Merry Christmas and A Very Happy New Year
Hello Friends,
First things first, here is wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year. May this year bring new joys in your lives.
It's been quite some time that I have posted on this blog. Almost a month perhaps. I have been busy with the upcoming MCET (Maharashtra MBA CET) preparation. I am happy to say that its on the right track. Aiming for a score above 160 out of 200, to get that coveted seat in JBIMS. Well, its all about holding one's nerves and sticking to the basics. Rest all will follow.
Let us all make this coming year, a joyous and fulfilling experience, not only for ourselves, but for others as well.
Chase Excellence, Success will follow.
Regards,
Ashish Mishra
Profit and Loss - A Shortcut
Vocab Dose
Importance Of Being in the The Present
Noun: The Possessive Case ---> Some Exceptions
Special Case of 'People'
Noun Plurals Explained
Allusion \ Alluded to
Altercation
Reclusive
The Reclusive Literary Genius who penned Catcher in the Rye in the year 1951.
Salinger began to withdraw from public life following the 1951 publication of The Catcher in the Rye, which holds the dual distinction of having been both a banned book and required reading in U.S. schools.
A typical Wine and Water Problem
A Range of Problems From Alligations
Today is a new day.
CAT Quants -- No Room for Lethargy
Finally....Burning the Boats
Thank You All
Latest Draft for Important words
Abhor
Abeyance
Bedraggled
Very First Question from CAT 2005
Guidelines to Crack CAT
Having given the title for this article, I would like to take some time out to elaborate upon it.
I could have easily used the word 'Strategy' instead of 'Guidelines', but this word has been overused to such an extent that it has become cliched among the coterie of CAT aspirants.
"What is the proper way to prepare for the CAT ?"
This ever-persistent question has given sleepless nights to CAT aspirants since time immemorial.
Frankly, there is no concrete answer to this. But there are certain "general" guidelines to follow. Hence the title.
Well, what better place to begin the analysis than the paper-pattern itself.
The CAT 2011 will have only two sections.
1) a) Quantitative Ability.
b) Data Interpretation.
2) a) Verbal Ability.
b) Logical Reasoning.
Both sections will be of 70 minutes and 30 questions each.
Observations and Learning :-
1) Each section can be attempted in its exclusive time zone only. Hence you cannot steal time from one of the sections to utilize it for the other. Once you are done with section1 or the first 70 minutes, which ever be the earlier, then only can you move on to the next section with a no options to return back.
2) Given the fact that we have sectional cutoffs in CAT, It is good news that we have fewer sections to clear this time. The less the merrier :)
3) But the individual break-up per topic can never be guessed.Hence a sufficient grasp on every subsection (Quants, DI, Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning.) is something that we all should aim for.
Moving on to the finer details of preparation:-
1) EMBRACE TRUTH: Let us face the fact. It takes a very honest effort to crack CAT, or more precisely, to receive Calls from IIMs. The preparation time can span from anywhere between 5 months to 15 months and believe me Ladies and Gentlemen, that nothing else will ever test your temperament better than this phase.
2) WHY CAT: Keep yourself motivated. It will definitely take more than just a love for Brand Names to bell this pretty CAT. You need to have a very good reason for taking up CAT and choosing MBA as a career; something, that will keep you motivated during those tough times when you want to quit and when your hard-work seems to be unfruitful.
Keep that fire burning.
3) Rough Picture: Have a rough plan for how you will go about preparing for this exam. For example, you can divide the total time under - 'Brushing Up of Basics' 'Mock Tests' , 'Dealing with weak areas' 'Mock Tests part 2' and 'Final touch Up phase'.
You must aim to finish each phase of preparation in a stipulated amount of time.
4) Aim high: That is, always keep yourself on toes academically. Attempt as many quality questions as possible per day.
5) Mock Tests: Throughout preparation, beware of falling into the very destructive practice of "Finishing Up the Syllabus". Remember that the CAT syllabus is something you have already finished when you were in 10th standard !!!
So the suggested approach is to think about the applications of the basic knowledge that you already have with you; and hone it with attempting as many questions as possible. Also, it is imperative that you fully understand a concept rather than mugging it up. Take up as many mocks as possible, irrespective of the phase of your preparation. This may sound a little inconvenient for most of us, as most of us want to be through with the syllabus before attempting question papers. Thanks to our orthodox education system :(.
But leaving our comfort zone is the sole purpose of this activity.
The joy of exploring the unknown will fascinate you and will encourage you to study more, and will add to the much needed "Fireworks" to the seemingly boring process of MBA prep.
The learning curve really takes a full up-swing, once you adapt to this kind of preparation-culture.
6) REVISION: Revise, Revise and Revise. This again underlines the importance of taking mock -tests. Use of flash cards also may work in your favor. But it is a bit cumbersome to maintain them, so I will vouch for the MOCKS. The aim is to avoid losing track of any of the sections. This applies especially to Quants preparation.
Word Meaning ----> Didactic
1) In the manner of a teacher, particularly so as to treat someone in a patronizing way.
2) designed or intended to teach
3) making moral observations
Example:-
1) The poet's works became increasingly didactic after his religious conversion
2) I didn't like the didactic manner in which he presented his ideas to the board.
Synonym: Sermonic , Preachy
Sum of all possible 4 digit numbers formed from the given numbers
There are 5P4 = 120 ways of forming 4-digit numbers with each digit appearing at most once. Consider first the one's place. In those 120 numbers, 1,2,3,4, and 5 appear exactly the same number of times, that is, each digit appears 120/5 = 24 times.
For the tens place, same thing: 1,2,3,4,and 5 appear equally the same number of times. Each digit appears 24 times. The argument for the hundreds and thousands places are the same. Thus the sum of all those distinct 120 numbers is
1,000*24*(1+2+3+4+5)+ 100*24*(1+2+3+4+5) + 10*24*(1+2+3+4+5) + 1*24*(1+2+3+4+5) = 1,111*24*(1+2+3+4+5) = 1,111*24*15 = 399,960.
http://www.algebra.com/algebra/homework/Permutations/Permutations.faq.question.389512.html
PS: Taken from the above mentioned site :
Hope it added to your knowledge pool,
Till Next Time
Take Care
-Ashish
The Power of Positive Thinking
It is quite common to hear people say: "Think positive!", to someone who feels down and worried. Most people do not take these words seriously, as they do not know what they really mean, or do not consider them as useful and effective. How many people do you know, who stop to think what the power of positive thinking means?
The following story illustrates how this power works:
Allan applied for a new job, but as his self-esteem was low, and he considered himself as a failure and unworthy of success, he was sure that he was not going to get the job. He had a negative attitude towards himself, and believed that the other applicants were better and more qualified than him. Allan manifested this attitude, due to his negative past experiences with job interviews.
His mind was filled with negative thoughts and fears concerning the job for the whole week before the job interview. He was sure he would be rejected. On the day of the interview he got up late, and to his horror he discovered that the shirt he had planned to wear was dirty, and the other one needed ironing. As it was already too late, he went out wearing a shirt full of wrinkles.
During the interview he was tense, displayed a negative attitude, worried about his shirt, and felt hungry because he did not have enough time to eat breakfast. All this distracted his mind and made it difficult for him to focus on the interview. His overall behavior made a bad impression, and consequently he materialized his fear and did not get the job.
Jim applied for the same job too, but approached the matter in a different way. He was sure that he was going to get the job. During the week preceding the interview he often visualized himself making a good impression and getting the job.
In the evening before the interview he prepared the clothes he was going to wear, and went to sleep a little earlier. On day of the interview he woke up earlier than usual, and had ample time to eat breakfast, and then to arrive to the interview before the scheduled time.
He got the job because he made a good impression. He had also of course, the proper qualifications for the job, but so had Allan.
What do we learn from these two stories? Is there any magic employed here? No, it is all natural. When the attitude is positive we entertain pleasant feelings and constructive images, and see in our mind's eye what we really want to happen. This brings brightness to the eyes, more energy and happiness. The whole being broadcasts good will, happiness and success. Even the health is affected in a beneficial way. We walk tall and the voice is more powerful. Our body language shows the way you feel inside.
So start thinking positively. It doesn't really takes an effort !!!
It will solve many of your problems instantly and will fill you with enthusiasm and positive energy to
follow your dreams with more vigour.
I have picked up this article from :-
http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_000009.htm
Thought that it would be a nice share.
So, Till Next time,
Good Bye and Take care.