Verbal section is the decisive part of the CAT when one looks at the scores of the successful candidate and finds that the majority of them have maximised their score in the verbal section of the CAT, rather than in the other two sections.
Greater number of question in this section, unlike in quant and DI, offer more opportunity to score and not merely greater choice. Given more time, it is possible to solve a majority of question in Verbal, if not all without either sacrificing or compromising your score in the other two sections, if you can maximise your attempts in the verbal section you can make a huge difference to your overall percentile scores.
Practice test are a good place to begin experimenting with this approach. It does not matter at what point in the test you are attempting the verbal section. First you must set a high target for attempts, perhaps 70% of the marks in other words, if there are 30 questions in a section a target of 21 attempts will give you a pool large enough to maximise your score.
Nine questions to be avoided for their difficult level is also a rational estimate. Once this target is in place, try to attempt the maximum questions in grammar, vocabulary, and reasoning. Some of the question in reasoning could involve a lot of reading, example summary or jumbled paragraph questions.
Attempt them carefully and giving sufficient time. Do not entertain confusion; make your decision either to attempt or leave them quickly and move on. In this way, in the first 20 mins of the test itself you should be able to give a momentum to your attempts to reach a target of 70%.
Take up the rather time consuming reading comprehension questions next. You may want to attempt the reading comprehension questions before the others if you are attempting verbal section in the last part of the exam. Work fast and attempt as many questions from RC as possible, also decide to leave or attempt a question quickly without entertaining confusion in your mind.
This way you could probably reach your target of 70% in the stipulated time. It does not matter if your attempts are 60%. How close to the target you have reached is what matters. With such attempts and with a fair level of accuracy, you shall get a very competitive score in verbal.
One very important aspect of verbal that you have to bear in mind is the need to mark the answers even when you are not absolutely sure of the answer. Your experience might have told you that you have always lost marks in answers you were sure of and, most importantly, scored from the answers you were not sure of.
This reinforces the importance of a high target and high attempts. Above all, your confidence plays a large role in the accuracy of your attempts as confidence aids clear thinking.
Sujit Kumar, Head - Verbal Department, Faculty - Verbal, CPLC
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