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Reading Comprehension for CAT 2025: RC Pattern, Type of Questions, How to Prepare

Last Updated on February 24, 2025 by Prof. SK Agarwal

Reading Comprehension for CAT 2025: Reading Comprehension (RC) is a very important part of the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) section in the CAT exam. RC section involves reading passages from different subject areas such as literature, business, science, philosophy, and social sciences, and answering a set of questions that test candidate’s understanding. CAT RC passages test a candidate’s ability to understand complex information, identify key ideas, draw inferences, and evaluate arguments. Check CAT RC Pattern, Type of Questions asked in previous year CAT Papers, and how to prepare for Reading Comprehension for CAT 2025. 

Table of Content

  • 1. CAT Exam Pattern and Type of Questions in RC Section

  • 2. CAT 2024 - Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension Section

  • 3. What is Reading Comprehension section in CAT Exam?

  • 4. Reading Comprehension for CAT 2025 Syllabus and Key Topics

  • 5. CAT Reading Comprehension 2025 Type of questions

  • 6. Reading Comprehension for CAT 2025 Syllabus

  • 7. Reading Comprehension for CAT 2025 Preparation Strategy

  • 8. CAT Reading Comprehension Passage Books

  • 9. CAT Reading Comprehension Passage Books Online Resources

  • 10. Toppers Tips for CAT Reading Comprehension Preparation

  • 11. CAT Reading Comprehension Previous Year Questions

1. CAT Exam Pattern and Type of Questions in RC Section

Before we discuss how to prepare for Reading Comprehension Section, it is useful to understand the overall CAT exam pattern and type of RC passages that have appeared in previous exams. CAT 2025 exam pattern is expected to be similar to CAT 2024 exam pattern. CAT 2024 Exam Pattern was same across all the three slots. Check table below. However, there were minor changes in section wise compositions. 

CAT Exam ComponentsNo of Questions (Divided in MCQs & Non MCQs)Sectional Time Limit (In Minutes)Scoring Pattern (Negative Marking is only for MCQs)
Section-1: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)2440+3 for Correct; -1 for Incorrect; 0 for Not Attempted
Section-2: Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)2240+3 for Correct; -1 for Incorrect; 0 for Not Attempted
Section-3: Quantitative Ability (QA)2240+3 for Correct; -1 for Incorrect; 0 for Not Attempted
Total68120198

2. CAT 2024 - Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension Section

CAT 2024 paper saw four RC passages in Slot 1. Check topics and details below. 

CAT 2024: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension Section Questions & Topics 

AreaTopicNo. of QuestionsType
Reading ComprehensionDigital rights of content (Streaming and DVD/Blu-ray)4MCQ
Reading ComprehensionCraftsmanship and Creativity4MCQ
Reading ComprehensionRevival of bandicoots in Australia4MCQ
Reading ComprehensionCritique of behavioral economics4MCQ
Verbal AbilityParagraph Completion3MCQ
Verbal AbilitySummary3MCQ
Verbal AbilityOdd Sentence Questions2TITA
TotalRC & VA24MCQ & TITA

3. What is Reading Comprehension section in CAT Exam?

Reading Comprehension (RC) is a very important part of the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) section in the CAT exam. RC section involves reading passages from different subject areas such as literature, business, science, philosophy, and social sciences, and answering a set of questions that test candidate’s understanding. These passages test a candidate’s ability to understand complex information, identify key ideas, draw inferences, and evaluate arguments. In doing so, CAT exam assesses a candidate’s readiness for the MBA program (where different subjects like economics, psychology, marketing, finance etc are taught) and subsequently for managerial career. 

4. Reading Comprehension for CAT 2025 Syllabus and Key Topics

CAT RC passages are sourced from diverse areas, including:

  • Social Sciences and Humanities – History, Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, etc.
  • Science and Technology – AI, Robotics, Space Science, Climate Change, etc.
  • Business and Economics – Market Trends, Global Economy, Financial Systems, Corporate Strategies.
  • Current Affairs and Politics – International Relations, Governance, Public Policy.
  • Literature and Art – Literary Criticism, Classical Literature, Art History.

5. CAT Reading Comprehension 2025 Type of questions

Based on CAT previous year’s papers, Question Types asked in Reading Comprehension section are as below.

  • Main Idea-Based Questions – Identify the primary theme of the passage.
  • Fact-Based or Detail-Based Questions – Ask for specific details from the passage.
  • Inference-Based Questions – Require deriving conclusions beyond the explicit text.
  • Tone and Attitude-Based Questions – Understanding the author's perspective (e.g., optimistic, critical).
  • Vocabulary-Based Questions – Word meaning, contextual usage.
  • Title-Based Questions – Choosing the most appropriate title for the passage.
  • Logical Structure-Based Questions – Understanding the flow and coherence of ideas.

6. Reading Comprehension for CAT 2025 Syllabus

While there is no fixed syllabus for RC in CAT, according to previous year CAT exam analysis, we can understand topics which often appear in RC section. Some of the topics are given in the table below.

CAT Reading Comprehension Syllabus 

Topic AreaDescription
PhilosophyThese passages are based on books/articles on philosophy that describe thoughts of Aristotle, Kant, Plato.
PsychologyThese passages often explore topics such as cognitive processes, human behavior, decision-making, emotions, memory, perception, and psychological theories proposed by thinkers like Freud, Piaget, or Kahneman. They cover experiments in psychology, biases in thinking, mental health issues, and topics like consciousness and intelligence.
HistoryThese passages are often based on Indian, British and American historical events.
Arts and MuseumPassages on Art and Paintings are often found in CAT RC section.
SocietyThese passages are on societal issues like gender diversity and social evils.
CultureThese passages are based on articles on different culture, people, languages etc.

7. Reading Comprehension for CAT 2025 Preparation Strategy

Tips for how to prepare for reading comprehension section CAT exam is given below. 

  1. Improve Reading Speed Without Dropping Comprehension: Read a variety of texts daily, including editorials, research papers, and opinion articles. Use techniques like skimming for general ideas and scanning for specific details. Avoid the habit of “reading in your head” to increase speed.
  2. Develop a Strong Vocabulary: Use a popular book “Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis” to build vocabulary. Learn word the roots, prefixes, and suffixes to understand word meanings quickly. Maintain a vocabulary notebook and revise frequently. 
  3. Identify and Adapt to Different Passage Types: Some passages are fact-based, while others are opinion-driven. Business and Science passages may be dense with data, requiring focus on cause-effect relationships. Literature and Philosophy passages often require understanding the author’s tone and intent.
  4. Focus on the First and Last Paragraphs: The introduction usually states the main idea. The conclusion often summarizes key takeaways or provides the author's final opinion. These two sections help in answering main idea and tone-based questions.
  5. Try to read the Questions First: Skim the questions before reading the passage to identify what to focus on. However, for abstract or inference-heavy passages, it’s better to read the passage first.
  6. Learn to eliminate Incorrect Options Systematically: Many incorrect answers contain extreme words like "always," "never," "must," or "completely." Some options may be factually correct but not relevant to the question. When confused, eliminate two wrong choices first, and then compare the remaining two options. You will have better chance of getting answer correct. 
  7. Practice to Solve RCs in Defined Time. In CAT, RC has a weightage of 60-70% of the VARC section. You should aim to complete one RC passage in 7-8 minutes, including answering questions. 
  8. Analyze and Learn from Mistakes: Maintain a note book of errors – take down incorrect answers and the reason behind mistakes. Try to identify patterns of your mistakes. After understanding reattempt passages after a few days to check for improvement.

8. CAT Reading Comprehension Passage Books

To prepare, CAT RC Passage Books are very helpful. Best Reading Comprehension for CAT Books are given below. 

  • How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay
  • Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT by Nishit Sinha (Pearson) 

CAT RC preparation material by TIME, IMS and other coaching institutes is good too. 

10. Toppers Tips for CAT Reading Comprehension Preparation

“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.

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