Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension play a pivotal role in MBA Entrance exams, as this is one of the scoring and challenging section and imperative to score much better in the English language section. Candidates need to focus properly for VARC section preparation to score better for any MBA Entrance exam. MBA aspirants must have a consistent habit to improve their verbal skills concerning to the English language.
Tick tock tick tock!…the feeling every CAT aspirant must be having, since its just 3+ months left for the CAT 2018 examination, which is scheduled for November 25, 2018. The countdown has begun as the registrations for CAT 2018 exam has started from August 08, and this is the high time when CAT aspirants should only be focusing on aiming the best percentile as they can.
As the atmosphere for CAT 2018 aspirants is being critical, we felt the need to gave them the right direction on which they should be heading right now. To make things easier we will be covering each section out of VERBAL ABILITY AND READING COMPREHENSION (VARC), QUANTITATIVE ABILITY(QA), DATA INTERPRETATION AND LOGICAL REASONING (DILR) and explaining the key points which one must know to crack that section with higher percentile.
In this article, we guide completely guide on how to go for VARC section preparation. The VARC section is considered one of the most scoring sections in CAT and other MBA Entrance examination. The time required for the VARC section preparation is less than others sections. Usually, toppers say that they give the least time to VARC section and still score the best. This makes the VARC section preparation even more valuable, one must be precise when preparing for the same.
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VARC Section Preparation: Exam Pattern
| Total Number of VARC Questions | 34 |
| total Marks of VARC section | 102 |
| Estimated time Given | 60 minutes |
| Marks for each Correct Answer (MCQ and Non-MCQ) | 3 marks |
| Marks deducted for each Incorrect Answer(MCQ only) | 1 mark |
| Total Number of MCQs | 24 |
| Total Number of Non-MCQs | 10 |
The VARC section covers 34% of total sections with 102 marks approximately. These questions can be MCQ type or Non-MCQ type.
1. Multiple Type Questions have multiple choice out of which one is correct. For each correct answer, 3 marks are awarded to the candidate and for each incorrect answer, 1 mark is deducted.
2. Non-MCQ typed Question will also award you 3 marks for each correct answer and no marks will be deducted for incorrect answer. Such questions need to be answered on a virtual keyboard via mouse.
VARC Section
The VARC section is divided into two sections :
1 Verbal Ability: This part of VARC section consists of 30% of the whole section with a total number of 10 questions. The basis of this section is English language, vocabulary, and Grammar. This section tests the candidate’s ability to use the English Language flawlessly.
2 Reading Comprehension: This part of VARC section consists of 70% of the whole section with a total of 24 questions..This section has 5 passages out of which 3 are long and 2 short, from which the candidate needs to answer. This section tests the candidates reading capability and understanding power.
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VARC Topics and Number of Questions in CAT
| Area | Topic | Number of Questions per Topic |
| Reading Comprehension (16 Questions) | 4- 5 Reading Comprehension Passage | 16 |
| English Usage (18 Questions) | Jumble Paragraph | 4 |
| Deductive Logics | 4 | |
| Sentence Correction | 3 | |
| Critical Reasoning | 4 | |
| Para Completion | 3 | |
| Grammar | 3 |
VARC Section Preparation: Exam Format
Verbal Ability section constitutes of Paragraph Forming (Para Jumbled Questions), jumbled paragraphs, Summary/Inference of short paragraph, questions on Jumbled paragraphs, Sentence Correction, Vocabulary-Usage in context, synonyms, antonyms & analogies etc.
- fill in the blanks based on vocabulary and grammatical knowlege.
- Sentence Correction needs the knowledge of grammar, the rules and exceptions especially.
- Jumbled paragraphs have 5 sentences which need to be arranged.
- Questions on jumbled paragraphs consist of sentences out of which odd is to be selected
- Error correction of sentences based on grammatical power, verbal ability.
Reading Comprehension constitutes Different Categories of Passages based on Current affairs; Social and Economic issues; Literature; Science & Culture; Abstract topics; history & fiction, Writing Styles, Types of Questions, Tone of Writing, inference, critical reasoning, vocabulary, central idea.
- Inference type of questions is based on the implication of candidate which is not directly stated in the passage, it’s better to consider premise in the passage before giving a conclusion.
- A tone of writing may ask you to give your opinion on the author’s mood or attitude in a specific part of the passage.
- Central Idea questions are related to the main aim of the author, or the highlighted idea.
- Vocabulary refers to the candidate’s ability to give the meanings of words stated in the passage.
- Critical Reasoning refers to the candidate’s logical reasoning if provided with some nasic ideas.
READ MORE: XAT 2019 Preparation Tips, Study Plan And Strategy
Tips and Tricks For VARC Section Preparation
- Be a Reader!
The most important part of VARC section is reading passages in speed with keeping the references to the context. So for this one need to read magazines, newspapers, novels etc and not just read but also try to summarize what you have read to relate to the context, try to read passages from past 10 years CAT question papers. Keep marking the new words, try to learn their meanings and if you don’t the meaning of certain words during examination try to conceptualize and get the related meaning.
- Memorize or Understand Grammar
It would be the best one understands the rules of grammar and apply them but as we know it’s pretty difficult because English Grammar have more exceptions than rules, so it would be best to stick on memorizing, memorize the rules, golden rules, exceptions and try to solve questions on them to make concepts crystal clear.
- Vocabulary needs Attention!
When it comes to reading comprehension one can conceptualize and relate the meanings for a particular word but in the VERBAL section, there would be questions related to synonyms, antonyms, analogies, sentence corrections, para jumbled, para completions etc which require some good knowledge of words. But if you don’t the exact meaning even here!go for elimination method that is read question and choice a few times and once you got even a slight idea about what that meaning could be, start eliminating choices which you find can be incorrect and hence you would be left with one or few best choices.
- Non-MCQs are Equally Important!
Usually, CAT aspirants take non-MCQs lightly which shouldn’t be done as particularly in VARC section they are 10 in numbers which means you have 30 marks relied on these, the most interesting part is that they don’t have any negative markings, so its beneficial to attend those.
- Mock Tests and Sample Papers.
The best way to know the level of any examination is through their previous year’s question papers. Practice questions from last 10 years CAT question papers. Instead of sticking on books try to solve maximum mock tests and sample papers.
- Time is NEVER Sufficient
As the syllabi of CAT examination is never officially revealed, it’s just through experts what we get. It’s fuzzy, what to prepare what to not, a candidate would try to cover as much as he can, but time would always be limited, so keep that in mind! Go for the topics which are frequently asked and also try to manage time, as there are several sections which require equal focus. Manage your time wisely and be the smart one, not the hard worker one.
- Don’t Attempt All
You need 100 percentile, not 100 marks, these two are different things. You need just 78-80 marks to get a 95+ percentile so focus on 25-28 questions and not on all. Don’t hesitate to leave a question you are uncertain about because it can cost you negative marking.
- Think Positive!
Its just a few months lefts for the final examination, all you need to determination and focus. Nobody said it was gonna be easy but all say it’s worth the struggle.
READ MORE: Top 10 MBA Entrance Exams To Appear In 2018
All the Best Aspirants for CAT Preparation!!
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