Key Takeaways —7 Strategies to Master Paragraph Completion

Para-completion is one of the most difficult and significant topics in MBA entrance exam like CAT. Para-completion tests your comprehension skills. A vital prerequisite for these type of questions is to inculcate a good reading habit. Someone who has been reading regularly will almost certainly score well in para-completion. Anyway, this blog is helpful for both, those who have developed good reading habits and those who haven’t.

How are Para-Completion Questions framed?

Typically, the question setter will take a paragraph from a book or an article and remove the last line of the paragraph. This was the easy part. Now, the herculean task for the question setter is to prepare 3 or 4 incorrect options which is close to the right option. If you can successfully eliminate these 3 or 4 of these incorrect options, then the remaining one will be the right answer.

The correct answer choice will have some similarities with the paragraph, as both are written by the same author. Use the following strategies to identify the right answer.

1. Identify the topic and scope of the passage

The topic is the general subject matter. The scope is the specific aspect of the topic that the author focuses on and refers to the subject of the passage and the issues discussed in it. Scope is particularly important because answer choices that go beyond will be wrong. Thus, any choice that is not in sync with the scope of the passage will be incorrect and should be eliminated.

2. Tone of the passage

As an author writes a passage, he or she chooses to develop it by including certain aspects of the topic. Tone refers to the author’s attitude towards the topic or how the author expresses a point of view. The correct answer choice will use language similar to that found in the paragraph. In case of change of tone, the author will provide certain hints like the usage of words such as — but, however, although, though etc. Paying close to the author’s tone will help you to avoid extreme answer choices.

3. Structural signs

A key strategy for para-completion is to understand not only the author’s purpose and tone but also its structure. The structure of the passage may be that the the author is arguing a position or discussing something specific or explaining some findings.

4. Style of Author

Every author has different style of writing. For instance, some authors use a lot of metaphors, smiley etc. while others use very simple language. While solving the question make sure that the option matches with the style of the author.

5. Key Words Strategy

In every paragraph there are certain key words that can be easily identified. If you are able to identify these key words they will help in solving the questions and reaching the appropriate conclusion.

6. Maintain the continuity and flow of paragraph

Identify the continuing thread of thought where the author leaves us with. You have to continue the last thought of the author, keeping in mind the overall idea of the passage.

7. Avoid getting stuck

Avoid getting stuck on words or the last line. The last is very different from the last thought. Para-completion in a way is thought completion.

Note: The above strategies will also help you in Reading Comprehension questions.

Now apply the strategies you learnt above in the following example:

Age has a curvilinear relationship with the exploitation of opportunity. Initially, age will increase the likelihood that a person will exploit an entrepreneurial opportunity because people gather much of the knowledge necessary to exploit opportunities over the course of their lives, and because age provides credibility in transmitting that information to others. However, as people become older, their willingness to bear risks declines, their opportunity costs rise, and they become less receptive to new information. (______ )

1. As a result, people transmit more information rather than experiment with new ideas as they reach an advanced age.
2. As a result, people are reluctant to experiment with new ideas as they reach an advanced age.
3. As a result, only people with lower opportunity costs exploit opportunity when they reach an advanced age.
4. As a result, people become reluctant to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities when they reach an advanced age.
5. As a result, people depend on credibility rather than on novelty as they reach an advanced age.

Solution: The relationship between a person’s age and his likelihood of exploiting new opportunities is presented in the passage. When people gain more knowledge and experience they try to exploit new opportunities. However, as they grow even older they try to avoid risks and become less receptive to new ideas. Hence at an advanced age, a person becomes reluctant to exploit new opportunities as he wants to avoid risks.

Choice 1 can be ruled out because the focus of the passage is on exploitation of opportunity whereas this option talks of ‘transmit more information’ and ‘experiment with new ideas’.

Choice 2 can be eliminated as it categorically states that they are reluctant to ‘experiment with new ideas’.

Choice 3 says people with lower opportunity cost exploit opportunity when they became old whereas the passage says that ‘as people become older…less receptive to new information’.

Choice 5 introduces a new concept of ‘credibility’ which is inappropriate in the concluding line.

Since the context is of ‘entrepreneurial opportunity’, choice 4 is better as the concluding line. Hence, choice 4 is the right answer.

Here’s a question on Paragraph Completion in Q. 1 IBM Part Test — 2.

Remember that the correct answer choice will be an extension of the paragraph. If you have identified the similarities or dissimilarities between the paragraph and the choices, then you can identify the answer either by selecting the right answer or by eliminating the wrong answer choice. Either way, your aim is to mark the right answer, and we hope that the above strategies will help you to identify the right answer.

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