Grockit IIM-CAT Prep

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A Strategy for IIM-CAT Identifying Misused Words Questions

By posted May 22, 2012

Luckily, on the IIM-CAT, Identifying Misused Words is a relatively easy question type to get correct and thereby improve your overall scores. It relies heavily on vocab, but the words themselves are fairly simple. You’ll be able to improve your CAT scores in this question type is you can recognize that many English words have multiple meanings, and can be used as several different parts of speech. Follow this strategy for an overall Verbal improvement!

1.     Write down the possible parts of speech. Sometimes you will be given a word that not only has multiple definitions, but can be used as several different parts of speech. Take a quick note on the different ways it can be used! For example:

Signal

Noun: a sign of some kind

Adjective: something unique

Verb: to make a sign

Test your verbal skills with this IIM-CAT Identifying Misused Words question!

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Need-to-Know Trigonometry on the IIM-CAT

By posted May 18, 2012

Trigonometry IIM-CAT test questions can look challenging, but luckily the actual math involved is very simple. Just memorizing a few special formulas and concepts will help you get better scores on these IIM-CAT Problem Solving test questions. As you start working on Trig concepts in your online studying and on the free Grockit practice questions, look for opportunities to use these relationships to get more test questions correct! Some concepts you may have seen before while some may be entirely new, but you’ll need to memorize all of them as part of your IIM-CAT Test Day test prep!

The three most basic trig identities are sine, cosine, and tangent. The easiest way to remember these basic identities is the acronym SOHCAHTOA. In plain English, this means that if you are looking for the “sine” of a certain angle for example, you would divide the length of side opposite that angle by the length of the hypotenuse of the triangle. It’s important to remember that the “opposite” and “adjacent” sides change depending on which angle you are using, so always think of it from the point of view of the angle.

Sine = Opposite / Hypotenuse

Cosine = Adjacent / Hypotenuse

Tangent = Opposite / Adjacent

Put your IIM-CAT skills to the test with this problem solving practice question!

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5 Test-Taking Tips for IIM-CAT Identifying Sentence Errors

By posted May 16, 2012

On the IIM-CAT, the Identifying Sentence Errors questions will provide one sentence with 4 underlined parts. Either one of the parts contains an error, or the sentence is error-free. Here’s a process to keep your grammar skills focused on these questions!

1.     Try to determine if there is an error first. If the sentence sounds correct to you, put a star (*) on your scratch paper, and check each underlined portion anyway. Don’t assume that there is no error simply because you didn’t spot one on your first read. Go through each answer choice carefully, looking for a better option. If A, B, C, and D each have no error, then the correct answer is (E). Choice (E) will always be no error.

2.     Ask yourself: what about the underlined portion sounds funny? What is it about the sentence that sounds like an error? Is there an incorrect idiom, a misplaced modifier, a pronoun with no clear antecedent? Write down any part that sounds odd to you and make a prediction for how you would fix it.

Assess your IIM-CAT Identifying Sentence Errors ability with this Grockit practice question!

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The Basics of Volume on the IIM-CAT

By posted May 14, 2012

Geometry knowledge is significantly tested on the IIM-CAT. There are a number of need-to-know formulas you should have memorized as part of your Test Prep: ones for area, perimeter, volume, surface area, etc. On your CAT Test Day, you’ll feel more confident on questions that involve solids if you have a firm foundation in the basics. Before we get into volume, let’s quickly refresh on just what a “solid” is!

A “solid” is a three-dimension figure (meaning it has width, length, and height). Remember that not all figures are drawn to scale, and it can sometimes be difficult to visualize a solid on the page. Don’t be afraid to re-draw figures as you practice so you can better “see” them. The volume of a solid is the amount of space enclosed by that solid. The volume of any solid is always equal to the area of the base multiplied times the height.

The volume of a rectangular solid, therefore, is V = lwh. The volume of a cube (with six equal sides) is V = s3. The volume of a cylinder (a solid whose cross-section is a circle) is found using the formula V = πr2h.

Test your skills with this IIM-CAT three-dimensional solids practice question!

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IIM-CAT Vocabulary-Synonyms: What to Do with Unknown Words

By posted May 10, 2012

Even if English isn’t your first language, you can still achieve an excellent score on the IIM-CAT Verbal section by practicing proven vocab-building techniques. Coupling your Test Prep with a strong strategy can lead to even better scores! Here is a step-by-step process to get you get more Synonym questions correct on your IIM-CAT Test Day, even if you see a word you don’t know.

1.     Identify the part of speech. The first thing you’ll want to do is try to “gather information” about the word. What part of speech is it? A noun? Adjective? Verb? Does it have multiple meanings depending on the form? Write down any meanings that come to mind. Don’t try to fully define it, just come up with your best guess as a “mental thesaurus.”

See if you can answer this IIM-CAT vocabulary-synonyms question correctly!

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How to Approach Word Problems on the IIM-CAT

By posted May 8, 2012

Word problems on the IIM-CAT often do not require particularly difficult algebra to solve. Most of the time, solving simple linear equations or using a formula such as D = R x T is all that is required. The key is to not be intimidated by the length of the description and to be able to pull out the important information and set up the correct equation/s. These 4 steps will help you tackle any Problem Solving question that is significantly wordy.

1.     Write down what the question is asking. The final sentence of a word problem will tell you what the answer choices represent. Do you need to find a certain variable’s value? The probability of an event? An expression representing a relationship?

See if you can solve this IIM-CAT word problem!

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IIM-CAT: 5 Tips to Know to Get Word Choice-Spelling Questions Correct

By posted May 4, 2012

The IIM-CAT tests Spelling specifically on the Word Choice/Spelling question type. As per the IIM-CAT Directions: In each question, there are five sentences. Each sentence has a pair of words that are italicized and highlighted. From the italicized and highlighted words, select the most appropriate words (A or B) to form correct sentences. The sentences are followed by options that indicate the words, which may be selected to correctly complete the set of sentences. From the options given, choose the most appropriate one.

Even though there is no way to known which words you’ll see on the IIM-CAT, these 5 tips will help you look out for the subtle differences between each set of words.

Test your skills on this IIM-CAT word choice-spelling question!

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All the Logarithm Rules to Know for the IIM-CAT

By posted May 2, 2012

Logarithms on the IIM-CAT are lot less complicated than they look! Logarithms are essentially the inverse of exponents, so if you are getting high scores on practice IIM-CAT Problem Solving test questions that involve exponents, there’s no reason you can’t ace the IIM-CAT logarithm questions! We’re used to seeing exponents in a format like y = xa. In “logs” that equation is equal to logx(y) = a. Let’s look at an example with actual numbers:

32 = 9   is the same way to express    log3(9) = 2

We would read the logarithm out loud as “log-base 3 of 9 equals 2.” A helpful way to remember this is to notice that whatever is on the other side of the equals sign is the exponent, and that the tiny number is the exponent base.

Let’s take a short quiz to practice moving back and forth between exponents and logarithms (answers below)! Translate the first three to log-form and solve the last three:

See if you can solve this IIM-CAT logarithm problem!

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Lines and Angles: The Basics of IIM-CAT Geometry

By posted April 30, 2012

In the IIM-CAT, lines are one of the most fundamental building blocks. In Euclidean geometry, a line is defined as having only one dimension: length. Lines appear on the IIM-CAT in coordinate geometry in several ways, and various linear equations must be understood and applied on your IIM-CAT practice questions to get even the most basic Geometry questions correct. Here are the need-to-know equations for better scores in IIM-CAT Geometry!

The general equation for a line is: ax + by + c = 0 for all values (x,y) that are on that line. In this form, the slope is –a/b and the y-intercept is –c/b.

The most common equation for a line is called slope-intercept form: y = mx + b, for all values (x, y) on the line. Here m is the slope and b is the y-intercept.

A modified version of slope-intercept form is called point-slope form: y – y1 = m (x – x1) + b. This equation is helpful if you are given two points on the line, (x, y) and (x1, y1).

Test your skills on this IIM-CAT geometry practice question!

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How to Solve Linear Equations on the IIM-CAT

By posted April 26, 2012

A linear equation is a term used to describe two variables in which the value of one of the variables depends on the value of the other variable. One example you might remember from coordinate geometry is y = mx + b, the standard form for the equation of a line. m and b are constants, the slope and the y-intercept, respectively, but x and y are dependent on each other. When x changes, y changes, and when y changes, x changes.

The IIM-CAT will often present you with two or more equations with multiple variables and ask you to solve for one or both variables. Remember the “n equations with n variables rule.” If there are 2 variables in an equation (for example, x and y), then there must be 2 equations that each contain those variables in order to solve. If there are three variables, then three equations would be needed, etc. The two common ways to solve are Substitution and Combination.

Substitution:

x – 6y = 30

4x + 8y = 100

Since x does not have a coefficient in the first equation, this system is a good candidate for substitution. First, let’s solve for x: x = 30 + 6y. Now we can plug that into the second equation:

4(30 + 6y) + 8y = 100

120 + 24y + 8y = 100

120 + 32y = 100

32y = -20

y = -20/32

y = -5/8

To find x, all we would have to do now is plug in y = -2/3 back into either original equation.

Test yourself with this IIM-CAT linear equation practice question!

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