understanding of a Paper (or a section) along with the understanding of own strengths and weakness are the two essential blocks of deciding the strategy for attempting it.
Reading Comprehension passages or what were called “unseen passages” in school are the nemesis of a large number of students because of poor (or lack of) reading habit. The passages can be from different areas and the questions can be factual or inferential. The good thing is that length of passage in Computer Based CAT has decreased as compared to its paper & pencil version. It is advisable to attempt those passages first that are from a subject you are comfortable with. If you are not good in Critical Reasoning, then it is okay to leave the inferential questions will help you cut down on the negative score.
Vocabulary questions, synonyms, antonyms & analogies, are knowledge based questions and can be answered correctly only if you know the meaning of the word and/or the choices. Hence a good vocabulary is essential to well in these types of question. The good thing about these questions is that they consume very little time – a single reading of the question and the choices is enough to determine if you can/cannot answer the question. Reading the question or the choices again and again will not give you the answer. It is advisable to leave these questions if we do not get the answer in a single reading.
Grammar, like vocabulary, is knowledge based. If you do not know the rule of grammar to be applied, you are unlikely to get it correct and hence the question should be left un-attempted. However if you have good reading habit, you should be able to get a 3 out of 5 questions correct by instinct/gut feel.
Grammar and Vocabulary typically contribute to most to the negative score of the students because of our propensity to mark an answer without being sure of the answer. Guesswork should be avoided in all knowledge based questions. Suggest that you read the question once, if you know the answer mark it else move on to the next question.
Sentence completion questions are based on knowledge of vocabulary as well as grammar but can be worked out based on the context and elimination of choices especially if the question has more than one blank. It is worthwhile reading the question statement 2 – 3 times as guesswork based combination of knowledge and elimination of choices usually works in these questions.
Para-jumbles and Deductive logic are logic based questions and no prior knowledge of any area is required. Hence you can you can work your way thru in these questions even if the logic is not completely clear. Also the choices are of great help in these questions. It is advisable to move back and forth between the question and the choices to get to the correct answer. For example, in Para-jumbles, identify the opening or closing or a logical pair and eliminate the choice that does not adhere to it. Successively eliminate the incorrect choices to get the correct answer.
Critical Reasoning and Para completion questions can be attempted only if you understand the logic, elimination of choices is can help you reach the answer faster but the logic is essential.
Logical/Analytical reasoning questions are similar to the reasoning questions of DI and hence are a boon for students who are weak in language but good in QA/DI.
Unlike QA or DI, where most of the time it is visible that the question can or cannot be solved by us, in English all questions look solvable and hence we end up attempting all questions and end up with a high number of incorrect answers. Hence in English it is advisable not to go in for guesswork.
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