The Verbal Section is arguably the easiest section in BBA entrance test. One can look forward to maximize the scorein this section by following right practices. It is said that this section is least time consuming. But what makes it so. It is because ofthe presence of a good number of vocabulary based questions i.e.synonym, antonym, odd man out, analogies etc. Such questions take about10-15 seconds each whereas the other ones in this section take approximately the same time as those in the other sections.

In order to strike a good balance between speed and accuracy, one should keep the certain points in mind.

Para jumbles:Don’t attempt by straightaway going to the options. Just go through the four sentences and try to form a logical sequence, and then match it with the options. If it does not come good, then search through the options.

Vocabulary:Don’t get befuddled if you don’t know the meaning of the word. In such questions very often one can spot the answer even without knowing the meaning of some word(s). For example: If you have to find the Odd man out of these four.

(a) Parsimonious (b) Spendthrift (c) Frugal     (d) Miser

Even if you don’t know the meaning of the word Parsimonious, You can still say that the answer is (b) Spendthrift because you know both Frugal and Miser are related to money saving whereas spend thrift relates to spending. So, you don’t have to have the perfect knowledge for answering some question. The point is how smartly you use the knowledge that you have gained over a period of time in maximizing your returns.Also, this is one of the few areas (the others are Data Sufficiency,Critical Reasoning, Opinion based RC questions) where it is useful to have a second look at the answer as that additional time invested helps in reducing the silly error by 4-5, thereby giving additional 6-7marks.

Syllogisms:It is a Cardinal sin to leave Syllogisms as these are the easiest kind of questions in the test. Remember, these questions are generally attempted by one and all, and by not attempting them you assure losing the competitive advantage in terms of time as well as marks.

Fact (F), Inference (I) and Judgment (J): In this kind of questions, one should go by the options. For example:

A. Blue is my favorite colour.
B. Sky is Blue
C. UN’s latest proposal is a retrograde step.

(a) IFJ     (b) JFJ    (c) JJJ (d) IJF

Now,you know for certain that B is a fact, so you are left with (a) or (b)out of these two, A is surely a judgement hence answer is (b) JFJ

Lastly,don’t assume that this section is bound to be easy. Quite often, somenew types of questions appear in this section. The best possible way tocounter that is to consider such questions only at the end of thesection so that if the questions are difficult, you loose only on IQ,not on EQ.

Another Point Of View from Sunil Singla (IIM, Ahmedabad)

A Manager in his job is supposed to go through a lot of written communication – be it an official memo, a technical document or any marketing material. A fair deal of command over the intricacies of English language thus becomes an essential skill. Most of the MBA entrance exams check this skill through a section called Verbal Ability. The various questions asked under this section can be grouped in the following broad categories:

Syllogisms:In this, logical deductions are supposed to be made from some statements given to you. The key to crack this is good comprehension and practice.

Critical Reasoning:This is intended to be an effective way of evaluating how you reason.There are four types of questions that account for the majority of the questions in Critical Reasoning.

    I.   Weaken the Argument
    II. Strengthen the Argument
    III.    Supply the Conclusion
    IV. Supply the Assumption

Sentence Correction and Sentence Completion: This is that part of the Verbal section that tests you on yourknowledge of English grammar and idioms. You would see the twisted formof English at its best and are required to straighten out the bends!

Para-Jumbles: This consists of four or six sentences and you have to put them in the proper order to form a logical sequence

Vocabulary:This would generally include antonyms, synonyms, finding the odd one out in a group of words, and analogies. A general approach of mugging the word lists for mugging sake would do no good. Words get memorized only if you see them in usage. The basic approach to improve one’s verbal ability is to develop the good reading habits. You should definitely read one national newspaper (especially Front page,Editorials, Economics news, International news). If you have just started reading it, then initially go through the articles that interest you before you start diving into more intricate topics. After a week or so, start reading the magazines like India Today, Outlook or Front line. And with time, the relative proportion of magazine should increase in your reading schedule. A newspaper provides you the data/information (in the form of news) whereas the magazine provides the comprehensive analysis of the news and helps in raising your intellectual level. This reading is important not only for Verbal and Reading Comprehension part of written exam but also for GD and Interview.

The questions in this section usually take less time as compared to othersections which means, here, the returns per unit time is quite high. Ahigh accuracy in this section would mean a great deal in your overallscore.

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