Vocabulary is often ranked as the most ignored section in CAT because CAT doesn’t ask the direct vocabulary questions as by other management entrance tests like NMAT, SNAP, GRE and GMAT. Vocabulary is vast like a sea, for which, we don’t have a proper method to learn all the words in the language but we certainly can’t ignore the topic as “Vocabulary is one of the most important cogs in the large wheel of English language”
A good hold of vocabulary is vital to score high in the CAT examination. Without a sound knowledge of vocabulary, the CAT verbal section will become quite impossible to solve. – be it reading comprehension or sentence correction, the candidate is going to face difficulty in solving the questions without having a good grip on difficult words.
Let’s have a look at this CAT level reading comprehension passage:
“A hundred quays lined the waterfront, and the harbor was crowded with ships. Deepwater fishing boats and river runners came and went, ferrymen poled back and forth across the Blackwater Rush, trading galleys unloaded goods from Braavos and Pentos and Lys. Catelyn spied the queen’s ornate barge, tied up beside a fat-bellied whaler from the Port of Ibben, its hull back with tar, while upriver a dozen lean golden warships rested in their cribs, sails furled and cruel iron rams lapping at the water.”
Sentence completion question:
“In the evolving world order, the comparative advantage of the US lies in its military force. Diplomacy and international law have always been regarded as annoying encumbrances, unless they can be used to advantage against an enemy. Every active player in world affairs professes to seek only peace and to prefer negotiation to violence and coercion.”
You can see that vocabulary plays an important role in attempting the questions. Vocabulary is worth spending time if preparing for CAT. In these paragraphs, the words in bold are the difficult words, without knowing the meaning of which, we could land in confusion and that would lead us to take more time than intended to answer the questions.
Are you still worried about how to improve your vocab base? Just follow these simple steps to improve your vocabulary:
Root words: Learn the root words. It is important to look out for the root words in a word. For instance, the words infidel, perfidy, bonafide, affidavit is from the same root family. You can learn the roots from the book: Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis. Time and again the book has proved it to be an interesting way to learn the etymology of all the words.
These root words will also make guessing of context a lot easier.
Make new words relatable:: When you read a word for the first time, try to relate to a person or a situation you already know. This will make you remember that word in an easy way.
Read, Read and Read: There is no substitute of reading. Not only your head will get new bits of information when reading extensively, but this will also expose you to eclectic topics to read about and also, will help in improving your vocabulary. You will also make use of stronger analytical thinking skills as well as critical reasoning power, which are essential for CAT candidates.
Use Vocabulary builder softwares: Use software like BYJU’S Membean vocabulary boosters to improve your vocabulary skills. You can enrol for early bird registration and get discounts in our CAT entrance exam training app.
Let BYJU’S lay the foundation to an impressive vocabulary. Speak to our CAT mentors now Call 09880031619 or visit byjus.com/cat.
