Solving an RC passage is all about getting into the mind of the paper-setter. After all what matters is the questions that follow the passage. More than what the author is trying to communicate; it is important what the question-setter is trying to ask!
With IIM-Bangalore conducting CAT 2016, there anyway is a speculation that VRC would be slightly more challenging than last year. While the previous blog on RCs, “The Art of Solving RC Passages” discusses a general methodology of cracking the section, in this blog let us introspect further.
Let us look at RC passages from the eyes of the question-setter – the question-setter’s logic
- Step 1: Pick a RC passage
- Step 2: Think of a few questions and come up with the best option for each
- Step 3: Create the other 3 incorrect options for each of the question.
To make the question difficult, the paper setter will have to set traps for the test taker – you. While thinking of the traps, he is thinking of how each of one you will react to the question
When it comes to Reading Comprehension (RC) passages, CAT-takers fall in three broad categories:
- LAZY BUM – This trap is for those who read the passage in a hurry, this is where you belong
- DREAMER – If you end up bringing in things outside of what is mentioned in the passage, you’re a dreamer
- LOST CASE – if you read the passage but have no clue what the passage was all about, welcome to this group
LAZY BUM: What if someone reads bits and pieces of a passage? If the paper setter creates an option from bits & pieces of the passage, then he’s trapped the lazy ones.
DREAMER: What if someone brings in things outside of what is mentioned in the passage? If the paper setter creates an option that sounds pretty logical but is not from the passage, then the dreamer is likely to fall for it.
LOST ONE: Setting a trap for these types is trap is the easiest of all. Put a passage that is difficult to comprehend!
Good news is that from a question-setter’s point of view, it is generally difficult to create difficult questions based on a difficult passage!
I know you CAT-ters never believe anything without proof so here’s an example for you. Let’s get into the mind of the paper-setter and identify the traps…
Foucault’s idea of an archaeology of thought is closely linked to the modernist literary idea that language is a source of thought in its own right, not merely an instrument for expressing the ideas of those who use it. Here, however, the project is not to open up, through transgression or withdrawal, a field for language itself to ‘speak’. Rather, Foucault begins with the fact that, at any given period in a given domain, there are substantial constraints on how people are able to think. Of course, there are always the formal constraints of grammar and logic, which exclude certain formulations as gibberish (meaningless) or illogical (self-contradictory). But what the archaeologist of thought is interested in is a further set of constraints that, for example, make it ‘unthinkable’ for centuries that heavenly bodies could move other than in circles or be made of earthly material. Such constraints seem foolish to us: why couldn’t they see that such things are at least possible? But Foucault’s idea is that every mode of thinking involves implicit rules (maybe not even formidable by those following them) that materially restrict the range of thought. If we can uncover these rules, we will be able to see how an apparently arbitrary constraint actually makes total sense in the framework defined by those rules. Moreover, he suggests that our own thinking too is governed by such rules, so that from the vantage point of the future it will look quite as arbitrary as the past does to us.
Foucault’s idea is that this level of analysis, of what is outside the control of the individuals who actually do the thinking in a given period, is the key to understanding the constraints within which people think. So the ‘history of ideas’ – where this means what is consciously going on in the minds of scientists, philosophers, et al. – is less important than the underlying structures that form the context for their thinking. We will not be so much interested in, say, Hume or Darwin as in what made Hume or Darwin possible. This is the root of Foucault’s famous ‘marginalization of the subject’. It is not that he denies the reality or even the supreme ethical importance of the individual consciousness. But he thinks that individuals operate in a conceptual environment that determines and limits them in ways of which they cannot be aware.
Q. Which of the following best describes the central theme of the passage?
(a) The primary purpose of archaeology of thought is to understand the constraints within which people think.
This is a LAZY TRAP. This is where it is picked from – “Foucault’s idea is that this level of analysis, of what is outside the control of the individuals who actually do the thinking in a given period, is the key to understanding the constraints within which people think.”
Look at the word ‘PRIMARY PURPOSE’ in the option. If that were true, logically that would mean everything else is secondary purpose, which is not the case.
(b) Archaeology of thought can justify what people thought in the past through understanding of the then prevalent constraints.
This is a DREAMER TRAP. Look at the word ‘CAN JUSTIFY’ ‘WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT’ in the option. If that were true, then it would suggest that the passage would basically be trying to give a justification of what people thought in the past, which is not the case.
(c) How people think is determined by certain constraints, which may look arbitrary in hindsight but are justified due to implied laws/rules involved in the thinking process.
Look at this option. This, to me, best captures the essence of the passage. BEST ANSWER.
(d) History of ideas is less important than the underlying context for thinking.
Again, this is a DREAMER TRAP.
Do you fall for these traps too? Tell me, or better still, come back to me with examples. In the next RC, set aside the lazy bums and the dreamer traps and find out the right option – it’s easy once you know what to look for.
More on how to tackle RC in my next posts. Write to me with any questions that you have and I will get back to you very soon.
Also, you might like to read 10 ways to develop a reading habit which will help you get better at the RCs.
——————————————————————————————————————–
About Gejo:
He is Gejo (and yes that is his real name!). If you want to know his full name, purely for academic reasons, it is Gejo Sundarswamy Sreenivasan. Since it was getting too complicated, he stuck to Gejo Sreenivasan! Thankfully, the man is not as complicated as his name is.
An excellent dancer during his college days, he is now making students dance to CAT through his entertaining sessions. For the past 11 years he has been coaching and mentoring students for the CAT.
Gejo has done his Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras (Batch of 1997) and PGDM from IIM Calcutta (Batch of 1999). He is a core member of the CL-Mumbai family and has mentored thousands of successful students in the last few years.
Dear sir
I’m unable to get, what the passage conveys, i.e I fall in 3rd category; and due to this I get very less score in VA(10-15).In other sections I get 45+ but the overall score worries me.Please guide me how to improve my VA in the stipulated time, to increase my score.
Regards.
Akhilesh, you can refer to following articles 7 rules to excel in VRC , the art of solving RCs , things you should never do with RCs. Also take up as many as mocks possible. You should spend sufficient time in a mock analysis to know your strengths and weaknesses. Work on your weak zones to iron out the deficiency, if any.
Hello Sir,
I read this article but this article helps me to eliminate mostly 2 options in an rc passage question..
could you show a few more techniques like this with the help of which i can arrive at a definite conclusive answer.
Hi Dipayan,
You must always choose an option which is 100% true based on the passage. What that means is that you can eliminate options that are either False (Definitely False) or Uncertain (the can’t say) type. While we can easily eliminate ‘FALSE’ choices, it is the ‘Uncertain’ ones that creates trouble.
There are a few ways you can identify them:
1. NOT SPECIFIC – The option cannot be ‘broader’ or more general than what is discussed. For instance, if the top is on corruption in Sports, an option which says corruption (in general) would come under this category.
2. OUT OF SCOPE – Things that are not discussed or not mentioned in the passage.
3. EXTREMES – words like always, never, most, best, impossible etc. are normally incorrect unless of course it is specifically mentioned in the passage.
Regards
Gejo
Thank you so much sir..
I will surely follow your advice from now and move ahead with the rc passages..
DEAR SIR,
I AM A STUDENT PURSUING FOR CAT 2014. I HAVE ATTENDED YOUR SMART QUANT CRACKER WORKSHOP ,IT HELPED ME A LOT.BUT SIR I AM VERY WEAK IN RC AND MY PERFORMANCE IN VA&LR PORTION IS AVERAGE, CAN U PLEASE HELP ME OUT & PROVIDE ME ANY TRICK BY WHICH I CAN IMPROVE BOTH {RC AS WELL AS VA&LR}PORTION WHICH WOULD GELP ME FETCHING GOOD MARKS.
SIR,PLEASE HELP ME.
Dear Shresth,
For RC and other portions of VA-LR, the best preparation is to practise as many problems as possible. Do revise your basic concepts and after that, start practising problems. Go through the solutions given for each problem and identify any better methods for solving the problem (methods that you may have missed). These steps will help you score well in VA-LR.
Sir,
I want to know that is it still possible to get 99+ %ile this year for someone, if he study hard( say 10 hours daily and less time on Btech college and exam days) and knows a little basics of quant but with not a good vocab and reading. If yes how to go for it, plz suggest a plan.
Dear Himanshu,
You still have over 2 months left for the actual exam. So there is still scope to prepare well and get a good score. Start by solving one or two past years’ papers. This will give you some idea of the types of questions and the topics covered in the actual test. Identify your strong and weak areas and draw up a schedule for yourself accordingly. Start with the basic concepts and then practise some problems in order to ensure that you have understood the concepts well. Revise those areas where you feel that you have some difficulties. Also, start taking mock tests at the earliest possible.
great article sir
how can this be applied to the following RC
All astronauts look forward to living in the lonely and unpredictable environment of space. In low earth orbit, for instance, you get to see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets! For the day fades into night every 45 minutes as the spacecraft rotates slowly to keep its solar panels facing the sun. Viewers in Delhi shared a bit of this excitement with Sunita Williams aboard the international Space Station, when she telechatted with them earlier this month.
Astronauts spend long periods in weightlessness of ‘zero gravity’. It may be fun for us sitting in our gravity cocooned rooms and watching them on TV, as they float around. But inside their bodies things are happening that aren’t any fun at all. Scientists study the effects of outer space on the human body to see how it behaves in zero gravity and then re-adapts to earth`s gravity at the end of the spaceflight. In space the number of red blood cells, bone and muscle tissues are all altered and the metabolic process upset.
On Earth, gravity pulls blood to lower body, away from the head. Nerves called the baroreceptors detect this and redirect blood flow, ensuring that the brain gets enough oxygen and sugar. In space baroreceptors don‘t sense any pressure difference and the astronaut flies with an atypical redistribution of blood. On earth we build bones by running or jumping. But without gravity, the bones begin to lose calcium, which is absorbed in the body. (Bedridden and paraplegics suffer the same problem, losing 30% of their lower body bone mass within months). The minerals lost from the leg and hipbones aren’t excreted and they migrate to the head, making the skull dense. This is the body’s way of making better use of its resources: legs are useless in space, so the body moves to protect the brain!.
Unlike on earth there is no muscle tension in space. Muscles are relaxed, stretched and actually grow by five to seven inches in a space flight. Surprisingly one gets taller while one sleeps, too, because of relaxed muscles – sometimes enough to readjust one’s car’s rear-view mirror in the morning. To offset this, the astronauts aboard the ISS exercise on a treadmill every day. So every space payload has a large component of medical experiments to help scientists figure out what we gain-or lose-up there. Bookmark Add Bookmark
The main purpose of the author in the passage is to
a. emphasize the harmful effects of working for a space station.
b. talk about techniques used inside a space craft by the space walkers.
c. emphasize the importance of mineral migration to the head.
d. highlight significance of gravitational pull despite all the excitement of the space travel.
e. to describe a trip to moon and back.
I have confusion between option a and d…Please explain in detail
Dear Ritika,
The passage has mentioned several effects of working in a space station. But not all of these are harmful effects. (The last line of the passage gives a very big clue here…”to help scientists figure out what we gain-or lose-up there”.) Further, the passage has only mentioned the impact of gravity. Effects of other factors have not been mentioned at all. Thus, option (a) is not correct; option (d) is.
ques in test gym adaptive
Q. 5. Direction for question : Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.
If you were to sail due west from San Francisco, California, after about 2000km you would find yourself in a very strange place. This is an area of the Pacific Ocean technically referred to as the North Pacific Gyre, but a more descriptive term is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. You heard correct. Decades of constant oceanic currents have resulted in a huge area of the Pacific that has become a veritable black hole of human-produced waste.
Oceanic currents are largely steady over the period of centuries. Since the days of colonisation, Christopher Columbus and his friends had capitalised on reliable trade winds to propel them to and from the Americas. Within these swirling, connected currents lie a few select dead spots, where the motion of the ocean is effectively nil. There are five of these so-called gyres located throughout the world.
The Floating Island of Garbage was discovered surprisingly recently. The story goes, a sailor named Charles Moore was returning to Los Angles after competing in a race. Normally, seamen avoid the North Parasitic Gyre like the plague. The absence of wind makes sailing impossible, and the dearth of large critters renders the area unprofitable for fishing.
On this one particular occasion in 1997, Charles Moore had a little extra time, and an outboard motor on his sailboat. He decided to take a shortcut and cross through the normally-avoided area of the sea. What he saw was astounding: plastic, plastic everywhere. Moore would later return to the area to conduct thorough investigations to quantify the extent of the mess.
The actual size and trash-density of the garbage patch is somewhat debatable. The general consensus is that it is around the size of the continental US and contains floating bits of plastic that are more concentrated than plankton in some areas. While the statistics are staggering, this description may paint an inaccurate picture. The mental image I first saw was a solid layer of bags, a few meters thick, that you could walk across. While I couldn’t find a decent picture of it, in reality the garbage patch is not any sort of solid surface.
Aside from just the mess, more disconcerting is that the plastic is starting to work its way into the food chain. For years, chemists have sought to make increasingly robust plastics, and they have succeeded. If you were to go out and buy a bag of frozen lima beans, it would likely stay fresh for quite a while.
The downside is after you eat those lima beans, the discarded bag will stay on this planet longer than you will. Polyvinylchloride, polyethylene, etc, cannot be degraded by any normal organism. Sitting out in the Pacific, baking in the sun, these polymers undergo photodegradation instead. Sunlight breaks down polymers into smaller and smaller pieces, until they get to be so small that even microscopic plankton will eat them. When the bottom of the food chain starts to eat our garbage, it’s just a matter of time before it works its way into fish, birds, and eventually onto our dinner plates. If the Floating Island of Garbage is left unchecked, eventually those frozen lima beans will contain parts of the bags they come in.
Because the island was discovered only recently, it has become far too large to even consider cleaning up. Compare and contrast with another environmental disaster: the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. There, the spill covered a mere 28 000km2 of the ocean’s surface (about 100 times smaller than the garbage patch), and cost about £1 billion or so to clean up.There has been an interest within the chemical community to make polymers that are at least somewhat biodegradable. There hasn’t been a major success so far, one reason being that some of the materials are a little too biodegradable. That is, you don’t want a bottle of orange juice to dissolve before you get the chance to drink it. So there’s no good solution for what to do about the garbage island, other than trying not to make it worse. I won’t even try to evaluate the global political and economic changes that would be needed for that. But I can say for sure that next time I’m at the shop, I’ll bring my own canvas bag. Bookmark Add Bookmark
What is peculiar about the North Pacific Gyre?
a. It is the only area in the Pacific ocean where frozen lima beans are found.
b. It is famous for strong tides that make sailing very difficult.
c. This patch has a solid surface made up of sedimentary rocks.
d. It is a huge garbage area in the Pacific Ocean which contains floating bits of plastic and it has no currents, which makes sailing impossible.
e. Although it lies on the shortcut to San Francisco, it is usually avoided by the sailors.
Correct Answer: d.
Why cant the answer be Option e??
Dear Shivanshi,
The passage does not say that this area lies on the shortcut to San Francisco. San Francisco may be approached from several directions. On one occasion, for Moore, a shortcut happened to pass through this area. So, option (e) is not correct. Option (d) is the right answer.
Passage clearly says so “He decided to take a shortcut and cross through the normally-avoided area of the sea”
Yes Shivanshi. On that day, considering his location, going through this area was a shortcut for him. This does not mean that for everyone, irrespective of their location, this area would be a shortcut.
Sir ,
How do solve the question in RC which ask about the suitable title? Even after eliminating the mist generic options , 2 options always look suitable.
The title of the passage should mirror the theme of the passage. It is more like answering the main idea question.
The one trap that gets laid is taking something from the passage which is not the main idea but a supporting detail.
Sir, in the Mock CATs, my speed and understanding of RC passage is low, but when I attempt the same RC at home, I attempt close to 4 out of 5 questions with >85% accuracy.
But it is exactly opposite in the test.
Should I begin my test with RCs so that I can go through them with a calm head and attempt in a better manner?
My verbal section is not strong and am average student when it comes to Sentence correction and Vocab based questions. But I manage OK marks with LR and RCs.
How should I begin my paper? Because any attempt to solve RC or LR towards last 30 minutes ends in a failure due to panic.
Ankur,
Let’s look at the bright side – the fact that you can solve 4 out of 5 questions with 85% accuracy says that you know how to handle RC. The issue, I believe, is something is going wrong during the test.
While you are trying to find a solution, it is important we understand the problem. My take is that you might not be giving enough time for the RC. This normally happens – given that there are these 5 areas : Quant, DI, LR, RC & EU, one tends to spend more time on one chunk. I believe that you must give around 35-40 minutes for the 4 RCs. That way, irrespective of when you do the RC, you will be able to make a ‘home-like’ performance.
Let me know
Gejo
Given overwhelming evidence for the primacy of sociocultural factors in determining both drinking patterns and their consequences, it is clear that ethnographic research findings on the social and cultural roles of alcohol may have important implications for policy-makers – particularly in areas such as Europe where economic and political ‘convergence’ could have significant impact on drinking-cultures and their associated lifestyles.
In this context, it is essential for those concerned with policy and legislation on alcohol to have a clear understanding of the sociocultural functions and meanings of drinking. This passage outlines the principal conclusions that can be drawn from the available cross-cultural material regarding the symbolic uses of alcoholic beverages, the social functions of drinking-places and the roles of alcohol in transitional and celebratory rituals.
From the ethnographic material available, it is clear that in all cultures where more than one type of alcoholic beverage is available, drinks are classified in terms of their social meaning, and the classification of drinks is used to define the social world. Few, if any, alcoholic beverages are ‘socially neutral’: every drink is loaded with symbolic meaning, every drink conveys a message. Alcohol is a symbolic vehicle for identifying, describing, constructing and manipulating cultural systems, values, interpersonal relationships, behavioural norms and expectations. Choice of beverage is rarely a matter of personal taste.
At the simplest level, drinks are used to define the nature of the occasion. In many Western cultures, for example, champagne is synonymous with celebration, such that if champagne is ordered or served at an otherwise ‘ordinary’ occasion, someone will invariably ask “What are we celebrating?”
In the Weiner Becken in Austria, sekt is drunk on formal occasions, while schnapps is reserved for more intimate, convivial gatherings – the type of drink served defines both the nature of the event and the social relationship between the drinkers. The choice of drink also dictates behaviour, to the extent that the appearance of a bottle of schnapps can prompt a switch from the ‘polite’ form of address, sie, to the highly intimate du.
The author states the different functions of drinking in order to:
a. describe that drinking is socially positive.
b. the names of different drinks and the occasions when they are consumed.
c. bring about the hidden aspects of the Western culture.
d. emphasize that alcohol is a symbolic representation of determining cultural values, relationships and behavioural patterns.
e. depict that drink determines the behaviour of an individual.
Sir according to Test Gym answer is Option d. But it is just a line from passage taken as it. isn’t it a Lazy trap?? I would like to have C as my option.
The Lazy Trap would be C instead of D
The passage says very clearly – “This passage outlines the principal conclusions that can be drawn from the available cross-cultural material regarding the symbolic uses of alcoholic beverages, the social functions of drinking-places and the roles of alcohol in transitional and celebratory rituals.”
Option D – emphasize that alcohol is a symbolic representation of determining cultural values, relationships and behavioural patterns.
Option D clearly captures the purpose of the passage.
Option C is in fact the lazy trap.”bring about the hidden aspects of the Western culture.”
That is too broad. It does not even mention alcohol. The author is NOT trying to bring about any general hidden aspects of Western Culture.
Regards
But option 3 is taken as such from one line of passage ” Alcohol is a symbolic vehicle for identifying, describing, constructing and manipulating cultural systems, values, interpersonal relationships, behavioural norms and expectations.”Isnt a lazy trap?
The reason why that single line is of significance is that it outlines the purpose of the passage.
The question is asking ‘PURPOSE’ – “The author states the different functions of drinking in order to:”
.Sir I am a CL student and encountered this RC in my Test Gym Adaptive
5. Direction for question : Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.
If you were to sail due west from San Francisco, California, after about 2000km you would find yourself in a very strange place. This is an area of the Pacific Ocean technically referred to as the North Pacific Gyre, but a more descriptive term is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. You heard correct. Decades of constant oceanic currents have resulted in a huge area of the Pacific that has become a veritable black hole of human-produced waste.
Oceanic currents are largely steady over the period of centuries. Since the days of colonisation, Christopher Columbus and his friends had capitalised on reliable trade winds to propel them to and from the Americas. Within these swirling, connected currents lie a few select dead spots, where the motion of the ocean is effectively nil. There are five of these so-called gyres located throughout the world.
The Floating Island of Garbage was discovered surprisingly recently. The story goes, a sailor named Charles Moore was returning to Los Angles after competing in a race. Normally, seamen avoid the North Parasitic Gyre like the plague. The absence of wind makes sailing impossible, and the dearth of large critters renders the area unprofitable for fishing.
On this one particular occasion in 1997, Charles Moore had a little extra time, and an outboard motor on his sailboat. He decided to take a shortcut and cross through the normally-avoided area of the sea. What he saw was astounding: plastic, plastic everywhere. Moore would later return to the area to conduct thorough investigations to quantify the extent of the mess.
The actual size and trash-density of the garbage patch is somewhat debatable. The general consensus is that it is around the size of the continental US and contains floating bits of plastic that are more concentrated than plankton in some areas. While the statistics are staggering, this description may paint an inaccurate picture. The mental image I first saw was a solid layer of bags, a few meters thick, that you could walk across. While I couldn’t find a decent picture of it, in reality the garbage patch is not any sort of solid surface.
Aside from just the mess, more disconcerting is that the plastic is starting to work its way into the food chain. For years, chemists have sought to make increasingly robust plastics, and they have succeeded. If you were to go out and buy a bag of frozen lima beans, it would likely stay fresh for quite a while.
The downside is after you eat those lima beans, the discarded bag will stay on this planet longer than you will. Polyvinylchloride, polyethylene, etc, cannot be degraded by any normal organism. Sitting out in the Pacific, baking in the sun, these polymers undergo photodegradation instead. Sunlight breaks down polymers into smaller and smaller pieces, until they get to be so small that even microscopic plankton will eat them. When the bottom of the food chain starts to eat our garbage, it’s just a matter of time before it works its way into fish, birds, and eventually onto our dinner plates. If the Floating Island of Garbage is left unchecked, eventually those frozen lima beans will contain parts of the bags they come in.
Because the island was discovered only recently, it has become far too large to even consider cleaning up. Compare and contrast with another environmental disaster: the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. There, the spill covered a mere 28 000km2 of the ocean’s surface (about 100 times smaller than the garbage patch), and cost about £1 billion or so to clean up.There has been an interest within the chemical community to make polymers that are at least somewhat biodegradable. There hasn’t been a major success so far, one reason being that some of the materials are a little too biodegradable. That is, you don’t want a bottle of orange juice to dissolve before you get the chance to drink it. So there’s no good solution for what to do about the garbage island, other than trying not to make it worse. I won’t even try to evaluate the global political and economic changes that would be needed for that. But I can say for sure that next time I’m at the shop, I’ll bring my own canvas bag.
What is peculiar about the North Pacific Gyre?
a. It is the only area in the Pacific ocean where frozen lima beans are found.
b. It is famous for strong tides that make sailing very difficult.
c. This patch has a solid surface made up of sedimentary rocks.
d. It is a huge garbage area in the Pacific Ocean which contains floating bits of plastic and it has no currents, which makes sailing impossible.
e. Although it lies on the shortcut to San Francisco, it is usually avoided by the sailors.
Sir I have confusion between d and e option.Plz clarify.
Thanks in advance!!
Dear Palak,
The passage does not say that this area lies on the shortcut to San Francisco. San Francisco may be approached from several directions. On one occasion, for Moore, a shortcut happened to pass through this area. So, option (e) is not correct. Option (d) is the right answer.
SIR!
can i able to use ctrl+f (search option) in RC to search for the key word??
Dhivya, this is possible in MAT but was not possible in CAT conducted by Prometric. I do not think that this will be possible in CAT’14 but you should check this out before the paper starts.
Unfortunately, you can’t….
This means that you have to trace back the key-word without the help of the computer.
Gejo
Sir,
In CAT-13 I used the option of ‘highlight’ to highlight the important texts in RCs. That feature was enabled as far as I can remember. Pls correct me if am worng.
hello sir, 🙂
I m a BBA final year student. I gave CAT 2013 to know the exam well personally. So in order to do so, I entered that I am in grad Final Year while filling the form.
I neither applied for any college nor participated in the SELECTION procedure. No submission of mark sheets nothing.Just saw my results. That’s it!
but now as I’ll be giving CAT again and enter myself as grad final year student with an actual grad score (different from what I entered in the erstwhile year).
I wanted to know would there be any trouble?
the BIO-METRIC TEST data of last year,are they store ? for all the 2 lakh candidates ??
i know the test is meant ONLY to prevent Impostors..
but still wanted a confirmation to uproot my little apprehension..
thanks in advance 🙂 🙂
Shubham, i do not think that the IIMs and the testing authorities will go back to last years data. Just go ahead and register for CAT’14 without worrying about this issue.
thankyou sir 🙂
Should not be any issue.
You must ensure that you fill in the true details this time.
Gejo
Sir can you provide me with the solution pdf to the DI work shop -DI ke DUS avtaar. I have struggling with lot of questions in that workshop and the solutions will really help me a lot to solve them and finish the sheet completely.
thank you
Avdhesh, there is no recoding of the session and will try and have it done.
Sir, can u please tell me…the overall and sectional marks required…to get into a top ten mba institution? (By your approximation)
Niraj, the target score of a general category candidate has to be over 99.5%ile for the old IIMs and over 99%ile for other top IIMs, FMS and IIT Mumbai. This will most probably need a score in excess of 140/300 marks in CAT’14.
its been my second attempt, there is a too much stress confusion going on while attempting a section.Moreover if i try to do a question i move to towards some steps closer to answer but at the end i am too muddle up and gets no answer with a wastage of time.kindly suggest me proper strategies for the exam its only 2 months have been left.
Dear Pratul,
Revise your basic concepts once more. Practice more problems as well. These will ensure that you are more confident while solving problems. Use Test Gym Adaptive as much as you can.
Hello Sir, Sometimes I am locked between two choices. So I take a closer look at the words used in the options mentioned. If one of them seems resembling to the answer, I tick them. Is it an appropriate approach? Do the paper-setters set a trap for an idea like this? If yes, how do I not fall in it?
And, how to eliminate all incorrect choices/ tick the correct one in the first place? Thanking you in advance.
Dear Siddhartha,
You should confirm your answer by comparing the two options (that you are confused about) with the information given in the passage. Try to negate both the options. The correct answer will be that option which cannot be negated. The incorrect option would not be supported by the passage since it may refer to something not mentioned in the passage or may contradict some information given in the passage. You may use this method to eliminate all incorrect choices in the first place itself.
By this approach, you would get the answers right most of the time. You will get it wrong when the question setter created a trap with words in the passage and created a ‘twisted’ option.
Keep a simple principle for eliminating options.
Whatever be the answer, it must be 100% TRUE based on the passage.
So you can eliminate things that are FALSE or UNCERTAIN. The key is identifying UNCERTAIN choices:
– It will be more general(broad) than what is discussed in the passage.
– It will have things that are out of scope (alien)
– Extreme positions : only, always, impossible, best, most etc. – unless the passage has taken a clear position.
Regards
Thank you GP sir, Gejo Sir and Team CL. Definitely will incorporate this advice in my practises.
Dear Gejo,
My strategy for the RC’s is a bit unorthodox.I never read the passage in it’s entirety, but rather try to get the answer from the questions.However,a demerit to the above strategy is that i usually end up avoiding questions which are not specific in nature or rather questions which are asking for the general view ( tone of the passage,what is the author trying to say etc).I mostly avoid passages out of my area of interest such as philosophy and anything to do outside the realm of politics,economics, science,history and the other more factual types.The funny thing is my accuracy in RC usually remain pretty high.
To give an example if i attempt around 10-12 questions i get around 8-9 correct most of the times.
Would you advise such a strategy as my preparation moves along for the CAT’14
Regards,
Abheek
Dear Abheek,
This is definitely a valid strategy. If this method works for you, then you can certainly continue with this. Try this method in a few mocks. If you get decent results consistently, then you can certainly continue with this.
This is how I look at it:
You can attempt 10 – 12 questions and get 8 – 9 right without reading the passage in its entirety; without attempting areas outside your interest.
Imagine what you can achieve if you read the passage completely and read passage outside your comfort zone.
Second, you run a huge risk – your approach is designed for a particular kind of composition of questions. Question is, are you willing to forgo RC if almost all the questions are ‘specific’ in nature.
My advise – read the passage completely. For someone like you who can understand the passage without reading it completely, will be able to read the passage completely in less incremental time.
Gejo
Sir,i solve the RC passages in the below mentioned pattern.
I read the first paragraph until i catch the main idea of the passage.Once i got the main idea i only read the first line of the remaining paragraphs,since every paragraph depicts only one idea.After doing this i do my questions.But i have a fear whether i would miss important points that i need to read in other paragraphs other than the first line.My performance in RC is also not consistent. I sometimes do well sometimes don’t.Please do help me by suggesting a system or approach of what to read exactly.I read in your previous posts that you want to focus on focus and structure of the passage.But what exactly can we leave when we are reading and able to understand the focus and structure of the passage without missing any concepts depicted in the RC.
Please read the entire passage. Almost all the CAT RC passages are short ones. Only when you read the passage would you able to identify the main idea and the supporting details. Only when you read the passage would you know what you want to take away from the passage. So no skipping.
Sir , in initial stages of preparation , i was getting 6 or 7 rite in RC. But now my performance is going down. I am feeling demotivated at this time. I was getting around 85-90% in mocks mainly because of verbal section but now nowhere close to it. Now m getting 2 or 3 rite hardly. I never attempt grammar questions and i have always relied on LR, PJ ,PC and RC . I have problems with inference , assumptions type questions. My cat is on 1st Nov and i m losing confidence. Sir , please suggest me a way
Amit, please go through the blogposts by Gejo on RC, they should help in inferential questions. It might be helpful to not take a test for 3-4 days but revise PC, PJ, RC and LR to resolve the issues in these areas.
GE SIR,
I am facing troubles when i solve RC on computer screen,my comprehension reduces n speed also reduces when i solve it on the computer and so does my accuracy,,when i solve RC in practice booklets,m comfortable with that, i reach 80 -90%,please tell me how to resolve this,n beside tell me how to increase my accuracy to 100%..thnks for the above article
Pankaj,
This is a common problem. One way to deal with it is to write/scribble/draw the main idea of each paragraph. That way you will be able to improve your comprehension when you read a passage on screen. Secondly, stop doing RC in practice booklet. Every day or every alternate day, solve one RC passage on screen.
80-90% accuracy is pretty decent. That is 7-8 questions correct out of 9. So you are already there. Dont worry about 100% accuracy. Ensure that you are consistently hitting 80-90%.
Sir, my problem is not that i am unable to comprehend the passage .most of time when there is a question on central idea or theme of passage i get it correct.but when there is something specific i just not able to even figure out where from this thing is asked.sir, its very important for me too get at least 6-7 correct in RC as my grammar and vocab are not so good .so please suggest how to tackle it in rest of the days.
Rishi,
The ‘detail’ based-question or ‘inference’ based-question can be tricky at times. What the question-setter does (to create bad options) in this case is to take bits and pieces of information from the passage and ‘twist’ it around.
My suggestion is to solve two-RC passage everyday. Your approach should be eliminate options. Once you solve a passage, understand the traps that you fell for. Take a 30-day project. 60 passages with very focused plan to identify the traps you are falling into.
sir,
After reading the complete passages i understands only 20%-40% of given passages…
what should I do to improve it….????
Hi Deepak,
20-40% comprehension would mean one of the following two things:
(1) You are reading too fast
(2) You are reading too slow
The key is to have a purpose while reading the passage – The Main Idea. In each of the paragraph identify the key elements and then gather the main idea. Please note that if the 40% of the passage that you understood is the main idea, then you will still not have a problem.
My suggestion is this – while practicing RC daily, please write a small synopsis of each of the passage – you can represent this pictorially. Then try and answer the questions. This could be of great help.
Please explain Q6 from test gym -> Sectional -> Verbal -> VA (30)_Test 2 : L1.
All the options are close and I feel what author is trying to illustrate through this passage is simply not given in the options .
Your help is appreciated.
Dear Rahul,
Though the solutions are close, careful reading will help you eliminate the options. Options (b) and (e) can be rejected because the passage is about the ‘sandplay’ treatment and not merely about children or their imagination. Option (c) can again be discarded because the passage analyzes a treatment and not stories in guise of sandplay. Finally, option (d) is incorrect because there is no teaching in the passage, rather observation.
Sir,
After attaining first section [QA,Di] test, it is more difficult for me to read the passage and answer it as i lost patience .So i made one table dividing into two column and rows according to number of paras.In the left hand side i write the first sentence of each paragraph with just few words and in the right side i write the important idea which follows the first sentence of paragraph and requisite points with few words .By doing this i attained some of Test gym ,though sometimes i am able to answer all the question and sometimes not.I feel this is due to poor handwriting of mine and not able to decide how to convert sentence into few words.If it is right approach then please give one example by dividing into few words ,if it is wrong approach then what do i do to solve this problem?.Waiting for your valuable reply.
Ranjeet,
It is an awesome approach.
My suggestion is that you need not write. You can even ‘draw’. A pictorial representation is good enough. I have replied a similar query in this post. Let me cut-paste the same below:
Feminist philosophical work has aimed at repairing the imbalance between men’s and women’s concerns and rectifying the negative depiction of those traits viewed as female that are found in traditional philosophical positions, paradigms and methodologies. Feminists have tried to remedy a pervasive narrowness in the usual ways of framing those issues philosophers have considered important enough to command philosophical attention and work—that is, in the benchmarks that signal philosophical considerability. To induce change, feminist philosophers have crafted approaches that draw upon the very limitations they encounter when attempting to pursue women’s interests within philosophy. This effort has supplied stimulating ideas to philosophers seeking to import the singular insights and different perspectives of other subordinated groups, such as the disabled, into contemporary philosophy to improve its inclusiveness and extend its scope. Specifically, disabled people’s philosophical interests find ready-made conveyances in several of feminist thinking’s signature reforms.
Let us look at it sentence by sentence.
1.
Feminist philosophical work has aimed at repairing the imbalance between men’s and women’s concerns and rectifying the negative depiction of those traits viewed as female that are found in traditional philosophical positions, paradigms and methodologies.
What I think:
Feminist philosophical work — rectify traits — viewed as ‘female’–in traditional philosophy.
2.
Feminists have tried to remedy a pervasive narrowness in the usual ways of framing those issues philosophers have considered important enough to command philosophical attention and work—that is, in the benchmarks that signal philosophical considerability.
What I think:
Feminists—tried to remedy the situation.
3.
To induce change, feminist philosophers have crafted approaches that draw upon the very limitations they encounter when attempting to pursue women’s interests within philosophy.
What I think:
feminist philosophers —created approaches–To induce change
4.
This effort has supplied stimulating ideas to philosophers seeking to import the singular insights and different perspectives of other subordinated groups, such as the disabled, into contemporary philosophy to improve its inclusiveness and extend its scope.
What I think:
Effort–supplied ideas to philosophers–to include disabled in contemporary philosophy.
5.
Specifically, disabled people’s philosophical interests find ready-made conveyances in several of feminist thinking’s signature reforms.
What I think:
disabled people’s philosophical interest–helped by feminist thinking’s reformrs.
Let me connect the dots:
Feminist philosophical work — rectify traits — viewed as ‘female’–in traditional philosophy. Feminists—tried to remedy the situation. feminist philosophers —created approaches–To induce change. Effort–supplied ideas to philosophers–to include disabled in contemporary philosophy. Disabled people’s philosophical interest–helped by feminist thinking’s reformers.
What I take away is – Feminist philosophical work helped to include disabled people’s philosophical interest in contemporary philosophy.
When I read, I am hunting for the elements that are being discussed and understand the connection.
EC Technique – Element-Connection.
Hello sir,
I want to ask how can i concentrate on reading because i am type of lazy bum and mostly a lost case. I am unable to grasp the passage instead it goes over my head.
Thanking you.
Check the reply that I gave in one of the query in this post.
The key is to know — how to read. What I do is two things – (1) Main Idea & (2) Focus. Details are not important to me when I read since the passage is always there in front of me.
Have a look at the reply I gave to a similar question. It should help you.
Hi Sir,
Is it a good practice to go through RC questions once, so that we will be able to know what category of passage we are dealing with. Because most of the time I face same problem(specially in difficult passage) in finding out what it is about (namely philosophy, literature etc).
Thanks
Saurabh,
First, we get around 3 RC passages with 9-10 questions & around 3 LR sets with 9-10 questions
LR + RC –> around 18 questions.
VA –> around 12 questions.
If we need to score around 60 in the section, we need to solve about 22-24 questions.
From 12 questions of VA, we could try about 9 – 10.
Remaining 12 has to come from RC + LR
That would mean approximately 6 questions in each of RC and LR.
That 6 questions in RC could be (a) solving all the questions in 2 RC sets or (b) solving 2 questions each in 3 RC sets.
My take is that (b) is the more likely scenario, since there will be that one odd question which is very confusing.
Point is –> we have no choice but to try all 3 RCs. So the objective of going through the questions to figure out the TYPE of RC passages is not going to be fruitful since in any case, we have to read all 3 RCs. However, the objective of going through the questions (NOT OPTIONS), is to figure out the TYPE of QUESTIONS asked –> Main Idea, Detail, Inference etc. That might help to give a general framework while reading the passage.
Regards
Sir,
My reading speed is very poor. I kill almost 70% of the time reading passsage only.
I read around 200 wpm if i am very much familiar with subject matter and it goes down to as low as 40 wpm if passage is difficult.
How to improve on it?
Sakshi, the only way to improve reading speed is to read. However you have limited time at your disposal and may not be able to increase it significantly. Regular reading on the computer will also help you get more comfortable with the medium. In the paper, target attempting the 15-17 LR and VA questions and 1 RC passage. This should help you in increasing your VALR score.
i Sakshi,
The problem happens when we get unfamiliar topics. The trick to know ‘how to read’. While I am reading, two things go through my mind
1. What I read
2. What I think
My objective is to understands
1. The critical ELEMENTS in the text
2. The CONNECTIONS of these elements.
Let me explain this by taking a small passage:
Feminist philosophical work has aimed at repairing the imbalance between men’s and women’s concerns and rectifying the negative depiction of those traits viewed as female that are found in traditional philosophical positions, paradigms and methodologies. Feminists have tried to remedy a pervasive narrowness in the usual ways of framing those issues philosophers have considered important enough to command philosophical attention and work—that is, in the benchmarks that signal philosophical considerability. To induce change, feminist philosophers have crafted approaches that draw upon the very limitations they encounter when attempting to pursue women’s interests within philosophy. This effort has supplied stimulating ideas to philosophers seeking to import the singular insights and different perspectives of other subordinated groups, such as the disabled, into contemporary philosophy to improve its inclusiveness and extend its scope. Specifically, disabled people’s philosophical interests find ready-made conveyances in several of feminist thinking’s signature reforms.
Let us look at it sentence by sentence.
1.
Feminist philosophical work has aimed at repairing the imbalance between men’s and women’s concerns and rectifying the negative depiction of those traits viewed as female that are found in traditional philosophical positions, paradigms and methodologies.
What I think:
Feminist philosophical work — rectify traits — viewed as ‘female’–in traditional philosophy.
2.
Feminists have tried to remedy a pervasive narrowness in the usual ways of framing those issues philosophers have considered important enough to command philosophical attention and work—that is, in the benchmarks that signal philosophical considerability.
What I think:
Feminists—tried to remedy the situation.
3.
To induce change, feminist philosophers have crafted approaches that draw upon the very limitations they encounter when attempting to pursue women’s interests within philosophy.
What I think:
feminist philosophers —created approaches–To induce change
4.
This effort has supplied stimulating ideas to philosophers seeking to import the singular insights and different perspectives of other subordinated groups, such as the disabled, into contemporary philosophy to improve its inclusiveness and extend its scope.
What I think:
Effort–supplied ideas to philosophers–to include disabled in contemporary philosophy.
5.
Specifically, disabled people’s philosophical interests find ready-made conveyances in several of feminist thinking’s signature reforms.
What I think:
disabled people’s philosophical interest–helped by feminist thinking’s reformrs.
Let me connect the dots:
Feminist philosophical work — rectify traits — viewed as ‘female’–in traditional philosophy. Feminists—tried to remedy the situation. feminist philosophers —created approaches–To induce change. Effort–supplied ideas to philosophers–to include disabled in contemporary philosophy. Disabled people’s philosophical interest–helped by feminist thinking’s reformers.
What I take away is – Feminist philosophical work helped to include disabled people’s philosophical interest in contemporary philosophy.
When I read, I am hunting for the elements that are being discussed and understand the connection.
EC Technique – Element-Connection.
This level of understanding is more than enough to handle the questions created by the question setter since my approach, anyways, is to eliminate options.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Thank u Gejo sir for sharing this great approach. sir i am facing a peculiar problem in RC. Applying your techniques, i can easily eliminate two of the four options. but once it narrows down to two options,which in most cases are very close, I mess up big time. Mostly I end up choosing the wrong option out of the two. How to get out of this syndrome??
Saman,
Every single wrong option has a trap. It has to be one among these –> it is too broad, too narrow, ‘alien’, extreme position or ‘twisted’.
There are two reasons as to why someone is not able to identify the trap
1. Reading passage in a hurry – It is imperative that one understands the main idea and the focus of the passage
2. You are missing one of the trap
All you need is to answer the simple question -> Why are you going wrong? Did you miss something in the passage or did you fall for a trap.
Good sir thanks alot for this trick to solve RC in this manner i do RC in with good aucuracy
Sir.. I read the article pretty carefully and still fell in the category of lazy bums !!! Can you please help me with it?
Hi Niharika,
I used the word ‘lazy bum’ in the article for an impact 🙂
Such options take words from the passage and twist it around. So after having read the passage, when you read such ‘lazy bum’ option, you tend to think that you have read that in the passage and end up marking the wrong option. Be careful of such traps.
What you could do is to quickly go back to the part of the passage from where the option is picked and evaluate again. Initially, you might take a bit more time, but with consistent practice, you will improve.
Regards
Gejo
hello sir,
there is one questionspecific doubt. I picked up this question from mock 6 same RC.
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
1.The laws that govern our thinking are different from the one’s that governed in the past
2.The fact that we know heavenly bodies move in paths other than circles implies that the constraints which caused people to believe the opposite no longer hold good.
3.If the present day constraints be similar to the constraints prevalent in the past, there would be no difference in how people would think.
4.The modernist literary idea rests on the same reasoning on which the Archaeology of thought rests.
According to the classifications i learnt from ur post, i think i can put options 1. and 4. into the lazy bum category.I think option 2. and option 3. are saying the same thing.The only difference is that 2. is explaining the logic of contraints with an example that has been quoted in the passage.But 2. happens to be the best answer. Inspite of the fact that 3. clearly states the relation between thoughts and constraints that the author tries to evoke from the passage.
Sir, can u pls tel me where am I going wrong?
Hi Vasundhara,
The passage is basically talking about how the constraints have impacted the thought process. What can be implied is that –> if constraints change, then thought process change, which is what is mentioned in Option 2. But we cannot infer that if constraints does not change then the thought process does not change.
It is similar to an [If X, then Y] logic.
If X, Then Y
Two things are valid
(1) X, therefore Y and
(2) Not Y, therefore Not X.
Not X, Therefore Not Y – is INVALID
It is because of this option 3 cannot be implied.
Hope this explains.
Regards
Gejo
thank u sir 🙂 i understood the difference.
Hello sir,
I have a problem in the way I comprehend a given passage.In the sense that by default i fall into the dreamer category.This is because whenever i read philosophical or historical passages i tend to bring in my past knowledge or i go into my own thought process based on what is given in the passage.My mind is always analysing whether i agree with the argument or not or even worse what can be added to topic to make it more articulate.This is the reason i usually get single inference questions correct, but not those which are given with the passage.Also this leads to a lot of time being wasted and finally getting a -1 in the question.
The good part is that such problems are there only with philosophical passages and not with science based passages.
Sir,Can u pls help me solve this.
Thanks.
All I can say that to avoid bringing in outside perspective. Try being a critique to the passage and focus completely and only on the passage.
Gejo
sir at times all the 4 options are present in the passage how to eliminate choices in these type of questions??
Hello sir , my percentiles in proc mocks are varying a lot , right from 90s to 60s and then again in 90s. its the VA section … i am not getting the accuracy right. I have solved a lot of RCs but yes after reading this i can understand that i never approached them smartly , just tried to solve them on the basis of understanding the passage. Sir what i want to know is how should i cover the grammar part. I am good at grammar , but i never studied the rules or anything , whatever questions i am getting correct are coming to me naturally.. so at times , i get a few wrong. As only a few weeks are left , what should i do now? I picked up the Wren n Martin book but the grammar portion is too vast.. Can there be a plan where i get to cover the entire grammar (for CAT) within a week or so..
Hi Mohit,
Since you are already getting most of the grammar questions correct, leave it at that. Dont try to cram yourself by studying the rules of grammar from Wren and Martin. Note that in grammar based questions, you are mostly identifying errors. So the best approach is to know the kind of errors. That should help you cover the grammar part in a week.
Regards
Gejo
Hello Sir,
I feel that after solving the Quant section my attention span gets reduced significantly and affects my performance in RC’s. It gets even worse when the RC is related to literature or history and philosophy.
How do i improve on this ?
Regards,
Rajat Sharma
Hi Rajat,
Why would the Quant section affect your RC? That is the issue that you must solve. What I would suggest is this. Henceforth when you study, sit continuously for 2 hours. Let us get that attention span issue sorted out.
Second is the issue of the topic of RC. I think it has more to do with your mind more than anything else. It is not so much that the passages on literature or history or philosophy are difficult, it is just that your mind is getting switched off. In the coming week, everyday read a random passage on those subject. You can pick them from then, take a print out and do leisure reading. We need to get that mind trained to not feel bad about such kind of passages 🙂
Regards
Gejo
Sir….plz give some tricks for para jumbles…….
Will try to write one Lavanya.
Hello Sir,
Thanks a lot for these valuable suggestions.
I have a doubt how to overcome the problem of regression when it takes 2-3 times to understand the passage.
For instance, above RC Foucault’s …… When i read the RC first time it was difficult for me to understand in first attempt. I had to read it 2 times. This consumes time.
Also we should move to the questions when we have completely in detail understood the RC or an overview will suffice.
Please help me in overcoming these problems.
Hi Tushar,
I have given a reply to Mohit in this post who is facing a similar problem.
Most of the time the reason for difficulty in understanding the passage when you read the first time is because of unfamiliarity with topic. For example, passages on philosophy is something that I personally enjoy and so when I read it, I am able to easily get a sense of the meaning involved. But on the other hand if its history, I take a little more time.
So per se, it is okay. But the key is to not feel intimidated by the passage or the kind of words you. Always remember that every author has an underlying message that they want to give. Get that sense quickly. When you read… dont worry about what kinds of questions may follow – what I mean is while reading focus on the passage. Once you take that burden out, you would see what the author is trying to communicate.
Then when you get to the question, be a smart one and evaluate each options and answer.
thanks a lot sir
Sir’ thnx 4r d post. Sir, i’m facing a lot of problem in paracompletion questions and rather i have analysed that i’m getting confused between the close options most of the tym which is wasting a lot of tym.wat shud b my approach?
Hi Ashlesha,
GP had written a article on the same – you could refer that.
The way in which I deal with para completion is before I read the options, after having read the passage I try and guess what could be the likely conclusion and then check the options. That way I get a better understanding of the passage.
You can try this – read any article (may be from the net or from the editorials of newspaper. Hide (or dont read) the last line. Then figure out what the last sentence could be and then check the last line.
The above will help you understand your thought process and fine tune the same.
Regards
Gejo
Hello Sir,
Firstly thanx a lot for the above article. The techniques had been very helpful while dealing with the RCs.
Sir i would like to request you to guide us about how to solve the inferrence based questions asked in RCs in your upcoming articles.
Thanx and Regards
Hi Shivani,
If you are good at critical reasoning, you will find inferential based questions not that difficult. Critical reasoning is not that difficult once you know the basics of evaluating arguments. I am soon going to write an article on the same and I do hope that will help you.
Regards
Gejo
hello sir,
a very informative article and thanks for helping us in RC problems but i have a question. The kind of passages that we get in proctored mocks, sometimes or rather in most of the passages i have to read 2-3 times to get into the passage and that to i am unable to get into deeply as sometimes either the language of passage is ambiguous or the options are very close that it is very difficult to differentiate. for eg the George Orwell socio political passage in unproctored 12. plz help . i hope you are able to understand my problem. HAPPY TEACHERS DAY.:)
Hi Mohit,
When you say you are reading the passage twice or thrice, are you saying that you have to give a full read thrice to get to understand the passage? Many a times one need to give a second look to figure out the passage but to read it thrice completely is a different story.
The key is to crack most of the it the first time you read. If you are reading it thrice, I am assuming that you are spending 15 minutes on reading a passage. (Otherwise, if you are reading in thrice in about 10 minutes, then you are not reading at all). Why not spent more time when you read the first time – taking down quick notes as you read.
Try it next time and see if it works. You will be less confused with options when you are able to comprehend the passage better. That is the crux of the story.
thanks a lot sir.
Happy Teachers day to both sir(s)..proud to be guided by you all:)
Thanks Suraj…. Wish you the best for the CAT
Hello Sir, the article is indeed very informative and helpful, but, I wish to ask 1 question. How do we overcome the “Lost Case” category as I mostly fall prey to this category only !! Thanks!!
Hi MG,
You get lost when you do not get involved in the passage or because that passage itself is difficult to comprehend. The latter is still fine, but you must not fall into the former category.
The above is especially true when the questions are reasoning based. Let me put a simple example below:
“Insect Infestations in certain cotton growing regions of the world have caused dramatic increases of demand of cotton on the world market. Knowing that cotton plants mature quickly, many soybean growers in Ortovia plan to cease growing soybeans, the price of which has long been stable and to begin raising cotton instead, thereby taking advantage of the high price of cotton to increase their income significantly over the next several years. ”
To be involved is to see the logc behind the passage. In the above passage, this is what the author says –
1. Insect infestations increased in cotton growing world, (production decreased), demand increased
2. Soybeans growers ceased growing soybeans and started growing cotton
————————————————————-
3. Therefore, they will be able to increase their income significantly for the next several years
The assumption is this – if income has to increase significantly for the next several years, then it must be true that the demand should remain high for the next several years.
Once you get involved, you will not face problem.
Hunt for the logic. I will be writing an article on the same and hope that will help you.
Hello Sir,
Thank you so much. That was really helpful. But I am little afraid to admit that mostly I fall into the former category. So it happens that mostly I am unable to comprehend the passage. The example you quoted here was simple and I was able to comprehend it correctly (without regressing), like the way you explained (of course before seeing the logic you mentioned). But, I guess it is not this easy always. It is also not that I have not practiced much. But I have seen that in all the Mocks I perform pathetic in RCs. If I just skim through the passage, mostly it goes above my head, time is wasted and there is no outcome. If I try to comprehend it line by line or paragraph by paragraph, it mostly takes a lot of time, and even then I end up with at least 2 wrong answers. All I score in is LR and Para jumbles. Grammar and vocab are my weak areas and I don’t think so that I would able to improve then now (when I couldn’t in last 1 year, still I am following GP sir’s Crack Grammar in 60 days policy). So I try to score in RCs but they also don’t help me much. Last year it was EU/LR only which spoiled the game for me. Please suggest me what should I do to maximize my score in EU/LR. As for LR, I am able to do almost all questions with 90% accuracy (mostly 100%). All I get stuck in is EU. Mostly, I am able to get through Para jumbles, but rest of the EU (mostly grammar and vocab) horrifies me. RCs puzzle me a lot and that takes away all the time. Please suggest. Many Thanks. (and sorry for such big story, I am just scared and don’t wish to lose it again)
Hi MG,
They say, dont go play the Australians thinking they are going to beat you. It is just the same in your case. If you understood the logic in the short passage, then the problem is NOT with comprehension. Your logic seems fine, the problem lies somehwere else – (1) either because you are skimming the first time & (2) or you are reading it line by line. You need to take a middle ground.
Leave your worries aside and lets get a plan of 20 days to take you to a place where you find RC comfortable – Step (1) is to understand what traps are you falling into. So everyday, solve at least one RC passage. (1) Solve it with time limit (2) Solve it without any time limit. (3) Look at the solutions (4) Identify the traps that you are falling into.
Things will just be fine.
Hello Sir,
Thank you so much. That is perfect. I am going to start with this right away. I would do at least 6 RCs by tomorrow and will share the progress then. And thank you so much for bringing the best of CL faculty to this online “avatar”. It is tremendously helpful. Many Thanks.
SIR
I am facing the same problem.
Although i am a regular reader, whenever i read a RC passage i tend to loose focus in the fourth or fifth line. To focus i have tried reading out aloud but this too survives for at most the 1st para.
i loose track n I either mark questions by re reading some bits n portions connecting them through some keywords or mark whatever i remember . I don’t know why am i facing this problem in RC which keeps my valr section score too low since i am scared of attending the RCs.
Its okay. It is quite possible that one lose track of what is going on. The key is to know answers to the following questions when you leave the passage.
1. What is the main idea of the passage? – What is the specific thing that the author is trying to communicate
2. Is the author taking a stance?
3. What is the broad structure of the passage? – is he/she making an argument or is it historical implication etc.
If you get hold of the above 3, you will still be able to handle the questions if you have not comprehended every single sentence.
Gejo
Thank you sir.
I m going to try the RC passages keeping your advice in mind.
Sir thanks alot for this article…it actually deals with insight f the RC solving technique….however I hv a doubt in the eg provided…The option 1 seems fairly close to the answer. My reasons is the author emphasize on the pt tht we need to analyze the constraint f thinking process…esp if u see following pts frm passage:
-So the ‘history of ideas’ – where this means what is consciously going on in the minds of scientists, philosophers, et al. – is less important than the underlying structures that form the context for their thinking. We will not be so much interested in, say, Hume or Darwin as in what made Hume or Darwin possible. This is the root of Foucault’s famous ‘marginalization of the subject’.
-But what the archaeologist of thought is interested in is a further set of constraints that, for example, make it ‘unthinkable’ for centuries that heavenly bodies could move other than in circles or be made of earthly material.
Could u pls let me knw whr my thot process is gng wrong….
Hi Abhishek,
Yes, Archeology of thought is definitely trying to understand the constraints in which people them. That could well be the primary purpose of archaelogy of though which you have correctly analysed.
But the question is the ‘central idea of the passage’ and not what the primary purpose of archaeology is.
The question setter cleverly created the trap and that is exactly what you have fallen into.
What is central to the passage is not that archeology of thought deals with constraints, but how people think which is governed by a certain laws.
These kinds of trap is where the question setter picks stuff from the passage and twist it around.
Thanks alot for explaining Sir….yeah I just realized that scope of my thought process was incorrect…Is thr any way to avoid such mistake..
Its pretty easy Abhishek. The first step is to know that TRAP exists. Second step is understand the types of traps. Broadly 2.
1. Take things from the passage and twist it around
2. Take things outside the passage.
I can see from your post that you have a good ability to analyse. Now that you know the traps, just keep your eyes open, you will do just fine.
Always remember, a good question-setter is someone who spends a lot of time creating option. But like what GP says, who has time 🙂
Regards
Gejo
Thanks alot Sir… I will definetly keep these points in mind while solving RCs.
i think mr. abhishek’s thought process is bound by ‘constraints’,which he must sort out and work on them ;-p
(just on a lighter note;-) no qualms!)
lol..yeah aditya, I think my thoughts are bounded by constraints..need to free them, otherwise my CAT score will b bounded within a certain limit…:P
But sir, what you have written is- “Look at the word ‘PRIMARY PURPOSE’ in the option. If that were true, logically that would mean everything else is secondary purpose, which is not the case.” And as per what you have written it is not primary purpose too.Is it the case?
Dear Aman,
The line “The primary purpose of archaeology of thought is to understand the constraints within which people think.” does not mention the primary purpose of the passage – it only mentions the primary purpose of archaeology of thought. If this line mentioned the primary purpose of the passage, then everything else in the passage would at best be a secondary purpose of the passage. However, that is not the case.