Hi Guys, The standard solution of being a power reader is required to crack this section but by no means is it sufficient. Herein we will look at certain logical ways to think to enhance our understanding of the RC. Type of Questions Asked: 1. The Main Idea of the passage. 2. Style & Tonality of the Passage. 3. Inferential Questions. 4. Questions how information given in the passage could be applied to an outside context. 5. Cause & Effect Questions. 6. Specific Detail Questions. 7. Key words explanation questions. Strategy 1: Identify the Structure of Ideas Whenever a writer pens something, he always has a method of how to go about it. Herein we will develop a grasp of how the ideas in a passage are structured. • Type A: The bulleted format. Herein each subsequent paragraph presents a different perspective of the central theme. • Type B: Date wise format. The passage represents the events in a chronology. • Type C: Idea-Example format. An idea is presented, followed up with an example. • Type D: Idea-Restatement format. An idea is presented, which is then explained in simpler words. • Type E: Comparison Format. The idea is compared (either contrasted or similarities examined) to other familiar ideas. • Type F: The cause & effect format. The idea is presented followed by its effect. This may lead to: single cause-multiple effect, multiple cause – single effect, multiple cause – multiple effects. This is the most frequently tested structure in CAT questions. Takeaway: As you read the passage, you should keep in mind what is happening in the passage, what are the ideas presented and how they are reinforced or their causes & effect explained. Even if you don’t understand both the idea & its effect, but you have figured out which is what; you can attempt the questions. Herein lies the beauty of identifying the structure. Strategy 2: Lookout for Transition Words that take you from Idea A to Idea B • Type A: Addition Words: Also, next, moreover, further, additionally, finally, secondly. • Type B: Chronology Words: Before, First, Frequently, Previously, Subsequently, When, Soon. Strategy 3: Know which statements are Fact, Inferences & Judgements • Facts: A piece of information that can be proved through objective evidence. • Inference: A piece of information deductible from the information presented. It is a new information that is derived from those provided in the passage. • Judgments: These are the opinions presented in the passage & can’t be verified. Takeaway: The questions are based upon the interplay of the above three. A set of inferences would be presented in the question, you would then need to identify which one is true. Hence if you know what all are the facts presented in the passage, you can quickly reach the correct answer. Remember not to mistake judgements for facts. Strategy 4: Identifying Purpose & Tone A passage always has a purpose and an underlying tone. We can identify them by making a mental list of adverbs, adjectives and figures of speech that the author has used. • Critical: Words with a negative meaning such as incongruent, doubtful, grim, disgusting. • Humorous: Words and situations with punch lines, double meaning, joyous. • Disappointed: Words with a negative connotation but with a lesser degree as compared to critical. • Analytical: Passage devoid of any judgments and colorful language. Arguments based on facts covering all aspects of an issue. • Nostalgic: Filled with words & sentences exhibiting a longingness for the past. • Factual: Complete fact based and devoid of even logical conclusions. Be mindful of the difference between factual & analytical. • Didactic/Pedagogic: Use of words like “you must/should do…” denoting compulsion. Finer Nuances to keep in mind while solving RC’s: 1. The way to apply the above strategies is to train your mind to think along these frameworks. Read a few passages say 10 to 20 & dissect each of them along these lines. Understand how the ideas are structured in them; what were the facts, inferences & judgments etc. Soon, your mind will automatically start responding along these lines while you read the passage. 2. Always read the passage in one go and then go to questions. 3. Try to think of an answer before looking at the options. This lets you think about the question without your judgement being clouded by the options. This has proved a very potent strategy. 4. Attempt the RC’s of familiar topics at the onset and leave the unfamiliar ones for the end. But never ever leave an RC altogether. It is not a LR caselet where you need to solve the puzzle to reach the answer. RC questions can be easily answered even without a good understanding of the passage provided you have identified the relevant details & structure. You can look up a book: “Grammar Sucks” by Gary Robert Muschla. It teaches grammar in a fun way. Godspeed!!

02:21 PM

Ping your email id's to get he VA-RC Frameworks doc.

02:23 PM

Feel free to shoot any issues under the sun related to VA-RC :)

02:24 PM

Hi Aman Sir. Thank you so much for these tips. Are there any tips or shortcuts for solving Para jumbles?

02:26 PM

souradeepsengupta10@gmail.com

02:26 PM

My email id is Annanya21august@gmail.com

02:26 PM

hi aman, what could be the strategy for answering rc types like technical stuff(physics,chemistry)...???

02:26 PM

bosco.sylvester@gmail.com

02:27 PM

Any Tips for writing Statement of purpose

02:27 PM

eshwar91josyam@gmail.com

02:28 PM

rishika.emerald.gupta@gmail.com

02:28 PM

@annanya Speaking of Parajumbles: 1. Be mindful of the transition words viz. Addition (Further, Moreover..) & Chronology types (After, Before,Having said that..) 2. Cause & Effect Relationships. Effects would perforce come after the causes. 3. Flow of grammar. Past-> Present -> Future 4. Main them & supporting statements. Main theme first and examples, support statements later. Basically your target is to identify any pattern that connotes sequence.

02:32 PM

abhisheknaik008@gmail.com

02:33 PM

yashnyati1215@gmail.com

02:34 PM

nikitharondla44 @gmail.com

02:34 PM

Hi Aman, is it possible to use the ctrl + f (find) function on CAT?

02:35 PM

krnvaishnav01@gmail.com

02:38 PM

@bosco For technical stuff or in general things that you don't know use a naming strategy. Suppose there is a unknown word like glycerol and the passage talks about its n number of uses & ingredients. So treat Glycerol as 'X' in your mind as you read and whatever are its ingredients as a,b,c,d. Anything troubling denote it by a single alphabet. Meanwhile detect the relations between these variables in the passage; these relations would be simpler & in common language. Your question would be mostly based on these. Thus don't get bogged down by the technical names, just treat them as black boxes & focus on their attributes.

02:38 PM

Also, I have been taking CL mocks. Used to get a 99.5%ile + in English, consistently. Lately, since the last 5-6 mocks, my English score has fallen a lot (I'm around the 85-90 percentile mark now). Unable to figure out what's going wrong.

02:39 PM

How do we decide on choosing the title of the passage especially when the choices are really very close where one option poses a question and the other just summarizes it with a routine title How to pick the one that's apt in such a tricky situation

02:39 PM

mahemasankar@gmail.com

02:40 PM

@Rishika for SOP we will talk after the CAT exam. Feel free to ping me post that.

02:41 PM

gunjan.vjs@gmail.com

02:41 PM

gunjan.vjs@gmail.com

02:41 PM

Hi Aman.. Please mail me all the 3 frameworks (VA Rc, Di, and lr) at shuklaabhigya@gmail.com

02:41 PM

@Yash the keyboard itself is not allowed to be used in the CAT exam (it wasn't in my time). Do check with the latest rules.

02:42 PM

gunjan.vjs@gmail.com

02:43 PM

@all I will mail you all together at 9 pm.

02:43 PM

jyo.narula@gmail.com

02:47 PM

Hi Aman, could you please mail me all the frameworks (VARC + DILR) at ......... celebratewithme01@gmail.com

02:48 PM

Aman what should we attempt first VA or RC?

02:48 PM

4 out of 5 qtns that i attempt in verbal turn out to be wrong.. please suggest what could be done in next few days to improve my verbal section

02:48 PM

@Yash There can be two reasons for a drop in your score. First, Extrinsic: have you changed the test series you were taking ? Is there a change in the level of toughness ? these can be the reasons. Second Intrinsic, probably you are doing something different now. Find out if any particular type of questions are consistently going wrong. Read their solutions & compare them with what you thought while marking the answers. Find the point of dissonance. Similarly study your previous mocks. Even if you did them correct, read their solutions. See if your thinking matched with the solution or was it just a co-incidence. Please do look into the details, probably you are doing only a couple of things wrong that is bringing down your score. All the best. Hope you breach the 99.5x mark in CAT as well.

02:49 PM

Hi Aman...please send all the three frameworks (lr di and varc) at somilasarbadhikary@gmail.com Thanks

02:51 PM

patilnitesh25@gmail.com Please mail me also all 3 areas doc

02:54 PM

there is roumour about having 44 q in verbal any comments

02:55 PM

@Ishwar Titles won't be very tricky. They become one if we hadn't understood the theme and tone of the passage. For instance if the passage is about Biotechnology and the passage talks about its uses and other stuff. Now there could be two options like i. Biotechnology: Its uses & misuses ii. Biotechnology would its uses save us ? Now the tone of the passage will tell you, which is the correct answer. If the passage questions biotechnology with its use & misuses then the ii answer else the first. Key Point: There must always be a coherence among central theme, title & the tone of the passage.

02:56 PM

patilnitesh25@gmail.com Please mail me also all 3 areas doc

02:56 PM

ishitakhemka07@gmail.com

02:57 PM

@Vidhi generally what i used to do was, do the VA first so that some of the questions are done quickly. It build confidence that x% of the questions are done. Then I moved on to RC's. But feel free to suit your strategy to your strengths. The above strategy worked with me. All the Best.

02:59 PM

m.phanee432@gmail.com

03:00 PM

* the above was the answer to @abhigya Apologies

03:00 PM

there is a rumour that varc would have 44q anything on that what should be strategy to solve 44q in one hr

03:01 PM

plz mail me all 3 frameworks @ krish.agrawal001@gmail.com

03:01 PM

there is a rumour that varc would have 44q anything on that what should be strategy to solve 44q in one hr

03:01 PM

Hi Aman I have been scoring 85 percentile in VA Rc. any tips I can increase this to 90 percentile in the last few days.

03:03 PM

I think RCs need more accuracy than speed How did you tackle an RC with 100 percent accuracy 1. Selection of an RC itself....depending on your area of strength 2. Skimming through an RC 3. Questions first.....then with an idea of what's been asked reading an RC What was your strategy to minimize the laborious process of going through the entire passage when it's verbose

03:04 PM

ashikanakorath7@gmail.com

03:05 PM

@jyotika you should two things: 1. Write on a separate piece of paper your thinking flowchart abut the questions you attempted & how you reached the answers. This would be tough but put into words on paper how you thought about it. Then read the solutions & identify where lies the logical error in your thinking by comparing solutions with your notes. 2. You can read the VA-RC framework i have created and other supporting material to identify the structure, reasoning of statements, passages. As important as knowing the subject is, even more important is knowing how the different pieces of information fit together. More often than not we are tested on the latter.

03:07 PM

@Amam please send me the VA-RC, LR & DI framework. My email-id is mrbanerjeerudra@gmail.com

03:09 PM

@phaneendra the exact paper might turn out anyway. It would be same for all. You should not be concerned with this. Concentrate on your prep with the single point agenda of maximum number of correct answers in the requisite time. All the Best. :)

03:09 PM

What sort of varc questions do we need to leave for round 2 or not attempt at all ? Please suggest how to select wisely.

03:10 PM

Should one aim to attempt all 34 questions or would that compromise on the accuracy? I always aim to attempt all questions in VARC as this section is my strength. But then again, I see I end up making a few more errors when I aim to attempt all the questions. What according to you should be the approach with regard to the number of attempts?

03:10 PM

@phaneendra if it so happens that questions are more than you practiced for. I would still advise to attempt the paper on the merit of questions. Don't be in a hurry as you might do many questions wrong. Just a single strategy only that much time to a question that it deserves neither more nor less. And if you are not getting how to proceed with a question in first 30-40 seconds, do it at the end.

03:14 PM

Hi aman, I am getting some 15 correct in the VARC section. Please tell me a strategy to get 20+ correct, as that is where I am really stuck.

03:19 PM

Hi aman, I am getting some 15 correct in the VARC section. Please tell me a strategy to get 20+ correct, as that is where I am really stuck.

03:20 PM

@Ishwar we like to read about things that we know of & especially in such a high pressure exam :P In the first couple of sentences you would know what is the passage all about. I was good with politico-economy & sociology based passages. So I used to them first & 100% accuracy is difficult to achieve so don't leave a passage just because you thought it would not fetch full marks. Another important selection criteria is number of questions with the passage. In the CAT 2016 mock some passages have 6 questions some have 3. It is better to read the passage that has more number of questions.

03:20 PM

Thanks Aman. Is this the last day or are you taking another session tomorrow, also

03:22 PM

ankitjoshi1248@gmail.com

03:23 PM

@Dipti For RC's i have highlighted the strategy in the doc. For VA specific questions: there are three types in the CAT-2016 mock central theme, para-jumbles & odd man out. It takes not more than 30-40 seconds to read these questions, and trying to skim through them would not be advisable because how do you short an already short question. Read these questions sequentially, and attempt which you can in not more than 2 minutes. Leave the ones you can't and revisit them at the end if time permits.

03:25 PM

tanmayee92@gmail.com

03:25 PM

Hi aman, I am getting some 15 correct in the VARC section. Please tell me a strategy to get 20+ correct, as that is where I am really stuck. I solve VA first, but somehow get stuck in the RC and leave some questions here.

03:25 PM

Please send varc-greater framework to me also--- samacer00@gmail.com Thanks

03:25 PM

jyo.narula@gmail.com

03:26 PM

Aman please send me all the three framework. My email-id is mrbanerjeerudra@gmail.com

03:26 PM

Hi Aman I have been scoring 85 percentile in VA Rc. any tips I can increase this to 90 percentile in the last few days.

03:27 PM

Please send the VARC-greater framework to me: kapoor.ms05@gmail.com

03:27 PM

Thank you Aman!

03:28 PM

@yash if you can comfortably attempt all the questions then you should. The question of compromise comes if you are not giving a question its due in order to move on to next one. This compromise is not advisable under any circumstances. So if you are able to do all 34 with due diligence its perfect. Errors won't be minimized by giving a question more time, in fact over thinking in VA section is a bane. Errors will go only when you compare your thinking with solutions & detect the source of errors. All the Best

03:29 PM

diptimohapatra123@gmail.com

03:30 PM

rishabkarsv@gmail.com

03:33 PM

Hi aman, I am getting some 15 correct in the VARC section. Please tell me a strategy to get 20+ correct, as that is where I am really stuck. I solve VA first, but somehow get stuck in the RC and leave some questions here.

03:33 PM

@Achyut you can go though the doc I will send, it contains some frameworks to think quickly. A reason why people take more time in answering questions is that they overthink. Carefully analyse your thinking process by putting down the flow of your thoughts on a piece of paper. If after 3/4 steps of thinking you are moving back in circles. You can eliminate the time lag.We don't get to know of this because it happens imperceptibly. If you write your thinking flowchart on a paper you will detect it. All the Best.

03:33 PM

@Eshwar Thanks. My last session is tomorrow.

03:34 PM

Looking forward to it, Aman. That one on QA, right

03:35 PM

thanks aman. My id khansili.achyut.29@gmail.com

03:35 PM

@all That would be all for today. Would be sending you the docs soon. Thanks a lot. The pleasure was mine. See you tomorrow for the last session 8 to 9 pm. May you all bell the CAT. Cheers Aman

03:36 PM

My accuracy in CR section is really low, para jumbles ,odd one out, usage of words. The words are random and I am not an avid reader. I can dissect the meaning in RCs but I am not scoring well in other parts. What do I do?

03:36 PM

Hi Aman I have been scoring 85 percentile in VA Rc. any tips I can increase this to 90 percentile in the last few days.

03:36 PM

sachinjaiswal528@gmail.com plz forward the doc

03:41 PM

dipti_mundhra@yahoo.com

03:41 PM

Hi Aman, Please send all the frameworks to manisha.mgk@gmail.com

03:47 PM

khishen007@gmail.com

03:48 PM

Hi Aman, Please send all the frameworks to pranjalpushpsingh@gmail.com

03:52 PM

divyasreekrish@gmail.com

03:54 PM

Amitanshu26@gmail.com

04:26 PM

vijayadinsh93@gmail.com

05:00 PM

please send all the frameworks

05:00 PM

Can you please send those frameworks on shubhammalpani92@gmail.com. Thanks for all the help.

05:27 PM

gaya394@gmail.com

06:12 PM