Mastering CAT 2024 Reading Comprehension Passages

Reading Comprehension is a long passage that aims to get meaning from written text. Comprehension adds meaning to what is being read. As you read the passage, fetch the information and get a meaning from it. Students learn new words from the passages, and their writing and communication skills get better. To score good marks in the CAT exam, one has to master the reading comprehension part.

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This Story also Contains

1. CAT RC Previous Year Weightage
2. Tips on How to Solve CAT Reading Comprehension
3. Reading comprehension passages for CAT 2024
4. Myths Around CAT RC Preparation
5. Issues Faced by Candidates in CAT Reading Comprehension
6. CAT Reading Comprehension Strategy
7. CAT RC: Mistakes to Avoid
8. Best Books for CAT RC Preparation
9. Other Useful Resources

CAT RC Previous Year Weightage

Reading comprehension topic consists of questions like Order of sentences, Questions based on passages, and Para meanings.

In the CAT VARC section, there will be 24 questions with a weightage of 72 marks. Reading comprehension has the highest weightage with 16 questions out of 24, making it the most important part of the VARC section. The expected weightage of the RC section is 66.67%.

In general, there is one very difficult passage every year to analyze the student’s thinking depth and grasp on analyzing the passage.

• The difficulty level of the questions remains moderate to hard though many candidates who took the 2023 exam thought the overall paper was tough.

• In 2022, there were 4 RC passages with 4 questions each. Topics of those passages were philosophy and religion to culture and anthropology.

• In 2021, the topics of the passages were Mayan civilization, Utopia and Dystopia, the Marshmallow experiment, and the Evolution of tea as a drink.

• There is a 40-minute sectional time limit.

• The number of RC questions has been consistent for the previous 5 years, which makes it an important chapter to study.

Tips on How to Solve CAT Reading Comprehension

Now, we will discuss some of the tips to approach the passages in the VARC section and how to solve them smoothly.

• Reading the Passage First vs. Skimming

In the method of Skimming, students focus on the main ideas of a text strategically and selectively.
First, students have to analyse the pattern of the passage. If it is a dense, abstract, literature, or scientific debate chapter, then they have to read the full passage and understand the shades and underlying concepts of the chapter. In this way, they can grasp subtle arguments and inferences to answer all the asked questions from that chapter.

If the passage has straightforward data, history or general information, where they can easily locate key points, then skimming is the best approach to deal with that passage. The skimming method is also very helpful when students have time constraints.

• Identifying Key Points and Arguments

Generally, the first line of a passage gives you a brief view of what lies inside the passage and the ending 2-3 lines give an insight of the author’s points. Try to understand the tone of the author like if he is biased or neutral, positive or negative, optimistic or skeptical, look for adjectives or adverbs to support your conclusion.

Underline the date, time, or places to quickly locate important information. Words or points that are repeated often give the core idea of the topic.

• Answering Different Question Types

There will be two types of questions, fact-based and opinion-based.

Fact-based questions often ask for specific information.

To answer a fact-based question, you can either read the passage thoroughly or you can locate the relevant word from the question in the passage and write the exact answer.

On the other hand, Opinion-based questions are a bit tricky. To answer this type of question, you have to read between the lines and understand the implications or conclusions. These questions test the analyzing skill set of students.

To answer vocabulary questions, if the meaning of a word is unknown to you, then try to understand it by reading the full sentence or surrounding sentences.

For tone-related questions, the choice of words is very important. Try to understand the overall meaning of the passage from the author’s point of view. (e.g., sarcastic, neutral, or serious)

• Time Management for RC Questions

In CAT Exam, time management plays a crucial role. If the passage is long, then try skimming the passage in 3-4 minutes. Do the fact-based questions in 30-40 seconds locating the keywords from the question.

If the passage is not that long, then try to read the passage in 4-5 minutes. Once you understand the passage, then you can easily answer the opinion-based questions.

If you find a particular question difficult, then move on to the next passage, and return if you have time later.

Reading comprehension passages for CAT 2024

To ace the CAT exam in the reading comprehension section, a student has to practice and read lots of diverse topics and subjects.

Here are some of the most common and important topics and subjects for the CAT 2024 exam.

Reading Comprehension Passages for CAT 2024 on Environment

Passages on the environment are the most important for the CAT exam. Environment topics generally cover climate change, biodiversity, environmental policies, and sustainability.

Some of the topics are:

• Climate change and its impact on ecosystems.

• Conservation efforts and biodiversity loss.

• Environmental policies and sustainable development goals.

• Global warming and its societal impacts.

Reading Comprehension Passages for CAT 2024 on Business and Economics

Business and economics are also very common in the comprehension section and these passages involve inference-based questions. Business and economics topics include discussions on markets, global trade, business strategies, or economic policies.

Some of the topics are:

• The role of multinational corporations in global trade.

• Impact of economic policies on emerging markets.

• Business strategies in the age of digital transformation.

• Economic theories on inflation, recession, or growth.

Reading Comprehension Passages for CAT 2024 on Science and Technology

Science and technology texts discuss the latest advancements in areas like artificial intelligence, biotechnology, space-related articles, and physics. These passages can be quite abstract and students should approach them with caution.

Some of the important topics include:

• Developments in artificial intelligence and their ethical ramifications.

• Space exploration and the future of interplanetary travel.

• Developments in biotechnology and genetic engineering.

• The impact of quantum computing on modern technology.

Reading Comprehension Passages for CAT 2024 on Philosophy and Literature

Philosophical and literature passages are also very frequent in any type of examination. These topics are also quite abstract and challenging. Students need to understand the fundamental meaning of these passages to correctly answer all the questions.

Some of the topics are:

• Theories about ethics and morality.

• Existentialism and its significance to modern society.

• Literary criticism of key works in classical literature.

• Discussions on aesthetics and the philosophy of art.

Reading Comprehension Passages for CAT 2024 on History and Social Issues

History and social issues passages cover topics like revolutions, historical movements, or current challenges in society such as inequality or justice. These passages are generally fact-driven and full of information. Students should read and follow recent social trends to better understand these topics.

Some of the topics are:

• Historical revolutions and their impact on modern society.

• The influence of social movements on political landscapes.

• Discussions surrounding social justice, equity, and human rights.

• The evolution of gender equality over time.

Myths Around CAT RC Preparation

There are some myths circulating about the preparation of the CAT exam. Breaking those myths will help a student to focus more and succeed in the CAT exam.

Myth 1: Only Fast Readers Can Do Well in RC

Rushing through the comprehension passage is not the right way to approach this section. This will effectively save time but if you don’t understand the core meaning of the passage, then it is a waste of time. Speed is important but understanding the passage through speed is more important. You can’t answer opinion-based questions if you don’t understand the perspective of the author, the significance of the key arguments and the ability to pinpoint important keywords.

Myth 2: You Must Read Complex Literature to Prepare

During the preparation for the CAT exam, practising and reading complex literature assist a student in grasping an RC passage quickly, but it is not the sole method to approach this section.

In the exam, the passages come from different topics like history, sports, literature, science, economics, social issues, etc. Reading diverse materials like magazines, newspapers, books, or journals helps to get familiar with those topics. However high-level literature is often not required to prepare for the exam. Rather constant practice of different genres will help a student grasp more and be ready for the exam.

Myth 3: Attempting All RC Questions is Necessary

Focus on accuracy while answering the RC questions rather than the quantity of questions you are attempting. Accuracy is always an important factor in those exams where there are negative marks for wrong answers. Most of the students have a misconception that attempting all the RC questions is necessary. Only attempt those questions in which you are confident. Don’t try to guess and answer mcq questions. This increases the negative marking and hampers your exam marks. Leave difficult or ambiguous questions where you are not sure of the answers.

Myth 4: Vocabulary is Key to Scoring High in RC

Good knowledge of the vocabulary will surely be essential for understanding certain words or contexts but to answer most of the questions in the RC part, one has to understand the full meaning of the passage. During approaching vocabulary-based questions, students can often infer meanings of a definite word from the context of the sentence or surrounding sentences, making it unnecessary to know the exact definition of every word.

Issues Faced by Candidates in CAT Reading Comprehension

We have discussed some of the issues students faced in the RC section and their probable solutions below.

Lack of Focus and Concentration

Students often lose focus and concentration while reading long and complex passages and fail to locate important points due to rushing those passages.

Split down long passages into smaller halves to read and understand the meaning of the passages. Always try to underline or highlight the important parts as per your understanding. For that understanding, read journals, newspapers or magazines daily, and practice lots of RC passages during your preparation time before appearing in the CAT exam. That will help you to improve your attention span and familiarity with various writing styles, making it easier to stay focused during the exam.

Difficulty in Understanding Complex Passages

Some of the passages that come in the CAT exam are very complex and hard to understand. Approaching these types of passages often requires understanding the main idea or thoughts of the author, which most students often get confused about. Abstract topics like philosophy or economics are difficult to understand.

Generally in the first two or three lines, you will get the idea about the topic of the passage and focus on important details to understand the main argument of that passage. Underline important lines or words which you think will be useful in answering the questions. This will help you to answer questions easily.

Time Pressure

Due to time constraints, students often feel pressure in the RC section during the exam, especially if one or two of the passages are long. This leads them to rush through the passage without understanding the core meaning of the passage and giving wrong answers.

Try to fix time for each passage like 4-5 minutes, and for some passages, skimming is the best option to save time. Do not invest too much time in one passage or one question. Skip them at that moment and return later if you have time. Focus on the accuracy and quality of the answers rather than trying to attempt every question.

Confusion with Inference-Based Questions

Inference-based or opinion-based questions are very tricky to solve. To answer these questions, one has to understand the core meaning of the passage, read between the lines, and look for the author’s idea about the passage. Inferential questions often have two or three options that are close but incorrect. Students have to eliminate the most contradictory or absurd options first. Then after understanding the author’s point of view about the passage, choose the correct answer.

CAT Reading Comprehension Strategy

Build a Reading Habit

The passages that come in the CAT exam cover a wide range of subjects like science, literature, technology, philosophy, economics, sports and current events. Students should read various types of material to enhance their familiarity with these topics. Ultimately this will boost their confidence to approach the questions from these passages.

Follow magazines and journals daily and try to understand the perspective, tone, and arguments made by the author. During practice, if you are unfamiliar with the meaning of any word, look it up on the internet or in a dictionary and understand the context of using that word in the passage. This practice will help you to deal with complex topics.

Practice Active Reading Techniques

Reading the whole passage and understanding the idea of the passage is always good for answering all the questions. After reading the whole passage, summarize the core meaning of the passage, underline key points or words, and make the answer to the questions in your mind before seeing the options. This reduces confusion when faced with close answer choices. These techniques will also increase your accuracy in the exam.

Practice Mock Tests and Analyze Performance

Give atleast three to four time-based mock tests per week to feel time pressure and prepare a strategy to avoid wastage of time. Review your tests and analyze where you lack or where the mistakes are happening mostly. Often mistakes happen in the RC part, due to misinterpretation of the passage.

Rectify those mistakes and understand the passage more deeply.

Adaptive Strategy Based on Question Difficulty

In the exam, first answer all the fact-based questions with surety. This will save time and give you confidence. Then deal with the opinion-based or inference-based questions. These questions are time-consuming and also need your full understanding of the passage. Avoid difficult or ambiguous questions, and move on to the next questions. Come back later to those questions if you have time left.

Handling Different Passage Types

Learning the trades to handle different types of passages is one of the most important parts of the preparation.

For example, scientific passages are mainly data-based passages. So, try to understand the author’s arguments and the structure of the passage and note the conclusions made by the author.

Handing narrative passages like stories are adjudged quite simple rather than other topics. So note all the character developments and the events around them to answer the questions.

For factual passages, skimming is the best option as the passages are straightforward with the pieces of information. This will also save some time and you can invest those saved time in other passages.

Abstract passages like philosophy or economics are adjudged the most tricky and difficult. Handle these passages carefully and try to understand the core idea of the passage. Pay attention to the tone of the author and the implied meanings of the sentences.

CAT RC: Mistakes to Avoid

There are some common mistakes a student makes during the CAT exam. We will review those mistakes and try to find a solution for those mistakes. Avoiding those mistakes will improve the accuracy and score of a student and the chance of success will increase.

Overthinking Simple Questions

Some of the students overthink a simple fact-based question and waste too much time to find the deeper meaning of that simple question. Then they get confused and give wrong answers to simple questions. Trust your initial understanding and instincts, rather than doubting it and making it complex.

Reading the Passage Too Quickly

To save time, sometimes students read hastily without understanding the core meaning of the passage. Then they either write wrong answers or try to reread the passage while answering the question. This will waste so much time. Practice reading regularly to find a balance between speed and understanding.

Not Reviewing Answer Options Carefully

After reading a question, sometimes students jump to conclusions quickly and choose the first possible option without reviewing other options. This often leads to wrong answers. First, check all the options and eliminate the obvious wrong ones. Then decide which option is best among the rest in the context of the given question.

Skipping the Passage Context

Only reading specific parts of the passages and missing the overall concept of the passage often leads to giving incorrect answers to opinion-based questions. To answer those questions, a student has to understand the inner concept of the passage or the broader narrative.

Best Books for CAT RC Preparation

Other Useful Resources

1. How to Prepare for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension for CAT by Meenakshi Upadhyay and Arun Sharma (9th Edition)

2. How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT | 9th Edition