Reading Comprehension for CAT 2024: Pattern, Type of Questions, How to Prepare, Topper Tips
Common Admission Test (CAT) is the largest MBA entrance exam for admission in 21 IIMs and majority of other top B-schools. CAT is a computer based test of two hours duration and is divided into three sections: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension; Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning; Quantitative Ability. Below is the CAT preparation plan for CAT Reading Comprehension
CAT Reading Comprehension or RC for CAT Exam is the most important section with high weightage. With 24 questions out of total 66 questions in CAT exam, RC for CAT commands highest sectional as well as overall weightage in Common Admission Test conducted by IIMs for MBA admission. Out of the three sections in CAT exam, the first Section consists of Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) topics with major share of Reading Comprehension questions. Read below the CAT exam pattern, importance of RC based questions in IIM-CAT exam, weightage, Key Trends, what is the composition, how to prepare for RC, what are Reading Comprehension for CAT tips to solve RC based questions and more
Table of Contents
1. CAT Exam Pattern
2. What is Reading Comprehension for CAT Exam 2024?
3. Verbal Ability Reading Comprehension Topics & Questions Appeared in CAT
4. Reading Comprehension Syllabus for CAT 2024
5. Toppers Tips to prepare Reading Comprehension for CAT 2024
6. Best Reading Comprehension Preparation Books for CAT
7. CAT Reading Comprehension Sample Questions and Answers
8. CAT 2024 VARC Preparation Plan for 6 Months, 3 Months, 1 Month
9. CAT VARC Preparation Tips by Experts and Videos
1. CAT Exam Pattern
During the last few years IIMs have changed the CAT exam pattern. So, before beginning your CAT VARC Preparation check the present exam pattern as below:
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CAT Exam Components
|
No of Questions
(Divided in MCQs & Non MCQs)
|
Sectional Time Limit
(In Minutes)
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Scoring Pattern (Negative Marking is only for MCQs)
|
|
Section-1: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
|
24
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40
|
+3 for Correct;
-1 for Incorrect;
0 for Not Attempted
|
|
Section-2: Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)
|
20
|
40
|
+3 for Correct;
-1 for Incorrect;
0 for Not Attempted
|
|
Section-3: Quantitative Ability (QA)
|
22
|
40
|
+3 for Correct;
-1 for Incorrect;
0 for Not Attempted
|
|
Total
|
66
|
120
|
198
|
2. What is Reading Comprehension for CAT Exam 2024?
The first section in CAT exam is Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC). A passage on Reading Comprehension for CAT can be based on English literature, current affairs, philosophy, scientific inventions, business, economy, sociology or psychological opinion, historical facts, socio-political point of view or any topic under the Sun. The information contained in RC passage must be read with attention as the questions based on it are not direct and have to be answered after properly understanding the passage and contextual meaning of various phrases and words as used in the passage. Each RC passage is followed by a set of 4-5 questions. The RC part commands 67% weightage in VARC section and 24% weightage in overall CAT exam. So, it is very important to prepare well for Reading Comprehension in CAT exam. Read More on RC Passages
3. Verbal Ability Reading Comprehension Topics & Questions Appeared in CAT
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CAT VARC Topic
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Type of Questions Appeared in CAT 2023
|
|
Verbal Ability
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Para Jumbles (2 Qs);
Para Summary (2 Qs);
Out of Context Sentence from jumbled Paragraph (2 Qs);
Completion of Last Sentence of Paragraph (2 Qs)
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|
Reading Comprehension
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4 RC Passages followed by 4 Questions on True False Statement, Argument, Inference, Main Idea, Interpretation of Phrase as used in RC; Author’s Thought Process; Passage Title.
Questions in CAT 2023 were based on RC Passages on Second-hand Shopping and Fast Fashion; Translated Streaming on Netflix in Europe; Why Liberalism Failed (Book Review); What is Historical Fact; Romantic Aesthetics/ Philosophy; Cultural Property Law Exploration of Sites; Nutmeg Curse Environment Degradation; Rational Thinking
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4. Reading Comprehension Syllabus for CAT 2024
Once you know about the Reading Comprehension question Pattern in CAT exam, your next step for preparation is to scan the CAT Syllabus for VARC section. Please note that CAT exam RC syllabus is not pre-defined by IIMs and is based on latest topics that appeared in past CAT exams.
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CAT Syllabus for VARC Topics
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Syllabus
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No of Questions Appeared in CAT 2023
|
|
Verbal Ability
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Para Summary; Jumbled paragraphs; Out of Context Sentence; Error Correction in Sentences; Sequence of sentences; Fill in the blanks; Completion of Last Sentence of Paragraph; Analogies; Critical Reasoning; Sentence Completion
|
8
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|
Reading Comprehension
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RC Passages on Literature, Current Affairs, Social, Economic, Business issues followed by questions based on
Inferences, Statements, Arguments, Main idea in the RC Passage; Author’s assumption; Synonyms-antonyms; Meaning of the phrase; Vocabulary usage
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16
|
|
Total Questions in VARC section
|
--
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24
|
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FAQs Q. Are the RC based questions of MCQ or Non-MCQ type in CAT exam? A. Most of RC based questions in CAT are of MCQ type Q. What is the negative marking for RC based MCQ and Non MCQ type questions? A: MCQs carry 1/3rd negative marking for each wrong answer while there is no negative marking for wrong answer for Non-MCQ type questions
Q. Are there any non-MCQ or no penalty questions based on RC passages? A. Usually No! Although there may not be any non-MCQ following the RC passage, there may be one or two MCQ without negative marking. In such case, Verbal part may consist of questions with negative marking Q. How many questions are based on Reading Comprehension in CAT exam? A. For the last 5 years, there are 4 RC passages and each RC passage is followed by 4 questions. As such RC based questions in CAT exam are 16 out of total 24 questions in VARC section |
5. Toppers Tips for CAT Reading Comprehension Preparation
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Topper Tips “I started with 10 Books, a mix of fiction and notification books for VARC Preparation and then switched to CR practice over free resources like the GMAT club. Also, I enrolled for GEJO's VARC 1000 that helped me know the techniques or strategies I was missing” Ekansh Gupta, CAT Topper 99.91%; IIM Calcutta MBA 2021-23
“VARC is one section which requires existing acumen and little of current preparation” Nandan Goel, CAT Topper 99.95%, IIM Calcutta MBA 2021-23
“I used to give practice all the three sections consistently. I never skipped a particular section, say VARC, because I had to focus on Quants. Learning to strike a balance between three sections is really necessary.” Nikita Agarwal, CAT Topper 99.22%; MDI Gurgaon PGDM 2020-22 |
Reading Comprehension for CAT Tips by Topper Rohan Joshi (99.63 % in CAT)
In an interview with MBAUniverse.com, CAT Topper Rohan Joshi (99.63 % in CAT 2017) explained how he prepared and cracked VARC section. He said, “VARC was most challenging for me and my motive was to just clear the sectional cut off.” However, Rohan ended up with a sectional CAT score of 96.40 in VARC section. He achieved this high percentile by consistent study and taking all sectionals for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension for CAT Tips by Topper Akhil Garg, (99.73% in CAT)
Sharing with MBAUniverse.com, CAT topper Akhil Garg IIM Ahmedabad student of 2017-19 batch, said “I focused a lot on reading different articles and novels, conversing in English with friends and even watching English TV series and movies. I wrote down whatever new words I encountered after reading at least 5-6 newspaper articles every day.”
Reading Comprehension for CAT Tips by Topper Gyayak Jain, (100% in CAT)
In an interview with MBAUniverse.com, CAT topper with 100 percentile and IIM Ahmedabad student of 2017-19 batch, Gyayak Jain said, “I believe I was weak in VARC and therefore I started by looking into model answers given in the solutions and tried to understand if I associated with the logic given in the solution. If I was satisfied with the logic given in the solution, which was not always true, I tried to look problems from that point of view also in the next mock. When I was not convinced with the solution, I ignored the mistake and went ahead with my intuition/logic in next mocks too. If I find that same mistake is repeating, then I tried to find out situations where my logic will not work. I tried experimenting with various exam attempting strategies and realised I get fatigued if I do same kind of problems together in one go, so I mix-matched various types of questions.”
Reading Comprehension for CAT Tips by Topper Rachit Gupta, (99.83% in CAT)
CAT topper with 99.83 percentile, Rachit Gupta, IIM Lucknow student of 2017-19 batch shared with MBAUniverse.com, “I was very weak at the verbal section. The key reason was the slow reading speed. I took course material from TIME and my strategy was to emphasize more on my weakness which was the Verbal section.”
Reading Comprehension for CAT Tips by Topper Sai Praneeth Reddy (100% in CAT)
Sai Praneeth Reddy felt that he needed hard work in VARC which he did in the last one month to CAT. Mocks helped him to improve a lot in CAT preparation. His advice on Verbal Ability preparation for CAT is to learn from mistakes and don’t miss AIMCAT. To improve in VARC the best way, is to start reading novels and articles.
6. Best Reading Comprehension Preparation Books for CAT 2024
Some of the best books for Reading Comprehension for CAT are:
- How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT’- by Arun Sharma & Meenakshi Upadhyay
- ‘Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT’ - by Nishit K Sinha
- Latest RC Passages and practice questions provided by Study centres like TIME, CL among others
- Editorial and short articles published in English news papers
- ‘Word Power Made Easy’ – by Norman Lewis
- ‘High School English Grammar & Composition’ – by Wren & Martin
- Regularly solve the Verbal Ability questions from your study material especially on Para summary, Jumbled Paragraphs
- There is also number of CAT preparation books PDF free download available online for CAT 2024 aspirants
- Use the study material of best online coaching for CAT 2024
7. CAT Reading Comprehension Sample Questions and Answers
Sample RC based questions, CAT previous year Reading Comprehension question papers, RC based Mock tests are the best tool to prepare for CAT Reading Comprehension section. Improving on Reading Comprehension Questions and Answers is important because if you do well in the RC for CAT, you will do well in other related Verbal Ability questions. Below is shared Reading comprehension test for CAT, comprising sample Reading Comprehension Questions and Answers. These CAT Reading Comprehension questions and answers are based on RC passages from latest CAT exam question papers.
Sample RC Passage-1 with Questions & Answers
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose thebest answer for each question.
Many human phenomena and characteristics – such as behaviours, beliefs, economies, genes, incomes, life expectancies, and other things – are influenced both by geographic factors and by non-geographic factors. Geographic factors mean physical and biological factors tied to geographic location, including climate, the distributions of wild plant and animal species, soils, and topography. Non-geographic factors include those factors subsumed under the term culture, other factors subsumed under the term history, and decisions by individual people. . . .
[T] he differences between the current economies of North and South Korea . . . cannot be attributed to the modest environmental differences between [them] . . . They are instead due entirely to the different [government] policies . . . At the opposite extreme, the Inuit and other traditional peoples living north of the Arctic Circle developed warm fur clothes but no agriculture, while equatorial lowland peoples around the world never developed warm fur clothes but often did develop agriculture. The explanation is straightforwardly geographic, rather than a cultural or historical quirk unrelated to geography. . . . Aboriginal Australia remained the sole continent occupied only by hunter/gatherers and with no indigenous farming or herding . . . [Here the] explanation is biogeographic: the Australian continent has no domestic able native animal species and few domestic able native plant species. Instead, the crops and domestic animals that now make Australia a food and wool exporter are all non-native (mainly Eurasian) species such as sheep, wheat, and grapes, brought to Australia by overseas colonists.
Today, no scholar would be silly enough to deny that culture, history, and individual choices play a big role in many human phenomena. Scholars don’t react to cultural, historical, and individual-agent explanations by denouncing “cultural determinism,” “historical determinism, “or “individual determinism,” and then thinking no further. But many scholars do react to any explanation invoking some geographic role, by denouncing “geographic determinism” . . .
Several reasons may underlie this widespread but nonsensical view. One reason is that some geographic explanations advanced a century ago were racist, thereby causing all geographic explanations to become tainted by racist associations in the minds of many scholars other than geographers. But many genetic, historical, psychological, and anthropological explanations advanced a century ago were also racist, yet the validity of newer non-racist genetic etc. explanations is widely accepted today.
Another reason for reflex rejection of geographic explanations is that historians have a tradition, in their discipline, of stressing the role of contingency (a favorite word among historians) based on individual decisions and chance. Often that view is warranted . . . But often, too, that view is unwarranted. The development of warm fur clothes among the Inuitliving north of the Arctic Circle was not because one influential Inuit leader persuaded other Inuit in 1783 to adopt warm fur clothes, for no good environmental reason.
A third reason is that geographic explanations usually depend on detailed technical facts of geography and other fields of scholarship . . . Most historians and economists don’t acquire that detailed knowledge as part of the professional training.
Q.1: The author criticises scholars who are not geographers for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
Ans. Options
1. The importance they place on the role of individual decisions when studying human phenomena.
2. Their labelling of geographic explanations as deterministic.
3. Their outdated interpretations of past cultural and historical phenomena.
4. Their rejection of the role of biogeographic factors in social and cultural phenomena.
Correct Answer: 3
Q.2: All of the following are advanced by the author as reasons why non-geographers disregard geographic influences on human phenomena EXCEPT their:
Ans Options
1. Dismissal of explanations that involve geographical causes for human behaviour.
2. Lingering impressions of past geographic analyses that were politically offensive.
3. Disciplinary training which typically does not include technical knowledge of geography.
4. Belief in the central role of humans, unrelated to physical surroundings, in influencing phenomena.
Correct Answer: 1
Q.3: The examples of the Inuit and Aboriginal Australians are offered in the passage to show:
Ans Options
1. Human resourcefulness across cultures in adapting to their surroundings.
2. That despite geographical isolation, traditional societies were self-sufficient and adaptive.
3. How environmental factors lead to comparatively divergent paths in livelihoods and development.
4. How physical circumstances can dictate human behaviour and cultures.
Correct Answer: 4
Q.4: All of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT:
Ans Options
1. Agricultural practices changed drastically in the Australian continent after it was colonised.
2. While most human phenomena result from culture and individual choice, some havebio-geographic origins.
3. Several academic studies of human phenomena in the past involved racist interpretations.
4. Individual dictat and contingency were not the causal factors for the use of fur clothing in some very cold climates.
Correct Answer: 2
Sample RC Passage-2 with Questions and Answers
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
Residents of Lozère, a hilly department in southern France, recite complaints familiar to many rural corners of Europe. In remote hamlets and villages, with names such as Le Bacon and Le Bacon Vieux, mayors grumble about a lack of local schools, jobs, or phone and internet connections. Farmers of grazing animals add another concern: the return of wolves. Eradicated from France last century, the predators are gradually creeping back to more forests and hillsides. “The wolf must be taken in hand,” said an aspiring parliamentarian, Francis Palombi, when pressed by voters in an election campaign early this summer. Tourists enjoy visiting a wolf park in Lozère, but farmers fret over their livestock and their livelihoods.
As early as the ninth century, the royal office of the Luparii—wolf-catchers—was created in France to tackle the predators. Those official hunters (and others) completed their job in the1930s, when the last wolf disappeared from the mainland. Active hunting and improved technology such as rifles in the 19th century, plus the use of poison such as strychnine later on, caused the population collapse. But in the early 1990s the animals reappeared. They crossed the Alps from Italy, upsetting sheep farmers on the French side of the border. Wolves have since spread to areas such as Lozère, delighting environmentalists, who see the predators’ presence as a sign of wider ecological health. Farmers, who say the wolves cause the deaths of thousands of sheep and other grazing animals, are less cheerful. They grumble that green activists and politically correct urban types have allowed the return of an old enemy.
Various factors explain the changes of the past few decades. Rural depopulation is part of the story. In Lozère, for example, farming and a once-flourishing mining industry supported a population of over 140,000 residents in the mid-19th century. Today the department has fewer than 80,000 people, many in its towns. As humans withdraw, forests are expanding. In France, between 1990 and 2015, forest cover increased by an average of 102,000 hectares each year, as more fields were given over to trees. Now, nearly one-third of mainland Franceis covered by woodland of some sort. The decline of hunting as a sport also means more forests fall quiet. In the mid-to-late 20th century over 2m hunters regularly spent winter weekends tramping in woodland, seeking boars, birds and other prey. Today the Fédération Nationale des Chasseurs, the national body, claims 1.1m people hold hunting licences, though the number of active hunters is probably lower. The mostly protected status of the wolfin Europe—hunting them is now forbidden, other than when occasional culls are sanctioned by the state—plus the efforts of NGOs to track and count the animals, also contribute to the recovery of wolf populations.
As the lupine population of Europe spreads westwards, with occasional reports of wolves seen closer to urban areas, expect to hear of more clashes between farmers and those who celebrate the predators’ return. Farmers’ losses are real, but are not the only economic story. Tourist venues, such as parks where wolves are kept and the animals’ spread is discussed, also generate income and jobs in rural areas.
Q.5: Which one of the following has NOT contributed to the growing wolf population inLozère?
Ans Options
1. The shutting down of the royal office of the Luparii.
2. An increase in woodlands and forest cover in Lozère.
3. The granting of a protected status to wolves in Europe.
4. A decline in the rural population of Lozère.
Correct Answer: 1
Q.6: Which one of the following statements, if true, would weaken the author’s claims?
Ans Options
1. Wolf attacks on tourists in Lozère are on the rise.
2. Having migrated out in the last century, wolves are now returning to Lozère.
3. Unemployment concerns the residents of Lozère.
4. The old mining sites of Lozère are now being used as grazing pastures for sheep.
Correct Answer: 1
Q.7: The author presents a possible economic solution to an existing issue facing Lozère that takes into account the divergent and competing interests of:
Ans Options
1. Politicians and farmers.
2. Environmentalists and politicians.
3. Farmers and environmentalists.
4. Tourists and environmentalists.
Correct Answer: 3
Q.8: The inhabitants of Lozère have to grapple with all of the following problems, EXCEPT:
Ans Options
1. Livestock losses.
2. Poor rural communication infrastructure.
3. Lack of educational facilities.
4. Decline in the number of hunting licences.
Correct Answer: 4
Sample RC Passage-3 with Questions and Answers
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose thebest answer for each question.
Fifty years after its publication in English in 1972, and just a year since Marshall Sahlins himself died—we may ask: why did his essay “Original Affluent Society” have such an impact, and how has it fared since? . . . Sahlins’s principal argument was simple but counterintuitive: before being driven into marginal environments by colonial powers, hunter-gatherers, or foragers, were not engaged in a desperate struggle for meager survival. Quite the contrary, they satisfied their needs with far less work than people in agricultural and industrial societies, leaving them more time to use as they wished. Hunters, he quipped, keep bankers’ hours. Refusing to maximize, many were “more concerned with games of chance than with chances of game.” . . . The so-called Neolithic Revolution, rather than improving life, imposed a harsher work regime and set in motion the long history of growing inequality.
Moreover, foragers had other options. The contemporary Hadza of Tanzania, who had long been surrounded by farmers, knew they had alternatives and rejected them. To Sahlins, this showed that foragers are not simply examples of human diversity or victimhood but something more profound: they demonstrated that societies make real choices. Culture, away of living oriented around a distinctive set of values, manifests a fundamental principle of collective self-determination.
But the point of the essay is not so much the empirical validity of the data—the real interest for most readers, after all, is not in foragers either today or in the Paleolithic—but rather its conceptual challenge to contemporary economic life and bourgeois individualism. The empirical served a philosophical and political project, a thought experiment and stimulus to the imagination of possibilities.
With its title’s nod toward The Affluent Society (1958), economist John Kenneth Galbraith’s famously skeptical portrait of America’s post-war prosperity and inequality, and dripping with New Left contempt for consumerism, “The Original Affluent Society” brought this critical perspective to bear on the contemporary world. It did so through the classic anthropological move of showing that radical alternatives to the readers’ lives really exist. If the capitalist world seeks wealth through ever greater material production to meet infinitely expansive desires, foraging societies follow “the Zen road to affluence”: not by getting more, but by wanting less. If it seems that foragers have been left behind by “progress,” this is due only to the ethnocentric self-congratulation of the West. Rather than accumulate material goods, these societies are guided by other values: leisure, mobility, and above all, freedom.
Viewed in today’s context, of course, not every aspect of the essay has aged well. While acknowledging the violence of colonialism, racism, and dispossession, it does not thematize them as heavily as we might today. Rebuking evolutionary anthropologists for treating present-day foragers as “left behind” by progress, it too can succumb to the temptation to use them as proxies for the Paleolithic. Yet these characteristics should not distract us from appreciating Sahlins’s effort to show that if we want to conjure new possibilities, we need to learn about actually inhabitable worlds.
Q.9: The author of the passage criticizes Sahlins’s essay for its:
Ans Options
1. Outdated values regarding present-day foragers versus ancient foraging communities.
2. Failure to supplement its thesis with robust empirical data.
3. Cursory treatment of the effects of racism and colonialism on societies.
4. Critique of anthropologists who disparage the choices of foragers in today’s society.
Correct Answer: 3
Q.10: The author of the passage mentions Galbraith’s “The Affluent Society” to:
Ans Options
1. Document the influence of Galbraith’s cynical views on modern consumerism on Sahlins’s analysis of pre-historic societies.
2. Show how Sahlins’s views complemented Galbraith’s criticism of the consumerism and inequality of contemporary society.
3. Show how Galbraith’s theories refute Sahlins’s thesis on the contentment of pre-hunter-gatherer communities.
4. Contrast the materialist nature of contemporary growth paths with the pacifist content ways of living among the foragers.
Correct Answer: 2
Q.11: We can infer that Sahlins's main goal in writing his essay was to:
Ans Options
1. Put forth the view that, despite egalitarian origins, economic progress brings greaterinequality and social hierarchies.
2. Hold a mirror to an acquisitive society, with examples of other communities that have chosensuccessfully to be non-materialistic.
3. Highlight the fact that while we started off as a fairly contented egalitarian people, we haveprogressively degenerated into materialism.
4. Counter Galbraith’s pessimistic view of the inevitability of a capitalist trajectory for economicgrowth.
Correct Answer: 2
Q.12: The author mentions Tanzania’s Hadza community to illustrate:
Ans Options
1. That hunter-gatherer communities’ subsistence-level techniques equipped them to survivewell into contemporary times.
2. That forager communities’ lifestyles derived not from ignorance about alternatives, but fromtheir own choice.
3. How two vastly different ways of living and working were able to coexist in proximity forcenturies.
4. How pre-agrarian societies did not hamper the emergence of more advanced agrarianpractices in contiguous communities.
Correct Answer: 2
Sample RC Passage-4 with Questions and Answers
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
For early postcolonial literature, the world of the novel was often the nation. Postcolonial novels were usually concerned with national questions. Sometimes the whole story of the novel was taken as an allegory of the nation, whether India or Tanzania. This was important for supporting anti-colonial nationalism, but could also be limiting – land-focused and inward-looking.
My new book “Writing Ocean Worlds” explores another kind of world of the novel: not the village or nation, but the Indian Ocean world. The book describes a set of novels in which the Indian Ocean is at the centre of the story. It focuses on the novelists Amitav Ghosh, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Lindsey Collen and Joseph Conrad who have centred the Indian Ocean world in the majority of their novels. . . . Their work reveals a world that is outward-looking –full of movement, border-crossing and south-south interconnection. They are all very different– from colonially inclined (Conrad) to radically anti-capitalist (Collen), but together draw on and shape a wider sense of Indian Ocean space through themes, images, metaphors and language. This has the effect of remapping the world in the reader’s mind, as centred in the interconnected global south. . . .
The Indian Ocean world is a term used to describe the very long-lasting connections among the coasts of East Africa, the Arab coasts, and South and East Asia. These connections were made possible by the geography of the Indian Ocean. For much of history, travel by sea was much easier than by land, which meant that port cities very far apart were often more easily connected to each other than to much closer inland cities. Historical and archaeological evidence suggests that what we now call globalisation first appeared in the Indian Ocean. This is the interconnected oceanic world referenced and produced by the novels in my book.
For their part Ghosh, Gurnah, Collen and even Conrad reference a different set of histories and geographies than the ones most commonly found in fiction in English. Those [commonly found ones] are mostly centred in Europe or the US, assume a background of Christianity and whiteness, and mention places like Paris and New York. The novels in [my] book highlight instead a largely Islamic space, feature characters of colour and centralise the ports of Malindi, Mombasa, Aden, Java and Bombay. . . . It is a densely imagined, richly sensory image of a southern cosmopolitan culture which provides for an enlarged sense of place in the world.
This remapping is particularly powerful for the representation of Africa. In the fiction, sailors and travellers are not all European. . . . African, as well as Indian and Arab characters, are traders, nakhodas (dhow ship captains), runaways, villains, missionaries and activists. This does not mean that Indian Ocean Africa is romanticised. Migration is often a matter of force; travel is portrayed as abandonment rather than adventure, freedoms are kept from women and slavery is rife. What it does mean is that the African part of the Indian Ocean world plays an active role in its long, rich history and therefore in that of the wider world.
Q.13: Which one of the following statements is not true about migration in the Indian Oceanworld?
Ans Options
1. The Indian Ocean world’s migration networks were shaped by religious and commercial histories of the region.
2. Migration in the Indian Ocean world was an ambivalent experience.
3. The Indian Ocean world’s migration networks connected the global north with the global south.
4. Geographical location rather than geographical proximity determined the choice ofdestination for migrants.
Correct Answer: 3
Q.14: All of the following statements, if true, would weaken the passage’s claim about the relationship between mainstream English-language fiction and Indian Ocean novels EXCEPT:
Ans Options
1. The depiction of Africa in most Indian Ocean novels is driven by a postcolonial nostalgia for an idyllic past.
2. Very few mainstream English-language novels have historically been set in American and European metropolitan centres.
3. The depiction of Africa in most Indian Ocean novels is driven by an Orientalist imagination of its cultural crudeness.
4. Most mainstream English-language novels have historically privileged the Christian, white, male experience of travel and adventure.
Correct Answer: 4
Q.15: All of the following claims contribute to the “remapping” discussed by the passage, EXCEPT:
Ans Options
1. The global south, as opposed to the global north, was the first centre of globalisation.
2. The world of early international trade and commerce was not the sole domain of white Europeans.
3. Cosmopolitanism originated in the West and travelled to the East through globalisation.
4. Indian Ocean novels have gone beyond the specifics of national concerns to explore rich regional pasts.
Correct Answer: 3
Q.16: On the basis of the nature of the relationship between the items in each pair below,choose the odd pair out:
Ans Options
1. Postcolonial novels : Anti-colonial nationalism
2. Indian Ocean world : Slavery
3. Postcolonial novels : Border-crossing
4. Indian Ocean novels : Outward-lookingz
Correct Answer: 3
(VARC Prep Plan, Out of the comprehensive CAT Preparation Plan from preparation page)
8. CAT 2024 Reading Comprehension Preparation Plan for 6 Months, 3 Months, 1 Month
180 days (6 Month) CAT VARC Preparation Plan 2024
The Reading Comprehension CAT preparation plan 2024 for next 180 days beginning from March/April, include your judiciously divided preparation hours and everything related to VARC preparation with at least 30 minutes of daily reading of newspapers, attending expert sessions on CAT preparation, your practice sessions, doubt solving sessions and all other preparation related steps.
In next 180 days, you have close to 3600 hours available with you. According to CAT experts, you are expected to spend 15 to 20% of available hours out of 24 hours per day on CAT preparation. Accordingly, you have to spend 800 hours during next 180 days on CAT preparation and divide the same on Scanning the CAT Syllabus and divide it into sections for study; Choose Time Lines to complete the task one after another as follows:
- First 90 Days: Clear the Concepts & their Applications, Go for Tests. By the end of 85 days, you will know the topics, type of questions, that are asked in CAT VARC, their key concepts, how to answer
- Next 60 Days: Devise Strategy and Take Mocks, Sectional tests
-
Last 30 Days: Go for revision and frame final strategy
CAT VARC Preparation Study Plan: April, May, June, July
During March, April, May, June, July, devote 500 hours minimum to strengthen your concepts on the topics as per CAT syllabus and get complete clarity with attempting exercise questions on each concept simultaneously. This will help you to revise and understand how strong your basics have become and where you need further study of concepts.
How to Prepare for CAT 2024: 180 Days VARC Preparation Plan
Focus both on Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. You can very well prepare for VARC section in 150 Hours in following manner
|
Verbal Ability (Vocab)/ Grammar
|
30 min per day
|
|
Reading Comprehension
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30 min per day
|
|
Total Hours for VA and RC practice
|
90 hours
|
|
Classes (10)
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30 hours
|
|
Practice on Topic Tests (100 Tests)
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30 hours
|
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Total for Next 120 days
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150 hours
|
Overall Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension Section Month-wise Preparation Plan
|
Month
|
March, April
|
May, June
|
July, August
|
September, October
|
November
|
|
VA
|
Vocab
|
Vocab
|
Vocab
|
Vocab
|
Vocab
|
|
RC
|
Reading
|
Reading
|
Reading
|
Reading
|
Reading
|
VARC Mocks for CAT 2024: Start Taking CAT Mocks from August
Attempting maximum number of Mocks for CAT and analysing each of them is as important as appearing in actual CAT 2024 exam. So, what should be the Mock taking strategy and how many mocks you need to attempt – all details are shared below to prepare well for CAT 2024.
Spend Exact 2 Hours to Attempt 1 Mock Test
Each Mock is of 2 hours duration and you not only have to attempt the mock but also have to maximise your attempts with accuracy. How it can be achieved-Check below
Devote 3 hours to Analyse a Mock Test
After completing your CAT mock test in 2 hours, next 3 hours should be devoted to its analysis so that you may understand where you have gone wrong. Identifying your errors and rectifying them, will consistently improve your test taking strategy. If you take the mock at the scheduled hour, you will be ready for CAT day.
When to Start Taking Mocks? Experts explain
According to CAT experts, you should start taking Mocks and analyse each of them, beginning from August 3rd or 4th week
300 Hours that You Need for Different Types of Mocks:
You need to attempt 4 Types of Mocks. These four type of Mock tests that you would take in 300 hours and their time division to get ready for CAT exam day are:
75 Hours for Prime Mocks: Beginning from August, you must start taking full length prime mock tests.
- There would be 15 mock tests of 2 hours duration and each mock will be divided into 3 sections – VARC, DILR, Quant
- Each section in mock test will have sectional time limit of 40 minutes as is there in the CAT exam
- Each 2 hours Mock test should go through the 3 hours analysis to check and avoid any recurrence of similar mistake.
75 Hours for Count Down Mocks: After the first 75 hours, you need to move to full length count Down Mocks. Since CAT exam starts coming a bit closer, you would also be increasing your CAT preparation time.
- There will be at least 15 count down mock tests of 2 hours duration
- Like Prime mock, each Count Down Mock will be divided into 3 sections – VARC, DILR, Quant.
- Each section in mock test will have sectional time limit of 40 minutes, like actual CAT exam. Each 2 hours Mock test will again go through the 3 hours analysis to avoid any future error.
Sectional Mocks in 90 Hours: Next most important thing is to attempt sectional mocks. In other words these are the sectional CAT papers.
- You need to attempt at least 15 Mock Tests on Reading Comprehension
- Attempt 15 Mocks on Verbal Ability
- Take complete 15 VARC Mock Tests
- Each sectional mock should be of 40 minute duration
- Each Sectional Mock must be followed by 80 minutes of analysis to check your preparedness in each section.
Solve Actual CAT Papers in 60 Hours: Since 2017 IIMs have started releasing the CAT exam papers for all the slots with answers.
- There are total 18 CAT question papers available so far, that you need to go through, solve and analyse
- In 2017, 2018, 2019 CAT was conducted in two slots of 3 hours duration on same day.
- In 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 CAT was conducted in 3 slots of 2 hours duration on the same day.
- There are 6 CAT question papers of 2017, 2018 and 2019 as there were 2 slots in each CAT exam,
- There are 12 CAT papers for 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 as there were 3 slots in each CAT exam.
- It is very important that you solve and analyse these CAT papers.
|
Type of Mocks |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Total |
|
Prime Mocks |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
12 |
|
Count Down Mocks |
2 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
15 |
|
Original CAT Question papers |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
18 |
|
Total Mocks |
8 |
8 |
9 |
11 |
9 |
45 |
|
Sectional Tests |
9 |
6 |
9 |
6 |
6 |
39 |
Attempt Previous CAT question papers
CAT VARC 3 Months Preparation Plan
- In last 3 months obviously, you will have more speed
- So, Use only 1 Month to prepare on concepts if not yet done
- Further improve your strengths
- In case you need to start some thing new, complete it latest by September
- Go for more practice sessions and taking Mocks
- Spend more time on CAT preparation.
CAT VARC 1 Month Preparation Plan
- In last 1 month avoid starting anything new
- Your Mock Taking Speed will increase, so use it taking Mocks and analysing them
- Take 4 VA Sectional Mocks and 2 Full Length Mocks every week
- Further improve your strengths
- Spend more time on Revision
9. CAT VARC Preparation Tips & Videos by Experts & Toppers
You need to prepare for Reading Comprehension section in CAT with an attentive and focused strategy. Arun Sharma, the well known CAT mentor and founder of CAT Coaching Institute Mindworkzz, has recommended to work on building your skills to be able to understand complex passages, complex articles on complex topics and must learn how to catch hold of the idea in RC even if it's slightly above the level.
RC for CAT Exam: 4 Steps to Crack
One thing should however be remembered that Reading comprehension exercises are only expanded form of the Unseen Passages that you used to solve in your matriculation standard. Sharing the reading comprehension for CAT tips on how to prepare for Reading Comprehension questions, Experts and toppers suggest the four steps to crack the Reading Comprehension Test for CAT:
- Understand the English vocabulary,
- Continue with Consistent flow of thoughts in RC Passages,
- Read between the lines to crack the meaning
- Arrive at the correct and decisive answer option for the questions based on Reading Comprehension passages for CAT
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100 Days to CAT: How to Crack CAT by Hemang Panchmatia, CAT Mentor & Program Director, PG-India at IMS Learning
Read More: CAT 2024 - Exam Date, Registration, Syllabus, Preparation, Books
