CAT Improve your Logical Reasoning
How to improve your Logical reasoning for CAT 2022:
Aspiring management candidates can prepare for all of India’s most competitive management entrance exams by carefully devising the study plan and proper knowledge of the syllabus. The CAT exam syllabus 2022 is divided into three major sections – Quantitative Ability (QA), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR), and Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC). The DILR section in the CAT exam is usually of a moderate to high difficulty level, hence students may find it hard to maximize their score in DILR. In this article, we have tried to explain what is covered in Logical reasoning and the tips on how to improve your logical reasoning attempts and accuracy in CAT. So read on to find out more:
Also read: Everything you need to know about CAT Syllabus
About the DILR Section in the CAT exam:
The questions and time duration for each section are given below:
| Sections | No. of questions | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC) | 34 questions | 60 minutes |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR) | 32 questions | 60 minutes |
| Quantitative Ability (QA) | 34 questions | 60 minutes |
The questions can be MCQs or subjective. Many aspirants consider Logical Reasoning as the toughest part of the CAT examination. Usually, you will find the questions in the form of a paragraph, followed by 2/3 questions. You have to read the information thoroughly and apply your logic to answer these questions.
CAT Logical Reasoning Syllabus includes the following topics:
- Number and Letter Series
- Calendars
- Clocks
- Cubes
- Venn Diagrams
- Binary Logic
- Seating Arrangement
- Logical Sequence
- Matching
- Logical Connectives
- Syllogism
- Blood Relations
Learn how to score 99.99%ile in CAT with basic LR preparation
What are the tips to improve Logical reasoning for CAT:
Solve previous year’s CAT papers:
You can begin with solving previous years’ CAT papers, go to the different websites and attempt a different set of questions, and comprehend the rationale behind logical reasoning questions. Sometimes, similar questions come up in the current year’s exam. You will also get an idea about the difficulty level of the questions that are usually asked in the exam, which may not be accurate in the online free mocks that you take up. So, invest your time wisely in solving these questions and understanding the method used to solve them.
Practise, practice, practice:
Unless you have an IQ of a genius, chances that you can solve ANY type of question are rare. The types of questions that can be asked are innumerable, any number of permutations and combinations can apply to logical questions. Hence, the only way you can familiarise yourself with the common pattern and types of questions is by solving them!
Keep practicing different types of questions like linear, and circular arrangement (very frequently asked in CAT, but the complexity can vary), set theory, logical connections, etc. You will notice that by doing this you will be able to understand the pattern and logic behind questions more accurately than before. So don’t make any excuses and keep practicing, this will help to improve your logical reasoning for CAT.
Make use of Diagrams:
One of the most effective ways of solving LR-DI questions is through diagrams and charts. One approach can be to make your diagrams/ symbols for typical questions like blood relations or arrangements and keep practicing with those diagrams and symbols only. For eg. in blood relations questions, you will circle all females, and put a square for males. This consistent approach can help you a lot since no matter how elements are added to questions if you have a well-defined diagram, chart , or symbols allocated to them, you can solve them easily
Solve 10 questions each day:
When there is just a couple of months left before the actual CAT Test, you should target around 10 sets of logical thinking questions each day. This is the actual number of questions you should also target during your exam. Usually, a correct attempt of 10-12 should give you a pretty good score.
Try to include a mix of different varieties of questions each day, so that you do not just focus on one type and ignore the others. You may invest a little more time on the topic that you find harder than the rest.
Solve Sudoku, puzzles:
Another approach to prepare for this section is by consistently solving crosswords, Sudoku, puzzles, and other such brain teasers. For this, you can select the entertainment segment of the daily paper and can likewise solve cases from different books and the web.
Sudoku is a great game to understand the sequence and logical connections. You can do this manually in the paper, or play it on your mobile app as well. (Although the mobile apps do give you a lot of options that make the game much easier). You can also try playing the game called ‘2048’, or another android game called ‘Brain wars’. Make sure you have fun while playing these games and puzzles, we are just trying to subconsciously make your logical ability better. So pick any puzzle of your choice and play them, it will help.
What strategy should I adopt to Solve Logical reasoning questions in the CAT exam:
Set Time-goals:
The CAT Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section has 32 questions and provides one hour to answer them which means less than two minutes per question if you attempt them all. But you don’t need to attempt all questions to get a good CAT score instead you need to set a time goal for the Logical Reasoning section and work to achieve that goal. As we discussed before if you solve at least 10 – 12 questions accurately, you have a good chance of scoring well. Set a time goal for your questions, and try to solve this set number of questions within that time.
Identify the question type:
Identifying the kind of Logical reasoning question type is the first step to solving it correctly. remember that this can only be done after constant practicing, which will make it easier for you to identify the type of questions and recall the method to solve them.
Note the guidelines and information given in the questions:
Most CAT Logical Reasoning questions will provide you with guidelines and constraints for the scenario described in the question. Write them separately in your notes with proper guidelines and diagrams while solving the problems.
Make sure you do this neatly, so that in case you are unable to solve the question or if it’s taking too much time; you can leave it for the moment and jump to another question. If you have enough time left, you can then easily come back to this question and start from where you left the solution. A very simple and small thing to do, but believe me, it goes a long way.
Solve step-by-step:
The first thing you should do is to write down all of the given information. LR problems usually contain several statements that serve as clues to solving the given questions. Then proceed to solve the problem step-by-step. This is important to ensure you don’t miss out on any one clue, which can keep you stuck on the question forever.
Don’t make unnecessary assumptions:
NEVER assume or use any information that the question fails to give you. Consider ONLY the information given in each question passage when choosing among the alternative responses. While assumptions can be useful in some cases, most of the time this is mentioned in the question paper itself (E.g. make assumptions as required). Unless written as such, abstain from doing so. You will be able to solve the questions from the data provided so don’t panic and give your 100% concentration on solving.
Don’t waste time on difficult questions:
We have observed that the question sets that come in the exam are designed in such a manner, that if you identify and solve the right ones (easier than the rest), you will score easily. Most students land in trouble here, they just randomly choose a question and waste a lot of time on it. When you encounter a question that is difficult for you, stop working on it temporarily and return to it. Always try to maximize your attempts in the least time.
Read the options carefully:
This may seem silly, but it’s where soo many students lose unnecessary marks. What happens is you solve a question, get an answer, spot it in the options and quickly mark it. You do not stop to read what the other options are, which might be more accurate than what you have solved. The options are designed in a way where that includes answers/figures that students usually get wrong. So, don’t fall into that trap! Read the options carefully and choose wisely.
Identify weak points and skip those during the CAT test day:
As you proceed in your CAT preparation, focus on improving your performance. But as test day approaches, start identifying which question types you’re still consistently finding difficult, and consider skipping those. You don’t have to waste time on it, optimize your time, and attempt those that you can easily be cracked by you.
Conclusion:
A proper selection of problems is the key to solving LR and is even more crucial here than in Data Interpretation. CAT Logical Reasoning problems are usually the ‘all-or-nothing’ type, if you crack the crux of the problem then you will be able to answer all/most of the questions that follow. Problem selection is tricky, so if you are unable to solve it after the first few minutes, the better approach would be to switch to another set of sections.
Try to do a timed sectional mock at least once a week. And a full mock test at least once in two weeks. From my experience, learning from taking/analyzing mocks is very important.
I hope you found this article on tips to improve your logical reasoning for CAT 2020 helpful. Overall just remember to keep practicing, following these strategies, and staying confident in your abilities, you will be good to go!
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