How to Prepare for CAT VARC 2025 (Verbal and Reading Comprehension) - CAT VARC Preparation Complete Guide

What is VARC in CAT?

‘How to prepare for CAT VARC?’ is one of the important questions that arise in the mind of any aspirant. Moreover, the Verbal and Reading Comprehension in the CAT exam holds great weightage and are considered for shortlisting. According to the CAT paper pattern, the VARC section comprises 24 questions out of a total of 66 questions. These questions are divided into 2 sub-sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension.

Important MCQs for CAT VARC Syllabus 2026

Preparing with the important MCQs for CAT VARC syllabus 2026 can hugely boost your accuracy and confidence, especially in high-weightage areas like Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability. These curated CAT VARC practice questions help you understand exam patterns, improve speed, and strengthen core concepts. Working through them regularly is one of the smartest ways to score higher in the CAT VARC section.

Components of VARC section in CAT - Previous year analysis

The components or distribution of VARC questions for the CAT 2026 are as follows:

• Vocabulary

• Grammar

• Verbal Reasoning

• Reading Comprehension

CAT VARC Exam Pattern 2026

Understanding the CAT VARC Exam Pattern 2026 is essential for planning your preparation and improving accuracy in both RC and Verbal Ability questions. A clear overview of the latest CAT VARC structure helps you focus on high-weightage topics and build a smarter exam strategy.

If you’re gearing up for the exam, it really helps to dig a little deeper into a few key areas—like understanding Why, When, and How to Take the CAT Mock Test so you can make the most of your practice. With just 10 Days to go for CAT, you’ll also want to fine-tune your last-minute preparation strategy to stay sharp and confident. And of course, knowing the CAT Exam: Errors to avoid on the exam day can save you from unnecessary slip-ups and help you perform your best when it matters the most.

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension Syllabus for CAT

Candidates must be familiar with the CAT exam syllabus in detail for better CAT preparation. However, here we will discuss the topics or syllabus for the CAT VARC section itself.

VARC Syllabus for CAT

Download CAT Sample Papers here.

CAT VARC Important Topics

Based on the previous year’s CAT question paper and other general trends, the following topics are some of the most CAT VARC topics:

Para-Summary

Para-summary questions in the CAT VARC section test your ability to understand a passage and pick the option that best captures its main idea. To score well in these CAT VARC questions, focus on identifying the core message and eliminating choices that distort or add irrelevant details. Regular practice of para-summaries as part of your CAT VARC syllabus preparation boosts comprehension skills and helps improve your CAT VARC score vs percentile.

Examples:

1. The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

“It does seem to me that the job of comedy is to offend, or have the potential to offend, and it cannot be drained of that potential,” Rowan Atkinson said of cancel culture.“Every joke has a victim. That’s the definition of a joke. Someone or something or an idea is made to look ridiculous.” The Netflix star continued, “I think you’ve got to be very, very careful about saying what you’re allowed to make jokes about. You’ve always got to kick up? Really?” He added, “There are lots of extremely smug and selfsatisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”

1. All jokes target someone and one should be able to joke about anyone in the society, which is inconsistent with cancel culture.

2. Every joke needs a victim and one needs to include people from lower down the society and not just the upper class.

3. Victims of jokes must not only be politicians and royalty, but also arrogant people from lower classes should be mentioned by comedians.

4. Cancel culture does not understand the role and duty of comedians, which is to deride and mock everyone.

Solution:

The core ideas presented in the passage can be distilled into the following points:

i) The fundamental purpose of a joke is to target and offend its subject, regardless of their societal status.
ii) The prevailing cancel culture deems it inappropriate to make jokes about individuals belonging to lower strata of society.

Option A aptly encompasses both of these primary concepts and, therefore, stands as the accurate choice.

In contrast, Option B deviates from the passage's main theme. The paragraph does not aim to persuade the inclusion of individuals from the lower class in jokes; rather, it scrutinizes the implications of cancel culture on humor.

Similarly, Option C strays from the central ideas of the passage. The focus is not on ensuring a diverse audience for jokes, but rather on the dynamics between jokes, targets, and societal status.

Option D also misrepresents the primary content of the passage. Nowhere in the text are the comedian's duties or responsibilities explicitly discussed.

Hence, the correct and comprehensive option that encompasses the main ideas is indeed Option A.

2. The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

To defend the sequence of alphabetisation may seem bizarre, so obvious is its application that it is hard to imagine a reference, catalogue or listing without it. But alphabetical order was not an immediate consequence of the alphabet itself. In the Middle Ages, deference for ecclesiastical tradition left scholars reluctant to categorise things according to the alphabet — to do so would be a rejection of the divine order. The rediscovery of the ancient Greek and Roman classics necessitated more efficient ways of ordering, searching and referencing texts. Government bureaucracy in the 16th and 17th centuries quickened the advance of alphabetical order, bringing with it pigeonholes, notebooks and card indexes.

1. Unlike the alphabet, once the efficacy of the alphabetic sequence became apparent to scholars and administrators, its use became widespread.

2. The alphabetic order took several centuries to gain common currency because of religious beliefs and a lack of appreciation of its efficacy in the ordering of things.

3. The ban on the use by scholars of any form of categorisation - but the divinely ordained one - delayed the adoption of the alphabetic sequence by several centuries.

4. While adoption of the written alphabet was easily accomplished, it took scholars several centuries to accept the alphabetic sequence as a useful tool in their work.

The core concepts articulated in the paragraph can be encapsulated as follows:
i) The adoption of alphabetical order as a system of organization didn't occur immediately upon the discovery of alphabets.
ii) During the medieval era, scholars were hesitant to classify things alphabetically, largely due to apprehensions about undermining what was believed to be a divine order.
iii) It wasn't until the rediscovery of the Greek and Roman classics, coupled with the development of government bureaucracy in later centuries, that the practice of organizing information alphabetically became accepted and commonplace.

When evaluating the options based on their adherence to these core themes, Option A falls short. While it may allude to the delayed adoption of alphabetical order, it fails to capture the reason behind the scholars' reluctance, which is a critical part of the narrative.

Option C is factually incorrect, as it suggests a "ban on use," which is not supported by the text. Option D suffers from the same deficiencies as Option A, notably its omission of the key issue that made scholars hesitant to categorize things alphabetically during the middle ages.

However, Option B accurately encapsulates the essence of the paragraph's main points. It adequately covers the late adoption of alphabetical order, why scholars were initially hesitant, and how eventual acceptance was facilitated by the rediscovery of ancient texts and the needs of government bureaucracy. Therefore, Option B is the most fitting choice that does justice to the main ideas presented in the paragraph. Hence, the correct option is B.

Para-Jumbles

Para jumbles in the CAT exam require you to rearrange shuffled sentences to form a coherent and meaningful paragraph. This tests your understanding of the logical flow and structure of ideas. To solve para jumbles, look for connecting words, pronouns, and sequences that link sentences together. Regular practice helps improve your ability to quickly identify the correct order.

Examples:

1. The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer.

1. It is regimes of truth that make certain relationships speakable - relationships, like subjectivities, are constituted through discursive formations, which sustain regimes of truth.

2. Relationships are nothing without the communication that brings them into being;

interpersonal communication is connected to knowledge shared by interlocutors, and scholars should attend to relational histories in their analyses.

3. A Foucauldian approach to relationships goes beyond these conceptions of discourse and history to macrolevel regimes of truth as constituting relationships.

4. Reconsidering micropractices within relationships that are constituted within and simultaneously contributors to regimes of truth acknowledges the central position of power/knowledge in the constitution of what has come to be considered true and real.

1. 2314

2. 2134

3. 1234

4. 4321

Solution:

Upon examining the sentences, it's evident that the focus is on diverse interpretations of relationships. Sentence 2 underscores that communication holds significant weight in this domain and merits thorough examination. Venturing beyond this conventional viewpoint, sentence 3 introduces a Foucauldian perspective that encompasses more than just interpersonal dynamics, extending to macro-level "regimes of truth." Sentence 1 elaborates on the pertinence of these "regimes of truth" in comprehending relationship dynamics. Finally, sentence 4 neatly ties the discussion together, highlighting how the intricate micro-practices embedded within relationships hint at the intertwined relationship between knowledge and power. Consequently, the most coherent arrangement is 2314.

2. The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer.

1. Businesses find automation, such as robotic employees, a big asset in terms of productivity and efficiency.

2. But in recent years, robotics has had increasing impacts on unemployment, not just of manual labour, as computers are rapidly handling some white-collar and service-sector work.

3. For years politicians have promised workers that they would bring back their jobs by clamping down on trade, offshoring and immigration.

4. Economists, based on their research, say that the bigger threat to jobs now is not globalisation but automation.

1. 1234

2. 4321

3. 4231

4. 3412

Upon first glance, the paragraph delves into the issue of unemployment stemming from automation. Commencing with sentence 3 offers a snapshot of the prevailing unemployment situation. While politicians typically pinpoint globalisation as the primary contributor to growing joblessness, sentence 4 introduces a deviation by suggesting that the narrative put forth by experts differs. According to them, automation, not globalisation, could be a pivotal factor intensifying the unemployment crisis. Sentences 1 and 2, when paired together, delve deeper into the nuances of how automation directly impacts job prospects, shedding light on its scale and nature. Thus, piecing the sentences together, the sequence that captures the essence most effectively is 3412.

Odd Sentences

Odd sentence questions in the CAT exam ask you to identify the sentence that doesn't fit within a given set of sentences. This tests your ability to discern the logical flow and thematic consistency of a paragraph. To solve these, look for sentences that break the sequence of ideas, introduce unrelated information, or disrupt the paragraph's coherence. Regular practice can help you quickly spot these discrepancies and improve your accuracy.

Examples:

1. Find the misfit sentence:

1. The rocket launch marked a historic moment in space exploration, as it ventured deeper into the cosmos.

2. The chef prepared a delectable five-course meal, showcasing culinary expertise.

3. The team of researchers uncovered archaeological artefacts that shed light on ancient civilizations.

4. The wolves' howls echoed through the forest, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Solution:

Sentence A is the misfit. The other sentences are related to scientific achievements, culinary arts, and natural sounds, while sentence B introduces a different context by discussing a rocket launch in space exploration.

2. Find the misfit sentence:

1. The entrepreneur's startup disrupted the traditional retail market.

2. The botanist discovered a new species of rare orchids deep in the rainforest.

3. The political debate focused on critical issues such as healthcare and taxation policies.

4. The summer breeze rustled the leaves, bringing relief from the sweltering heat.

Solution:

Sentence D is the misfit. The other sentences are about entrepreneurial disruption, botany, and political debates, whereas sentence D describes a natural phenomenon, the summer breeze, which is unrelated to the others.

CAT VARC Study Resources

CAT VARC study resources help you build strong reading and language skills needed for the exam. Use standard English newspapers, magazines, and well-known novels to improve reading speed and comprehension. Practice from previous years’ CAT question papers to understand question patterns. Online mock tests and sectional tests help you track progress and manage time better. Grammar books and vocabulary lists are useful, but regular reading and practice matter the most for scoring well in CAT VARC.

How to Prepare for CAT Verbal Ability?

CAT Verbal Ability checks how well you understand written English, spot meaning differences, and follow sentence structure. It also tests your ability to connect ideas within a passage and grasp the main theme. Strong reading habits and regular practice are key to improving accuracy and confidence in this section.

Improve Reading Comprehension Skills

Read editorials, opinion pieces, and long articles daily. Focus on understanding the author’s tone, idea flow, and conclusion instead of reading fast.

Strengthen Vocabulary and Word Usage

Learn words in context rather than mugging meanings. Note how words change meaning based on usage in sentences.

Master Sentence Structure and Grammar

Practice para-jumbles, sentence completion, and error spotting to improve grammar, syntax, and sentence flow.

Develop Logical Flow of Ideas

While reading passages, identify the main idea, supporting points, and examples. This helps in inference-based questions.

Practice Previous Year CAT Questions

Solve past CAT Verbal Ability questions regularly. Analyse mistakes to understand common traps and improve accuracy.

Tips for VARC CAT Preparation 2026

Check out the below tips for VARC preparation for CAT.

• The CAT VARC section focuses more on eliminating wrong options than selecting the perfect answer, so build strong logical reasoning to judge why an option is incorrect.

• Develop a consistent reading habit for CAT 2026 VARC preparation—read novels for at least 30 minutes and newspaper editorials for about an hour daily.

• Use updated CAT Verbal preparation material from top coaching institutes and resources like Verbal Ability for CAT by Arun Sharma.

• Attempt multiple CAT VARC mock tests and spend time analysing mistakes to improve accuracy and question selection.

• Strengthen vocabulary with apps like Vocabulary Builder and word-to-word; apply new words in daily conversations to retain them better.

• When reading feels monotonous, switch to movies, series, or word games to keep your VARC prep engaging.

• Mark difficult words while reading and check their meanings; keep a dictionary or vocabulary app handy for quick learning.

CAT 2026 Mock Test

Taking the CAT 2026 mock test is one of the most effective ways to build exam stamina, improve accuracy, and understand real CAT difficulty levels. Regular mock practice helps you refine your strategy, strengthen high-weightage topics, and track your score improvement over time.

Attempt Now Free CAT Mock Test

CAT 2024 VARC Questions (Previous Year CAT VARC Questions)

A few CAT VARC questions asked in the 2024 examination is given below:

Question 1:
Five jumbled-up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.

1. Urbanites also have more and better options for getting around: Uber is ubiquitous; easy-to-rent dockless bicycles are spreading; battery-powered scooters will be next.

2. When more people use buses or trains the service usually improves because public-transport agencies run more buses and trains.

3. Worsening services on public transport, terrorist attacks in some urban metros, and a rise in fares have been blamed for this trend.

4. It seems more likely that public transport is being squeezed structurally as people's need to travel is diminishing as a result of smartphones, video-conferencing, online shopping, and so on.

5. There has been a puzzling decline in the use of urban public transport in many countries in the west, despite the growth in urban populations and rising employment.

Question 2:
There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: Comprehending a wide range of emotions, Renaissance music nevertheless portrayed all emotions in a balanced and moderate fashion.

Paragraph: A volume of translated Italian madrigals were published in London during the year of 1588. This sudden public interest facilitated a surge of English Madrigal writing as well as a spurt of other secular music writing and publication. (1). This music boom lasted for thirty years and was as much a golden age of music as British literature was with Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I. (2). The rebirth in both literature and music originated in Italy and migrated to England; the English madrigal became more humorous and lighter in England as compared to Italy. Renaissance music was mostly polyphonic in texture. (3). Extreme use of and contrasts in dynamics, rhythm, and tone colour do not occur. (4). The rhythms in Renaissance music tend to have a smooth, soft flow instead of a sharp, well-defined pulse of accents.

1. Option 2

2. Option 3

3. Option 1

4. Option 4

Best Books for CAT Verbal Ability Section

Before beginning their preparation for the CAT, students must go through the list of the best books for the CAT VARC section 2026.

VARC Books for CAT Preparation:

How to Prepare for CAT Reading Comprehension?

Reading comprehension is understanding the text and comprehending the ideas that the writer or author wants to convey. The CAT-RC section generally consists of 4-5 passages with approximately 300–400 words each. Each passage will consist of 5 questions, and students will be required to answer the questions based on the passage. To improve one’s reading comprehension, he/she must follow the following points:

• Assess your current reading by observing the time you take to read a passage. To know your capability, pick a passage from any magazine, book, newspaper, or novel and note the instances where you lag, for example, with difficulty understanding a few words.

• If you take time to understand a few words, focus on improving your vocabulary by creating flashcards of the words you were not able to relate to. Write the definition of difficult words. Test yourself by taking the quiz from the words you have written on flashcards.

• Take pleasure in what you read to improve your vocabulary. Hence, embrace whatever you read and don’t make it a constant chore.

• Summarise each time you feel you are getting confused.

• When you feel tired, read the passage aloud.

• Don’t forget to read the previous sections of the text to link to the later paragraphs.

• While practising, discuss the passage with friends based on your understanding, and have a healthy argument with the vocabulary you have learned.