1)4

2) 2

3 )3

4) 2

5 ) D

6 ) E

7 ) E

A

9 ) B

10) C

from proselyte onwardz
DDCEEABC
now i hav put hr the meanings of quandary,quagmire,perplexity n i thnk the most apt opposite of certainty is perplexity,donnow why itz not givn as key:(

@idiot---dunno ...I had ticked certainity-perplexity as the answer myself...

gud words!!
had to luk up the dictionary ...
gt 7/12 correct:(

Hi,regd qs 2 why not perplexity????i mean why quandary is more appropriate than perplexity????
Some qs from my side....

adulteration
1)native
2)bad-tempered person
3)forcefulness; intensity; conviction
4) making unpure poorer in quality
5) loquacious ; wordy ; verbose
orison
1) To solicit customers, votes, or patronage
2) prayer
3) undress
4) hence, awkward; clumsy
5) Bequest or inheritance
trencherman
1) able to use the left hand or the right equally well
2) That gives warning or information
3) person who eats a lot
4) uncommunicativeness ; silence ; reserve
5) hand or swing loosely
approbation
1) kind of stone inflexible
2) approval
3) childish ; trivial
4) To solicit customers, votes, or patronage
5) eager/excited

PROSELYTE
A. irrational, wayward, by chance, random
B. enchant, allure, entice, tempt
C. greedy, decadent, pleasure-seeking, selfish
D. follower, zealot, disciple, convert
E. mock, deride, tease, ridicule
BELLWETHER
A. clear, vindicate, acquit, absolve
B. subsequent, postmortem
C. abundant, fecund, productive, fruitful
D. leader, beacon, shepherd, guide
E. atypical, strange, bizarre, odd
LITURGY
A. gawk, stare, gaze
B. gash, breach, break, puncture
C. ceremony, worship, service, ritual
D. sincere, blunt, honest, frank, truthful
E. sleazy, base, squalid, disgusting

RIBALD
A. sharp, pungent, bitter, caustic
B. involved, elaborate, difficult, complicated
C. modicum, scrap, modicum, scrap, bit, inadequacy
D. decorate, adorn, festoon, gussy up
E. vulgar, salacious, indecent, obscene

POLTROON
A. distinction, trace, difference, subtlety
B. clarify, expound, elucidate, explain
C. timid, uncertain, hesitant, cautious
D. complacence, pride, self-admiration, conceit
E. chicken, yellowbelly, coward, craven

MORASS
A. bog, swamp, quagmire, lowland
B. cheap, miserly, stingy, thrifty
C. ridiculous, absurd, outlandish, kooky
D. assurance, self-confidence, composure, cool
E. compartment, partition, workspace, booth

CATERWAUL
A. slaughter, holocaust, annihilation, massacre
B. cry, bicker, quarrel, wail
C. same, identical, uniform, equivalent
D. dormancy, inactivity, pause, remission
E. fragile, unconvincing, weak, feeble

MIRAGE
A. primitive, obsolete, old, out-of-date
B. believed, supposed, presumed, alleged
C. vision, phantasm, hallucination, delusion
D. composed, taciturn, unemotional, indifferent
E. notion, suspicion, hunch, hint

1)4

2) 2

3 )3

4) 2

5 ) D

6 ) E

7 ) E

A

9 ) B

10) C

okay...guys...now lemme post the correct answers ...

1)c-d is obvio the correct answr but since it is not mentioned in the options the correct answr is b-d...
2)a-b is correct.

yess, thank you guys for the useful i/p regarding WM, it ceratinly is heavy duty work to go thru WM...i think i will post problems which i cannot get ....

Hi,regd qs 2 why not perplexity????i mean why quandary is more appropriate than perplexity????
Some qs from my side....

adulteration
1)native
2)bad-tempered person
3)forcefulness; intensity; conviction
4) making unpure poorer in quality
5) loquacious ; wordy ; verbose
orison
1) To solicit customers, votes, or patronage
2) prayer
3) undress
4) hence, awkward; clumsy
5) Bequest or inheritance
trencherman
1) able to use the left hand or the right equally well
2) That gives warning or information
3) person who eats a lot
4) uncommunicativeness ; silence ; reserve
5) hand or swing loosely
approbation
1) kind of stone inflexible
2) approval
3) childish ; trivial
4) To solicit customers, votes, or patronage
5) eager/excited

PROSELYTE
A. irrational, wayward, by chance, random
B. enchant, allure, entice, tempt
C. greedy, decadent, pleasure-seeking, selfish
D. follower, zealot, disciple, convert
E. mock, deride, tease, ridicule
BELLWETHER
A. clear, vindicate, acquit, absolve
B. subsequent, postmortem
C. abundant, fecund, productive, fruitful
D. leader, beacon, shepherd, guide
E. atypical, strange, bizarre, odd
LITURGY
A. gawk, stare, gaze
B. gash, breach, break, puncture
C. ceremony, worship, service, ritual
D. sincere, blunt, honest, frank, truthful
E. sleazy, base, squalid, disgusting

RIBALD
A. sharp, pungent, bitter, caustic
B. involved, elaborate, difficult, complicated
C. modicum, scrap, modicum, scrap, bit, inadequacy
D. decorate, adorn, festoon, gussy up
E. vulgar, salacious, indecent, obscene

POLTROON
A. distinction, trace, difference, subtlety
B. clarify, expound, elucidate, explain
C. timid, uncertain, hesitant, cautious
D. complacence, pride, self-admiration, conceit
E. chicken, yellowbelly, coward, craven

MORASS
A. bog, swamp, quagmire, lowland
B. cheap, miserly, stingy, thrifty
C. ridiculous, absurd, outlandish, kooky
D. assurance, self-confidence, composure, cool
E. compartment, partition, workspace, booth

CATERWAUL
A. slaughter, holocaust, annihilation, massacre
B. cry, bicker, quarrel, wail
C. same, identical, uniform, equivalent
D. dormancy, inactivity, pause, remission
E. fragile, unconvincing, weak, feeble

MIRAGE
A. primitive, obsolete, old, out-of-date
B. believed, supposed, presumed, alleged
C. vision, phantasm, hallucination, delusion
D. composed, taciturn, unemotional, indifferent
E. notion, suspicion, hunch, hint

okay...guys...now lemme post the correct answers ...

1)c-d is obvio the correct answr but since it is not mentioned in the options the correct answr is b-d...
2)a-b is correct.

yess, thank you guys for the useful i/p regarding WM, it ceratinly is heavy duty work to go thru WM...i think i will post problems which i cannot get ....

1) I'll go with a-d option.
2) I'll go with a-b option. Although a), c) and d) are similar in meaning but i believe d) is more of a difficult and dangerous situation.

boss my two centz on ur opinion tht a,c,d are similar in meaning...(ref:dictionary.com)

quandary:
n 1: a situation from which extrication is difficult especially an unpleasant or trying one; "finds himself in a most awkward predicament"; "the woeful plight of homeless people" 2: state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options
quagmire:
1)Land with a soft muddy surface.
2)A difficult or precarious situation; a predicament.
perplexity:
The state of being perplexed or puzzled.
The state of being intricate or complicated: the perplexity of life in twentieth-century America (Daniel J. Boorstin).
Something that perplexes.
Now regd ur opinion on wrn n martn as well as how 2 tackle the usage qs in cat i completely agree with u,ths feeling of rght n wrong will come once u read alot...n get an understndin of diffrnt writin styles:)

Me just started going thru Wren and Martin. Yes, its boring. One cannot just read all the pages. Also, there is no point in mugging up diff. types of nouns, verbs etc unless you apply them. Only solution is practice practice and practice.

In the exam as well you don't try and apply rules to the questions. People go by the first thing which comes to their mind (atleast with me). Rules come in handy when after reading the questin it clicks in your mind. (This is possible with practice only).

@vineet--hey thats great buddy!!
I have nevah ritten any mock as of yet so cant really give any concrete piece of advice but from 1st hand experience....reading books helps beeg time!! THere are still 8 months to go for CAT and if u are not ina habit to read , now is a good time to begin....

Apart from that...
Find the pair opposite in meaning to each other..I am posting the 2 I gt rong

1)
a) odious b)obscene c) despicable d)laudable
1)a-b 2)b-c 3)a-d 4)b-d.

2)
a)quandary b)certainity c)perplexity d)quagmire
1)a-b 2)b-c 3)a-d 4)b-d

1) I'll go with a-d option.
2) I'll go with a-b option. Although a), c) and d) are similar in meaning but i believe d) is more of a difficult and dangerous situation.

1)

the correct pair for 1 will be c-d which is missing ...
despicable means ..one who is hateful
laudable means one who deserves honour and respect ..

but from ur given choices the closest ans as per me seems to be b-d

2) again here quandary ,perplexity ,quagmire are almost same in meaning ....a dificult situation of confusion ...

its very hard to chose here ...but i wud have chose option (2)

dude awesome rank ,now regd qs 1 the a-d ans pair i think is correct,qs 2 b-c

chiya Says

Do watever u think z gud..wedr it is WM or anything else..the point here is tat we share watever we learn....and keep each oter motivated:)

wren and martin has lots of stuffs ....u will get saturated ..after seeing the variation..
i think best thing is to get a brief idea of all of tense , modals,articles ,prepositions nd solve the sentence correction using correct tense , modals,articles ,prepositions ... directly from the same book ......nd in case of pangaa....refer back to the chapters ...other wise ..it will be very boring ...at least 4 me ..this is the case........

nd in case of doubts pg is always there..:D

@vineet--hey thats great buddy!!
I have nevah ritten any mock as of yet so cant really give any concrete piece of advice but from 1st hand experience....reading books helps beeg time!! THere are still 8 months to go for CAT and if u are not ina habit to read , now is a good time to begin....

Apart from that...
Find the pair opposite in meaning to each other..I am posting the 2 I gt rong

1)
a) odious b)obscene c) despicable d)laudable
1)a-b 2)b-c 3)a-d 4)b-d.

2)
a)quandary b)certainity c)perplexity d)quagmire
1)a-b 2)b-c 3)a-d 4)b-d

1)

the correct pair for 1 will be c-d which is missing ...
despicable means ..one who is hateful
laudable means one who deserves honour and respect ..

but from ur given choices the closest ans as per me seems to be b-d

2) again here quandary ,perplexity ,quagmire are almost same in meaning ....a dificult situation of confusion ...

its very hard to chose here ...but i wud have chose option (2)

the popular opinion is NOT doing WM coz it seems 'outdated'. quoting a coaching centre faculty

i too found WM too cumbersome

i feel package of any institute is good enough for CAT prep

Do watever u think z gud..wedr it is WM or anything else..the point here is tat we share watever we learn....and keep each oter motivated:)

hmmm..
okay lets do it this way....
I will do WM..and all that I ifnd new, the teeny weeny things and all that, i shall try to put them up here, that way, I'll have some impetus to go thru WM and will remembr what I put up here and then ppl like Vineet can also benefit....presuming that the stuff i put here is of use:D

and others who go thru WM /any other buk can do the same....

wat say junta??

the popular opinion is NOT doing WM coz it seems 'outdated'. quoting a coaching centre faculty

i too found WM too cumbersome

i feel package of any institute is good enough for CAT prep

@vineet--hey thats great buddy!!
I have nevah ritten any mock as of yet so cant really give any concrete piece of advice but from 1st hand experience....reading books helps beeg time!! THere are still 8 months to go for CAT and if u are not ina habit to read , now is a good time to begin....

Apart from that...
Find the pair opposite in meaning to each other..I am posting the 2 I gt rong

1)
a) odious b)obscene c) despicable d)laudable
1)a-b 2)b-c 3)a-d 4)b-d.

2)
a)quandary b)certainity c)perplexity d)quagmire
1)a-b 2)b-c 3)a-d 4)b-d

perhaps as much as i remember i had made a querry about how to deal with pressure ...i am very bad at reading ....

plzz someone guide me ...b4 its too late ....

Hi ....just now i got the result of the CL all india mock test ..ion which i got 32 rank ...95 percentile..


in verbal i have scored 25.7 and the highest in this section was....26.7

the test went this way ....
i wasted my very first 31 minutes of the exam on a single 2 marker /quest rc which had 6 questions....and the end result was a gain of only 2 marks .
Thanks to the Engliash usage nd Ps which boosted my verbal score like anything....

.that cost me the DI section ..i cud attempt only 2 quests in di :(.. i cud hardly attempt any questions ...

now ..i wud like u all juntaa to advice me in this scenario ...

this is very essential from my point of view..the help is badly needed ...

it will be highly appreciated....

hmmm..
okay lets do it this way....
I will do WM..and all that I ifnd new, the teeny weeny things and all that, i shall try to put them up here, that way, I'll have some impetus to go thru WM and will remembr what I put up here and then ppl like Vineet can also benefit....presuming that the stuff i put here is of use:D

and others who go thru WM /any other buk can do the same....

wat say junta??

yupppp ...ppl like me need that sort of help :D:D

hmmm..
okay lets do it this way....
I will do WM..and all that I ifnd new, the teeny weeny things and all that, i shall try to put them up here, that way, I'll have some impetus to go thru WM and will remembr what I put up here and then ppl like Vineet can also benefit....presuming that the stuff i put here is of use:D

and others who go thru WM /any other buk can do the same....

wat say junta??

Game,now chiya not only vineet i need help as well .On a serious note i have strtd reading this eng usage mat of CL.I can chip in if ne help is reqd.Now another idea is
to discuss eng usage topic by topic either here or @-thr is ths thrd http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/english-resources/10137-verbal-section.html
.....Also regd etymology we need some reading.
U decide whn we will start.
P.S another gentle reminder 4 u:plz reply 2 my PJ query:)

hmmm..
okay lets do it this way....
I will do WM..and all that I ifnd new, the teeny weeny things and all that, i shall try to put them up here, that way, I'll have some impetus to go thru WM and will remembr what I put up here and then ppl like Vineet can also benefit....presuming that the stuff i put here is of use:D

and others who go thru WM /any other buk can do the same....

wat say junta??

Okay, temme this..
I have started giong through Wren and Martin now...and i want to know how exactly should I go thru it??? I mean there are ten types verbs and hundred tyeps of blah and so on..is there any need to mug them up??
or should I just solve the exercises after reading the material.....


Is there anypone who is planning to or has already started going through W M properly ?? lemme know..we cud keep each other encouraged!!:D

I feel strongly that WM shud be done achche se atleast once and flipped thru twice before CAT06...
adios amigos!

:D:D .......sahi kahaaaaaaaaaaa......par time kahaan hai........:D

Hi devis nd devtas of this thread ...........

how to subside the nervousness that creeps while writing the test ... ..i have this problem..i start getting tense:D as time starts ticking........nd i have no control over that...

Plz suggest me how to get rid of that ......coz it really hampers the concentraion nd hence the speed and accuracy ......

I need some tips on being calm and composed ...

lemme put my two cents on this....:)
As far as i know vineet,he is very much a would b 99 percentiler in QA 4 CAT06.
Now i think here he iz referin othr evaluation areaz.What i feel is tht the tensn orginates bcoz u hav set some target in ur mind bfore appearin in the xam ,say i hav 2 score 30+ in VA 2 get an IIM call .Now da way out iz 2 take it easy.Start takin examz @ home n set no cutoff in ur mind.Try doin whatever number of qs u can do correctly within time.
Say u can do 7-8 qs corrctly in VA within 30 mins.Thn thtz the baseline,nxt testtry doin 12 qs correctly.Ths way once u start gettin more marks i m sure ur confi will rise n u wll nt be perspire on D day,it will b anothr test ....
All dont get disheartend if in some test ur score comes down,all tests will nt b havin same difficulty levelz.
Also u r nt alone we all (esp ppl who will b takin cat 06 first time)r facin da same prob,so cheer up.....

have an ice cream before u go to give ur exam..it helps !! try it

Here's a very thoughtful essay on the use and abuse of the English Language by George Orwell.

Outstanding....
A must-read for all of us.
Felt ashamed while reading the essay as I've been guilty of many of the abuses that he has cited.

Hi devis nd devtas of this thread ...........

how to subside the nervousness that creeps while writing the test ... ..i have this problem..i start getting tense:D as time starts ticking........nd i have no control over that...

Plz suggest me how to get rid of that ......coz it really hampers the concentraion nd hence the speed and accuracy ......

I need some tips on being calm and composed ...

hi,
nervousness is the result of fear. When u fear something, in this case:exam, it will first tamper with the function of your Breath and then will affect your heart and lastly mind. In my experience, I have found the Breathing Exercise, like pranayama to be the best and fastest remedy. Just take four and five deep breath and think consiously whom i am fearing.... for most, the answer may be the Fear of Failure and for others it may be different depends on the person to person. these all thing will take 0ne or two minutes and you will find ur fear just vanishes and courage taking its place.
hope this will work in your case too.
regads
anil

'apni to pathshala masti ki pathshala'
mast raho, swasth raho!

Hi devis nd devtas of this thread ...........

how to subside the nervousness that creeps while writing the test ... ..i have this problem..i start getting tense:D as time starts ticking........nd i have no control over that...

Plz suggest me how to get rid of that ......coz it really hampers the concentraion nd hence the speed and accuracy ......

I need some tips on being calm and composed ...

Go ahead...

hi , so the geniuses are back at work for us to share our doubts??? :grab:

Thanks Deepu... :D
Noone seems to have any doubts *falls asleep

debashis2005 Says

I am beginer in CAT preparation,I wanna know how much practice I need to get IIMs or other A grade institutes,I hav arround 1.5 yr of work-ex.I am not so good in RC,Vocabolary,DI. I hav also problem of speaking I am not a good speaker. Do these create a problem to get A grade institutes.Pls ppl help me out....

Hi debashis ,take your time to go through the forum. There are threads pertaining to most of the CAT related topics and more. Plzz use search feature. To make better use of Pagalguy go thru the link "HitchHikers Guide.." in my signature.

I am beginer in CAT preparation,I wanna know how much practice I need to get IIMs or other A grade institutes,I hav arround 1.5 yr of work-ex.I am not so good in RC,Vocabolary,DI. I hav also problem of speaking I am not a good speaker. Do these create a problem to get A grade institutes.Pls ppl help me out....

hi Srutz,

Thanx for starting a thread, which I wanted to subscribe to since long.

First of tell us all that how much time shud be donated to EU...N how much to RC, Ideally....N please don't give the limit according to YOUR standard...coz we all know wat a mastermind U are....Give them for the standard of Normal people i.e....

Second...Wat shud be the no. of attempts in that time n wid what accuracy.....

Third...How much attempt in how much time for RC's.....Do U do all the RC's or only those until time permite...Or do U haf flexible time limits....

I haf asked U this on PM also, but U did'nt reply.....:whatthat: :whatthat:

Please do it here, m in need of Ur help dudet....

Genius....Please reply...N Happy B'Day

Const...

hi,

sorry for plunging in between n tryin' to give ungratituous suggestions on the trail msg.
but for your question, I believe, the BEST strategy can be one which is also seen in application by most of the hi fi call getters; i.e. Attempting All/Nearly all question in the language section, whether it be CAT, XAT or Snap.

U see, u can very well find maths out of ur ken, or DI uninferrable at times, but yep, English is something which has no syllabus sorta thing and what matters there is ONLY YOUR EFFICIENCY IN ITS USAGE.

Hence, try scoring MAXIMUM in English anywhere...

tk cr,
aspirehigh(er)

Hey, loads of people seem to be asking the same q...Why don't u repost your main "VA gyaan" article from the old aIMcat test in this thread?? Or post a link to it in your thread starter post...:)

Best of luck for D-Day,

Zaphod

hello , where can i get the PG guide

only members can download that material
if u please upload it here it will be useful

ram

Hi this is for CAT takers 2006 - for RC u can download good e books from the link:http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/book_aholic/files/ and I ll request to all gyan gurus to contribute to this group and enrich the RC source..........thanks

why deo nair?? does tht hv smthing to do with a long coast line..high moisture content in the atmposphere and smelly armpits??
(sorry for spaming guys..pardonnez moi!)

Well, you look to have some grasp of foreign languages other than English, Mr Anderson. But then you should have remembered that apart from being used as an acronym for deodorant, it means god, too
Anyway, the way you interpreted "deo" was a bit too much for me
Somehow, 'Mr Anderson' reminds me of matrix and I should tell you that it is not the spoon that is bending, it is you Therefore, let me end this post in matrix style:
My name is Anu

Hehe...P is my middlename, dude

Ciao,
APT

Aw..come on Anup..
i too am part of this wonderful community called "the mallus" (malayalee if u insist )
and pray tell me...why deo nair?? does tht hv smthing to do with a long coast line..high moisture content in the atmposphere and smelly armpits??

andy.

Long live the cult of Mal PaGaLs...
I am one too

anupthomas Says

Mr Anderson, I think you have got the spelling of his name wrong. His name is Deo Nair. But please, don't use the word 'Mallu'. Use 'Malayali' instead. Somehow 'Mallu' irritates most of those who belong to that category. And you might not want to irritate the god, especially on a new-year eve!

Aw..come on Anup..
i too am part of this wonderful community called "the mallus" (malayalee if u insist )
and pray tell me...why deo nair?? does tht hv smthing to do with a long coast line..high moisture content in the atmposphere and smelly armpits??
(sorry for spaming guys..pardonnez moi!)

@srikrishnan .. afaik xat is concerned..it was extremely vocab heavy until last yr's xat...as mentioned in my prev post..xat last yr was more like a diluted version of cat..and did not bear much resemblance to prev xat papers.

andy.

hello eve1....
i have a small doubt.. this q is straight out of the barrons book for gre...
analogy based q :
Hermit : Gregarious ::
a)miser : penurious
b)ascetic:hedonistic
c)coward : pusillanimous
d)scholar : literate
e)crab : crustacean

thanx in anticiaption.
ciao.
nishant.

A hermit is not gregarious.
a) need not exhibit the relationship
c) has no relationship
d) a scholar is literate
e) a crab is a crustacean

hello eve1....
i have a small doubt.. this q is straight out of the barrons book for gre...
analogy based q :
Hermit : Gregarious ::
a)miser : penurious
b)ascetic:hedonistic
c)coward : pusillanimous
d)scholar : literate
e)crab : crustacean

thanx in anticiaption.
ciao.
nishant.

Originally Posted by Shrutz

Wren & Martin is, by far, THE best book for English grammar and usage you can find. I am not sure about other books, but if you can understand why and when each part of speech is used, it'll be fairly easy. Now, HOW do you understand that? That, my friend, comes from practice and more practice

I would recommend Wren & Martin too... remembering that it WAS the first of the many really THICK books which we were to study during our schooling...

And while we are on this topic...I think Norman Lewis' Word Power Made Easy was a good book on correct usage of words...

Originally Posted by Shrutz

Some words of unrelated advice (personally speaking). PLEASE keep Robert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" OUT of any composition you write. Yes, I KNOW you have promises to keep, but the reminder only serves to send me to sleep!

Rightly pointed out, ma'am...

@shrutz...i receiced confirmation recently tht god is indeed a mallu..
he goes by the name devo nair

Mr Anderson, I think you have got the spelling of his name wrong. His name is Deo Nair. But please, don't use the word 'Mallu'. Use 'Malayali' instead. Somehow 'Mallu' irritates most of those who belong to that category. And you might not want to irritate the god, especially on a new-year eve!

why is the vocabulary part becoming les &less; imp in cat
whereas in fms&xat; there r so many ques on the same
how many words would be enough for prep for each?

For people who really need to know... This question is not originally mine. This is from a 4 year old philosopher whom I happen to know personally (She never stops talking!).. my niece :D

Do we need to believe that?

We await God's diktat for the answer to the query above. :D

cheers!!!

@shrutz...i receiced confirmation recently tht god is indeed a mallu..
he goes by the name devo nair

WHY do I get the feeling you were itching to say that? ;)

For people who really need to know... This question is not originally mine. This is from a 4 year old philosopher whom I happen to know personally (She never stops talking!).. my niece

XAT paper last year was not the vocab heavy paper, with long caselts for qa, and sectional timelimits which we were used to previously.
there were no time limts for the sections,
the maths/di was pathtically simple compared to cat..
english had a few messy RCs..aprt from a few vocab questions...
so frankly speaking not much of preps required..the normal va/rc practice for cat wud do..
happy new ppl and all the best fro xat..and all the challenges ahead..

@shrutz...i receiced confirmation recently tht god is indeed a mallu..
he goes by the name devo nair

we were told at TIME that XAT papers are generally vocab heavy especially on stuff like analogies et all....

shrutz Says

*looks shamefaced*

tut tut! no need to be. reality check for the essay.

when i was with the XL profs, they dredged up the essay at the fag end of the interview when we were just exchanging smiles,pleasantries and being in a general state of bonhomie.they looked a little surprised to see the little xeroxed scrawl on their desk. very politely, i told them not to read it as it was just such a global essay for such a global topic.. "Population control in India" or something. being the nice gentlemen they were, they said that it was ok..and that was the end of the matter. i got through the place eventually..ergo, that essay wasnt read.
QED

the bot

XAT paper last year was not the vocab heavy paper, with long caselts for qa, and sectional timelimits which we were used to previously.
there were no time limts for the sections,
the maths/di was pathtically simple compared to cat..
english had a few messy RCs..aprt from a few vocab questions...
so frankly speaking not much of preps required..the normal va/rc practice for cat wud do..
happy new ppl and all the best fro xat..and all the challenges ahead..

@shrutz...i receiced confirmation recently tht god is indeed a mallu..
he goes by the name devo nair

*looks shamefaced*
I haven't gone through the XAT papers, could someone refresh my memory please?
More to the point, to write an effective essay, you need to to keep in mind certain points
1) Paragraphs: As far as possible, put each new idea in each paragraph. Also, when writing an essay, it pays to put forward your 5 MOST effective points rather than skating all over a subject.
2) Before writing the essay, keep in mind which direction you want it to go and decide the appropriate beginnings and endings.
3) Do some rough work before the actual writing. It saves on cutting and rewriting later.
4) For creative writing, think of the idea in much the same way.
5) Make a good ending and beginning, because those are what really catches a person's eye.
Some words of unrelated advice (personally speaking). PLEASE keep Robert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" OUT of any composition you write. Yes, I KNOW you have promises to keep, but the reminder only serves to send me to sleep!
6) It might be helpful to think of your essay as a fleshed out version of a bulleted list. So get a bulleted list in your head, add some seasoning, salt to taste, and voila, a tasty er... essay!
Hmm, what else? The language does not need to be flowery. It is a misconception that when someone uses 3 syllables where 1 should suffice, he/she is good at writing or the language in general. The challenge is to put forth your ideas in as few words as possible and as clearly as you can.
Happy New Year's Eve!
Shruti

Hullo Madam!
Thanx for volunteering to help in XAT.
Looking at Eng sec in XAT, isnt it a lil diff from CAT? More emphasis on vocab... so wht do you suggest for these 10 odd days to improve our chances?
And, pls also post your advice on essay writing...
Thank you in advance...

Hey Puys

Wren & Martin is, by far, THE best book for English grammar and usage you can find. I am not sure about other books, but if you can understand why and when each part of speech is used, it'll be fairly easy. Now, HOW do you understand that? That, my friend, comes from practice and more practice :)
Online resources there are in plenty. Google comes in handy, don't you think? I don't recommend ANY coaching institute's learning material because they tend to over-estimate vocabulary and underestimate grammar!
Contrary to what people think, knowing what triskaidekophobia** means does NOTHING to help you in CAT

Live life brim full

Shruti

PS: Happy holidays & Merry Christmas to all.
PPS: I am going to get more active in the thread. Due apologies for not posting for the past few days. XAT's coming closer and I trust people need help on that..!
PPS:**Fear of the number 13!

hi i have searched a lot ,, cant find any book for grammer other than wren and martin ,,,,,

please list some books , for grammer

and also suggest some waysto improve on grammer ,sentence correction etc


regards

Came across idioms list. and what place is better than this, for resource sharing !

Abide by
Close by
Versed in
Wanting in
Abound in
Confide in
Deficient in
Interfere in
Join in
Lost in
Pride in
Identical with
Interfere with
Trifle with
Reconciled with
Overwhelmed with
Part with
Compete with
Comply with
Conversant with
Bear with
Abounds with
Acquainted with
Agree with
Refrain from
Relief from
Part from
Prohibited from
Estranged from
Differ from
Abstain from
Wedded to
Testify to
Stop to
Submit to
Subscribe to
Reconciled to
Partial to
Limit to
Jump to
Keep to
Indebted to
Fancy to
Due to
Close to
Commend to
Acceptable to
Addicted to
Agree to
Anxious to
Sure of
Remind of
Repent of
Run of
Impatient of
Inform of
Inquire of
Hopeful of
Fond of
Deaf of
Despair of
Dispose of
Complain of
Confident of
Acquitted of
Adapt of
Hit upon
Decide upon
Agree upon
Touch at
Puzzled at
Indignant at
Get at
Grumble at
Call at
Amazed at
Arrive at
Anxious about
Zealous for
Zest for
Thankful for
Reputation for
Qualified for
Partiality for
Match for
Long for
Gift for
Grateful for
Fassination for
Fit for
Eligible for
Call for
Craving for
Cure of for
Bound for
Keep up
Bring up
Murmur against
Prejudice against
Warned against
Come across
Run out of
Get over
Brood over
Smile on
Run on
Keen on
Hard on
Call on
Commend on
Enticed into
Fell under
Inquire after
Hanker after
Look upto

Happy reading !!
-G

Hi All,

Are you ppl aware of this link which has more than 1000 practice quesntions?(and a lot more)

http://www.vyomworld.com/

hi man,
which place ar u from.
In each place , one particular institute will be better.
But if u r looking for just test batch, TIME mock cats are good.
enquire abt the institutes from ur seniors and others

guyz this is not a right thread to discuss such issues.Plz continue the discussion in the thread mentioned in my previous post

Cheers
Deepu.

hi man,
which place ar u from.
In each place , one particular institute will be better.
But if u r looking for just test batch, TIME mock cats are good.
enquire abt the institutes from ur seniors and others

Hi!

Can some one tell me what is the best coaching institute one can join for CAT? I have just started preparation for CAT'06 and am pretty much confused about joining a coaching institute for CAT.

Looking forward to you reply.

Thanks,
M_SJ

Dude,this is not the right thread to ask this query.post u r query in http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-related-discussion/9259-preparation-agenda-cat-2006-a-36.html

Hi!

Can some one tell me what is the best coaching institute one can join for CAT? I have just started preparation for CAT'06 and am pretty much confused about joining a coaching institute for CAT.

Looking forward to you reply.

Thanks,
M_SJ

i recommend the theory of flyover. u need to spend some time on the passage, at a bare minimum so that you have a general idea about what the questions are going to ask and get ur mind into the proper mindset for the series of questions. however, u shouldn't waste too much time on reading the passage, because much of the detail will be forgotten by the time u get to the questions anyway. u should read very quickly for a high level overview (hence a flyover) understanding of what is contained in the passage.

I once tried reading Q then going to para but it was a disaster as instead of browsin thro' Q alone, i usually end up reading the whole answer set as well. moreover when reading the passage, i try reading it only to find answers for Q with direct usage of words , so don't get the central idea of passage!!!!!!!!! :huh:


HElP Please..................

BTW how was ur CAT '05......................

hi all,

planning to take up cat'06 . took cat'04 and messed it up.As have signed a bond with the present employer , will take again in '06.

here i need all the pandit's help .

my real problem in verbal ------------- the problem lies in my accuracy percentage being pretty low.that is usually i attempt close to 35 Q yet get only 16 to 18.
Moreover find a bit difficult to comprehend the RC when i read fast.
in case of both RC as well as verbal, i end up usually eliminating 2 options , then among the remaining two if i am not sure, i go for a guess ,as, if i start marking Q only if was 100% sure then, i will get only 10-12 marks. moreover there is no guarantee that what i think is correct will be 100% correct.

The part where we have to identify the grammatical mistake,
this is where i usually screw up.

In jumbled sentences
i usually do the trick of eliminating the options based on how a para can start , but if i am left with 2 or 3 options, i again get stuck up. usually get it right if i spend more than a minute and a half on it but what's the use then as i waste time ....


if there is a section where among 4 options , i have to find incorrect usuage of a word, then i end up getting no mark at all as i get more - than + mark..

since my vocabulary is not very bad, i get close to 80% accuracu in that ...
In RC , i usually take close to 6 mins min to read.

I once tried reading Q then going to para but it was a disaster as instead of browsin thro' Q alone, i usually end up reading the whole answer set as well. moreover when reading the passage, i try reading it only to find answers for Q with direct usage of words , so don't get the central idea of passage!!!!!!!!! :huh:


HElP Please..................

BTW how was ur CAT '05......................