The Reading Comprehension (RC) is an important part of the VARC section in the CAT exam that assesses your skills to comprehend, analyze, and interpret complicated passages. Gaining expertise in RC from average is not an easy task and demands consistent practice and intelligent strategy. This article is going to demystify practical steps you can adopt to improve your RC skills for preparation in the CAT 2025 exam, from average to expert.
Also Read: CAT 2025 VARC Guide for Engineers
#1 Begin Daily Reading Practice
To improve your CAT RC preparation from average to expert, you must get into the habit of reading various materials daily. Newspapers, editorials, non-fiction books, research papers, and business reports must be a part of your everyday reading. This exposes you to various writing styles, arguments, and vocabulary levels. Recent trends of CAT RC show passages tend to draw from economics, philosophy, and science, so wide reading becomes essential. Regular practice not only refines understanding but also increases your skill and capability of tackling difficult reading passages within a short span of time in the exam.
#2 Practice Active Reading
To improve your RC skills from average to expert for the CAT 2025 exam, the focus should be on active reading rather than passive reading. While reading through passages, underline or highlight significant phrases, jot down short notes in your own words, and keep questioning the main point and supporting arguments. This improves understanding and reduces the need to read over the text a number of times during the exam. According to most past years' CAT toppers, active reading not only enhances accuracy in RC but also saves you approximately 20-25% of your time, giving you a squeaky clean competitive advantage.
#3 Concentrate and Improve Your Reading Speed
It is necessary to improve your reading speed to save time and understand the information better. Instead of reading word by word, try to recognise clusters of words or short phrases at once. Moving your eyes while accompanied by a finger or a pointer maintains your concentration and minimizes distraction. Try to reduce subvocalization, which slows down readers. The ideal target is 300-350 words per minute, coupled with clear comprehension.
Also Read: Tips to Reduce Exam Anxiety in CAT VARC Section
#4 Acclimatize to Various Kinds of RC Passages
To excel in CAT 2025 RC, you will have to recognize different passage styles and adjust your approach accordingly.
- Factual paragraphs usually test factual information or cause-and-effect relationships, so keyword scanning and specific details work best.
- Philosophical works should be read closely because questions usually aim at inference, tone, or the central topic. Thus, you must read arguments carefully.
- Opinion-based sentences highlight the opinion of the author, thereby making it easier to identify bias, tone, and primary supporting points, allowing you to answer questions more accurately.
#5 Take Regular Mock Tests and Reviews
Practice questions and review them regularly if you want to take your CAT RC skills from average to expert level. Start with solving old year RC sets and timed reading exercise sets to build accuracy levels before trying to expand attempts. Reviews are no less important than practice; revisiting mistakes allows you to identify weaknesses, such as vocabulary or inference-based questions. CAT mock tests also allow you to track progress for weeks, with measurable, incremental gains. According to many CAT toppers, daily timed practice significantly enhances accuracy and general confidence.
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FAQs
A well-designed CAT RC article should include the most important areas: how to develop the reading habit, passage structure (main idea, tone, arguments), practising varied topics, inference and question types, how to manage time, and how to adopt strategies such as skimming, scanning, and elimination of incorrect options to enhance accuracy and speed.
- Begin by scanning the passage within 1-2 minutes, reading the starting and ending lines of every paragraph to get a sense of the flow.
- Afterwards, skim the questions and then read the passage thoroughly, so you will already know what to concentrate on.
- Eliminate the wrong options, and do not spend more than approximately 2 minutes on a single question.
- If in doubt, make an educated guess and come back to it later.
In CAT exams, you will commonly find RC passages from subjects like business, economics, science, technology, philosophy, sociology, and humanities. The question types cover main ideas, vocabulary, inference, tone, facts, passage structure, and title selection, testing your comprehension and reasoning skills.
To increase your speed and accuracy for CAT RC questions, practice with a timer for 8-10 minutes per passage. Practice the paragraph-to-question method to read selectively, not read the passage again, and have elimination skills for answer options. Consistent practice of previous years’ question papers increases confidence and improves your inference skills.
Building reading endurance or mental stamina requires training. Spending 30 to 40 minutes each day on concentrated reading increases your reading speed and understanding over a period of time. Regular breaks between reading sessions prevent exhaustion. Combine this with listening to analytical podcasts or audiobooks, which condition your mind to process words at a faster rate. Most of the toppers of competitive exams follow this balanced approach to sharper outcomes.
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