyone,Anybody,Anything
No one,Nothing,Nobody
Whoever,Whomever
His
whenever we use these these are singular in nature ..each one of us has ..not have.. singular natureshould be kept in mind.

§Be aware that group, jury, team, country, family are singular. Society today uses them sometimes as plural. This is because these act as a single unit when they do something.

§Plural Pronouns (Memorize these)
Both,Their,Many,Several,Few,Others

eg .many of them have ..., both of them have done this before.

§Singular and Plural Pronouns – depends on whether the noun is singular or plural (Memorize these)
Some,More,Most,All,
§The plural and singular clause error
When two nouns are in the sentence doing an action together but they are linked with
i)Along with
ii)Together with
iii)With
iv)As well as
v)In addition to
vi)Accompanied by
are all singular in nature
… this does not make the following action they do plural. Only "and" can take the two singulars and make their action plural.
For example
Janie, with her poodle limping behind her, walks to the dog park.
Explanation: Janie is singular. The poodle is singular. They both do the action together, but the use of "with" means that we need to keep the verb singular. "Walks" is singular and "Walk" is plural.
Remember, a verb that ends with an –s is singular.
ps : reminds me of a song from khuda ke liye movie janie ..

Pronoun reference error- referring pronoun is not correctly placed.
For example:
In the sentence "Samantha and Jane went shopping, but she couldn't find anything she liked.", the pronoun "she" does not refer to a person unambiguously. It is difficult to understand that whether "she" is referring to Samantha or Jane.
The correct form would be "Samantha and Jane went shopping, but Samantha couldn't find anything she liked."

Relative pronouns are often used incorrectly today.
1)Referring to things or animals – that, which
2)Referring to people—who, whom
3)They – be careful that you don't use this unless you're positive there is a referring noun. Today we often use "they" to replace the use of a proper noun which it is not. It's a Pronoun.

That and Which Usage has to be correct

The traditional approach to this question is to use "that" with restrictive clauses and "which" with nonrestrictive clauses

Use "that" with restrictive clauses. A restrictive clause is one that limits -- or restricts --the identity of the subject in some way. When writing a restrictive clause, introduce it with the word "that" and no comma. (However, if the subject is or was a human being, use "who" to introduce the clause.)

Correct Restrictive Use:

The painting that was hanging in the foyer was stolen.

Explanation: The use of "that" in this sentence is correct if the reader intends to single out the one painting that was in the foyer as the stolen painting. However, if there were several paintings hanging in the foyer, this use would be incorrect, since it would mislead the reader into believing that there had been only one painting in the foyer. The restriction here tells us that the one painting that had been hanging in the foyer was stolen -- not the painting in the living room, or the one in the drawing room, or any of those in the parlor.

Use "which" with nonrestrictive clauses. A nonrestrictive clause may tell us something interesting or incidental about a subject, but it does not define that subject. When writing a nonrestrictive clause, introduce it with "which" and insert commas around the clause. (However, if the subject is or was a human being, use "who" to introduce the clause and insert commas around the clause.)

Correct Nonrestrictive Use:

The painting, which was hanging in the foyer, was stolen.

Explanation: While this nonrestrictive use tells us that the painting was hanging in the foyer, it does not tell us which of the several paintings in the foyer was the stolen painting. It would be incorrect to use this nonrestrictive clause if there had been only one painting in the foyer, as the sentence leaves open the possibility that there were others.

Combining Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses. One can provide both limiting and nonlimiting information about a subject in a single sentence. Consider the following.Correct Use of Both Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses:

The Van Gogh that was hanging in the foyer, which we purchased in 1929 for $10,000, was stolen.

Explanation: The restrictive clause beginning with "that" tells us that there was only one Van Gogh hanging in the foyer and that it was stolen. The nonrestrictive clause beginning with "which" tells us what the owner had paid for the painting, but it does not tell us that the owner did not pay another $10,000 for another painting in the same year. It does not limit the possibilities to the Van Gogh that was in the foyer.

Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses beginning with "Who." When writing about human beings, we use "who" rather than "that" or "which" to introduce a clause telling us something about that human being. Since "who" is the only option, we distinguish between a restrictive use and a nonrestrictive use by the use of commas.

Correct Restrictive Use:

The suspect in the lineup who has red hair committed the crime.

Note how the subject "suspect" in this sentence is restricted in two ways: we know that this suspect is both in the lineup and has red hair. As a result, we know that the other suspects, who are not in the lineup, could not have committed the crime. Moreover, of those suspects in the lineup, we know that the one suspect in the lineup with red hair committed the crime. If there were more than one suspect in the lineup with red hair, the above usage would be incorrect because it implies a different meaning.

Correct Nonrestrictive Use:

The suspect in the lineup, who owns a red car, committed the crime.

In this example, the restrictive clause "in the lineup" tells us that of all possible suspects in the world, the one who committed the crime is in the lineup. However, while the nonrestrictive clause "who owns a red car" tells us something about the suspect, it does not foreclose the possibility that there are several different suspects in the lineup with red cars. The car color may tell us something useful, but it does not restrict us to only one possibility.

FIJ Fundas

2008-09-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

This is the initial lesson which you should keep in mind before attempting Fact, Inference, Judgement question. This is not written by me . If you have any problem after going through this then do let me know.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FACTS:deal with pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification. The key word here is “verification”. A fact is a statement that can be ‘verified’, i.e. a fact is either true or false. Facts are statements that may involve numbers, natural phenomena, dates etc. The characteristics of the statements classified as facts are:
·Made after observation or experience. An event cannot become a fact unless it has occurred.
·Confined to what one observes; cannot be made about the future.
·Limited number possible.
·Not perception dependent. A fact will be agreed to by every person. It does not change from person to person.
·Tends to bring people together in agreement.

Examples:
1)Nearly 2 lac students took CAT last year.
2)Life exists on other planets (although physically not possible to verify, this statement will be either true or false).
3)I like Pink Floyd more than Metallica (It may not seem so, but this statement is either true or false. Either I like Pink Floyd more than Metallica or I don’t).
4)The legislature is advocating vigorously against intrusion of judiciary in parliamentary affairs.
5)A football field is 100 yards long.

NOTE: Notice the difference when a sentence contains subjective or abstract expressions-
6)The music was very loud (NOT a fact as the loudness might vary from person to person).
7)I found the music very loud (A fact as it is either a truth or a lie. I must have found the music very loud or not very loud).
Poverty is a curse on mankind (NOT a fact…’curse on mankind’ is too abstract).
9)20% of the population live below poverty line (Fact).

‘FACTS’ STATEMENTS IN CAT 2006 PAPER:

1)The government has been supplying free drugs since 2004, and 35 000 have benefited up to now- though the size of the affected population is 150 times this number.
2)Only about 13 million children in the age group of 6 to 14 years are out of school.
3)The truth is that we have more red tape- we take eighty- nine days to start a small business, Australians take two.
4)The economies of the industrialized western world derive 20% of their income from the sale of all kinds of arms.

INFERENCES:are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known. Notice the three words ‘conclusions’, ‘known’ and ‘unknown’ very carefully. They will give you complete description of what an inference consists of-
·Known- A fact. The first thing an inference should consist of is a fact. This fact is required to prove another proposition.
·Unknown- Something which can be logically proven by the given fact or the ‘known’. Therefore, in an inference an unknown proposition is present which is to be proven with the help of the fact. Remember that this proposition has to be proven with the help of another fact.
·Conclusion- Once the unknown has been proved with the help of the known (fact) it is called a conclusion.

Notice the meaning of the word ‘Infer’. To infer means
·to conclude from evidence; to deduce
·to have a logical consequence. (an inference = a conclusion)

Therefore, the process of inference can be summarized by the figure given below:

Examples:
1)Because the old man stayed indoors all the time and did not receive any visitors, no one discovered his dead body for days.
(the green part is the fact and the brown part is the conclusion. Notice that without the explanation given by the fact, you cannot convincingly prove the conclusion.)
2)The footprint warned Robinson Crusoe that there was someone else on the island.

‘INFERENCE’ STATEMENTS IN CAT 2006 PAPER:

(the facts are in green and the conclusions are in brown)
1)The recent initiatives of networks and companies like AIDScare Network, Emcure, Reliance-Cipla-CII, would lead to availability of much-needed drugs to a larger number of affected people.
2)According to all statistical indications, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has managed to keep pace with its ambitious goals.
3)Every red tape procedure is a point of contact with an official, and such contacts have the potential to become opportunities for money to change hands.
4)Even without war, we know that conflicts continue to trouble us- they only change in color.

JUDGEMENTS:are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations, and occurrences in the past, the present or the future. There is a fine line of distinction between inferences and judgments. Most of the times judgments are also based on facts and therefore they seem like inferences. But there are some ways to differentiate a judgment and an inference-
·Judgments are arguable and contestable. Inferences are rock solid. Although both judgments and inferences are based on facts, in the latter the conclusion is so unquestionable that it becomes fact itself.
·Judgments are opinions, suggestions and recommendations whereas inferences are proven conditions.
·Judgment statements include a lot of quantities that cannot be measured, such as happiness, beauty, joy etc.
·Many a times, judgments are not accompanied by facts at all but are only opinion statements. When there is no fact involved, the statement can only be a judgment statement.
·A judgment is an honest attempt to make reasonable observations about the given facts but they do not conclusively prove anything.

Examples:
1)It is estimated that that 30% of Indians live below poverty line. (judgment: if it is an estimate, it cannot be a fact).
2)Every mother has only the best interests of her children at her heart. (Is there a way to look inside a mother’s heart?).
3)Because we had three wars with our neighboring country, we should keep our armed forced ready for the fourth one.

‘JUDGMENT’ STATEMENTS IN CAT 2006 PAPER:
1)So much of our day-to-day focus seems to be on getting thins done, trudging our way through the tasks of living- it can feel like a treadmill that gets you nowhere; where is the childlike joy?
2)We are not doing things that make us happy; that which brings us joy; the things that we cannot wait to do because we enjoy them so much.
3)This is the stuff that joyful living is made of- identifying your calling and committing yourself wholeheartedly to it.
4)When this happens, each moment becomes a celebration of you; there is a rush of energy that comes with feeling completely immersed in doing what you love most.
5)Given the poor quality of service in the public service, the HIV/AIDS affected should be switching to private initiatives that supply anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) at a low cost.
6)But how ironic it is that we should face a perennial shortage of drugs when India is one of the world’s largest suppliers of generic drugs to the developing world.
7)The Mid-day Meal scheme has been a significant incentive for the poor to send their little ones to school, thus establishing the vital link between healthy bodies and healthy minds.
The goal of universalisation of elementary education has to be a pre-requisite for the evolution and development of our country.
9)We should not be hopelessly addicted to an erroneous belief that corruption in India is caused by the crookedness of Indians.
10)Red tape leads to corruption and distorts people’s character.
11)Inequitable distribution of all kinds of resources is certainly one of the strongest and most sinister sources of conflict.
12)Extensive disarmament is the only insurance for our future; imagine the amount of resources that can be released and redeployed.

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Subject Verb Agreement

2008-09-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Subject Verb Agreement is frequently tested portion of the sentence correction part in CAT and in GMAT.You may ask what is so great in it.

A singular subject requires a singular verb and a plural subject a plural verb .Well the test takers tend to make it difficult .. how well if don't know the name of the subject ,you will not find a verb form that agrees with it.

"Insert the middlemen"

the most common way to confuse is to insert a phrase inbetween .

The houses of that rich man contains very expensive furniture

plural houses requires contain

Of ..

do not get confused by subject followed by the word of..

consider the sentence

The discovery of new lands was vital to the expanasion of the british empire.

The discovery of new lands were vital to the expanasion of the british empire.

Another example

The actions of my friends is/are not very wise

"AND and Additives "

and combines two singular and make it plural

but other additives don't for example along with, in addition, accompanied by ,as well as ,including.They are all singular in nature.

eg :Mathematics, in addition to history, is a required subject

"Or either or & Neither nor"

now some sentence are disjunctive ,these contain one singular subject and one plural .What verb form should be used then.The subject nearest to the verb and make sure the verb agrees in number with this subject.

Eg:

Neither his friends nor joe is going to the beach

Neither joe nor his friends are going to the beach

"Collective nouns are singular in nature"

army ,crowd ..etc therefore require singular verb form

Indefinite pronouns are normally singular

what is an indefinite pronoun are those which are not specific about the things or thing they refer to

Anyone Anybody Anything .. are singular

Though some, any ,none, all ,most are indefinite pronouns depend on the context of the sentence

Each and Every are singular

Numerical words are phrases are singular though majority minority are plural.

parting tips think singular ,also try to flip the sentence to check singular or plural nature of the subject.

Now i think you are ready for the test ,please try the questions in the comment section

Problem of the Day

2008-09-02T06:15:00.000-07:00

Problem of the Day

Take a three by three square grid which has the number '1' already inserted in the third row, middle square. You have to complete it by putting eight different prime numbers in the remaining eight empty squares, so that the rows, columns and diagonals add up to the same total; and it must be the smallest possible total under the conditions. Also, the number in the middle square is the average of the two numbers directly above and directly below it and the third largest number is not in the right-hand column, and every square contains one or two digits.

Angelina Jolie says Brad Pitt smells 'badly'

2008-09-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

We got on great," Jolie says of her Mr. and Mrs. Smith co-star, "but as far as touching each other in erotic places or sticking parts of our bodies into one i couldn't do it with some who smells badly.

what's wrong with this sentence

To say someone smell badly, it would technically mean that sense of smell is not functioning properly. “Badly” is an adverb, and adverbs can only modify verbs — in this case, the verb “smell.”

If you think that something has a nasty smell, you say it smells bad.If you are incapable of smelling anything, you smell badly.

Do these sentences have the same meaning?

2008-09-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Do these sentences have the same meaning?

1. You'll get through to.
2. You'll be put through to.
3. You'll go through to.

Problem of the Week 1

2008-09-01T05:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to PagalBille blog , we are here to discuss all types of CAT questions based on Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning.
we start with a logical reasoning problem

Problem 1
A, B, C, D and E decide to run a race. Before the race, five predictions of the outcome are made: (1) ECBAD (as in A first, C second, etc), (2) DAECB, (3) DCBAE, (4) BDAEC, (5) DCBEA. No prediction was completely correct but two of them correctly predicted the placements of exactly two of the runners. The remaining three predictions were totally wrong. What was the actual outcome of the race?