The Art of Solving Reading Comprehension for CAT

I am sure that your Mock experiences made you realize the importance of solving and practicing RC (Reading Comprehension) passages. And as discussed by GB in his article titled “CAT 2019- Reading Comprehension for CAT” this is an important topic for CAT and you cannot expect to get a good score in CAT without cracking Reading Comprehension. So, I thought of going a step further and share with you the secrets of solving RC passages and also getting a good score in Reading Comprehension in CAT and other MBA entrance exams.

Towards the end of the article, you will find a video presentation which captures all that I want to share about solving RC passages. This is a video presentation wherein I have tried to give insights into:

  1. the art of solving reading comprehension passages
  2. how to solve tough passages

But first, let’s understand the VARC section and how much should be the ideal attempt for 99%ile to an 80%ile. This would be followed by a Reading Comprehension for CAT preparation plan.

For the past 4 years- CAT pattern has remained the same. CAT 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 pattern can be summarized as follows:

Sections Marks Questions Non-MCQ Time
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) 102 34 7 1 hour
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) 96 32 8 1 hour
Quantitative Ability (QA) 102 34 11 1 hour

CAT 2018 Section -1:  VARC Percentile vs. Raw Score

Here is the percentile vs. raw score for the Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension section in CAT 2018. This will give you a good idea of what does it take to get a great percentile in the Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension section. As I have mentioned already, it will take you regular practice of RC passages, preferably online, so that you are able to reach a situation where you can solve these many questions correctly.

VARC
Percentile Score Questions
99.0 75 25
98.0 70 23
95.0 62 21
90.0 52 17
85.0 47 16
80.0 42 14

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) Section – Overview

Let’s have a look at the types of questions asked in VARC section in CAT:

  1. Reading Comprehension:
    This is the usual break up in the RCs, however, there could be sets with a different number of questions in them within the 24 questions of RCs.
  • Reading Comprehension: 4 passages x 5 question each= 20 questions
  • Reading Comprehension 1 passage x 4 questions each= 4 questions

 

  1. Verbal Ability:
  • Para Jumbles: 4 (non-MCQs)
  • Odd Sentences: 3 (non- MCQs)
  • Para Summary: 3

 

Reading Comprehension for CAT – Plan of Action

AIM: For RC you must target 18+ correct attempts out of 24 RC questions.

18 Questions with 100% accuracy are only possible when you attempt all the 24 Questions with around 75-80% accuracy, which is what you can expect your accuracy to be in VARC. And this takes months of practice which involves:

  1. Reading a passage at a great speed without regressing
  2. Reading the passage both literary and critically
  3. Building vocabulary which eventually improves your understanding of the passage
  4. Identifying and eliminating the incorrect answer options and
  5. Identifying the correct one

Start reading passages/articles from the various sources that CAT uses to pick its Reading Comprehensions. Use your online aspiration account to solve Reading Comprehension exercises with answers and explanations, hop on to websites that provide free Reading Comprehensions for CAT with answers and explanations such as FreeZone.

Now coming over to the video, firstly, I used five short RC passages to help you understand the art of reading and skill of solving. Then, I used 2 long passages to see how those principles can be applied. Lastly, I used two really tough passages to see how we can handle/solve really tough RC passages. These two RC passages are probably the toughest ones that I have yet encountered,

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It is an hour-long presentation and I do hope that you will find it beneficial. Do share your views or queries – happy to help.

Cheers!
Gejo

147 Comments

  4. Dear GP Sir,
    I watched this video yesterday only.Before watching this I could hardly solve 2 out of 5 questions correctly in a passage but now I am able to solve around 4-5 questions correctly in a passage. Thank You very much, sir. Hope to see such amazing sessions in future too.

  6. Sir,
    I dont have a proper reading habit since my childhood. I am finding difficulty in VA section as I am unable to interpret the passages correctly. At this point of time what would you suggest me to do ? As of now, I am slowly adapting myself to read THE HINDU editorials and solving 4 passages a day. Will this really help me to attain a good score in CAT’17 ? Or else pl suggest me an alternative strategy to get a good VA score . Thanks in Advance.

    • Bhaskar, your going on the right track, keep reading and practicing. Also, analyse your performance after each test/mock. Identify genre of the passage that you are most comfortable with. Start solving more passages of genres that interests you and slowly move into related topics. Another strategy is to identify the types of mistakes you are committing. The three common mistakes while solving RCs are: Not able to grasp the question correctly, didn’t understand the passage, confused between two options. Once u figure out the errors, you can focus on correcting them.

  8. hello sir,
    i am preparing for cat 16. i am scoring around 20-30 marks in every mock in VA. I attempt around 20 questions average in VA. But accuracy is around 50%. After taking mock, how should i analyze VA section so that i don’t commit the same mistakes again? please help me.

  9. dear sir ,
    my name is kunal . i m a cl student at kolkata centre .i have some queries related to my preparation.
    1. how to revise the course .
    2. how to memorise and recollect words given in fundabook.
    sir please reply

  10. Very good evening sir,
    Sir I joined regular classroom program just a week ago but due to some reason I won’t be able to continue .Sir I wish to UPGRADE to night classes and don’t at all wish to withdraw my admission .Administration is unable to help me kindly help me out on this .

  11. i found two passages in test gym intermediate level, those were the passages i find difficult to read and comprehend, how can i send those passages to you???..

    • Hi Sir,

      I’m enrolled in CL test series. I have the following doubt,
      In RC questions like,

      “Which of the following cannot be inferred?” or “The following statements can be inferred except”
      Options
      1) FACT [Since it is fact it cannot be inferred.]
      2) Something that is beyond the scope of the passage. [Since it is something we don’t know from the passage we cannot infer.]
      3) Inference
      4) Inference

      Out of options 1 & 2, which is more correct?

  12. Hi Gejo,
    IIFT has lengthy passages and mostly they are very direct and easy
    Being a speed test, it requires you to be quick.
    Should one follow the same approach of reading the entire passage or is there a alternate route for solving them quickly and correctly.

  13. SIR
    I have a question regarding RC.In questions which ask about identifying options which can be inferred from the passage,can a statement which is already mentioned in the passage and given as an option in the question be an inference??

    • Arpit, Inference is usually derived out of the passage but if none of the other choices make sense then the one that is given in the passage be considered.

  14. sir, i have a book of quants (TMH publication).in that book it is written that in CAT 2009 two students (let A and B) attempted same slot (dec 3 evng slot) and in quants they got very different %le on the basis of wrong attemts , it is as
    A.14 attempts 1 incorrect-98.23%le
    B.19 attempts 3 incorrect-92.6%le
    so my question is , is this information true nd if true what should i expect the level of penalty in CAT 2015 on wrong attempts( this 2009 figure is really horrible concerning to a single excess of penalty)…….if the same case is for this year also then plz aware me my friends(all appearing in CAT this year).

    • Ravikant, I have not come across such a case and our data indicates that accuracy has no role in the percentile and it is only your raw score that is important.

      • but, sir i have read somewhere, in last yr CAT one student got 100%le and his marks was 249 but there was another who also got 100%le with 273 marks…….this figure as i think shows the role of accuracy and if it’s not then please explain me why there is this huge difference.
        and i also want to share my data of CAT2013(total marks for quants section was 225 nd total question 30…..so per question 7.5 marks), i attempted only 11(means 82.5 marks) but i got 90 marks….was this not because of accuracy?…..plz explain sir……i m really so confused after your reply.

        • Ravikant, last year there were 16 100%ilers which means that any candidate with Rank from 1 to 16 (99.991%ile and above) was categorized as a 100%iler. They had different marks because of different raw scores and not different accuracy levels.
          In CAT 2013 there were 40 papers and they were normalized, and the scores of students were increased or decreased based on the difficulty level, this was done last year also. It appears that your CAT 2013 QA section was classified as difficult and hence your score would have increased.

  15. hello sir,

    sir , I am CAT-15 aspirant and i have been giving the cl mocks. I am facing some trouble with my VA section. Initially in the mocks i consistently scored over 98-99 percentile in VA but ever since the order has changed my scores have nose dived, i am unable to figure out the reason. RC has been my strong suit from the beginning but i have started to fumble in RC. I usually start my paper with RC, I tried changing the order in a test, the score improved but wasn’t close to my previous mocks. I understand it’s a vague request but it would be great if you could help me figure out why i am screwing up!
    Thank you Sir.

  16. Sir,

    A couple of questions.
    1. Relating to My Mock Scores.
    Its just 35 days and I am not able to get over 50 as a total score in any of the mocks. I have tried hard practising on Test Gym and practising with CL Study Material as well…
    a. I feel, time is issue. Given more time I am able to solve them quite comfortably. How can I do away with it?
    b. In an urge to solve more, I get many wrong in Verbal Ability and LR.

    2. I have already close to 5 years exp in Telecom and have realised may be too late for an MBA.
    a. What if CAT scores don’t go well? Can I try again next time or are there any disadvantages of starting too late for an MBA?
    b. What is Executive MBA all about?
    c. What would be better Executive MBA or 2-yr full time MBA?

    • Harshit, apologies for the delay in responding to your message.
      Regarding Q1, please call me at 9811155160 any time today or tomorrow if you are still struggling with the issue.
      You are not late for an MBA but with a 5 year work experience a 1 year Executive program might be a better option. In case you do not do well in CAT this year, take GMAT by April 2016 and apply to the 1 year MBA program of ISB Hyderabad and IIMs.
      An Executive program is designed for candidates with work experience with the assumption that certain components can be done way with and that due to work experience the learning will be faster. Hence most of the Executive MBA programs are of 1 year. The best options in India are ISB Hyderabad and the PGPX of top IIMs.

  17. Thank you, Sir!

    This article has really helped me to gain confidence to attempt more questions in RC. RCs are no more a nightmare to me.

  18. Hello sir
    I am preparing for cat 2015. I face difficulty in Qa section,whereas I am able to score good in VR.can you please tell me how to increase my QA score,and how many questions do I need to solve in QA section ,so that I can atleast clear the cutoff .

    • Divyansh, please take more and more mocks and sectional tests. A good in-depth analysis can save you. If you realise that you have a problem with concepts, you can make use of the Smart QA Cracker.

  19. Hi Sir ,

    A couple of questions .

    1. I have 24 months work ex in IT . How much percentile (approximately) can get me a call from the top 20 institutes ( top 13 IIMs , FMS , NITIE,SP Jain , MDI , IIT B/D/KGP ) considering i am General and B tech ?
    2. I heard in CAT 2014 , 160 marks fetched around 98 percentile , considering change in pattern again this year , how much marks do you think (tentatively) will fetch around 98 %ile considering standard of CAT remains same as last year ?

    And one last question rather purely a suggestion . I am already 25 . So if my percentile does not come off well this year , should i try again next year or compromise on a few percentiles ?

    I would be very grateful if you please guide me .

    Warm Regards .

    • Pooja:

      1) Check out the IIM Profilizer. it takes into consideration your entire profile to judge whether you stand a chance or not.
      http://www.careerlauncher.com/clsisnew/mbasis/profilizer/

      2) In cat 2015 a 98%ile should be possible around 145-150 considering the LOD is slightly higher than that in CAT 2014

      3) There are students at IIMs with 4-5 yrs work ex as well. Thus, try your level best but if it doesn’t work out there is still a next time.

  20. Gejo sir,

    I face problems on passages based on philosophy. Could you please recommend a novel. ?
    Passages based on Marxism and Freud take a toll on my understanding levels.

    • Ayush, instead of going for novels, it will be better if you search the internet for articles on Marxism and Freud and read those.

    • Srishti, a factual passage give data/facts and does not force you to infer based on the data.
      An analytical passage will give you data/facts and multiple points of view. It will expect you to analyse the data. The questions in analytical passage are likely to be inferential.

      • Okay Sir. Thank you for the reply.

        One more question sir. This means that the content of the passage would almost be on similar lines. However, the intent of the passage would be different in a manner that the questions for an analytical passage would be inference based. Does this mean just by looking at the passage it would be difficult to identify whether it is an analytical passage or a factual one?

        Thanks
        Srishti

  22. Hi Sir,

    I got a 97.31 percentile in English(99.82 OA) and I cannot put in words how much this one article helped me achieve that…
    RC’s – its something I could not get used to in 3 years of prep and I picked it up in a week by watching this video…
    Thank you infinitely GP sir and Gejo Sir
    🙂

    • Snehashish. congratulations, it is your hard work that has paid off.
      99.82%ile will lead to calls from all institutes that you have applied to, start your PDP classes immediately.

  23. Hi Sir

    this video of yours is awesome…
    I’m preparing fr CAT’15 (already did coaching fr CAT’13 in my 4th year)… RC n DI are weak points of mine…
    ca you suggest online resource fr RC n DI or some buks fr practse lots of question….

    Thanks…

  24. Hello Sir
    This write up was very helpful.. Thanks a lot.
    Could you please discuss a few FIJ qustions also since it is expected in this years paper.

    Regards

    • Vasudha,

      Best approach is to eliminate options…

      Let me take a CAT 2006 question:

      1. So much of our day-to-day focus seems to be on getting things done, trudging our way through the tasks of living it can feel like a treadmill that gets you nowhere; where is the childlike joy?
      2. We are not doing the things that make us happy; that which brings us joy; the things that we cannot wait to do because we enjoy them so much.
      3. This is the stuff that joyful living is made of œ identifying your calling and committing yourself wholeheartedly to it.
      4. When this happens, each moment becomes a celebration of you; there is a rush of energy that comes with feeling completely immersed in doing what you love most.
      (1) IIIJ (2) IFIJ (3) JFJJ (4) JJJJ (5) JFII

      Facts are normally the easiest to identify – Things that can be verified are fact. Gejo is a girl! – is a fact since it can be empirically verified! (by the way, I am a boy!). Gejo is calm – is not a fact since it cannot be verified empirically.

      Lets look at statements:
      1. …focus seems to be… NOT FACT
      2. ..things that make us happy.. NOT FACT
      3… stuff that joyful living is made of.. NOT FACT
      4… each moment becomes a celebration of you… NOT FACT

      All that I am checking is whether these things can be verified using ‘experiment’.

      Eliminate options (2), (3), (5).

      Now comes the tough one.. Judgement vs Inference.

      Inference is easier to identify – Inference are conclusions drawn from something. So, we need an evidence that is backing it.

      Evaluate again – 1. So much of our day-to-day focus seems to be on getting things done, trudging our way through the tasks of living it can feel like a treadmill that gets you nowhere; where is the childlike joy?

      In that statement there is no backing of any evidence or data (premise).. NOT INFERENCE.

      ELiminate (1)

      Answer (4)!

  25. sir,
    i m getting good accuracy in rc but got struck in tone based questions specially in judging the right option nd got confused among :-
    1.analytical
    2.descriptive
    3.factual.
    and also in :-
    1.pessimistic
    2.concerned
    plz provide some techniques how to tackle these options which are so close to pick one.And sir also mention which things we should see in rc to select one option among these.

    • Aseem,

      You can understand the tone or the attitude of the author by understanding the purpose of his writing.

      Analytical – The purpose would be to use reasoning in analysing something. Here, you would find the author really ‘involved’ in the passage
      Descriptive – The purpose is to describe something and not really putting his views into it.
      factual – Is kind of descriptive but uses facts or evidences into the subject
      Pessimistic – He warns that something will go wrong.. or there is no hope
      Concerned – An issue that he wants you to look at

      If you get confused, best is to avoid solving it…

  26. Hi gejo sir,
    I saw your video on ‘ rreading comprehension’ on youtube and benefited from it. However, I have one doubt from the same session . We have this ‘ nutcracker’ wala question in that slide wherein you eliminate the 4 th option on the grounds of it being an extreme case ( due to the presence of word ‘most’) . But, if we read the very first line of the passage then we find it explicitly mentioned in the passage that in the beginning Nutcracker was never destined to become world’s most famous play( this creates tremendous space for us to believe that Nutcracker finally became world’s most famous play). Now, what can we infer from such a statement ? Does the author believe that Nutcracker became the world’s most famous play ultimately?

    • Pankaj,

      The first line mentions that “it was never destined to be the worlds most popular ballet” – things that are never destined to become the best may or may not become one. Hence, one cannot make such an inference. It is UNCERTAIN.

      Regards

  27. hello sir,

    I am getting around 85-100 in proc mocs.But when I give sectional tests individually,my score goes 60+ in both quant and verbal.? What should I do to increase my score?
    Please guide me in this?

    • Pallavi,

      The solution would probably be a simple one – make less mistakes when you attempt the test. Focus on accuracy. Understand the mistakes that you are making – there can be only two types of mistake (1) conceptual (2) silly. If you are making more of (2), then be careful the next time. if it is (1), either learn it or avoid attempting them the next time.

      Have a clear focus on accuracy. My guess is that you are attempting close to 40+ questions but making more mistakes. than you would have made while taking section test. Just spend some time in analysing the mistakes that you are making and quickly work on it.

      Regards

  28. Sir, your smart quant crecker workshop was too good and it it has increased my speed and number of attempts a lot. Those tricks will surely make a difference, but i want to ask you if there are other such workshops by CL?

    • Varun,

      Now that CAT is just a week away, there are no additional workshops planned. You could access some good videos in this blog – my suggestion is to have a look at Mock attempts of GP, Niraj & mine. You will get some good insights.

      Regards

  29. Gejo, Can you pls tell us about successive negative marking in CAT 2014 which was supposed to be there in CAT 2013 also. I heard someone got selected even after getting lower marks compared to another because of greater accuracy. What would you suggest about raw scores v/s accuracy.

    • Guruprasad, there is no data to suggest that there was “successive negative marking” or that accuracy mattered last year in the normalisation process, all these are rumors.
      We will will be coming out with a post on the normalisation process of CAT 2014.

      • Sir, does that mean ONLY raw score matters? A student with 24 correct and 1 wrong and another student with 36 correct and 10 wrong (both have a raw score of 68) . Will they get same percentile and scaled score?

  30. Greetings Sir,
    My CAT is on 16th . I have some doubt regarding methodology to attempt section 1 . I have email you regarding same today. Please look into it. Waiting for your response.

    Regards
    Vaibhav Gupta

  31. Sir,

    My CAT is on 22 Forenoon session. In this last 12 days from now, what should I do.
    I just finished past CAT papers especially 2000-2008.
    I am planning to go through the Mocks Analysis for rest of the days and will take 2-3 Mocks also, may be in 3 days gap.

    What things one need to do in last but foremost important days.

    Also, one more question about LR. I solve LR set many of the time but some times I went through the data and after 7-8 minutes, I couldn’t moved anywhere and so lost precious time.
    How to tackle such situation. Also, I am not sure just by glancing the sets whether I can solve it or not, need to take further step.

    Can we expect Games related LR in CAT or mainly on distribution, arrangement.

    Many Many Thanks!

    • Harish,

      The key is not to get involved in such LRs which are tricky ones. If you get involved, and then you get stuck any point in time, quit and move on. Nothing else can be done.

      Now, in the last few days, take a few mocks and ensure that the plan is in place.

      Regards

  32. Sir could you give some tips (or a separate post) on how to tackle the fact inference judgement questions? This would be extremely helpful since I’m confident with most of the other question types in Section 2.

    • Please read the directions mentioned but in a FIJ questions start with finding facts first and then eliminating the options.
      Next look for Judgement…This is only an opinion …it does not have a fact basis.

  33. Hello sir,
    1.What is the no. of students appearing for SNAP every year ?
    2.I am giving CAT and MAT this year and I am confused between SNAP and CMAT sir which one should be considered between the two or any other exam beside these two.
    sir some of my friends say that there is no admission in SNAP without donation is this true ?

    • Chirag, the number of candidates appearing for SNAP is in the range of 55-60,000.
      Between SNAP and CMAT you should go for SNAP since it has a larger number of good institutes. to the best of my knowledge admission to SNAP institutes is fair and does not involve any donation.

    • 1) Approx 2000 seats are available under the Symbiosis Umbrella …..SNAP’13 number was same as SNAP’12
      2) Please apply to SNAP …Most colleges that accept CMAT also accept MAT…you might want to appear for MH-CET for Maharashtra colleges.
      3) Symbiosis is a respectable name in education.Most admissions happen through SNAP Score + WAT + PI..so please give it your best shot.

  34. Dear Gejo
    I have not been able to apply R1 strategy successfully in mocks
    QA : R1 takes about 40-45 min with 12-15 attempt
    VA : R1 takes about 40-45min with 15-16 attempts .

    Major problem is with QA .
    1. IF QA section is tough then my R1 strategy completly fails .
    If moderate to easy then it takes 40-45 min with 12-13 ques . with 90% Accuracy .
    I want to score 60+ in both the sections as AFTER THE MOCK I AM ABLE to do that much QUEs to socre 60+ , in both the sections in time . But during the test , i just don”t know why the same thing does not strike me..This gets very irritating .
    2. In VA
    40-45min goes in EU 13-15 attempt
    30 min for 3 RC .
    In LR 1 set – 4ques : 10 min
    overall attempts gets close 27-28 .
    with 11 ques incorrect( i am trying to lessen this )

    Please Help to resolve above 2 queries as soon as possible Sir.
    I want to score 120 . 60-QA , 60- VA or i am aiming far from my capability .?
    Category ST .
    THANKS

    • Rohit,

      The key in QA is ‘learning to quit when you get stuck’. It’s fine if you hit about 10 in 30 minutes and stop your R1 there. The idea is to pick questions from the 35 odd QA questions which you believe can be cracked in less time. This ‘picking’ has no fool-proof method. Mostly, we pick questions based on a gut-feel. Sometime it can go wrong. But when that happens, learn to quit! That’s it.

      I do not see much problem with your section 2. In any case, you could try this with regards to VA – I am sure that there would be some areas which are eating your time – could be PJ, could be PC. If there are such things, leave it for later. My take is that you must give about 30-35 min for EU and get to about 10-12.

      Regards

  35. Sir,
    With regard to the latest set of IIM’s that have come into contention for Cat 2014, what do you think would be their probable percentile cut-off??

  36. Gejo sir,
    I apologise for going off-topic, but from the prock mocks I’m estimating a percentile of about 98.5-99. I’m a general category final year engineering student, 94% in 10th, 90% in 12th and 89.3% in b tech upto now. Which institutes could give me a call if manage the same percentile in the actual CAT?

    • FMS, MDI ,New IIM’s, IIM I, IIM K will probably give you a call.
      if you get 99+ you wil get all calls from the top 6 -BLACKI

  37. Hello Gejo Sir ,
    My accuracy in QADI is very low and my VALR is scaling up after following your suggestions.But the overall percentile does not increase beyond 75%tile.It is very disappointing as all my attempts are not giving me the desired results.What should i do during these last few days left before CAT to increase my accuracy ??

    • Hi Snigha,

      Focus on accuracy in Section 1. There is no point in trying to do more questions and getting them wrong.

      In the first 30 odd minutes – hunt for about 5 to 6 questions from the QA and solve them.
      In the next 30 odd minutes – do the ‘easy’ DIs
      Then, try and solve more.

      Put a realistic target – 15 corrects in S1 + 20 corrects in S2 will get a score of 105, which is 90%ile. Another 5 more questions will get you to 95%ile.

      Take a few mocks that you have not solved yet and take this 30 minutes QA challenge – Hunting for 6 to 7.

      Regards

  38. MY MARKS IN10TH 73.14% and in 12th 81% and in b.sc. 67% can i receive a call any iim or top 10 b-school.

    • Yes…. Some of the IIMs may be tough, for some IIMs it would be fine. but then institutes like FMS, MDI etc. which are in top 10 does not have such strict criteria like some of the IIMs.

      Focus on getting a great percentile in the CAT and let the IIMs worry about the rest.

      Regards

  39. Hi Sir,

    I’ve Heard that CAT will have negative marking for unattempted ques and will also have a calculator, is it true?
    Pls comment on this, also pls provide some strategies reqd to tackle such pop-ups/surprises.

    regards
    aishwaray

    • Aishwaray, both are incorrect. The calculator icon has been removed from the pdf and the instructions on the Mock CAT on the CAT website clearly states tht there will not be any penalty for unanswered questions.

  40. GP, Gejo Sir,

    I have been able to attempt average 14-15 correct question out of 20 Q in quant and average 16-17 correct question out of 22 total attempts in verbal. How much %ile can I expect in actual CAT?
    Want to know this so that I can give my best in CAT.

  41. Hi sir
    I have my CAT exam on 16th Nov. I have 7 months of work experience. I have not prepared much for CAT this time. Can you please help me with the topics that will best help to score in Quants section? Since am working I didnt have much time to prepare. I want to make use of this last few days. Please help.

    • Vishnu,

      The exact distribution of the CAT is not disclosed. However, going by the past you would see questions spread across all areas. Questions Algebra, Number theory normally are on the higher side – those two would be close to 50% of the questions asked.

      Regards

  42. Sir i have scored 98.25 percentile in cmat (from sc category) which colleges should i apply to. Also facing problem with sis website. Its ridiculously slow and many time says service not available which is very irritating in these last few days of prepration. Kindly do something urgently

    • Avdhesh, In general 98.25%ile will give you a call from all institutes that accept CMAT score however reservation is applicable only in government institutes and will not help you in most of the CMAT institutes.

  43. Sir.. i have a comparative discomfort in Quants..than any other topics.
    So i m planning to leave out (unattempted) questions from quant section.
    I m aiming for 95-97 percentile in CAT 2014.

    My 1st question, Can i achieve that score without Quants attempts.( i m relatively comfortable in other topics ie. High accuracy in RC,Grammar, Good at LR,VR,DS and DI)

    2.Do Section 1 also include DS(data sufficiency)??
    and how many anticipated no. of questions can appear in CAT paper from DI & DS ?? (my paper is on 22nd Nov. morning shift)

    3.Which are the good CAT colleges which may/can consider a score of 95-97 %tile for admissions??

    (I M A COMMERCE GRADUATE )
    SIR, your response will be really helpful.

    • Nikhil,

      You must achieve good percentile in both the sections. There is sectional cut offs. So, it is difficult to hit 95 percentile without QA. The only way that can happen is when you crack all the 16 DIs (which is normally not likely) and do about 5 to 6 sitters of QA. It is theoretically possible to hit 95% with minimum QA, but then the DI has to really help.

      DS is a possibility – one could expect about 3 to 5 of them.

      Almost all the top schools barring a few (like FMS which needs 98.5%ile +) would be happy with a 97%ile +

      Regards

  44. Dear Sir,
    In RC there were only 40-50% accuracy i had before 2 days but then i changed my strategy to attend RC. Now i read passage only for 1 minute to get an idea about passage and then read question and pick the key point from question and search for the answer in passage.
    This technique boost my accuracy upto 90% but now i felt a problem for INFERRED type questions. In these question 4 different statement given and i unable to check every sentences in passages.
    So now my question is: Is this technique is appropriate to use in actual CAT to solve RC?
    I have looked for confusing words everywhere and learned many of them but every time when i write mocks, new words appear. So please provide(if possible) me list of maximum confusing words.
    Thanks in advance

    • Sir,
      Today i’ve given mock 15, there were not a single factual passage and every question of RC was related to inference type. Here i only able to solve 6 question with 4 correct after spending a huge time.
      Sir i want to know that in CAT exam is this possible that there would be no any factual passage or every question would be inference type because if this thing happen i’ll be in trouble.
      Sir please reply asap! only few days left for exam and for preparations.

      • Yogesh, it is unlikely that all questions will be inferential. However it is possible that majority of the questions are inferential.
        Do not panic even while doing the Inferential questions, the answers to these questions also lie within the passage but such questions/passages require careful reading and can take a little more time than the factual questions/passages.

    • Dear Yogesh,

      The Strategy you are working on, will help you to answer the Fact Based and logical structure questions in RC. However, when it comes to the questions like what can or cannot be inferred from the passage OR what does the author agree or disagree with in the passage, you will not be able to solve them without going through the entire passage.

      For the main idea and tone based questions, you can take a cue from the first or the last paragraph of the passage and then see whether the para preceding it or succeeding it supports the paragraph you have chosen as a clue to the Main Idea. If yes, go to the options and eliminate them and mark your answer.

      As for confusable words, make a note of all the confusable words asked in the mocks and other tests in the test gym. You must refer to your Vocabulary Fundabook for learning more such words. Also, you can refer to some very popular lists of confusable words on the internet and there is also a dictionary on common confusables available. However, during these last few days, you must focus more on RC and Logic based questions rather than learning new words.

      Team CL

  45. Gejo sir … it is little off topic .. but need some suggestion …!! i m a sc candidate .. i have scored 60-110 in the cl mocks … 10th- 82
    12th – 77.2
    grad – 81.2 (btech) 2010-2014 .. currently unemployed.. so all hopes on cat this time ..
    with the scores of 60-110 in the mocks and percentile of 55-87%ile … i have a doubt of getting calls from the top iims ..sapirants a re scoring 200-220…. i don’t know how ..!! my avg is 75 in mocks … my hopes are shattered …what should i do …??i m confused .. i opened the percentile predictor .. and it predicted 97%ile to 99.XX %ile … i don’t know how its predicting my percentile to be 99%ile .. when i hardly score 87%ile in mocks with dismall 70s and 80s score….
    before the format had changed.. i was scoring 90+%iles in the mocks … so my hopes were high at that time ..i had targeted ABC …!! but now i hardly score 85%ile … please tell me .. how much should i attempt and with what accuracy .. to get calls from iim abc …???

    • Shyam,

      There would be someone who would score 200 to 220 and they would b among the toppers of the CAT.

      We dont need to be toppers, we want to get to the top School. So, lets aim for a 98+ percentile. For the same you need to get your score close to about 150. That would in turn mean an attempt (with awesome accuracy) of about 50.

      So, keep target that we can achieve:
      Section 1 – 20+ questions (with almost 100% accuracy)
      Section 2 – 25+ questions (with almost 100% acccuracy)

      Work out a plan to achieve the above and dont worry about anything else.

      regards

  46. SIR This session was very helpful.
    Now i can solve more RC question with most of them correct.
    but my weak point is LR .. i just get confuse while solving it..
    Please if you can provide 2-3 session on LR.
    In CL mock being weak in LR consumes my time and marks also.

    • Saransh,

      I do know if we have time to do a session on LR.

      However, let me say this – it is not LR consuming time. It is you who have decided to consume time on LR! If your LR is weak, make your RC strong. So, do the EU questions, then solve the LRs that you think are manageable (if it is 1 LR, then it is 1), move to RCs

  47. sir i have filled for the second attempt of nmat … i faced a little problem in the first attempt … the lr questions pf nmat especiallyy those which include to pick the odd term from a series of terms .. or to find the next term of the series .. i would really help if u could give me some pdf or some website where i could go and revise jst tht specific area questions ..

  48. hello gejo sir. i am good in qadi, but avg. in valr. sir, which section should i attempted first & how much time should i give to each section ???? i tried so many strategy , but not succeed. plz. help me sir.

    • nilesh, go by the strategy that has given you the best results. Please call me at 9811155160 in the evening if you want to discuss this further.

  49. Sir what is best way to solve parasummary questions because sometimes all the options are very short and crisp and then it becomes difficult for me to choose the right option

    • Dear Rahul,

      For summary questions, the correct answer must contain the main idea expressed in the passage. Ideally, it should not contain anything which is out-of-scope of the passage. The right answer may use different words but it must express the main idea.

      Best regards,
      Team CL

  50. Hi Gejo,

    I’ve been following gpkafunda since more than a year now. I’m scoring consistently between 80-90 in the CL mocks and have a single 90+ score. How would you rate my performance and what can I expect from a similar score on D day.
    My score in the QA section keeps varying and I expect a 60 something score in the finals. I’ve put in a lot of effort in QA but being weak in maths, I seem to have hit a wall. I hope this won’t be a problem in clearing cutoffs.

    • kaushik,

      lets get that to 110….

      You cannot improve knowledge, but I am quite sure that by attempting all the questions that you could have solved, you can get there.

      Work out a plan and execute it.

      Regards

  51. Amazing tutorial sir. One doubt still persists. I have a tough time in answering questions related to the tone of the passage. Could you tell me how to attack these questions.
    Thank you

    • Dear Sramana,

      As for the Tone-based questions are concerned, you must focus on reading either the first or the last paragraph of the passage, it is in these paras that the author usually lays down his claims. For example, if the claim of the author is in the first para, then the rest of the paras would substantiate it. The way in which the author makes the claim defines the tone of the passage. Any adjective in English language can become the tone of the passage.

      Whenever, you are gunning for a tone-based question, you must make a note of the kind of adjectives the author uses in order to approach the subject matter. Also, eliminate the options before you mark the answer.

      Certain tones go hand in hand:- Factual, Objective, Neutral and Scholarly.

      Whereas an analytical tone would scrutinize the subject matter and then the author would come up with his claim.

      Hope that helps.

      Team CL

  52. one more thing .. which i forgot to mention .. i am a pass out of 2014 batch .. i.e 2010-2014 .. btech
    and i am unemployed at this time .. all hopes on belling the cat this time … its now or never for me ….!!

    • Nothing is ever the end!

      On a worse case, if things dont go as planned, take up a job and then figure out what to do next. My suggestion – avoid giving ultimatum to yourself.

      Regards

    • Dear Abhilesh,

      For summary type questions, the correct option must contain the main idea. It can lie anywhere in the passage. If the repeated line contains the main idea, it can be the right choice given the option doesn’t have anything from outside the scope of the passage. All the best!

      Best regards,
      Team CL

  54. Hi Gejo Sir,
    This Video is really helpful. Thank you…
    I have doubt in one more type of question and that is
    Ques > Source of the passage?
    Options like
    1> some review
    2> some journal
    3>some preface
    4>some essay
    .. etc

    Any TIPS?

    • Dear Ayushi,

      For attempting the source of the passage questions, you must focus on the language used and the author’s approach to the subject matter. Fro example, if a passage were an excerpt from a journal, the language (vocabulary) would be niche pertaining to the discipline on which the author is writing. Similary, if it is a review, then the opening paragraph would most likely tell you why you should be reading or watching that book or film. In case of a preface, it will tell what the entity or the phenomenon is about, mostly a preface shall be using a first person narrative. In case of an essay, it will be a simple language but the passage would follow an introduction, a body and a conclusion approach.

      However, you must attempt these questions only if you have been a good reader. The frequency of such questions in the past years have been less.

      Hope this was helpful?

      Team CL

  55. In Mock CAT given by CATiim FIJs are asked. Does this mean CAT would ask FIJ. Also, the number of DI is 16. Does this mean actual CAT would have similar pattern?

    • Bhavdeep, the paper is only indicative and one should not assume that CAT’14 will necessarily have FIJ or 16 DI questions.

  56. sir i have a doubt regarding mat and atma. as these exams happens four times a year.for mu colleges like jbims and simsree, does any mat or atma score makes us eligible for these colleges?

    • Mayank, this year onwards JBIMS has changed its selection process and will go by CAT/CET scores only and you have to apply directly, it is not a part of DTE/CET. For the other colleges through DTE, all ATMA papers and Feb MAT are accepted.

  57. Dear Sir,
    Your RC presentation was really great and helpful . Can you please discuss your approach for solving Para-completion and Odd sentence out?
    Thank you

    • Dear Deepak,

      For solving a para-completion question, you must keep in mind that three types of sentences can complete a para:-

      1- Conclusive Statements (which brings the discussion to a logical end)
      2- Summarizing Statements (which reiterate the gist of the para)
      3- Logical Continuation (which continue but may not bring a story to a close)
      Not all three can be given as options in the same questions. The options which will not fit are the ones that violate the Tone (the author’s approach to the subject matter), Theme (what the discussion is about) or Scope (the extent to which the discussion can cover the elements of discussion) of the passage.

      For example if the author says, ” RK Narayan is one f the stalwarts of Indian Writing in English. He was a master of lucid and simple prose who made his stories interesting by including ironical endings.”

      Here the tone of the author is appreciative, laudatory, praising.

      The theme is RK Narayan’s status through his writing.( for ex;any option talking of the life of Narayan would be wrong here)

      The Scope is RK Narayan and his writing . (A discussion on any other writer’s writing shall be out of scope, even a comparison with any writer would be wrong here).

      For an odd sentence out please identify the mandatory pair and then try placing the mandatory pair wrt to the other sentence. One of the given sentences would either violate the Tone, Theme or Scope of the passage and that would be the odd sentence out.

      In case of all the sentences matching the tone, theme or scope, the one that will be the last in the sequence of arrangement after putting the Mandatory pair in place, would be the odd sentence out.

      Hope it helps.
      Team CL

  58. gejo sir, if i want to give 35 min to lr , then how should i manage my time in va & rcs ( i am good in rc also)???? (i am good in qadi also.) plz…explain sir.

    • Nilesh,

      If you saying you want to give 35 minutes to LR – then you also need to ensure that you are solving 3 LR sets – around 10 questions.

      So, if you want to spent 35 minutes for LR, then you will have to invest 90 minutes in Section 2.

      LR – 35 minutes –> 10 questions
      RC – 35 minutes –> 12 questions
      EU – 20 minutes –> 10 questions

      This would in turn mean that you will have to knock off Section 1 in 80 minutes.

      My suggestion is this though: For, LR invest time only if you are kind of sure of attempting the set. So, instead off 35 minutes, look at 25 minutes for LR.

      You will have to decide which works best for you.

      Regards

  59. Sir, a small query.. Do we need to keep the main idea and other stuff at the back of our heads, or will it be fruitful to devote a minute and “jot down the key points vis-a-vis the paras” on a paper for quick reference while attempting the questions??

    • You should follow whichever you find comfortable.

      I normally, jot down the main points. There is one more thing that I do – after I finish the first read. I quickly do a skim of the passage – understanding the main points. This helps me keep the information very fresh in my mind.

      Regards

  60. SIR, I WAS GETTING AROUND 110-120 MARKS IN MY MOCKS TILL SOME TIME BACK, BUT NOW, MY MARKS HAVE SUDDENLY DETERIORATED IN QA SECTION, AND MY OVERALL SCORE HAS COME DOWN TO 80s IN PAST FEW MOCKS. I AM NOT ABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHY. PLEASE SUGGEST WHAT SHOULD I DO

    • Sumi,

      It must be because of the change in composition of the questions (may be there are lesser questions from your area of comfort). May be you got stuck in some questions and wasted time. May be, it is all psychological. One bad Mock and thats affecting your other mocks.

      I am sure you have a plan for how to spend the 80-90 minutes in Section 1. Take a few unproctored Mocks and solve the Section 1. Focus on executing the plan. Analyse your performance. If you had got 120 before, you will get it now. I do not see much problem.

      Regards

    • 15 minutes for 2 LRs… (this is for the first round of LRs)… That would mean about 8 minutes/LR.

      If there are more than 2 LRs which is manageable within about 8 minutes, then you should accordingly allocate time on the same.

  62. Sir, My Cat has fallen on 22nd November, (afternoon slot). Is that paper expected to be tougher than all the others? Or will they have same level of difficulty?

    • Its anyone’s guess.

      Although, the scores would get normalised – so it will not really matter as to whether the test is difficult or easy as compared to the other slots.

      Regards

  63. Dear Sir,

    I am able to score well in the VA-LR and DI section, whereas I have great difficulty in the QA section. Can you please give me a rough idea as how many questions to attempt in the QA section, which will help me to clear the cutoff atleast? (I can maximise my score in the other section)

    Regards.

    • Get at least 20 (net correct) questions in Section 1.

      Depending on the DI, you could try to get about 6 to 8 questions done.

      You need 12 Qs from Quant (correct)

      Regards

  64. Wonderful video. Definitely it improved my accuracy. Only two out of 10 went wrong in my today’s mock.
    Thanks Sir.

  65. Very helpful. Thanks a ton. However, the problem which I face in RC is speed. I take around 12 minutes for each passage to read and answer all questions. The results is I am left with less time for LR. So, the thesis statement is “How to increase my speed with only 2 weeks left for the C-day”.

    • Guru,

      If you take 12 minutes, you take 12 minutes.
      35 minutes – 3 RCs – Attempt 12 to 15 questions (in case each RC has 4 questions)
      30 minutes – 12 to 15 EU
      15 minutes – 6 – 8 LR

      You can still knock off close of 30 questions in 80 minutes.

      Trying to increase speed now is not a good thing to do.

      Regards

  66. Sir
    Can you offer advice re-colleges i should apply (preferably best in finance). 10th 85.6, 12th 89.4 ,Btech 7.1 .CMAT 96.4%ile

    • Alfin, 96%ile will get you calls from all CAMT colleges but only two are worth applying to – GIM and KJ Somaiyya. Top Mumbai University colleges through DTE will not be possible.
      For institute selection based on CAT score please check out the B school advisor in CL Exam Corner.

  67. A hour of lucid and thorough analysis of reading comprehension, giju, is commendable. there were moments of epiphany too.
    in fact, your way of complete initial comprehension without skimming was really helpful. in all i made only three mistakes. but what was also interesting was that the difficulty of the questions did not complement that of the passage ( i am referring to the really tough passages ). the questions were relatively easier in the really difficult passages. namely the last two.
    however i have a question for you. how much time can one devote on a passage? because it takes me 10-12 minutes per passage. where i make only a few mistakes. i.e. a high accuracy rate. what do you think?

    • Rajesh,

      With regards to difficulty level of the questions, that’s the whole point – dont get scared of ‘difficult looking passages’. These two passages were solved by majority of the students in the tests (one was from Proc Mock last year and the other was from CAT).

      I think that 8 to 10 minutes would be ideal. But in case you are hitting 10 to 12 minutes and you get high accuracy, dont try and speed it up. Look at this differently. Three passages will take you about 35 minutes – So, that’s 12 to 16 questions (3/passage to cracking call 4/passage). You still have 30 minutes to target 15 EU and another 15 minutes to handle couple of LR. That would still mean an attempt of about 30 in 80 minutes.

      Regards

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