Scipio Vs CAT

The verbal war starts...

2007-06-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

My war with the verbal section officially starts today.

By verbal, I mean vocabulary and the grammar sections. I have never had too much trouble with RC usually and it is one of the first questions that I attend in a verbal section of CAT-like papers. It is the grammar based sections that usually gives me creeps.

The most dreaded type of questions from this section would be those where one has to identify the grammatically incorrect answer from a bunch of sentences. Usually the difference between the right or wrong is usual an conjunction or preposition or article which almost never catches my eye. My focus this time around would be on these topics first. By the time this war is over, I intend to be the Verbal King.

For starters, I tried a small section on synonyms where the description of a word is given and one has to identify the word corresponding to the explanation. Here are the ones I couldn't get

1. An anxious and eager concern for someone.
(a)Solicitude (b)Worry (c)Elation (d)Good Will - Answer - (a)

2. A cowardly and unfaithful person
(a)Miscreant (b)Mendicant (c)Pervert (d)Recreant - Answer - (d)

3. A person excessively concerned about his poor health and ailment
(a)Abalone (b)Minstrel (c)Hypocaust (d)Valetudinarian - Answer - (d)

4. A gossiping, frivolous or restless person
(a)Flapdoodle (b)Flibbertigibbet (c)Flunkey (d)Flamderer - Answer - (b)

Miles to go...

2007-05-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

I really got a lot of ground to cover in the coming months... I would have never guessed that my last attempt @ CAT would be my most difficult ever.

For starters, I am finding it extremely difficult to concentrate on the prep. Truly, the wandering mind is the greatest enemy against any exam's preparation. I guess I am getting too old for this game. Oops... did I just say that? Bite your tongue Scipio!

Next comes the workload... 'tis not easy being a senior engineer in a company and preparing for CAT and I am learning it the hard way this time around. That said, I really am not cribbing about this coz time management, task prioritizing and multitasking are the benchmarks of any successful manager (I aspire to be one).

The last and final hurdle for my prep and hence my goal of acing CAT this time around is my sister's marriage. This is one thing that there is no way I can avoid. The preparation for a Tamil marriage must be one of the most complex tasks on earth ever. Right from the word go (read engagement), the preparation on the bride's side is nothing short of that of a Mela/Thiruvizha. It has just started eating into my prep time. and I hope and pray (to the Flying Spaghettin Monster) that I can finish the bulk of my preparation before things start really heating up. That said, I have to admit that this is one extra chore(s) that I am quite willing and happy to carry out.

Signing off with a quote...
Really got miles to go before I sleep... (Man! This must be one of the most overused phrases on earth. Seriously)

A Re-mix

2007-05-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

A re-mix is what I should call my prep of "Mixtures and alligations". After all, I have already prepared this same chapter twice before.

Yes... one has to admit that the preparation is a lot easier this time due to me already having studied twice, but at the same time it is also monotonous to study the same shit year after year. This is one of the reason why I have promised myself that this is going to be my last attempt at CAT.

While preparing for this (didn't do too many questions for practice), I came across this nice question...

Mallika Milawat, the local grocer mixed three quantities of tea, T1, T2 and T3 priced at Rs.74, Rs.68 and Rs.63 per kg respectively in the ration of 1:2:4. To 4kg of this mixture she added some more quantity of T1. She now sold the mixture at Rs.84 per kg and made a killing (read Murder) of a cool 20% profit. How much of T1 did she mix with the mixture?

PS: Will update the answers later.

Time Talent Search Exam (TTSE)

2007-05-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

I tried the Time Talent Search Exam today. It is supposed to be a scholarship exam to scout for potential CAT stars, but personally I think that it is just another marketing gimmick from TIME in order to get more people to join their classroom course.

Let us assume that TIME is indeed good-hearted enough to provide the scholarship, but there are simply too many riders associated with it. For e.g. people can only avail the scholarship if they pay up the fees by June 3rd (and are only to choose from batches starting in June and July). I think that this a very clever way by which TIME is getting people to make hasty decisions (you have to make your decision within three days from when the results are introduced). Also there is no way that they are going to tell you the results on the phone and hence you need to visit their center personally. Me feels that this is another way for them to make sure more people join the course as it would be easier for the counselors there to convince people in person rather than over the phone.

Finally I may be entirely wrong about my conspiracy theory and this TTSE might just be a way for TIME to counter IMS' MBA Meter, which by the way I registered for but didn't attend (Your Loss IMS :P)

End Verdict: Nice strategy from TIME but something really fish about this entire scholarship business.

The time table

2007-05-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a plan on how to prepare for the CAT '07.

Does not say anything you already don't know, but it does modularize the stuff into discrete time components...

Individual plans may (and should) vary, but I believe this is pretty much what everybody should be looking into.

Not much to report....

2007-05-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Did a bit of speed maths and reading comprehension today. Not much, but is is a start at least...

The passage was about chemical engineers. My Chem. Engg friends always used to say that it had nothing to do with Chemistry. Now I know why.

Signing off till later...

And so it starts...

2007-05-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

...one hot and humid Saturday evening...

My preparation for CAT that is...

Lemme see if I am disciplined enough to record my preparations for posterity.