(a) Reading Speed: The biggest pain-point in the VA section is reading speed. Speed and comprehending ability seem to be at a trade-off. If you up your reading speed, down goes your accuracy and your comprehension at large. Is that the case with you? Well, that’s “curable”, because yes, you can read fast and still understand the passage. Here are some quick ways to accelerate your reading speed multifold:
- Lipreading: Ever since childhood we have been taught to read things out loud, with gestures, postures and of course voice modulation. For a poetry recital, that’s the best thing to do, but not so much for a competitive exam like CAT. Next time when you take a mock or read in general, make sure you don’t lipread. It imposes the added work of coordinating your voice and your brain. Eliminate this extra, vestigial step. DON’T LIPREAD!
- Subvocalization: Given the reading style we are hard-wired with, there’s always a voice in your head that reads things along with you. It so appears that this voice is reading things out to your ears. This silent voice in your head is called Subvocalization. You need to kill Subvocalization to increase your reading speed to at least twice.The bigger question to ask is, How to get rid of this involuntary, innate habit of subvocalization?It’s simple, hold your breath while reading, read on till you can comfortably, breath in when required, hold your breath again and repeat the process. It takes 3 weeks, typically, to get rid of Subvocalization.KILL SUBVOCALIZATION!
- Eyespan: Most of us like reading things word by word. We look at a word, read it, move to the next word, read it and continue doing so. Our eyespan therefore is limited to just one word at a time. An efficient reader has an eye span of 6-7 words, which would mean an entire sentence. So just as you look at the sentence, your brain comprehends it and you move to the next sentence. To increase your eyespan, go in steps. Increase your eyespan from one to two, two to three and so on till you can comfortably read the entire line in one go. It took me around two weeks to get this in order.INCREASE YOUR EYESPAN!
(b) Comprehension of a Passage: To naturally comprehend a passage there are two ways:
- Know the genre perfectly, which a very few of us will.
- The Hack: However, you can develop decent familiarity with genres by following this hack:
Till CAT don’t read novels/books/articles entirely. Read snippets of them. What it means is that you need to open at a random page of a novel and start reading it without knowing the context. Read about two pages and try summarising it in your head. Next, move to an editorial, skip a few paragraphs and read from a random paragraph, again without having any clue of the context. This is what CAT does, gives you a part of a story and expects you to decode it.
While doing so, remember to diversify your reading. If you are reading one article from politics, choose the other from economics and so on.
Also, be wary of the writing style of the passage and take special note of the trigger words. The author will always state the most important idea after a trigger word/symbol.
Trigger words: Although, But, However, Although among others
(c) Elimination Strategy: The real challenge of accuracy in an RC is tested while eliminating between the last two options that you finally zero down to. It is here where the real litmus test lies. Remember I had talked of a mathematical formula for RCs? Here is where you can apply them.
What are these formulae and how do we develop them?
Whenever you solve any RC (while taking a mock or for practice), analyze the RC you’ve attempted. Every question. Irrespective of whether you got it right or wrong. Figure out why you got it wrong. Right the reason down as a rule (caveat: don’t generalize while doing so). You’ll observe that after you repeat this exercise for about 30 RCs, the rule starts getting repeated. What does this tell you? It tells you that a wrong answer option has typical characteristics. If you identify them well, write them down, remember them; you will leapfrog your accuracy manifold.
(d) Attempting Strategy: Having discussed the prep strategy, let’s zoom in to the attempting strategy.
How can we maximize my score with my current level of prep?
Listed below are simple pointers that will help you score more and with better accuracy:
- Don’t go linear: Don’t go linear while attempting the VA section. That is, don’t attempt questions in the order in which they appear. How should we attempt the paper the? Read on to know.
- Scan the paper: Even before you start attempting, scan the entire paper. Start with skimming every passage and reading the questions. Attempt that passage first which has more direct (less inference based) questions. This will ensure that the time you’re spending with a passage, get’s you the maximum ROTI (Return On Time Invested).
- Non-RC Questions: While Scanning the RCs also scan the Non-RC questions. If you feel that the questions are fairly manageable, do them outrightly or in between two passages.
- Don’t get stuck with any question. Learn to “move on” (pun most definitely intended).
- Remember: All questions carry equal marks. So, solve the ones that fetch you the maximum marks in the minimum time.
Well, this is the single most formula that you need. Don’t forget to test them on previous CAT papers. It will be a significant confidence booster. Do let me know how it works for you. You can buzz me with any query in the comments section.
Good Luck!
Chat
Comments
Jenith Ten
best varc suggestions
14 Sep 2018, 03.26 PM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Thanks, Jenith! Good luck.
7 May 2019, 12.24 PM |
Venkatesh Pasumarthi
I am very passionate and hardworking.
Thank you , best suggestions for varc
15 Sep 2018, 06.01 PM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Thanks, Venkatesh! Good luck.
7 May 2019, 12.24 PM |
Priya Sinha
Being in a dream b-school is not just a matter of adding value additions to my academics ;but a way to foresee my journey towards creating my surroubdings the way I want to .And that is my duty as a citizen to see every other person acquainted with better living conditions &too when I could see tremendous increase in women workforce at each sector ...because I want a safe place fir women in the business world too.moreover ,possessing an mba degree not just will strengthen my hands financially ,but will show me a gateway to work for the upliftment of my nation.
This is the best strategy I have ever been through for VA section...thanks Pratik
15 Sep 2018, 09.33 PM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Thanks, Priya! Good Luck.
7 May 2019, 12.25 PM |
Aakashdeep Dwivedi
Speed reading seems more of a myth. Skimming can be a better word. Mostly they give alien passages in CAT(previously) where paraphrasing intermittently is indispensable. So you can skim or speed read an article you are very familiar with, which is not the case with rc we get in mocks(TIME). So even if you are subreading, paraphrasing its ok but should not regress. And it will be sufficient to answer 24 ques with remaining 10min or so for remaining question. Apart from reading, one should also know how to eliminate choices faster and reach to correct choices early.
16 Sep 2018, 11.44 AM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Absolutely! Elimination strategy is a must-have.
7 May 2019, 12.26 PM |
Sameer P
Thank you Sir......I have also seen your video on the same.....It gave me a ray of hope!
16 Sep 2018, 03.15 PM
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pratyush raitan
Can you share the link for video?
5 Oct 2018, 10.45 AM |
Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Thanks, Sameer! Happy to help.
7 May 2019, 12.26 PM |
Princi Arora
it's really a effective strategy that i also follows nowadays
18 Sep 2018, 12.53 PM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Good Luck! Let me know your progress.
7 May 2019, 12.27 PM |
Rishikesh Pandey
Thanks Pratik. Please share strategies for QA and DILR.
21 Sep 2018, 09.05 PM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Hey, Rishikesh! Sure. Verbal Ability: Strategy to increase accuracy https://insideiim.com/70ile-99ile-va-section-60-days-engineers-journey/?src=adarshranjan&answers DI-LR verified strategy https://insideiim.com/plod-way-di-lr-improve-scores/?src=adarshranjan&answers Quant prep strategy https://insideiim.com/99-percentilers-prepare-cat-part-1-quantitative-ability/?src=adarshranjan&answers
7 May 2019, 12.28 PM |
Kumar Gaurav
Pratik Sir Thank you so much for providing the links for strategies for VARC, QA AND DI LR. It has given me a ray of hope.
13 Aug 2019, 11.37 AM |
Manoj Zingare
Fresher
Can you plz post what points you note down when you made mistakes in particular ques of RC. And which point gets repeated everytime?
22 Sep 2018, 06.03 PM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
I have explained this in a webinar. Please watch it.
7 May 2019, 12.29 PM |
Ashish Kumar
Hi Pratik Any suggestions on what to read to get a knowledge about marketing as a career option?
24 Sep 2018, 11.16 AM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Hello, Ashish! Go through these. https://insideiim.com/summer-internship-marketing-prep-cracked-unilever-ppo/?pratikranjan https://insideiim.com/how-to-answer-why-marketing/
26 Sep 2018, 08.58 AM |
Sanket Patra
nice one sir
25 Sep 2018, 12.36 AM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Thank you, Sanket!
2 May 2019, 11.30 AM |
Marghub Akhtar
Thanks a lot for your Suggestions Pratik.
25 Sep 2018, 10.20 PM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
It's always a pleasure, Marghub!
2 May 2019, 11.31 AM |
Jay Dave
It’s just 20-22 days to go for CAT, I happen to score a good score in Quant(>55) and for DI(>40), but my performance in Verbal part is like a sin function, at some mock I score 50 percentile and in some, I score 98 percentile. I have absolutely no idea where I stand. I know I will get a good score in DI and Quant in CAT but to reach 98 percentile I have to score above 55 in verbal, what do you recommend?
3 Nov 2018, 11.52 AM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Hello, Jay! sorry for the late reply. Let me know it the question is still relevant.
2 May 2019, 11.31 AM |
akash shukla
Thanks bro on your suggestions
19 Feb 2019, 06.58 PM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Anyday, Shukla ji!
2 May 2019, 11.32 AM |
Amina Ulfath
should i start doing rc's from previous cat papers now on or improve my reading ability and then go on to test them with cat papers?
2 May 2019, 05.10 PM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Hello, Amina! The both of them happen together. The speed reading techniques shared have to be practiced while solving RCs itself. So, yeah, start doing RCs right away. Hope that helps! :).
2 May 2019, 05.20 PM |
Amina Ulfath
Thank you !!
2 May 2019, 08.41 PM |
nitin tolani
I tried killing my subvocalisation but it is not happening. Is it really possible even to do so since it is scientifically impossible to think and unserstand without that inner voice? The inner voice is sustained after holding the breath. Please help.
2 Aug 2019, 11.12 AM
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Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Hi, Nidhi! Subvocalisation is so deeply ingrained in most of us that expecting it to stop immediately would be unrealistic. It takes close to 3 weeks to get rid of it. Initially you might just feel that it isn't working. That is when you should push harder rather than giving up. Happens with all of us. Hope that helps! :).
7 Aug 2019, 10.16 AM |
Pratik Ranjan
Pratik is an MBA candidate at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent aspiring marketing strategist. His passion for marketing multiplied multifold post his internship with Unilever, where he was conferred with a PPO. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug & seized by afflatus to read, write & explore, this twenty-something believes in the power of dreaming with his eyes open. He is a columnist in various newsletters and is up for any discussion that involves the nuances of marketing and strategy. P.S: He's charged by the fuel of caffeine.
Nitin* (Sorry, autocorrect sucks).
7 Aug 2019, 10.17 AM |
nitin tolani
What do u mean when u wrote " holding the breath and read". Is it the effort to actually read or just moving the eyes over the content as in just moving the eyes over the content is where subvocalisation doesn't exist contrary to the effort of actual reading.
17 Aug 2019, 10.48 PM |
Adarsh Ranjan
Adarsh is a second year MBA candidate at MDI Gurgaon. Having worked as a manager at Tata Steel and Mahindra&Mahindra for close to 4 years, he has developed an innate love for HR. His passion for HR has made him bag several accolades including that of being the national winner at the annual HR conference of XLRI. He is an avid reader, a proud speaker, a footloose traveller, an automobile enthusiast and definitely one you’d like to clink your beers with.
The former.
17 Aug 2019, 10.49 PM |
Sudha Sarswat
I am BCA graduate and CAT19 aspirant. I am a blogger and and a rajasthani writer as well. I am trying my best ever for cracking CAT.
The most important direction I found here is getting rid of subvocolization and lipread and the best ever tips we got... Thanks a lot
22 Aug 2019, 03.02 PM
Nitin K Pandey
Finally I got something different which is usable and applicable
3 Sep 2019, 11.03 AM
Anurag Goel
gI have the problem of subvocalisation, going to work on it.
3 Sep 2019, 12.21 PM
Ajay Singh
I am pursuing BBA from ggsip university and also MBA aspirant .
Motivated
3 Sep 2019, 02.42 PM
Prerna Ranjan
THANKS A LOT
3 Sep 2019, 02.52 PM
Filmywap Filmy
Sir I m not able to eliminate sub vocalizations What should I do
3 Sep 2019, 03.52 PM
Piyush Kumar
Isjsj
So far best thing from inside iim
3 Sep 2019, 05.33 PM
Antara Saha
Working professional
This is going to be a boon. Best ever suggestion.
4 Sep 2019, 02.57 PM
Aditya Yellamilli
Thank you very much Sir, I will try these out in my next mock. Comming to one specific point, Subvocalizartion, I can't help but stop it.
4 Sep 2019, 08.57 PM
Chetan Jadhav
Thanks for suggestion!
23 Sep 2019, 06.48 PM
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Chetan Jadhav
Some more post like this.
23 Sep 2019, 06.48 PM |
Lilesh Thakur
Curious student always try to gain knowledge..
Sir I take a lot time while solving questions from rc and I will have to go through rc more than one time ,what should I do ..
24 Mar 2020, 12.12 AM
Karthika V J
Sir, I am not from the STEM fields but rather doing my BA in English from a very good university in India. even though I'm scoring poorly in Di and Quant, I ave been seeing improvement from putting effort but my VA remains pretty bad. My analysis and understanding from an essay usually lead me in the wrong direction and it is demotivating me a lot. I also feel added pressure since I come from the English field and yet score badly. I get around 70% accuracy now and more in classroom discussions. I am going to try these tips but is there anything else I must lookup?
2 May 2020, 07.15 PM
Pratik Ayare
Best Suggestions till date . Thank you for your contribution..!
3 May 2020, 09.22 AM
Mukul S Anand
It's Amazing!
3 May 2020, 02.42 PM
raj mankar
I was scored around 20-25 marks in VARC section in the couple of mocks i gave. Recently i ended up scoring -4 in my VARC section, After going through your article, i too feel the confidence that i can really score well.
15 Jul 2020, 03.14 PM
Astha Choudhary
Remarkable strategy with superb execution! Thanks for sharing :)
25 Sep 2020, 12.28 PM