GRAMMAR QUANDARY!!!!!

After quite a long hiatus I am back to mete out a few ways to deal with one of the most dubious sections of CAT grammar- MODIFIERS.

I call this area dubious because there are hardly any rules per se but then, here is where our reading habits come to the rescue. If we are well read, we generally tend to understand the nuances better for the simple fact being our comfort with the flow of a language(any language) always helps us to identify the slightest error in the construction.

So let's take some typical modifier questions (from OG for GMAT) and analyse them.

"The automotive conveyor belt system, which Henry Ford modeled after an assembly line technique introduced by Ransom Olds, reduced from a day and a half to 93 minutes the required time of assembling a Model T."

Now as we know a modifier is that part of the sentence that gives some extra information or adds to the meaning. We also know that it is preferred to keep the modifier and the modified together. Now in the above example, our modifying phrase, naturally is "from a day and a half to 93 minutes". Let's delve further into it. the word "reduced" is followed by "from a day...", which leads to the ambiguity about what is being reduced. Therefore to make the sentence unambiguous and crisp, it can be reframed as, "reduced the time required to assemble a Model T from one and a half day to 93 minutes."

Now let's take a look at another one

"As a result of medical advances, many people that might at one time have died as children of such infections as diphtheria,pneumonia or rheumatic fever now live well into old age."

Now in this case, following the pronoun rule we know "people" calls for "who" instead of "that". Secondly, "at one time" can be transformed into "once"(adjective). In the given statement, it seems that the people had died as children of diseases like diphtheria etc but that is not what the statement wants to convey . In case of compound verbs like, "may have", "could have" etc, it is advisable to insert the modifier between the verbs. Hence, the corrected sentence could be, "who might once have died in childhood of such" which shall remove ambiguity of any kind from the statement.

Do not panic if you find Modifiers to take some time as this area needs a lot of reading and practice. I will keep you posted on some more typical modifier based questions. Till then, keep reading newspapers like Wall street Journal or our very own HINDU or Economic Times to get used to the flow of the structure.

Understanding Currency...A Great Read!

A highly recommended read from today's DNA, Pune (click here for original article):

Printing notes is no way out of trouble

Debasement of currency will only bring on a bigger financial crisis, a la Zimbabwe

-Vivek Kaul. Mumbai

Dear M, Hey, I miss discussing the financial crisis with you. Tried calling, but couldn't get through. So this email. The times are getting even more interesting, you know. Several hallowed American companies are going down the drain, literally. American International Group (AIG) recently announced that in the three months from October to December they made a loss of $61.7 billion. Now that is a lot of money to lose, Rs 3,17,755 crore to be very precise (assuming $1 = Rs 51.5). The US government had given $133 billion to AIG in the past, but that doesn't seem to have helped. So, AIG is getting another $30 billion. General Motors (GM), which reported losses of $31 billion on sales of $149 billion, has seen sales fall to a 27 year low. GM got a $13.4 billion bailout from the government, and now wants $16 billion more. Citigroup isn't in good shape either. So are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and all those big financial institutions, which have had to be rescued by the government. This is not the case with the US alone. Various countries in Europe have gone around rescuing their once hallowed financial institutions, too. But neither in the US nor in Europe has any of these rescue efforts borne fruit so far. The losses keep piling up, questioning the very basis of bailing out the financial institutions in the first place. Should the market be allowed to work, and these institutions allowed to fade away? I wish I had an answer to that. And I need not tell you where all this money is coming from. Various governments are printing all the money they need. Okay, I can see you raising an eyebrow. How do I know this? Oh, it's rather simple. When a government wants to borrow, it has to issue bonds. Investors like banks and other financial institutions invest in those bonds and thus the government gets the money. Basically, the money the government borrows comes from the money supply already available. In the recent past, the US government has injected nearly $300 billion into the financial system, without there being a similar increase in the bonds issued by it. Basically, therefore, all this money is being created out of thin air — it is being printed. And the US isn't alone. European countries such as the United Kingdom are also doing this. The money being printed is used to keep the weak financial institutions, which would otherwise have gone bust, up and running. It is also being used by governments to spend on what are being referred to as "shovel ready projects." The idea, as I have explained in the past, is to get the banks to start lending again so people borrow and spend it. This will lead to the moribund economy growing again. The "shovel ready projects" are expected to put people who have lost employment back on job and earning again. Earning is likely to lead to spending and hopefully, this will revive the economy. But all that is theory. Will it practically work out the way, as politicians and economists have been saying it would? Highly unlikely, if history is anything to go by. Money printing only leads to more money printing. Okay, don't you raise that eyebrow again. I'll explain. When a spate of money suddenly hits any economy and people go out and spend, it leads to increased prices. The supply of goods and services they want to buy cannot suddenly expand to keep up with all the newly created "paper" wealth. So suddenly, there is a shortage of goods and services, and this leads to increased prices or inflation, as they call it. When an item is available in abundance, its value tends to go down and vice versa. All this printing of currencies will lead to a situation wherein the purchasing power of currencies will continue to decline. This would mean even more currency will have to be printed, which could lead to hyperinflation — a situation where prices go totally out of control, as the currency rapidly loses value. Take the case of Zimbabwe, which has been printing Zimbabwean dollars for sometime now. Economists estimate that the rate of inflation is currently at 5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (five sextillion) per cent. The country recently even printed a 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollar note, which was just about good enough to buy a loaf of bread. Basically then, the Zimbabwean dollar as a currency has totally collapsed. And this phenomenon gets repeated time and again. As Puru Saxena, a Hong Kong-based wealth manager writes, "In fact, a remarkable study confirms that only 23% of paper currencies ever issued have survived the test of time." And why isn't all the money being printed in the US and Europe not showing up in inflation? It is primarily because the banks are not ready to lend now, as they don't have enough confidence in the ability of borrowers to repay in such an economic environment. But you need to remember that gradually most banks are being nationalised. Take the case of Citigroup, up to 36% of it is owned by the US government. A lot of banks in Europe have been nationalised or are in the process of being nationalised. Once the government takes over, it will ensure that the banks actually go out in the market and lend all that money that has been printed up. If that happens, inflation is going to go through the roof. By printing all this money, the US can hope to inflate away all its debt. The US currently has a total debt of $54 trillion, which it cannot repay in the normal scheme of things. "In other words, either the US will default (highly unlikely in my view) or it will print and inflate so that this huge mountain of debt feels much smaller in the future due to the loss of its purchasing power," writes Saxena. And who loses out in such a situation? Countries like China, Japan and the oil producing nations who have a lot of their foreign exchange reserves invested in bonds issued by the American government. If all this printing continues, economies are likely to see hyperinflation in the day to come and their currencies will be in trouble. "As the jokers in Washington continue to 'save' the US economy (i.e. bail out their rich friends on Wall Street), the US dollar will eventually become worthless or it may be replaced by another currency." Hope I haven't scared you too much. Such are the times. Take care. V (The example is hypothetical) k_vivek@dnaindia.net

Suffering from the epidemic of limited vocabulary? Read on!!!

It has been quite long since I have penned down something useful for you guys. Well, honestly there is always a ready excuse, deep with work till neck; trying to stay afloat...blah blah.... but the muse doesn’t take over often here. I was trying to expose myself to a lot of information and assuming some or the other miracle will happen. Anyway people, needless to say, after a long sabbatical, here I come with the gyan :)

The CAT-09 season has already begun and therefore first things first, vocabulary plays a very important role in contributing to good scores, when it comes to Verbal Ability section of CAT. I know not many of you excel in this forte and I also agree to the fact that taming this section could be a daunting task but it’s almost like “now and never” and so on a regular basis I have resolved to expose you to new words in this site. It’s how one says, ‘vitamins, work best when imposed rather than selected.’

For starters let us take a look at a few easy ways, if followed diligently would ensure enhancement of our vocabulary.

(1)Read, read and read: I am aware of the fact that reading is not everyone’s favourite. But with a little motivation and the want to be an eloquent speaker, take reading as little doses of medicine :) To truly begin, you could pick up anything and start reading. Newspapers, magazines even the very favourite ‘Pune Times’ along with its regular masala can teach quite a few new words. Here the occurrence of foreign words is frequent so ‘time to be fancy’:)

(2)Listen to English channels: Time for some entertainment guys! If news channels like BBC, CNN appear like humongous tasks, you have lots to choose from. For example if you are one of the movie buffs you could watch some great ones in HBO, Star movies, Sony Pix , Zee-studio and the list is endless. I particularly could always vouch for this method of picking up new words like ‘weaned, nemesis, sabotage, condescend’ to name a few. You also have some ‘on the edge of the seat entertainment serials. My personal favourites would be ‘prison break, how I met your mother, heroes, friends’ Although 'Friends and How I met your mother' couldn't be included in the 'adventure' genre.

(3) Conversing in English: Try conversing in English with few/ at least one of your friends or colleagues. This helps you to remain in the groove.

(4) Try thinking in English: Although English will always be a second language for most of us, we need to quit the translation which takes place in our little heads. The day we can overcome this impediment we will definitely be fluent.

So you could follow these few easy steps to be the one (read conversant in English) :) All the best. Signing off now and will be back with more.

Symbiosis Scores Revised

According to an article in Sakaal Times, the SNAP Test scores have been revised. So, if you expected a higher score, please make sure that you check your scores again on http://oams.blueshift.com/snapscorecard/Login.aspx.

All the best!

Last opportunity for an IIM Boot Camp!

After two great weekends of IIM-specific Bootcamps, CL Pune is glad to offer the last in the series on the 8th Feb. Since the IIM Interviews start off after the weekend, this is practically the last chance to get yourself polished further for those crucial calls.

The 8th Feb bootcamp will be a whole day affair in Pune itself. But before you come into the bootcamp, you will have to complete some basic introductory sessions available on the computers at the centres.

To know more, just sms PDP to 9850897035.

PDP Boot Camp Series

The first in the series of Residential PDP Boot Camps was held last weekend (17-18th Jan) at a serene location near Thane. It saw more than 85 students with IIM Calls getting a trailer to what the IIM life would be. After arriving at the venue past midnight from Pune, the students were asked to get ready for an assignment.



The session on Saturday started at 9 am with some hectic GD drills. The participants got the best of expert comments from the panel drawn from the IIMs and currently working in the industry. It was followed by gyan session on GK and current economic situation. With some relief in the form of a "movie assignment", the interviews for some students went off till late in the next day, 4:30 am to be precise.

The last day, Sunday, saw a flurry of interviews lined up for the whole day. The panel size was now extended with another 10 more experienced people joining from the IIMs and other prestigious institutions.

Some of the quotes from the participants tell you most of the story:

“…the co-learning was excellent”

“It met my expectations, and more, in many ways. The case study and its analysis opened up a whole new world for me. Stupendous effort by Career Launcher”

“It was really stressful, but at the end of it, I’m going back better equipped to face the interviews”

“The interview part revealed glaring loopholes in my profile. The feedback has given me the way to move ahead in the remaining few weeks”

“It’s been long since I had a night out and had to complete tasks. I really enjoyed this part of the Bootcamp”

“….The panelists and the officials were excellent. And yes, even the food was good”

“Innovative, creative, inspiring and eye opening”

“Keep it up. The effectiveness of these two days can never be over-stated”

“…it allowed me to stitch my story together…”

“Interview panel was excellent. I owe you guys”

“thank God I attended it”

“Thank you. I loved it”

“Although I loved the Bootcamp, I hope I won’t have to attend it again next year”

“The mix of students was brilliant”

If there is any IIM call-getter keen on attending the next Bootcamp on 24-25th Jan, just send an email to pune.cl@careerlauncher.com NOW!

For more details, please click here.