CAT 2010 updates

The IIMs and Prometric have released the CAT 2010 data. The release comes at a time when just 4 days are left for the test window to open. MBAUniverse.com brings to you the key facts and figures that have emerged from the CAT 2010 data:

1. Number of test takers: While 2.42 lakh students registered for the test in 2009, the number of registrations stands at 2.04 lakh this year. The total voucher sale was 2.06 lakhs.

2. Educational/Professional background of test takers: Engineers form the largest bulk of CAT 2010 registrants (1.22 lakh). At number two are commerce students (30,248). Third position goes to BBA graduates with 21,809 aspirants. About 2421 applicants (2%) are from the biology stream.

3. Region wise break of candidates: The highest number of CAT 2010 test takers are from Maharashtra (30,296). 19,931 candidates from Delhi will be taking a shot at the test. Andhra Pradesh ranks below Delhi, followed by Karnataka.

4. Work experience of registered candidates: About 78 per cent of the people who have applied have less than one year work experience and a majority of them are fresh graduates.

5. Sex ratio: 74 per cent are males; 26 per cent are females.

6. Category of students: 81% candidates are of General category. The OBC category candidates are 11%, SC category 6 percent and ST category 2 percent.

7. Test infrastructure: Over 9000 computers will be used to conduct CAT 2010. There are 240 labs in 78 test centres in 33 cities across the country.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more news on CAT 2010!

INTERESTING WORD ORIGINS: Helping to Fix the Meaning of the Word in Your Mind

INTERESTING WORD ORIGINS: Helping to Fix the Meaning of the Word in Your Mind
1. laconic: adj. (of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words, concise, terse: his laconic reply suggested a lack of interest in the topic
ORIGIN: derived from the name of a place Laconia, Sparta whose inhabitants (the Spartans) were men of action and few words.
2. odyssey: noun (pl. odysseys) a long and eventful journey or experience: his odyssey from military man to politician
ORIGIN: From Iliad and Odyssey, both Greek epic poems, traditionally ascribed to Homer. Iliad describes how Achilles killed Hector at the climax of the Trojan War. Odyssey describes the travels of Odysseus during years of wandering after the Trojan War. He eventually returned home to Ithaca and killed the suitors who had plagued his wife Penelope during his absence.
3. quixotic: adj. extremely idealistic; unrealistic and impractical: a vast and perhaps quixotic project
ORIGIN: From Don Quixote the hero of a romance (1605-15) by Cervantes, a satirical account of chivalric beliefs and conduct. The character of Don Quixote is typified by a romantic vision and naïve, unworldly idealism.
4. decimate: verb [with obj.] core sense: kill, destroy, or remove a large proportion of (something): the inhabitants of that country have been decimated
sub sense: drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness of (something): public transport has been decimated
ORIGIN: Historically, the meaning of the word decimate is ‘kill one in every ten of (a group of people, originally a mutinous Roman legion) as punishment for the whole group. This sense has been more or less totally superseded by the more general sense given above.
5. cynical: adj. believing that people are motivated purely by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity; marked by an attitude of pessimistic disillusionment, especially about people’s hidden ulterior motives: he was brutally cynical and hardened to every sob story under the sun
ORIGIN: From an early Greek school of philosophy Cynicism founded by Antisthenes, a disciple of Socrates. The name is related to the Greek kyon for dog. The early Cynics advocated a simple and austere life and that nothing natural was shameful; and declared kinship with all living creatures. They lived on the streets and in the open sharing food and abode with street dogs. Hence its derivation from the Greek word for dog.
6. swashbuckling: adj. engaging in daring and romantic adventures with bravado or flamboyance: the pirates of the Caribbean are a crew of swashbuckling buccaneers
ORIGIN: From swash (in the sense ‘make a noise like swords clashing or beating on shields’) + buckler (a small round shield held by a handle or worn on the forearm).

CONFUSIBLES: Avoiding Confusion Between Lookalikes, Soundalikes, False Friends, Etc.

CONFUSIBLES: Avoiding Confusion Between Lookalikes, Soundalikes, False Friends, Etc.
1. apprise, appraise: Take care not to confuse these two verbs. To appraise means ‘to evaluate, estimate the worth of: The valuer appraised the painting; It was difficult to appraise their contribution. To apprise is a formal word meaning little more than ‘to tell, to notify’. It often occurs in the passive and is almost always followed by the preposition of: We were apprised of the facts behind the dispute.
2. allusion, delusion, illusion
3. blatant, flagrant
4. elate, exalt, exult
5. exotic, exquisite

MULTIPLE USAGE: Understanding Unfamiliar Usage of Simple Words

MULTIPLE USAGE: Understanding Unfamiliar Usage of Simple Words
1. mundane: adj. core sense 1: (often disapproving) lacking interest or excitement; dull: his mundane humdrum existence
core sense 2: of this earthly world rather than a heavenly or spiritual one: Jung’s own sacrifice of mundane goals was the abandonment of his academic career
2. flourish: verb core sense: (no obj.) grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way; develop rapidly or successfully: wild plants flourish on the banks of the lake; the organisation has continued to flourish
noun core sense: a bold and extravagant gesture or action, made especially to attract attention; with a flourish, she ushered them inside
3. manifest: adj. clear or obvious to the eye or mind: her manifest charm and proven ability
verb (with obj.) core sense: show a quality or feeling by one’s acts or appearance: she manifested signs of severe depression
sub sense: be evidence of; prove: bad industrial relations are often manifested in strikes
4. incense: noun [U] a gum, spice, or other substance that is burned for the sweet smell it produces: the aromatic smell of burning incense wafted from the temple
verb [with obj.] make very angry : locals are incensed by the suggestion of an SEZ adjoining their villages

CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD: Understanding Contextual Usage

CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD: Understanding Contextual Usage
1. relentless, remorseless, ruthless, pitiless
These words all apply to people or processes that are not affected by anyone’s wishes or entreaties. They differ chiefly in the extent to which they emphasize continuing activity or the attitude with which it is carried out.
• A relentless action or process cannot be stopped (the relentless march of rainforest destruction) and is unvaryingly intense or severe (the ships are subjected to relentless air attack). When applied to a person, it means ‘inflexible or uncompromising’ but does not necessarily imply a lack of pity or humanity (a patient but relentless taskmaster).
• Remorseless is used of a process that will not be stopped or deflected however great the suffering or distress it causes (the company continued the remorseless retrenchment drive). When used of a person, the word marks them out as having no regret or guilt about the distress they have caused (a remorseless killer).
• A ruthless person has no pity or compassion for others (ruthless terrorists murdered a child yesterday) and is usually determined to continue regardless (Mayawati is an astute and ruthless political operator).
• Whereas a ruthless person is without pity for anyone in pursuit of some goal, the emphasis of pitiless, a rarer word, is on a more intrinsic absence of pity itself (his cold pitiless voice).
2. sarcastic, caustic, sardonic, ironic
3. flourish, thrive, prosper
4. lazy, idle, indolent
5. brusque, abrupt, curt, terse
6. assuage, alleviate, allay

RC passage tone

Possible tone Meaning of the word
Acerbic Harsh/ severe; bitter
Aggressive Forceful; tending towards unprovoked offensiveness
Angry/indignant
Apathetic Emotionless; not interested/ concerned; indifferent; unresponsive
Apologetic Expressing remorse, regret, sorrow for having failed, injured, insulted or wronged another
Belligerent Aggressively hostile; bellicose
Biased Favouring one thing/person/group over another for personal reasons.
Caustic Biting; acerbic
Commiserating Feeling/ expressing sorrow for; empathizing with; pity
Condescending Patronizing; showing/implying patronising descent from dignity/ superiority
Contemptuous Expressing contempt/ disdain
Cynical displaying a belief that people are always self-seeking and never altruistic in their actions
Derisive Unkind and displaying contempt
Disparaging Speak slightingly; depreciating; belittling
Dogmatic Asserting opinions in an arrogant manner; imperious; dictatorial


Emotional Easily affected by feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear and the like
Ethical Dealing with principles of morality; honest; righteous
Euphemistic Substitution of mild, indirect or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt
Grandiose More complicated/ elaborated than necessary; pompous
Humanistic Evincing keen interest in human affairs, nature, welfare, values
Humourous Funny and amusing
Introspective Consider one's own internal state of feelings
Incendiary Causing strong feelings
Laudatory Praising; extolling; applauding
Motivating Impelling; inciting
Obsequious Fawning; showing servile complaisance; flattering; deferent
Pedestrian Lacking vitality, imagination, distinction
Populist Egalitarian; pertaining to the characteristics of common people/ working class
Provocative Inciting; stimulating; irritating; vexing
Romantic Fanciful; impractical; unrealistic; extravagant; exaggerated
Sarcastic Harsh, bitter derision; taunting; sneering; cutting remarks
Satirical Ironical; taunting; human folly held up to scorn/ derision/ ridicule
Speculative Theoretical rather than practical; thoughtful; reflective; hypothetical
Technical Using terminology or treating subject matter in a manner peculiar to a particular field, as a writer or a book
Vitriolic Full of anger and hatred
Vituperative Cruel and angry criticism

Preparing for CAT

CAT season is around the corner and preparations are going into overdrive. Here are a few things to keep in mind while preparing.

Have a clear strategy before your Mock CATs -
Fine tune your strategy and use it on the day of the exam. Most wars are won not on the power of the ammunition and armor a country possesses but on the power of its think tank. The same is true when it comes to CAT. Before you take any CAT comprehensive test put down on paper the strategy that you want to adopt for that test. Typically, students spend about 30 minutes in the verbal section, 40 minutes in the DI section and 50 minutes in the Quant section. This split could vary from individual to individual. Having set this limit, shave off 5 minutes from each of the sections and keep those 5 minute blocks as reserve.
Keep track of your time -
Having set time limits for each of the sections that appear in CAT, you need to ensure that your progress is keeping pace in the set time limit. Attempting 85 to 90 questions in CAT and getting over 65 as net score is a definite recipe to get calls from couple or more of the IIMs. With 120 minutes at your disposal, the arithmetic essentially translates to about 7 to 8 questions every 10 minutes. Therefore, divide your 2 hours mentally into 12 slots of 10 minutes and at the end of each 10 minutes do a status check. In reality, you should be doing better in the first half of the time allotted to each section in terms of the number of questions attempted (over 10 questions every 10 minutes) than the second half. The reason for this assumption is that you are expected to attempt the easier questions that consume less time in the first half than in the second half. If you find yourself slipping in any one slot, you need to buck up in the next couple of ones to maintain your average. If you are in the habit of using a stop watch, make sure that you start it as soon as you get the signal from the invigilator to start the test. There have been instances of students getting tensed on account of not starting their stop watches.

Striking a right balance - Accuracy vs Speed -
The usual dilemma that one faces while preparing for CAT is the trade off between accuracy and speed. There is no need to trade off one for the other. In fact these two are not mutually exclusive events. Accuracy is important. But that doesn’t mean that you should not hesitate to approximate whenever needed and proceed. One important thing to keep in mind as you proceed with each step of solving a question, is to take a quick glance at the answer choices. This way, in many instances, you will find that you do not have to go to the last step and find the answer. Even if it is only one or two steps saved for each problem, that will give you enough time to crack another 3 or 4 more problems in CAT. That is a huge difference when it comes to getting calls from the IIMs.
Skipping tough questions is the key to success -
Do not get unduly concerned if you seem to skipping questions. In the first attempt only answer those questions that are really really easy (that will take around a minute or less to answer). Though this is generally true across all three sections, it gains greater importance in the quant section. As you go through each question if you encounter a question that you do not know or happens to be difficult, put an X mark next to it, skip it and forget it. If you find a question that you know, but will take 2 or more minutes, put an A next to it, skip it and proceed. Attempt in the 1st round only those that will take about a minute. After exhausting all these easy questions, if you still have time, come back for the questions that you have marked as A. This way, your selection of questions follows the rule of attempting the easiest ones first and then the tougher ones. Putting X and A marks next to the question eliminates the necessity to re select questions when you revisit the section. On an average, students who crack CAT need to get about 50% or lesser of the number of questions in the quant and DI section as their net score. That essentially translates to skipping every other question, provided you can maintain very high levels of accuracy. So, go ahead and skip questions that are difficult. It will be more detrimental to get stuck in a question and spending a lot of time on it than skipping a question that is easy by mistake.