ali: Sir,very recently i started my preparation for CAT. m reading "word power made easy " and a select words from newspapers on a daily basis. what more should i do so that i am fully prepared in VA section by the time i take CAT'09 ??
sai: In addition to this also do a lot of reading of newspapers and articles to ensure that you are actively increasing your vocabulary and also your reading speed.

robin: hello sir, My question is how to improve our vocabulary?? it is a biggest hurdle...
kranthi: you can start with norman lewis word power made easy read newspaper regularly read on a wide variety of topics .keep revising words on a regular basis till they become a part of your long term memory.remember the adage that small drops make an ocean.keep up the regular practice and u will know the difference.

tina89: I would firstly like to ask, dat wot is d method for attempting a comprehension ?? Should I read the whole passage first and then look at d questns or should I jus hv a quick look at the passage n then attempt question?? Smbdy told me dat I should read the first 2 lines of each paragraph to hv an idean nt the full paragraph vivh wil hlp in saving time..!
sai: Try out the following methods: 1) read Qs first and then read passage before answering the Qs 2) read passage and then goto the Qs. see which of the two approaches works for you over a period of time and then adopt it.

sumit: Good Evening sir
sai: Good evening...whats u r question?

catcracker: sir in some aimcats i get 95% whereas in other, i get 75%....why this variation in marks???
sai: Human mind is consistently inconsistent! There is nothing surprising about such a trend. DOnt worry about it too much and start analysing as to why you dropped so much in this test. On the flip side 95%ile indicates tremendous potential so keep working towards an IIM call

abhir88: hullo. i am student of BITS-PILANI goa.. i have a problem in verbal ability..and the problem is inconsistency. My english is quite good and i have been involved in public speaking events...but somehow in the mocks (in which the answers are very close) i fail to understand why a certain option is incorrect. what do i do? and how do i think more conventionally to score in VA/RC
pcr: abhir, It's not really a matter of thinking 'conventionally', its a matter of being careful and paying attention to all aspects of the language. Have a look at a post just addressed to a query raised by sagar

tina89: Is the book 'Norman Lewis'sufficient for Vocab??
kranthi: good to begin with but is not comprehensive .no substitute to extensive reading.

sumit: sir , i get exhausted after solving two RCs and sometimes my accuracy is very bad leading to more negative answers
kranthi: try techniques to improve your concentration.yoga is one of the many ways to do so.

catmaniac: and whens 1019s results gonna be published??
sai: Answered. refer to chat transcript.

akram: Hello sir..how u doin!! Sir i scored just 81 in this AIMCAT(1019).In the verbal section scored 37. I could just attempt all the RC passages in verbal in the whole of 40 minutes. Can u please tell me how to improve upon this score sir. and how do u rate this score of 81..(Though couldnt clear QA).Thanku
sai: Identify your weak areas in verbal and start working on it. if you have scored less on account of a flawed time allocation strategy then there isnt too much to worry on account of preparation. If you have a weak area and your accuracy is low in RC then it is time to strat reading diverse passages and improving on your ability to grasp. Work out the paper one more time to see where you went wrong.

cattie: sir , when will the results of aimcat 1019 be released? i scored 70 in va, 36 in di bt only 7 in quant.bt in 1020 my quant score was 48. i donot know what to do?whichever section i sand wich between the other two,is messed up.....
sai: Results will come out sometime today evening. Work on allocating equal time to all 3 sections and stick to it religiously to avoid these problems in future AIMCATs

srikantparthasa: would the 10 day testing window have different testing aspects.. say more on logic or verbal in a particular and more on quant on the other attempt durin the window
sai: All papers will be the same during the entire testing window

first-timer: Hi sir, just wanted to know if we're likely to get 40 verbal questions in the CAT this year too. I know the CAT is always unpredictable, but I heard the IIMs want to give a little more weightage to verbal ability since a lot of people crack the other two sections.
sai: I have not heard such a thing but anything is possible in CAT so keep preparing for such an eventuality.

robin: Is it good to read 2 passages thoroughly in question paper n answer questions with 90-100% accuracy of those two passages OR to read all the given passages in a hurry to attempt maximum number of questions(if accuracy is uncertain in this case)???
sai: The first seems to be a better approach as speed kills especially in tough RC passages

niki: do we have to mug up barron;s world list also for CAT/other mba exams ?
kranthi: it can be helpful.baron s collection is decent.

simplyme: Hi sir...I hv a certain level of comfort in v section..my problem is with regards English usage and grammer...these qs hv found great weightage in the last 3-4 years...I am able to solve most qs based on my feel of lang but m not consistent..lot dependent on the paper..so kindly suggest sumthing...shud i go bak to wren nd martin??..
pcr: Dear simply you, provided an answer a little earlier suggesting that you use your reading practice as a practical application of your gram and reas abilities

abhinav: As CAT has gone online this year...what would you say is the best way to tackle Verbal??
sai: The same as the Paper & Pencil strategy. Attempts Qs based on your comfort level and allocate atleast 45 minutes to this section (assuming test is for 150 mins)

pummy: Sir, we had less or more 5 months to face CAT, so may u tell us how to start a strategical preparation method on Verbal so that a normal person can able to crack the verbal section.
kranthi: start building ur vocabulary to start with .add 20 new words everyday to your vocabulary. revise them regularly .read the editorial every day.read on wide variety of topics.do solve the material we give by doing one practice exercise every day.keep discussing preparation related problems regularly with faculty.

hello: hello sir... can i ask my question?
sai: Yes

sreyas: i have the habit of reading the questions first and then searching for the answers in the para..wil it be useful and accurate?
kranthi: u can scan through the questions before starting the passage no harm.but ur method will fail in case passage has a lot of inference based questions.

ankit: good evening sir.my english grammar is quite good... but i dont have reading habbit and vocab is also not good... as the verbal ability compromoises of more vocab skills than grammar i am having problems to get through the english.. considering the time left in cat09 and have to do preparation of quant and di.. pls suggest me tips for improve my verbal score...i am doing b.com3rd yr so have to devote time to all those things.. so pls suggest me
pcr: ankit, While you would have been better off if you had a reasonably regular reading habit, don't lose hope. Read regularly now, and use it not only for RC reading practice, but also for a practical application of your skills with reasoning, grammar and vocab.

imaya: Hi, I gave cat in 2007 . I got only percentile 20 in verbal.After one year gap i gave the first AIMCAT without any preparation and i was surprised when i got 16 (60 percentile) in verbal. Is it pure luck that i got this mark this time or my verbal would ve increased over a period of time without me preparing for CAT? How am i to find where i stand and how to prepare to improve better?
sai: Your position will be clear after you take around 5-6 AIMCATs

geet: what is the best book for preparing verbal????
pcr: geet, have a look at an earlier response - use all your material, read widely, and use your reading practically as well. Try a website like aldaily.com

srikantparthasa: would the 10 day testing window have different testing aspects.. say more on logic or verbal in a particular and more on quant on the other attempt durin the window
sai: Answered already

first-timer: Hi sir, just wanted to know if we're likely to get 40 verbal questions in the CAT this year too. I know the CAT is always unpredictable, but I heard the IIMs want to give a little more weightage to verbal ability since a lot of people crack the other two sections.
sai: Quite possible....prepare for such an eventuality....btw it is a myth that students crack the other two sections!!

pummy: Sir, could u help us in finding tone of the passage and voice of the author. And how to improve our gramatical knowledge...
pcr: pummy, You must pay attention to the words used by the author, especially the modifiers (adj, adv and adj/adv phrases and clauses) since these are the elements through which strength of feeling are delivered

nish: sir, there are n number of students who appear for the test and there are only a handsome of them who qualify. So I just wanted to know what they do differently than us ??
sai: They work harder than the next guy in line, sleep lesser than the next guy in line, analyze more than the others and keep trying till the last day. Other than this they are just like the next guy.

sumit: which news paper is more appropriate to read
sai: The Hindu is a good paper to read

sun08048: sir i am not able to get a good score in verbal section,,,since my accuracy is too bad,,,in last aimcat i have attempted 20 ques but only 6 were correct,,, i have solved the material of time also,,, can you suggest me some book on grammar etc,,, what is the cause of my failure????
pcr: sun, please have a look at earlier responses to a similar question

raunak_leo: how to prepare for things other than rc's in verbal section??
pcr: raunaq, please have a look at earlier responses to a similar question

ganeshforcat: hi sir i m ganesh i have recently joined time for calsses. i have one doubt... will the time of 4 months be enough to crack cat i m not gud at english adn vocab also.. pls advice on how to prepare
sai: 4 months is sufficient if you allot around 4-5 hrs a day for prep.

mg: hello...i generally go wrong in inference type questions and parajumbles...what should i do 2 overcome this?
pcr: mg (and others), inferences require that you understand the idea-flow, the author's purpose (determined from the style of presentation) and the author's attitude/ interest (tone). These help you see things from the author's perspective. The same things, especially your understanding of the author's purpose would help you deal with PFQs

heax: sir, do we need to know just the meanings or knowing the context in which words would be used is more important? in other words, should we be memorizing word lists or getting new words from newspapers?
sai: Context is very important. if you try to memorize then you can only retain some words. try to use the words and that will help in longer retention.

kadhar.arab: hello, watz d max time should i use for a single RC??
sai: Around 8-12 minutes at most

muc9d928: Hello Sir , Can you suggest anything to improve upon the knowledge of synonyms and antonyms?
kranthi: improve your vocab.no other way.add words to ur vocabulary on a daily basis.

ashishmahapatra: hello sir,how can i improve my word power from cat's point of view?
pcr: ashsih, have a look at a coulple of earlier responses - a good reading habit supported by word lists and the like

nish: sir, the pasages given in any of the cat and aimcat are really tuff. to crack those kind of pasages what do you suggest??
kranthi: read editorials regularly read magazines like frontline regularly.practice from www.magportal.com.do not forget to do the material given by time.

ali: T4E is providing three words per day and each word has "n" no. of synonyms for it ., i am finding it difficult to remember all those?
pcr: ali (and everyone else worried about vocab), please remember that word lists and the like are good support tools. What they support is a good reading habit. The primary method of improving vocab is to see words in context and understand their meaning - you'll remember them easier because you see them in ideas

avinash: Hi sir..the first three questions of tis aimcat is on synonyms and is there any strategy to do such questions as it is very risky..unless we know all words meaning we can't attemp them??
sai: Obviously they are risky even for well prepared students. Recognizing this element and avoiding them is the best strategy.

cattie: sir sometimes during reading toi editorials , i encounter such eng words which r nt even in oxford. so which one is a better dict?
sai: Buy an usage dictionary and do not look at the pocket editions or the concise editions as they do not have all the words in them.

simplyme: what shud our strategy be in a dicey paper lik dat of 2007...a lot of close options and almost nothing to choose between final 2 options...shud we go for more attempts to cover our bets or consciously look for qs in which we are going to be definitely right...
sai: In such a paper it would have made sense to attempt more at the cost of lower accuracy

tina89: wot do you mean by a '10- day -window' test???? we'l hv test for 10 days??
sai: Yes...you have to book the slots and take test accordingly

rookie: sir is there any strategy for doin the question of synonyms as the first three questions in aimcat 1019,i.e identifying the pairs of synonyms
sai: No strategy...either you know the answer or you don't. Identify such roadblocks and leave them to avoid a negative score.

sun08048: my aimcat score in verbal is 10 can i still dream to crack cat
sai: Yes you can provided you also work hard during your 'non-dream' hours :-)

ashishmahapatra: is cat's VA section is more difficult than AIMCAT or of same level?
pcr: ashish, the VA in the AIMCATs will help you prepare for the CAT, since the levels in most of them are similar to those in the CAT

rg: sir, what min accuracy % must be achieved in RCs?
sai: 100

deepu_87: wat should ve been the ideal allocation time 4 last years vocab section sir
sai: Assuming there are 20 Qs in RC and 20Qs in Verbal then you should allocate time in the ratio of 2:1 for these two areas.

anu: Hey... this is anu here... my RC area is goin on pretty fine but i m facing problems in VA and SC.... my english is quite good...i ve solved the TIME va notes but i go wrong in mock cats where the answers are in close call.. How can i tackle this...m pretty good with roots too... how should i prepare as regards to VA since nly 5 mnths r left...??
pcr: anu (and everyone else), there are only 5 months left, but that does give you time to work smart. Apart from working on your handouts, test papers and study material, please use your reading practice - this is readymade content ! Once in a while look at a well written papragraph as grammar practice - identify sentence components, structure, firm and use of parts of speech. Once in a while look at opinion-based passages for reasoning practice. What's his opinion, what are his reasons, has he left anything to assumption ? and, always use your reading for vocab improvement.

cattie: sir what is the diff in va bet cat and xat
sai: Read the analysis of XAT and CAT on www.time4education.com to get the idea

ross: Hello..i have difficulty in usage type of questions...all the answers seem right to me...how should i approach such question...bcoz right now i leave entire question on usage...i think sum questions on it can be attempted..plz let me know the approach....
pcr: ross, familiarity is the key, and you'll get this only with regular reading. So, please read - widely, often, and actively

piyush: hello sir...can u please guide my some book/novel that help me to improve my english..i am getting 40,38 in quant n di but only 2 marks in english section(after devoting 45 minutes)?
pcr: piyush, read anything that is well written, anything. For the variety that you need in topics, a good site to visit is aldaily.com

ashishmahapatra: what is the average cut off in VA?And how many questions can i leave?
sai: The average Indian has 3 kids but then I cant use it to generalize about you isnt it? Similarly there is NO pattern of CAT cut-off scores of the last 10 years or so. Cut-off depends on the difficulty level of the paper. Dont plan to leave too many Qs.

pranu: as CAT is going online,so do i have to increase my rading speeed for RC
kranthi: on line or no online u must strive for improved reading speed.

chinnu: good evening sir,the vocab based questions always seem difficult in the aimcats,,though i am reading norma lewis ,i am unable solve them,what should i do?
pcr: chinnu, vocab books should be used as support to a reading habit

tina89: d level of questions under AIMCATS are presumed to be a little tough than those in d CAT paper...is it true??
kranthi: cannot be generalized .sometimes yes sometimes no.

ankit: good evng sir... wen i prepare for rc's after reading 1 or 2 para my mind gets divertd i read everythin bt cant grasp anything..n lastly nt able to solve most of the questions..so i hav to read tha passage again..wat can i do to improve it..
pcr: ankit, please see an earlier response - make brief and quick notes, grasp the structure of the psg and the thought-flow, it'll help you identify what to refer back to, to ans a ques

ak: How important is building vocabulary? Is it okay if focus on other areas and leave the vocab part?
sai: Vocab is very important. you cant afford to leave it out.

krishnamanjusha: hello..good evening..my problem in the verbal section is that while coming to a conclusion about the correct answer for a particular question, i have an ambiguity with one more option being correct.how do i overcome this ??? how do i occur at the correct answer. sometimes the other option i leave will be correct
pcr: manju, while you should focus on the ideas presented, you must also focus on the language and sentence construction, so as to get meanings and implications clearly

abinash: how to improve my reading speed?
kranthi: persistent practice by reading with a time limit.follow the instructions we give in rc basics class.develop inner stillness.

minna: sir is it possible to score a high percentile with the four months hardwork?
kranthi: yes.

gaurav: Dear Sir, since CAT will be online, how should our strategy be for RC? We can't mark keywords (in the questions and the passage) any longer and hence, all of them would have to be actually WRITTEN in rough or memorized. So what is the best strategy? I know adequate preparation is one... but any tips to reduce the time? I doubt if the above can be done in 8-12 mins, as u said earlier.
pcr: gaurav, please see an earlier response that talks of effective note-making

muc9d928: Could you suggest any specific book for antonyms and synonyms?
sai: The TIME material is sufficient.

abhishek: what r ur suggestions to tackle RC in an online format other than practising a lot of reading on the comp. Coz in the paper format we had some tricks upto our sleeves like underlining important contents, reading questions first (which may not be possible in an online format).....some tips from your side????
pcr: Abhi, the first thing is, when you practice, henceforth, please get into the habit of making brief and quick notes on rough paper, to substitute for the marking and underlining you would have normally done on a paper. The notes will help you recognise the organisation of the passage, and will enable you to see the connections between ideas, you will also know what to refer back to, to answer a question

neocat: Sir, how do I increase my word stock and how should I proceed so that I can correctly answer the RCs in CAT?
pcr: neocat, please see a few earlier responses - regular reading, along with your other preparation, is the key

kadhar.arab: wats d diff in QA section of CAT n JMET??
sai: Read the analysis of JMET and CAT on www.time4education.com to understand the difference

gowrishankar: give some general tips to approach vocabulary in cat
pcr: gowri, have a look at earlier responses to such a query

manoj: sir which book is preferrable for english grammar
kranthi: wren and martin or english grammar and composition by rajendraprasad and prem latha suri.

sj: please suggest the novels one should read to improve vocab
sai: Atlas shrugged, Lord of the rings, Catch-22, and any such fiction that interests you

siddesh: sir im a bit slow at reading and understandin passages..what shoud i do to improve my reading speed?
pcr: Siddhu, There's only one thing to be done, and done actively - please read as much as you can, different things, at least an hour a day

cattie: sir my average reading speed is 350 words per min with ok compehension .how to make it 500+
sai: 350 is quite good for the kind of RCs that CAT is asking in the recent years. Use eye span to make it to 500. where instead of reading all words you just skim and read select words

simplyme: Kindly suggest some material or books apart from TIME's to tackle englisg usage, grammar and paragraph completion type questions... is GMAT material good??..
sai: Yes it is

vats: considering last year's format of 40 qst in verbal, what would be t suggested time to alllocate for this section?
sai: The strategy for the CAT2008 paper should have been 40-40-40 for the 3 sections and 2 sections of 15-15 minutes as buffer time. this buffer could have been used for the Verbal section or for the section where one has not done well. The key to getting a call is to 'do equally' well in all 3 sections.

sai: sir....is our time material sufficient preparing for verbal section....?
kranthi: yes.

akram: sir. i have a reading speed of around 200 WPM... how much shall i improve? Thanku
sai: around 300 is a good speed.

abhishek: what r ur suggestions to tackle RC in an online format other than practising a lot of reading on the comp. Coz in the paper format we had some tricks upto our sleeves like underlining important contents, reading questions first (which may not be possible in an online format).....some tips from your side????
pcr: abhi, answered your ques earlier !!

sg: hello! may i know what is the expected cut off i\for verbal section in CAT?
sai: Depends on the difficulty level of the paper

raunak_leo: wen will mock cat result come??
sai: today evening

tina89: i am a correspondence advanced student of time.. plz let me ven wil i get my admit card / hall ticket for d AIMCATS??
sai: Please get in touch with the centre where you have paid your fees or alternately send a mail to info@time4education.com.

atul: Good Evening, is it worth doing books like Word Power Made Easy or would the coaching material provided to us suffice for vocab?
sai: They are good books and are certainly worth doing.

papa: Hi, what is the probability of vocab questions in the exam...like there were some tough ones in the recent AIMCAT ?
sai: Very probable so prepare for it

abhishek: what r ur suggestions to tackle RC in an online format other than practising a lot of reading on the comp. Coz in the paper format we had some tricks upto our sleeves like underlining important contents, reading questions first (which may not be possible in an online format).....some tips from your side????
pcr: abhi, just answered another ques like this

vats: comapared to t other sec, i perform better in verbal... when should i attempt it- 1, 2 or third?
sai: Attempt it first

papa: Papa ki baat ka jawab do !!!
sai: Jawaab de diya bete

krish: in an online pattern of testing( even where there is an option of scrolling and looking at the whole paper), there is a tendency to answer every question that appears, whats more, i answer it in the same order in which it appears. how do i bring about a restraint in answering Qs and how do i scan and choose the easy ones?
sai: Answer the Qs only if you are sure that you know the answer or if the Q looks attemptable. Practice on a few Online tests will help clear this.

pummy: I am finding Difficult to manage preparation for Quant, DI and Verbal in a same day. Tell me how to start preparing the three different things in a day for a beginner and i also work in a MNC company so i hardly get time to prepare, when coming to weekends the time will be finished with the classes, so please guide me how to plan accordingly
pcr: pummy - be practical. look at your normal day, organise your time, and set aside whatever you can for CAT preparation (there will certainly be time left on weekends after classes too). Make a plan for 3 days at a time, review and revise it on looking back and assessing the progress you've made. Use your practice exercises and tests to make your assessments

bluelions: sir when i strive for speed in english my accuracy goes for a toss and is fairly goodwhen i give time to a particular question, but i end u solvin less questions what method should i use should i try to attempt as many ques possible
sai: There will always be a trade-off between accuracy and number of attempts. Considering the kind of Qs that CAT has been giving in the past few years it is a good idea to focus on accuracy than on speed. As long as you are attempting around40-50@ of the Qs it should be fine.

gaurav: 1) What can be the test format for the upcoming AIMCAT - scroll type (the whole paper is available) or question-wise (questions appear 1-by-1 but can choose to go to any question? 2) What is the suggested reading speed as per T.I.M.E?
sai: The format will be put up on the Student Home page before the test. Login and check the SHP a day before the test.

sai: Sir is it necessary to prepare some foriegn language words(latin ,French) to appear for CAT
kranthi: not many.there are some words like that used in english language.such words to learn may not exceed 100 as fs cat preparation goes.

abhishek: what r ur suggestions to tackle RC in an online format other than practising a lot of reading on the comp. Coz in the paper format we had some tricks upto our sleeves like underlining important contents, reading questions first (which may not be possible in an online format).....some tips from your side????
sai: The skills required to do well in an Online RC format is the same as that required for the Paper & pencil test.

ganga: How can i improve my vocabulary?
sai: Answered already. refer to the chat transcript.

anustupsikdar: hello sir, 2009's CAT will be very different...which section do you think would be the most crucial ?
sai: Every section is crucial. If you miss cutoff in any section you will not get an IIM call

swagatika: I am preparing for CAT-09 righ now..Will these 5 months will be sufficient for the preparation???How to plan in these months to do a good result??
sai: It should be sufficient. read the article on MBA Education & Careers magazine for a thorough plan to prepare for CAT09

ravi1435: sir i have registered for next onl9 AIMCAT...do i need to take any printout of the mail received..or just my id-card at the allocated center??plz answer...my first question also..
sai: Take the ID card. that should be enough

sowmi: Sir plz answer this question..Sir i m not able to solve questions under pressure during the AIMCATs and as a result i get only less than 15 in all the 3 sections.I m very depressed of my performance.1019 was my second AIMCAT and is this level of scores at this stage ok for getting into the IIMs finally?Pls reply sir......This depression is really troubling me to start my preparation for the next AIMCAT.....
sai: If you are scoring less than 60%ile then it is definitely a cause for concern. You need to figure out why the performance is not happening. Is it that you do not know how to solve Qs or is it that you are getting nervous and leaving out Qs. If it is the former then going back to the basics and working out the Study Material will help

engrpraveen: sir how can i improve my scores in rc.........? i mean giveme some links to practice rc questions
pcr: praveen, just answered quite a few ques on RC, have a look. You'll find good stuff to read on aldaily.com

ram: sir....suggest me some good books for preparing English grammar to crack CAT
sai: Answered already. refer to chat transcript.

rusty: sir ,i want to know mimimum cutoff required in quantative apt to qualify cat and also cutoff for verabal and di which i should get in mock cats...
sai: Atleast 85%ile in each section and 97.5+ overall

gaurav: sir i m nt confident while giving ans so sometime i mark wrong and reduce my score becoz in some questions of verbal section u cant be 100% sure about that ans and mark wrongly. what should i do?
sai: In such a scenario mark only if you have been able to eliminate two-three choices using some logic. do not guess blindly as the chances of you getting it incorrect are very high!

catting: Sir my Reading Comprehension is quite good and i have somewhat 80-90% accuracy in it.But i flop big time in VA.My areas of weakness are Parajumbles,Last sentence deleted type and the summary of a sentence.Now i have laid my hands on a GMAT book in a hope of improving.Please give some tips to improve my VA.
sai: The root of such weakness lies in lack of regular reading of newspapers, articles etc from diverse areas. The only way to get over this problem is to read a lot and practice as many Qs as possible from the Study material.

viky: sir, my scores in 1019 were va- 28, quant - 28 and di 34.....i dunno if it was good enough.....another thing is that..wat do we do in between 2 AIMCATS besides analysing the previous paper?
sai: Work on the SMs and the MC and CRTs

cataspirant: I have scored 74, is good enough and can I stop giving time to verbal, just give mocks as my QA is weak?
pcr: dear aspirant, are you serious ? please do not let up on ANYTHING

sagardeep: Sir, what is the way to attempt passages? One should focus more on verbal part or RC part?
pcr: Sagar, when you look at RCs, please remember that your comprehension is the sum of your verbal abilities. Apart from grasping the idea-flow and the central idea, apart from paying attention to style and tone, please also use your general verbal skills and examine ideas and sentences for clear interpretation of meaning, and to grasp implications

panky: sir i have done with the word power by n.lewis.should i refer other books or concentrate more on reading now???
kranthi: do both.u can start nurnberg and rosenblum.

ram: sir....Is Snap notification released.....
sai: NO

shiv: hi kindly let me know how to increase the motivation level for cat..and increase self congidence for cracking cat
sai: Dream of the money you can earn, the girl you want to marry, status in society, chauffeur driven car, palatial house and above all respect from all around you. Thinking of these things is enough to motivate anyone and crack CAT

abhishek: It is becoming very hard for me to catch the actual; meaning from RC passage how shoul i practice to solve this problem?
sai: Work on vocabulary to get over this weakness.

r: hello sir/madam, i'm not as good in this section as compare to others. please guide me how to answer 10-12 questions right in 30-40 mins??
sai: Refer to the chat transcripts

kadhar.arab: Do's n Dont's in VA section?
sai: Answered already. refer to the chat transcript.

shiv: hello sir wats the best way to have good command for di and lr sections..pls throw some tips on di and lr prep for cat..i mean the kinds of questions, prep strategies, books to follow and all..
sai: Please login to the chat in the next two weeks where Di and Qa will be discussed

linu: Can reading the questions ahead of reading the comprehension passage help?
sai: Yes it does.

engrpraveen: sir in cat is there any separate cutoff for rc and va section also?or it is one only for va/rc?
sai: No separate cutoff for va and rc. it is a single cutoff for the section.

neil: Could you please tell me the cut off for o.b.c. in IIFM.
sai: Around 50-55%ile

bandhu: sir i got 83 percentile(65 marks)in aimcat20,but could manage to score 48 marks bcoz i stuck in geometry problem,so how much time allocation for each section should suffice the cutoff,i want to maximize my score in vrbal.
sai: Ideal time allocation stratgey would have been 40-40-40 with buffer of 15-15 to be allocated to Verbal and the Quant/DI sections based on which one you havent done well in.

vish: how much reading per day do you recommend?
sai: Around 2 hrs

ubt: Can reading deccan chronicle help ?
sai: DC is also a good paper as a lot of the articles come from Reuters and other such international agencies.

iima: good evening sir is it required to read the whole material of SM101004 if i'm reading hindu,economist articles and writing ur online tests
sai: It will give you additional practice and it is a good idea to go thru such material as part of practice for the basics

shiv: other than hindu editorials wat other things u suggest to read for VA section..?
sai: Articles on the RC links on www.time4education.com; online articles from aldaily.com and magportal.com

ankit: sir wen i give exmas at home n solve the questions of study material i m able to solve most of them and in time..bt wen giving exams it isnt so..wl u giv me sum suggestion how to improve my skills while giving exams..
sai: Pressure is what is contributing to such a scenario. Work on calming your mind and try to imagine that you are indeed taking the test at home!

shiv: should we solve all rcs in cat or only a few selected ones..?
sai: If there are around 5 passages look to attempt atleast 3 of them

catting: Hello Sir,i was attempting an Online test one day.I have seen i am losing my concentration as i finish reading one RC and then i don't feel like doing another RC.To improve i have downloaded some e-books and i am reading them,but still i am unable to improve.Can u please help?
sai: Meditation and concentration exercises will help you.

ram: hello kranthi sir .....good evening .....Iam confident in Quant & Reasoning sections ....but worrying about verbal section.....please tell me how to improve my reading speed, vocabulary,grammar....suggest me some good books to prepare ...Is our time material sufficiant for verbal section preparation....?please give me response sir.....
sai: read transcript. the same Qs has been answered in many of the posts.

iima: sir is it possible to do an executive MBA in IIM's by giving GMAT test and having 3 yrs of experince(software)
sai: depends on which exec program you are talking about.

kartik: sir, can we expect CAT to go more in the gre way? in the sense more of synonyms and antonyms questions???
sai: Cant say. CAt will retain its identity and not pattern itself on the lines of any exam is my gut feel

krissh: sir hw can i start preparing for verbal...my rc is gud....
pcr: krish, please see a few earlier responses. Use your reading to prepare for VA too

jacksparow: u 3 guys have answered around 30 questions in an hour. This is poor speed
sai: It is more than 30Qs dear and by the way have you had the chance to look at the length of the answers we are giving everyone. have patience my dear friend and btw what was your Qs.

anuj: wont it be a good idea to go for EU rather than RC in an online test bcoz reading RC's in online test may be difficult...
sai: You are making an assumption that there will be EU Qs and that too in large numbers. if this doesnt happen then you will have a major problem clearing the cut-offs if you havent done enough practice in RC

ram: sir...what should be our approach while answering RC section in online cat
sai: Same as that on the Paper & Pencil test. Select passages based on your comfort level and do not leave any Qs without reading it.

godismyhelper: hello sir,which way is better for tackling RC's? reading on diverse topics or solving RC's on diverse topics?
pcr: With a name like that, do you really need this chat ? Just joking !! I'm sure you'll appreciate that its only if you do some reading on various topics that you'd be able to pratice RCs on various topics. Therefore please do both

engrpraveen: sir i dnt hav link to rc on my homepage....3 times i have mailed to info@time4education.com..but nt getting any reply....sent them screen shot also
sai: forward the same mail to me at sai@time4education.com

cattie: sai sir, its d learner's oxford dict. not concise one. still. plz suggest some names for usage dict....
pcr: Cattie, the cambridge advanced learner's dictionary is standard, and good. If you can lay your hands on the unabridged version of the Random House dictionary, that would be good too

rr: when do AIMCAT 1019 results come out?
sai: Today evening