Back after a LONG time. Dunno why I was away for so long.
Anyway, today I will copy paste a post - my own post - on the IMS student forum - over 21 months ago - which got me a job at IMS! My Product Head told me one fine day that that was virtually my CV and convinced him that I was the right man for the job of content developer at IMS!
This post is and will always remain very special for me - because it secured me my first ever employment....
Hi Guys and Gals...
This is Pranav from IMS. Some of you had requested tips on Verbal Ability (VA).
So here goes....
Firstly, everyone should understand that VA is a section which is more intuition and estimation based. You might be really good in VA and still not be sure of all your answers all the time.
Now getting into the topics in VA:
1)Parajumbles: This is a very logic-based topic. There are 3 things to be considered here.
a) You must read all the sentences carefully in the given order first. This is very essential.
b) Once you understand what the para is all about, try to form links between 2 or more statements.
c) Usually the statements starting with "hence" or "so" or "but" etc. are never first. Usually the correct order starts with a sentence that introduces the topic, the middle statements explain it, or give stats or contradictions or proofs. The last statement concludes the topic or gives the author's opinion.
2)F-I-J: This is a definition based topic. Read up the definitions for Fact, Inference and Judgement. Facts are verifiable either in the present or in the future. Facts either have given figures or incidences which are perfectly verifiable.
Inference is a conclusion drawn on the basis of given information. It can be the result of a pure guess or a logical thought process.
Judgement is an opinion about people, places, things, ideas, etc. It is often biased and may differ with every person. It usually provides a conclusion about the person's view about the issue.
3)RC: CAT RCs are not content based, they are logic and analysis based. You must read the RC thoroughly and look for implied (and not direct) meanings. It is necessary to read ALL of the RC, because the most minor parts can be the most important.
You must get an idea of the mood, the content, the style of the RC as well as the opinion of the author. (ie. Neutral, Biased, etc.). The style may be descriptive, narrative, analytical etc. The mood can be positive, sarcastic, cynical, mocking, hopeful, indifferent etc. All this is very important to get a good idea of the questions.
Above all one must be able to gauge the central theme of the RC. If it takes two readings to do so, it's fine. Moreover it is wise to divide your time 70-30 between the passage and the questions. For questions your analysis while reading the RC must help. There are no direct answers.
4)Vocab: Needs good word power. The IMS word list is good, but not exhaustive. A good reading habit is essential. Read Nautical Miles. Also read the editorials of newspapers such as the Hindu.
5)Sentence Correction: This also needs grammatical knowledge. Doing the initial chapters in the BRM's really helps. You could buy some easier stuff like Arun Sharma or Trishna to get a feel of sentence construction. Technical explanation will go beyond the scope of this email.
6)Summary Questions: While writing a summary, all the important points in the main passage must be highlighted, but the verbosity should be excluded. Underline the important points in the main passage when you read it and while choosing the option, see that all these points fit into the summary. The summary should give equal weightage to all points and not overstress or under stress any point.Summary should ideally be 1/3rd the passage length, but this is the norm, there can be exceptions.
7)Arguments: Sometimes a question is given as: Which of the following if true could weaken/strengthen the above argument?
In such a question, the weakening statement always contains information that runs directly contradictory to the given argument or exposes a fundamental flaw in it.
The strengthening statement is the one that provides more teeth to the given argument, vindicates it and almost renders it non-refutable. Unrelated or unverifiable or biased claims or counterclaims can neither weaken nor strengthen an argument.
These are the basic things need to be understood to score good marks in VA. However practice is very important. 1 RC per day will help. In fact try solving some VA/RC questions every day, with or without time limit depending on whether you have problems with speed or not. Generally an RC must take about 10-12 min including questions. You could start by solving without a time limit, then keeping a time limit and slowly reducing it.
Hope this helps. Best of Luck. If you have any more problems you are free to communicate them.
Regards,
Pranav Joshi
Academic Specialist
IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd.
This thing above will always remain my most cherished piece of writing. Presently I also need a strong dose of motivation and reading this might help me realize that I have potential.
I am back and will be posting more consistently on various topics from now on.
Good night for now.
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