Introduction
Welcome to LRDI Prep for CAT.
In 100 days, we will go through all the varieties of sets asked – the common ones and also the not-so-common ones; across all the difficulty levels, starting with easy ones and progressing to very difficult ones. Over the 100 days, we will practice around 300 sets. In short, this 100-day course prepares you thoroughly to start taking mocks. Practicing another 200 sets in the mock season, and you should be as well prepared for DILR section of CAT as you ever will be.
If you follow this course diligently, everyday completing the task for that day, for the next 100 days, then you will not have to waste your time figuring out for “how to prepare for DILR” or searching for some perfect course. This is all you need. But obviously, you will have to find the time and consistency needed to complete the course. Speaking of time, an average learner will need around 1.5 hours per day. You may need a little more or a little less depending on your present level of skills and learning speed.
Getting the right mindset
1. LRDI prep does not have any subject-topic framework, atleast not the kind you expect.
Some categorisation of similar looking sets can be done e.g. arrangements, groupings, truth-lies, game-based, networks, etc; but these are too broad to be of any use.
Two arrangement sets can be very different – one may have clues about relative positions amongst each other, another may have family relations thrown in, and yet another may require mathematical reasoning with some numeric data in it. Among the clues of a typical ‘arrangement’ set-up, it may be given that some clues are true and some are false … will this now be an ‘arrangement’ set or a ‘truth-lies’ set? Many previous year’s actual CAT sets – on a very feared topic among CAT aspirants, Games & Tournaments – have nothing to do with games, or with tournaments, they are mostly mathematical or plain logical reasoning (we will do one such PY CAT set tomorrow to drive home this point).
Stop searching for or expecting any frame-work of topics or syllabus for LRDI.
2. LR does not have any theory to learn before trying sets.
Actually I can only think of only two ‘topics’ – Set Theory and Grouping – where knowing some theory helps. In Set Theory, knowing about unions and intersections, and in Groupings, knowing conditionals like ‘if-then’ or ‘only-if-then’. And here too, one just needs to know the use of the specific language/terms, nothing very deep.
There is no theory for any other topic. So, if you are waiting to learn some theory and then practice sets, and are in search of some course/material which will teach you the theory, you will only keep waiting. Banish this idea of learning some theory before practicing, and start trying sets. Tomorrow, we will also attempt a PY CAT set on Networks and you can judge for yourself if there is some theory or prior knowledge needed for the set.
What you need is an exposure to a wide variety of sets and puzzles. As you solve more of these, you get attuned to expect the unexpected and to attempt the set even when you have not solved anything of the kind before-hand.
3. There is no one who can solve every set within 12-15-20 mins.
While practicing, it will easily take 30-40 minutes per set, to solve a lot of sets that you try. To think that you are lacking in something, and that every set should be solved in less than 20 minutes is totally baseless. There are a few sets, especially those of mocks, that even experts will not be able to solve in one sitting, even after spending more than 40 mins. It will require persistence and couple of attempts to actually crack the set. Then there will be sets which one will barely be able to manage to solve within 30-40 sets. Not every set can be solved within 20 mins and what you experience is what the experts also have experienced, when they started.
Almost in every set you will hit a ‘wall’ i.e. have no clue of how to proceed further. Yet by persevering more … going over the clues again and again, focussing on what does each word of each clue imply, figuring out what implication is still not being used, splitting into cases by making assumptions so that you can proceed ahead and confirm or eliminate, find some missing logic … you learn how to overcome the wall. So dont be afraid when you get stuck in a set, be ready to spend more time on a set, it’s very normal and true for everyone.
Today’s Tasks
So, enough gyan, let’s get started. Today being the first day, we will start with a Diagnostic Test. Dont worry, just treat it as an exercise. And to keep it easy, the exercise will have mostly stand-alone questions. These questions are selected because they are an assorted collection introducing you to many varied reasoning-types and also very typical of CAT … very verbose and scary looking, but all are not difficult, some are very easy. Instructions are given before the exercise. So get going.