CAT VA shikhamaru style

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..

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

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

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

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

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

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

(C) to act as sentinels and sound

(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

(C) for them to be processed quickly into juice concentrate before the fruit rots when warmer weather

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