Verbal Ability Section
The IIFT Examiner has consistently laid a lot of emphasis on the English vocabulary and related aspects. This has been tested by a variety of question-types. The level of vocabulary has been difficult—the level that you would come across in the editorials in newspapers. Sometimes, however, The IIFT Examiner has selected bombastic or 'big' words, unusual words, foreign-sounding words, and words of literary usage. This has added to the overall difficult level of vocabulary.
The level of verbal reasoning and grammar-based questions has been easy to moderate. Most of the questions would not pose difficulties for anyone who has prepared for CAT and other MBA Entrance Exams. But, there are areas unique to IIFT that need special attention and preparation, some of which are 'new' and have recently been introduced in IIFT-2017. These areas are enumerated below:
- Analysis of Sentences into Phrases and Clauses
- Verbal Analogies
- Figures of Speech
- Etymology of Words: Word Origins, Prefixes and Suffixes (New—IIFT-2016 and 2017)
- (a) Identify Phrases and Clauses (New—IIFT-2017)
- (b) Punctuation—Insert Commas (New—IIFT-2017)
- (c) Jumbled Sentences (IIFT-2016)
Reading Comprehension Section
The IIFT Examiner has generally focussed on 'speed reading' of lengthy passages on a wide range of subjects. Most of the RC questions have also been direct testing for 'accurate memory recall' of specific details given in the passages. But with IIFT-2015 and IIFT-2016 there was a significant shift, which brought IIFT RC to the level of CAT and other MBA Entrance Exams—considerable reduction in the length of passages with a corresponding increase in the number of indirect or inference-based questions. IIFT-2017, however, surprised the candidates by raising the challenge even higher—increasing all factors: the length of the passages, the difficulty level of the subject-matter, and the number of inference-based questions, time available remaining the same.
Further, analysis of the subject-matter of IIFT RC passages reveals that the IIFT Examiner has focused more (3 out of 4 passages) on two broad subject areas in the last three years (IIFT-2015 to IIFT-2017), which are of direct relevance to students of management preparing for a management career in the corporate world.
- Industry, Business, Trade and Management
- Economics, Finance and Banking