MAH CET 2014: Verbal Ability (VA) & Reading Comprehension (RC) is the key to success

By SK Agarwal

B-schools in Maharashtra are expected to receive nearly 75,000 applications for Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (MAH CET 2014) for MBA, MMS, PGDM courses in 406 management colleges across Maharashtra, for which registrations closed on February 14, 2014, much higher than 2013.

Maharashtra offers 45621 seats in MBA, MMS and PGDM programs, of these, 6843 seats representing 15% are available to out of Maharashtra candidates. MAH-CET was not held in 2013 and admissions to the MBA institutes in the Maharashtra were carried out on the basis of Common Management Aptitude Test (CMAT) conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) due to which many seats went vacant. After a prolonged court process, the exam will now be be conducted in 2014.

MAH CET 2014 will be an online test with 200 questions divided in three sections - Quantitative Aptitude, Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension and Logical and Abstract reasoning. Of these, 80-85 questions will be on Verbal Ability (VA) and Reading Comprehension (RC) making it the largest of the three sections.

Quant and Data Interpretation will have 50-55 questions; Logical and Abstract Reasoning will have 60-70 questions. In this section the questions, in multiple choice format, will cover all the aspects of English fundamentals, vocabulary and proficiency in reading.

A guide to the questions in verbal ability and reading comprehension is given below along with tips to score well.  

1.  Correction of errors in sentences

Of moderate difficulty, these questions are similar to those featuring in various recruitment tests like Banking Exam. There may be 8 to 10 questions on core grammar usage. Every question will have a long sentence divided in 5 parts. The error, if any, will be in any one of the four parts of the sentence.

Sample Question:

Q. His speech was / judged by many / as one of the most important speech / given in the function/ No Error

(1)         (2)            (3)              (4)             (5)

Ans. (3) - It should be one of the most important speeches. (One of many)

TIP: For such questions the candidates should focus on core English grammar like parts of speech, tenses, subject-verb agreement form the base of these questions. In addition to these clarity on topics like time zones, use of adjectives, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, non-finites, modifiers, conditionals, will enable the candidate to solve all the 8-10 questions in less than 4-5 minutes.

2. Fill in the blanks with correct pair of vocabulary words

These questions are on the same lines as CAT. Each question has one sentence with two blanks. The candidate has to choose the right pair of words from the five options given. There may be 8 to 10 questions of this type.

Sample Question:

Yesterday, around 400 huts were __________ in a major fire which __________ the slum area.

(1) burn, hit  (2) gutted, engulfed  (3) fired, took  (4) burning, blazed  (5) demolished, entered

Ans. (2) gutted, engulfed. Use of passive is required after ‘were’. Use elimination method. Only two verbs exist in participle form gutted and demolished. Both are synonyms but demolish means ‘destroy by force’, so the most suitable is gutted. Engulfed is also used to describe the spread of fire, surrounding the area.

TIP: Aspirants may use the elimination method to solve these questions, if they do not understand the meaning of given words.

3. Passage with blanks

This type of question will have a passage with many blanks. Each blank is numbered. Candidates have to find the word, in the multiple choice answers given, which fits the blank appropriately. There may be 6 to 8 questions of this kind in the Verbal Ability section.

Sample Question:

North-East India is Asia in miniature, a place (1) the brown and yellow races (2) and mingle. There are at least 262 (3) ethnic groups and the region is home to more than 150 million people. If one includes Bangladesh. Take (4) example the state of Manipur, which (5) Burma, with a population of 1.8 million people.

Q.1. (1) when (2) although (3) where (4) to (5) if

Q.2. (1) meet (2) desert (3) form (4) find (5) went

Q.3. (1) identical (2) closed (3) corresponding (4) homogeneous (5) separate

Q.4. (1) from (2) for (3) again (4) besides (5) to

Q.5. (1) holds (2) stretches (3) rules (4) borders (5) side

Ans. 1 (3) where; Ans.2 (1) meet; Ans.3 (4) homogeneous; Ans.4 (2) for; Ans.5 (4) borders. All these words will come to mind spontaneously, when you read the passage.

TIP: These questions test Grammar as well as Vocabulary as different forms of verbs, nouns, adjectives, prepositions or other parts of speech, words and phrases which need to be inserted in the blanks. The best way, is to form the sentence in your mind and scrutinize whether it has been correctly formed. Elimination will again come to your rescue.

4. Correct use of synonyms and antonyms

In these questions you have to choose words which are ‘most’ opposite in meaning or are most nearly the same in meaning, to the given words. These questions test the vocabulary of the candidates. There will be separate questions on synonyms and antonyms. You may find 6 to 8 questions of this type in forthcoming MAH CET.

Sample Question:

Instructions - Choose the word which is most OPPOSITE in meaning to the word printed in bold

Q.1. Concerned (1) Diluted (2) Liberated (3) Indifferent (4) Divested (5) Relaxed

Direction - Choose the word which has nearly the SAME in meaning as the word printed in bold

Q.2. Connotes (1) Helps (2) Cures (3) Follows (4) Confirms (5) Implies Ans.1 (3) Indifferent is the most opposite to the given word concerned. Other words have no relevance. Ans. 2 (5) Implies is the similar meaning word to connotes.

TIP: To score in these questions build a good vocabulary using flash cards--learn a few vocabulary words with their synonyms and antonyms regularly. Remember to go through their usage to avoid misunderstanding them. For example - A woman can be ‘pretty’ but not ‘handsome’; a boy can be ‘handsome’ but not ‘pretty’.  If you write ‘a pretty boy’ or ‘a handsome woman’, it can be interpreted in a different way.

5. Reading comprehension

In MAH CET passages are short, about 400-500 words, unlike CAT where a passage may have 800-900 words. The short passage in MAH CET is followed by 8 to 10 questions which are moderate –to-difficult. There may be 3-4 passages which translate into 30 to 36 questions in Reading Comprehension.

TIP: By reading newspaper editorials, looking up the meaning of difficult words, and putting them in contextual usage will help candidates maximize this section. By reading each passage twice and understanding it the questions can be answered fast. Alternately, after the first reading you may read the questions and the appropriate answer options. This will help you to focus on selecting the right answer when you read the passage for the second time.

About the author:

The author is author of ‘Build your Basics First’, a comprehensive book on Verbal Ability for CAT/XAT.