The document outlines a 4-month roadmap for preparing for the Common Admission Test (CAT) to gain admission to Indian Institutes of Management. It discusses introducing foundational habits like reading daily and developing vocabulary. The plan includes practicing previous CAT papers, focusing on weaknesses through targeted practice, and self-assessment. Key aspects are practicing verbal ability, logical reasoning, and time management. The document promotes a customized online course for CAT preparation offered by Spanedea that provides study modules, tests and doubt clearing sessions over 4 months.

1. ‘4 MONTH ROADMAP TO CRACK VA’
JUNE 30TH, 2013
Presented by:
Gayatri A Thampi
PGDM IIM Ahmedabad - Class of 2012
SPANEDEA WEBINARS

2. AGENDA
 Introduction to CAT
 Introduction to VA
 Strengths/ Traits
 Foundational Habits
 Deciphering VA
 The Last Leap
 Roadmap / Strategy – The Next Four Months
 Action Points

3. INTRODUCTION TO CAT
First Step Towards the hallowed doors of IIM
Extremely important to understand that CAT is not limited to VA/ LR & Quant/ DI.
It tests your ability to work under stress.
Try to make the most out of the limited resources in limited time.
CAT is not about solving every question, even if a particular section is your
strength– It is about strategizing well to clear the overall and the sectional
cutoffs.
CAT has evolved over the years. Frequent changes in the pattern.
There is only one thing predictable about it
“You will always find an element of surprise”
Brace up for the final battle
Thursday,16 October - Monday,11 November 2013
Goal / Aim - To make it to the IIMs - best B Schools in the nation!
Challenge - Toughest B schools to get into in the WORLD.
Acceptance Rate of less than 0.25 %

4. INTRODUCTION TO VERBAL ABILITY
 RC
Read diverse topics. Identify tricky areas.
Establish “ keywords” + Working with
options
The length factor
 Vocabulary + Grammar
Sure shot way to score some marks.
Stop Mugging. Focus on usage of words.
Understanding the context + the usage of
words.
Wren & Martin –
Tenses, Pronouns, Prepositions,
Subject Verb
agreement, Clauses, Modals, Articles,
Modifiers, Phrasal Verbs & Punctuations
 Verbal Reasoning
Understanding the logic + Practice !
Critical Reasoning
Inference based,
Assumption based questions
Strong/ Weak Arguments,
Cause & Effect
Others – FIJs, Para jumbles, Para
completion
Syllogisms, Summarizing the Paragraph

5. DECIPHERING VERBAL ABILITY
Samuel is obviously a bad fisherman. During the
past season, in which he and the five members
of his team spent four months on a boat together
off Dutch Harbor, AK, he caught fewer fish than
any of his teammates.
 Which of the following, if true, most weakens
the argument above?
A) Two seasons ago, Samuel fished on another
boat off Dutch Harbor and caught more fish than
any other member of that boat.
B) Before becoming a fisherman, Samuel piloted
a fishing boat whose members regularly caught
record numbers of fish.
C) While fishing this past season, Samuel fell sick
for a week and did not catch any fish during this
time.
D) Unlike the other fishermen on his boat, at the
order of the captain, Samuel fished this past
season with experimental bait.
E) Amongst the fishing community in Dutch
Harbor, Samuel has a reputation for being an
especially bad fisherman
Read the question stem first,
before even reading the main
paragraph - comprehend exactly
what is required to be done with
the given data.
Elimination route rather than
the selection route. Go
on eliminating the incorrect
answer options and thereby
move closer to the correct
answer option.
Pay attention to the way
words have been used, and
the sentences structured.
Some words change the
meaning of the given data
subtly, others majorly, thus
rendering that answer option
invalid.

6. DECIPHERING VERBAL ABILITY
 Instructions: Classify each of the statements into:
F. Facts, which deal with the pieces of information that one has heard,
seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification or
I. Inferences, which are conclusions drawn about unknown, on the
basis of the known or
J. Judgements, which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval
of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the
present or the future.
 Given the poor quality of service in the public sector, the HIV/AIDS
affected should be switching to private initiatives that supply anti-
retroviral drugs (ARVs) at a low cost.
 The government has been supplying free drugs since 2004, and
35000 have benefited upto now - though the size of the affected
population is 150 times this number.
 The recent initiatives of networks and companies like AIDSCare
Network, Emcure, Reliance-Cipla-CII, would lead to availability of
much-needed drugs to a larger number of affected people.
 But how ironic it is that we should face
a perennial shortage of drugs when India is one of the world's
largest suppliers of generic drugs to the developing world.
 (1) JFIJ (2) JIIJ (3) IFIJ (4) IFFJ (5) JFII
Always work with answer
options: Locate a statement that is a
Fact or a Judgement, then eliminate
Words that are used in the comparative
or the superlative degree often
qualify statements as Inferences. For
example highest, taller, etc. can only be
arrived at after verifying data, hence the
statements involved are inferences.
Identify where the emphasis is in the
sentence structure. It is possible that
the latter part of a statement may be a
Fact but the emphasis is on the former
part which is a Conclusion derived from
that Fact. Clearly, such a statement
qualifies as an Inference.
Statements that use a lot of adjectives
and adverbs,; words like 'should',
'must,' 'only' , 'never', 'always', 'all' etc.
have a tendency to be Judgements.

7. STRENGTHS / TRAITS
 High Reading Speed + Quick Scanning
 Quick grasping – essence of the Paragraph
 Excellent Vocabulary
 Technically Sound Grammar
 Time Management
 Ability to be cool under stress
 Ability to strategize as per the situation
 Smart Guessing + Ability to work with options
 Optimal usage of all the resources
(Overcoming Limitations of time and information)

8. FOUNDATIONAL HABITS
Read a lot:
Focus on variety. “A page, a day” for dry
abstract topics !
Reading is just the beginning:
Learn to Introspect!
Develop your own opinion: Think, logically form
a chain of thoughts about the topic.
Train your brain!
Are you a “verbivore” ?
Be thorough with the 1500 high-frequency
words. Use a thesaurus, or just search online!

9. THE LAST LEAP
 BELL THE CAT in 16 weeks
 Focus on covering up the gaps and leveraging your strength
 There never can be one strategy that is suitable for all
 Attempt CAT papers (at least 3) and analyze them in detail
 Based on analysis – divide the areas/chapter into 2*2 matrix
Area 1 - High speed, high accuracy STRENGTH
Area 2 - Low speed, high accuracy POTENTIAL
Area 3 - High speed, low accuracy RISK
Area 4 - Low speed, low accuracy BARRIER
- Practice Questions from Area 1 and Area 2 (Focus on Time)
- Identify/ Develop Tips or Tricks for these areas. Shortcuts.
- Area 3 requires revision of concepts and practicing .
- Area 4 : Start right from the basics. Theory and concepts for first 4 weeks.
Practicing without timing next 4 weeks. Focus on speed and accuracy next 8
weeks to convert your weakness to strength.
Clear your doubts in all areas immediately.

10. MY ROADMAP / STRATEGY – 4 MONTHS
Solve Previous year CAT/XAT/IIFT paper ( Sep –Oct). Minimum 2 a week.
Vocabulary
Verbal Reasoning
Grammar
RC
Logical Reasoning
40 to 60 mins a day (Jul – Aug)
Revise 2 hrs a week ( Sep – Oct)
4 hrs a week (Jul – Aug)
Revise Rules 2 hrs a week Sep – Oct)
4 hrs practice/week (Jul –Aug)
Doubt solving – 1 hr/ week (Jul –Aug)
30 Mins/day : One passage/day (Jul – Aug)
( 15-20 Mins solving + 10 mins analysis)
4 hrs practice/week (Jul –Aug)
Doubt solving – 1 hr/ week (Jul –Aug)

11. Be conceptually
sound
Thorough with
1500 high
frequency words +
technically sound
grammar
Practice
Solve all previous
Year CAT Papers
– MUST DO – For
any section
Revise
Any question
which is difficult to
crack – Mark it .
Solve it again after
a month. Were you
able to get the
logic right ?
Assess
This is the best
way to assess
your level of
preparation
Beginners !
Write down the
reason for
selecting the
option. Compare
the same with the
solution .
Was it just a lucky
guess ?
Guessing !
Smart Guesses
are allowed ! In
fact, you will need
this ability pretty
often
Be focused !
Eliminate the
unnecessary
options /
information
Time
management
is extremely
important
Develop your
own strategy
Stay cool. Enjoy
the exam.

12. WHAT I TEACH AT SPANEDEA….
 Customized / Tailor made courses
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning
 Full length courses – Exhaustive Coverage
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning
 Doubt Clearing sessions for VA/ LR
 GD – PI Prep Courses

13. 1on1 Courses On Spanedea
Batch Course On Spanedea – Starting July 10th, 2013
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14. CAT 2013 – Complete Course (4 months)
Special OFFER for Webinar Attendees Save INR 10,000/-
• Start Date – July 10th, 2013
• 4 months of Non-Stop Rigorous Preparation
• Online Study Modules & Concept Tests
• 12 National Full Length Tests
• 2 Books (Hard Copies)
• Additional Doubt Clearing Sessions
• PI/GD/WAT Workshops
Which Experts Are Taking The Course?
VA & LR – Ms. Gayatri Thampi (IIM-A ’12)
Quant & DI - Mr. Chaitanya Shahare (IIM-C ‘08)
Save Additional
INR 10,000
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15. THANK YOU!