It's that time of year -- CAT registrations have been announced and students are scrambling to prepare.

How many hours should you study each day?

What are the proper study techniques for each section?

How can you improve your English grammar and reading comprehension?

Deepak Kumar and KB Sharma, competitive examination trainers for TCY, chatted with Get Ahead readers on July 19. They answered these questions and more.

For those of you who missed the chat, here's the transcript.

Part I: 'Think logically, not mechanically'

asdfdsfsd asked, Is spoken eng important?

KB Sharma answers, Not for a written test. But, you will have to give a personal interview, and spoken English is important for that.

Nabajyoti asked, Sir, I am a post graduate in physics and working as a teacher.I want to do MBA from IIM.Will my profile have any adverse effect during PI?

KB Sharma answers, No. Just make sure to properly present yourself.

Mohit Ahuja asked, Sir, As I have inquired before, please enlighten us about sufficient reading to prepare for the CAT. Is middle school literature enough or does high school and college level literature make a difference ?

KB Sharma answers, Reading is important, but diversified reading is more important.

Sangram asked, Is CAT for 3 hours this time??

KB Sharma answers, CAT 2006 was for 2.5 hrs. CAT 200 will be the same.

pravi asked, sir,tell the standard way to prepare for english

KB Sharma answers, CAT emphasises on reading comprehension and reasoning. So your focus should be the same.

Sunita asked, Hi KB, how to tackle the Comprehensive Reading section.. gimme a way which i can practise on those lines

KB Sharma answers, Read as many articles on as many different topics as possible. Each time, try to get the main idea of the passage. You'll see that most of the right answers on any passage concentrate and revolve around the main idea.

Akesh asked, Is there any difference in personal interviews taken, ie the amount of pressure & type of question put on , is there any difference when on the receiving end there is a fresher or an experienced professional ??

Deepak Kumar answers, There are no specific questions; the panel in each institute is not the same. Certain questions -- like your area of specialisation, hobbies, long term goals -- are generally asked.

abhi1 asked, Hello sir, my wife is a CA. She is very weak in English and so faces lot of trouble communicating. Do you think if it is possible to clear CAT with such weak English? Also, is it worth to do MBA after being a CA?

KB Sharma answers, IIM L's 2005-7 batch had more than 30 CAs. English is vital; let her build her strength in English and then think of CAT

Mohit Ahuja asked, I have heard IIM-Indore is the youngest IIM and so one should rather go to IIPM than IIM-I. Is it correct ?

KB Sharma answers, A myth with no practical base.

Sunita asked, is it true that most of the passages come from the editorials of the newspapers of teh hindu and Times of India???

KB Sharma answers, No, this is untrue.

munshi asked, how strictly does the institutes look fr cut-offs? do sum institutes look for overall CAT score or percentile...if i score very good in 2 sections but if i am not able to clear the cutoff in d 3rd section...is it acceptable n if yes then at wut institutes?

Deepak Kumar answers, IIM looks for cut offs, while others consider percentile. To get a call from an IIM, you need to clear the cut offs in each section.

catpills asked, hiii sir ,i was my school and college topper till my 12th ,so i know i can study.but in my engineering college i flunked in my subjects bcoz i went into a bad company and eventually i got detained for an year now.i have realized that i have 2 study now to prove that i can do it.i have full year ahead of me i want to prepare for cat 2008 since i cant write this year.will my academics have any bad impression even though i get into iims or any institute?can some1 not much into studies since last 3 years make it to the cat?also i have 2years work ex in call center will it count?plz help

KB Sharma answers, What ever you do in life, confidence is the key to success. Just be confident.

Ashishhh asked, Hi,,,is the GMAT way good enough to prepare for the English section?

KB Sharma answers, All the question types are not the same. It will certainly help. 

money281 asked, my speed in RC is very slow.How can i improve that

KB Sharma answers, The term reading comprehension is a misnomer. What it actually means is -- read less, understand more. Don't read the passages word-for-word; only try to get the main idea.

vijit asked, have just got this sudden desir to crack the CAT-07, have 0 prep and no clue where to start. with clock fast ticking, kindly explain how the prep strategy should be

KB Sharma answers, Start prepararing and devote the proper time. There is no other way

mba_vishal asked, My Vocab is very poor i hav tried Norman Lewis but i tend to forget those words.... what should i do?

KB Sharma answers, A simple google search will give you many websites for building vocabulary the easier way. Just type out 'vocab roots'.

shashwat asked, wat is the minimal percentile reqd to get a call from atleast one IIM?

KB Sharma answers, 99+

sahurajesh asked, good after noon sir , rajesh is this side , I am mechanical engineer 3 yr work ex in design field preparing this year for cat , I don,t hv enough enough time just tell me in briefly how i should prepare my self in english for cracking cat this year to enter in IIM,S or IIFT

KB Sharma answers, People who have reasonable strength in vocabulary and grammar, but have good strength in logical reasoning stand a good chance to crack CAT verbal.

sindhu asked, how many hours to learn for cat and tel me about the way to learn accordingly

KB Sharma answers, Very subjective, you have to decide this for yourself. There is no yardstick. 

mba_vishal asked, sir how i perpare english . actually my grammer is very week

Deepak Kumar answers, You need start from the basics -- consult wren & martin 'high school grammar' or 'grammar' by PC Wren. 

amith1 asked, Hello, Who should take CAT and who GMAT.. please tell me about this.

KB Sharma answers, Depends on your choice of schools and whether you want to do MBA in India or abroad.

Meenakshi asked, is the time left sufficient to crack cat if one starts now

Deepak Kumar answers, Yes, though time is getting short. Each day, study for at least five to six hours and you can crack the CAT.

Part I: 'Think logically, not mechanically'