CAT 2011: Logical Reasoning demands regular practice

Hardly two per cent students make it to the IIMs even after impressive performance in the Common Admission Test. If you want to be one of these two percent lucky individuals then it is required that you practice logical reasoning with a well structured method. Logical Reasoning is a highly scoring section and students even score one hundred percent in it. Attention to details and a good deal of practice can help you easily solve 8-9 questions. CAT 2011 is expected to have 10 questions in this section which will be crucial in determining the cutoff. 

What type of questions can be expected?

The questions in Logical Reasoning can be of the following kinds:

• assessing your judgment
• based on facts
• inference based
• testing your skills on completing an argument
• critical reasoning based
• statement confusion
• argument reasoning 

Students  who are not too comfortable with English language and thus the Verbal Ability section must bank upon Logical Reasoning. Clearing the cutoff becomes easier if you are able to solve 6-7 questions in the Verbal Ability and 8 out of 10 questions of the Logical Reasoning section. Right strategy can increase your chances of succeeding. 

Strategy for logical reasoning

Anil Singh of Zenith Academy advises, "Decide on major and minor assumptions as well as major and minor factors while reading the passages of critical reasoning. This helps decipher the implicit as well as the explicit meaning." Also, apply the elimination method with the help of given choices. This will help you solve the critical reasoning questions. Syllogism questions can be solved using Venn diagrams.

The best way to prepare for logical reasoning

Solve the mock test papers and seriously analyse the CAT papers of previous papers. Effective strategy and hard work are an absolute must for cracking this section. Time management is of primary importance. Practice computer based questions to gauge the time you take for solving each question. The focus should be on speed as well as accuracy.