o Reading Comprehensions– -The CPU of VARC in CAT exam
Most of the aspirants are unlikely to disagree that Reading Comprehensions (RC) justify their tag of being the CPU of VARC or even CAT. The fact that it constitutes not less than 65% of the verbal section only strengthens this profound belief. According to the law of average, bigger the impact, the more complexity it is bound to possess.
o The Source and paradigm of passages visible in CAT Reading Comprehensions ?
The source of passages to start with lies in philosophy, sociology, psychology, history, sociology, economics, business, art, science, technology, etc. The passages are mostly from esoteric books, global magazines such as the National Geographic, and articles on celebrated newspapers The New York Times, The Guardian.
o Non-fiction literature holds the key—The general perception associated with RC is that those who have passion for reading non-fiction are bound to score reasonably better than those who hardly does. Moreover, it helps you mastering other verbal ability questions such as critical reasoning, paragraph completion. It is advised to devote two- third of your time on RC and one-third on reading non-fiction literature especially on philosophy.
o Look for means to enhance your rate of reading – The biggest hurdle in the course of scoring handsomely in reading comprehension is poor or even pathetic rate of reading for most. One of the most effective tools to mould you in a proficient reader is to practise reading Breaking news English/ speed reading at 300 WPM.
o Scanning and Skimming skills too play vital role in comprehension and retention
— Though Practising these skills may seem as if a cricketer is practising volleyball or swimming, yet it is immensely useful in transforming in a competent reader ,possessing virtues of high attentiveness, sense of urgency and many more. There are numerous drills to achieve it, one such drill is keep marking more and more only the first words of any article in regulated time. [ Indirectly , you are marking the full stops ]
o Predict your answers before you look at the given options/ choices — One of the important points to be taken into consideration is that options are provided not to assist you in making decision but to mislead and distract you, hence it is wise to surmise or guess your answer first and then pick the one which is identical to your prediction.
o Adopt the Process of elimination technique – Avoid the process of selection technique which severely spoils your time in justifying each of the given options, rather start discarding the probable answers just by focusing on conditions they don’t fulfill.
o Purpose of writing is to be noted as soon as you finish reading. Main Idea questions ask about the main points of the passage, and accompany almost every passage on the CAT. It is required that you understand the purpose of the passage as a whole, so make sure to write down your idea of the Purpose as an infinitive verb before you move on to the first question.
Reading Comprehension Question Types
o Central idea / theme of the passage
o Title / Paragraph heading questions
o Specific questions—Fact/ Detail/Data based questions
o Inference questions
o Must be true questions
o Paraphrase questions
o Vocabulary questions