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CAT (Common Admission Test) Verbal Ability (VARC) - Verbal Reasoning and Usage Flashcards
50 question-and-answer cards covering Verbal Ability (VARC) - Verbal Reasoning and Usage as it is examined in CAT (Common Admission Test). 24 of them are printed below, taken from across the deck — no signup, no paywall on the preview.
24 sample cards from the Verbal Ability (VARC) - Verbal Reasoning and Usage deck
Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.
In strengthen/weaken questions, what role does an 'alternative cause' play?
Introducing an alternative cause weakens a causal argument (the effect could be due to something else), while ruling out alternative causes strengthens it.
What is a 'logical flaw' (fallacy) in an argument?
A defect in reasoning where the conclusion does not properly follow from the premises, even if the premises seem relevant—e.g., faulty assumptions or invalid inferences.
Define the 'correlation vs. causation' fallacy.
Wrongly concluding that because two things occur together (correlation), one must cause the other (causation), ignoring coincidence, reverse causation, or a third common cause.
What is the 'ad hominem' fallacy?
Attacking the person making an argument rather than addressing the argument itself, treating a personal characteristic as if it refutes the claim.
What is a 'straw man' fallacy?
Misrepresenting or oversimplifying an opponent's argument into a weaker version, then refuting that distorted version instead of the actual argument.
What is the difference between an 'inference' and a stated fact in CAT RC/CR?
A stated fact is explicitly written in the passage; an inference is a conclusion that must logically follow from the text but is not directly stated—it should be the safest, most directly supported deduction.
What is the golden rule for choosing an inference answer in CAT?
Pick the option that 'must be true' based strictly on the passage—avoid options requiring outside assumptions, extreme language, or going beyond what the text supports.
What is the difference between 'fewer' and 'less' in standard usage?
'Fewer' is used with countable nouns (fewer books), while 'less' is used with uncountable/mass nouns (less water).
State the subject-verb agreement rule for 'neither...nor' / 'either...or' constructions.
The verb agrees with the subject nearer to it (the second/closer noun). E.g., 'Neither the manager nor the employees are present.'
What is a 'dangling modifier', and how is it corrected?
A modifier that does not clearly attach to the word it should describe, leaving it 'dangling'. Fix it by ensuring the modified noun immediately follows the modifying phrase. E.g., 'Walking to school, the rain started' is wrong because the rain isn't walking.
What is a 'misplaced modifier'?
A word or phrase positioned so it appears to modify the wrong word, creating ambiguity; it should be placed next to the word it actually describes.
What is the difference between 'who' and 'whom'?
'Who' is the subject of a verb (who did it), while 'whom' is the object of a verb or preposition (to whom, whom did you call).
What is parallelism (parallel structure) in grammar?
Using the same grammatical form for elements in a series or comparison—e.g., 'reading, writing, and speaking' (all gerunds), not 'reading, writing, and to speak'.
What is the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'?
'Affect' is usually a verb meaning to influence; 'effect' is usually a noun meaning a result. (Effect can be a verb meaning 'to bring about'.)
What is the difference between 'its' and 'it's'?
'Its' is the possessive form (the dog wagged its tail); 'it's' is the contraction of 'it is' or 'it has'.
What is the difference between 'lay' and 'lie'?
'Lay' is transitive and needs an object (lay the book down); 'lie' is intransitive and takes no object (lie down to rest). Past tenses: laid vs. lay.
Define the vocabulary term 'ubiquitous'.
Present, appearing, or found everywhere; omnipresent.
Define the vocabulary term 'ephemeral'.
Lasting for a very short time; transitory or fleeting.
Define the vocabulary term 'pragmatic'.
Dealing with matters practically and realistically rather than theoretically or idealistically.
What is the difference between a synonym and an antonym?
A synonym is a word with the same or similar meaning to another word; an antonym is a word with the opposite meaning.
Define the vocabulary term 'verbose'.
Using or expressed in more words than needed; wordy or long-winded.
What is the general strategy for 'Fill in the Blanks' (single/double blank) questions?
Read the full sentence for context and tone, predict the meaning needed in each blank, then choose the word(s) matching the intended meaning, collocation, and grammatical fit—eliminating options that clash with the sentence's logic or connectors.
In double-blank fill-in-the-blanks, why must you test both blanks together?
Because the correct option must satisfy both blanks simultaneously; an option that fits one blank but not the other is wrong, so eliminate based on whichever blank is easier first, then confirm the other.
What is the role of 'collocation' in vocabulary-based fill in the blanks?
Collocation is the natural pairing of words that habitually go together (e.g., 'make a decision', 'heavy rain'); choosing the word that forms the correct collocation yields the idiomatic, correct answer.
What this deck covers
The Verbal Ability (VARC) - Verbal Reasoning and Usage deck follows the CAT (Common Admission Test) Verbal Ability (VARC) - Verbal Reasoning and Usage syllabus — 4 chapters and 12 topics — so questions land on material that is genuinely examinable rather than trivia around it. That works out to roughly 12.5 cards per chapter.
Answers are written to be recallable, not just readable — averaging about 148 characters, which is long enough to carry the reasoning and short enough to say out loud.
A deck like this earns its keep on the second and third pass. Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then use the cards to find the specific facts that have not stuck.
Verbal Ability (VARC) - Verbal Reasoning and Usage flashcards FAQ
How many Verbal Ability (VARC) - Verbal Reasoning and Usage flashcards are in this CAT (Common Admission Test) deck?
50 cards. This page previews 24 of them, sampled evenly across the deck so you can judge the difficulty before installing anything.
Are these CAT (Common Admission Test) flashcards free?
Yes. The preview here is free to read with no signup, and the full 50-card deck is free inside the Examius app.
What do the Verbal Ability (VARC) - Verbal Reasoning and Usage cards cover?
They follow the CAT (Common Admission Test) Verbal Ability (VARC) - Verbal Reasoning and Usage syllabus — 4 chapters and 12 topics — so the questions track what is actually examinable.
How should I use these flashcards?
Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then drill the deck. Examius schedules each card with spaced repetition, so cards you keep missing come back sooner and ones you know drift further apart.