CAT Vocabulary
IIMs have refrained from asking vocabulary based questions in CAT in the past few years. One of the questions that nag most aspirants is whether to prepare for CAT vocabulary questions or not. Though vocabulary might not be the deal breaker in scoring well in the VARC section, there is no downside to having a good vocabulary. In this article, let us see why one should work on one’s vocabulary even though it has not been tested in the recent CATs.
CAT online preparation can be of great use in preparing for CAT in the limited time available. Also, CAT online mock tests will be helpful in improving your question selection skills. Going through the previous year papers of CAT will help to know how the exam has evolved over the years.
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Download Important Vocabulary for CAT PDF
Important Practice Vocab building exercises for CAT
Should I prepare for CAT vocabulary questions?
As mentioned earlier in the article, CAT vocabulary questions are seldom seen in the past few years. However, having a good vocabulary helps in doing well in the other types of questions. Though figuring out the contextual meaning of a word will be sufficient, knowing its original meaning will not hurt your chances. Also, having a decent knowledge of how certain words work will help immensely in reading comprehension and PJ questions.
Most importantly, management exams other than CAT do place some emphasis on vocabulary based questions. Even if they do not test vocabulary directly, they might have some questions (like the scramble square in IIFT) that check your mastery over words. Improving your vocabulary will surely help to significantly improve your scores in management exams other than CAT.
Is it essential to go through CAT vocabulary material?
Going through flashcards and wordlists might help you remember the words in the short term. However, learning words organically ensure that you do not forget the words easily. Therefore, reading a lot is the best method to improve your vocabulary. Once you learn the word along with the context it has been used, the chance of forgetting the meaning of the word in the future reduces drastically. Going through CAT vocabulary material might be helpful, but do not make it your sole source of preparation.
How to read to improve your vocabulary?
When you come across a new word while reading, try to find out the meaning of the word. Also, try to find the root of the word. All the words sharing the same root will be related to each other. Therefore, learning the root will help you to figure out the meaning of a related word too if you come across one.
Also, do not try to improve your vocabulary artificially by memorizing the words without analyzing them. Rote memorization is one of the sure shot ways to ensure that you forget the meaning of the word in a while. Read a lot and build your vocabulary slowly with time. Do not try to learn hundreds of words in a day or two.
Maintain a notebook where you note down the meaning of the word along with the context in which you encountered the word. Revise the notes periodically to ensure that the word stays fresh in your mind. After three or four cycles, you’ll realize that you have imbibed the meaning of the word, thereby eliminating the need to revise it again.
Do not view learning new words as a chore. Instead, try to enjoy the process of learning new words. Even if the impact of the practice on your CAT score is not significant, you’ll end up learning a plethora of words.
We hope that this article would have helped you know whether to prepare for CAT vocabulary questions or not. For more useful articles, try reading how to prepare for verbal ability for CAT and how to prepare for logical reasoning for CAT.
