For many students, the Verbal ability section of the CAT remains the most challenging task.

Some find it imposisble to build a robust vocabulary, while others struggle with reading comprehension. If you are one of those people, don't despair!

Like most things in life, rewards come only after hard work and a lot of patience. You need to pratice every day for a long time before you see positive results, but it will all be worth it when you do!

For your benefit, and with the collaboration of Career Launcher, Get Ahead presents five typical Verbal questions from previous CATs. 

Directions for Questions 1 and 2:

For each of the words below a context is provided. From the alternatives given pick the word that is closest in meaning in the given context.

1.

Inveigh: Michael Moore's documentary is popular because of its anti establishment tone which inveighs the incumbent government's policies.

            a. Builds           b. Denounces    c. Fades           d. Evokes

2.

Extricate: The interesting part about lying is that the more you try to cover up, the more difficult it is to extricate yourself from it.

            a. Prove it right              b. Disentangle               c. Convince                   d. Forget

Directions for Questions 3 to 5:

Arrange sentences A, B, C, D and E to form a logical sequence.

3.        

A. But with a little help from the search engine, Detective Pat Ditter of the Washington State Patrol finally  identified the victim as David Glen Lewis, a 39-year-old man from Texas.

B. The mystery had baffled law enforcement agents ever since and over the years, investigators combed through missing-person databases in vain.

C. A US detective embarked on a weeklong web trawl with only Google for assistance to identify a man who died in an apparent hit-and-run accident 11 years ago in this small town in Washington state.

D. But now the Internet search engine Google has added crime-fighting capabilities to its formidable armory, helping to solve a grisly mystery that has perplexed a town in northwest America for more than a decade.

E. It's normally employed to drum up that missing address, phone number or website, or to check facts, dates, names and other miscellany.

            a. EDCBA         b. AEDCB         c. EADCB         d. BEADC

4.        

A. When he talked about health care Wednesday night, for instance, he noted that we can achieve major improvements if we leverage IT.

B. On the one hand, President Bush seems to have a more holistic view of a world in which technology is an integral part.

C. Which of the two presidential candidates would be better for the technology economy?

D. "It's the equivalent of the horse and buggy days compared to other industries in America," he said, correctly and with apparent passion.

E.  Based on the debates, you really couldn't tell.

            a. CEBAD         b. AEDCB         c. CAEDB         d. BEDAC

5.        

A. He continues, ''The judge just put a leash on the bulldog.''

B. And recently, a handful of major PC makers, including Gateway Computer Inc. have announced plays for devices that won't use Microsoft technology at all�apparently without fear of retribution.

C. "This gives enormous breathing room in the new areas for these companies,'' says Paul Saffo, Director of the Institute for the Future think tank in Menlo Park, California.

D. Microsoft has modified its behaviour by voluntarily backing off some of its most aggressive practices, including forcing PC makers to display only Microsoft Net access icons on the Windows screen.

E. This avoidance of Microsoft's presence is something that would have been unthinkable before the legal tide turned against the software giant.

            a. EDCBA                     b. DEBCA                     c. AEDCB                     d. DBECA

Answer key

1. B     
2. B
3. A                            
4. A
5. D

Mr Arindham Laheri is the Director - Academics, Career Launcher