Types of Reading Comprehension Questions in CAT Exam 2025
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Exam On - 30 Nov '25
Cracking the CAT Reading Comprehension (RC) questions of CAT is not easy. You need to know how to approach which type of CAT RC question. Read this article to know types of Reading Comprehension questions in CAT exam.
Reading Comprehension (RC) question in CAT exam make up almost 3/4th of the sectional weightage. Out of 24 VARC questions, 12-14 questions are based on RC passages. CAT RC passages are usually of 500 to 600 word-limit but what makes them a tough nut to crack is the difficulty level. The CAT passages are long and dense, and often from rarely heard about topics. The Reading Comprehension section of CAT is considered the most difficult among all MBA entrance exams mainly because the passages are complicated and inference based. There are rarely fact based RC passages in the CAT. Close answers lead to further confusion in the minds of candidates.
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There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.Preparation of CAT Reading Comprehension is not the same as DILR or Quant. You can't start studying for CAT Reading Comprehension two months before the exam and crack it. There are no formulaes to apply or no tables to be memorised. You need to start much before. Reading Comprehension can be mastered only if you have strong English reading skills, as you are required to read long passages in less than a minute and solve at least four questions for each passage. So, more than anything, you need to be able to read fast and understand the passages as well as identify key arguments/facts given.
Apart from having a reading habit, you also need practice. It is critical to practice sample papers and sectional CAT mock tests for VARC for atleast two months. Another thing that you need for preparing Reading Comprehension for CAT 2025 is the knowledge of types of RC passages. In this article we have discussed different types of RC passages in CAT exam.
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Types of Reading Comprehension Passages in CAT Exam
There are mainly three types of Reading Comprehension passages in CAT exam:
- Analytical
- Descriptive
- Data Driven
CAT RC Topics of Previous Years
The topics on which CAT RC passages are based include business & economics, science, humanities, social sciences and current affairs. Take a look at the RC topics of CAT exam in the past five years.
CAT 2024 RC Topics
Reading Comprehension passages in CAT 2024 pertained to diverse fields. Every session had 4 RC passages having 3-4 questions. Check the table below for CAT 2024 RC passages.
| CAT 2024 Slot 1 | CAT 2024 Slot 2 | CAT 2024 Slot 3 |
|---|---|---|
| RC-1: Digital rights of content (Streaming and DVD/Blu-ray) RC-2: Craftsmanship and creativity RC-3: Revival of bandicoots in Australia RC-4: Critique of behavioral economics |
RC -1: Spice Trade RC- 2: Unintended Consequences of Technology RC- 3: Peer Review of Research RC- 4: Carnivore-Human Conflict |
RC-1: Impact of AI RC-2: Languages RC-3: Chinese Moutai RC-4: Saving outer space and other planets |
The CAT VARC section is dominated by RC questions. Out of 24 questions about 14-16 are based on Reading Comprehension passages and the rest of them are based on parajumbles, para completion, etc.
CAT has about 12-16 RC question. In CAT 2022, there were four RC passages each having four questions. The ideal attempt was estimated at 13. Since, it is not mandatory to solve all the questions, candidates can maximize their scores by leaving out the questions related to the passage they find the toughest. There is negative marking in CAT so candidates must ensure that they mark only the correct options or do not mark any option at all.
The key change in CAT question paper 2024 was increase in number of questions in DLIR section. Till 2023, the DILR section used to have 20 questions. In 2024, it had 22 questions. The time limit for it was the same and no other section had less questions. Which means, in CAT 2024, candidates had to attempt 68 questions instead of 66 to solve in the same time (120 minutes). DILR sectional time limit was 40 minutes as in previous years. There was no other change in CAT 2024, the difficulty level was same as previous years.
There are no straight forward vocabulary questions in CAT. Out of the total of 24 questions in VARC section, 12-14 questions are Reading Comprehension based and rest of them comprise parajumbles, para completion and odd sentence. CAT is the only MBA entrance exam, which does not have direct vocabulary and grammar questions. However, one needs to have strong vocabulary and grammar to be able to solve RC, parajumble, para completion and odd sentence questions.
No, it is not mandatory to attempt all the questions in CAT. Candidates can choose to attempt questions as per their preparation. It is not possible also to attempt all the questions due to time limitation and difficulty level. Reading dense RC passages often take up a lot of time. In DILR and QA too, some questions are time taking and calculation intensive due to which not much time is left in hand to attempt all questions. The aim of every test taker should be to attempt about 2/3rd of the total questions in all the sections of CAT.
CAT 2023 RC Topics
CAT Reading Comprehension passages in 2023 exam were of high difficulty level. There were four RC passages in every session, having 3-4 questions each. Check the CAT RC topics 2023 below:
| CAT 2023 Slot 1 |
CAT 2023 Slot 2 |
CAT 2023 Slot 3 |
|---|---|---|
| RC 1 Topic: Jungle and Economy, Hunter-Gatherers, Wolf Conservation RC 2 Topic: Oceans and Territories RC 3 Topic: Lifestyle Comparison of Old and New Generations RC 4 Topic: Comparison of South and North Korea, with a focus on clothing differences |
RC 1 Topic: Garments/ fashion Industry & Pollution- Easy to moderate RC 2 Topic: Netflix Dubbing of titles for Europe - Good or Bad for Europe? RC 3 Topic: Liberalism is Dying- Moderate to Difficult RC 4 Topic: Facts & Interpretation in History |
RC 1 Topic: Colonialism and Pollution RC 2 Topic: Rationalization RC 3 Topic: Romanticism RC 4 Topic: History |
CAT 2022 RC Topics
CAT 2022 Reading Comprehension passages were moderately difficult. Given below are the CAT RC topics of all the three exam slots:
| CAT 2022 Slot 1 | CAT 2022 Slot 2 | CAT 2022 Slot 3 |
|---|---|---|
| RC -1: Ghosts & their mysteries how we can’t find their history |
RC -1: Music | RC -1: Social reorganization increasing crime rate |
| RC -2: Chinese Copy of articles |
RC -2 Engineering technology |
RC -2: Software if more easy humans are not capable to get solutions) |
| RC -3: Two levels of emotional thinking |
RC -3: Octopus |
RC -3: Indian history |
| RC -4: STOICS | RC -4: Philosophy | RC -4: American migration / urbanization increasing |
CAT 2021 RC Topics
CAT 2021 was held in three shifts. Given below are the CAT RC topics of all the three exam slots:
| CAT 2021 Slot 1 |
CAT 2021 Slot 2 |
CAT 2021 Slot 3 |
|---|---|---|
| RC -1: Mayan Civilization |
RC -1: Language/ Indigenous People
|
RC -1: Nanotechnology |
| RC -2: Utopia and Dystopia |
RC -2: Why Fiction Trumps Truth |
RC -2: Language Instinct |
| RC -3: Marshmallow Experiment |
RC -3: Colonialism/Nationalism |
RC -3: Time Accuracy Entropy |
| RC -4: Evolution of Tea as a Drink |
RC -4: Knowledge and Problems of Knowledge is a Scandal to Philosophy |
RC -4: Unconscious and Psychoanalysis |
CAT 2020 RC Topics
CAT 2020 was also held in three shifts. Given below are the CAT RC topics of all the three exam slots:
| CAT 2020 Slot 1 |
CAT 2020 Slot 2 |
CAT 2020 Slot 3 |
|---|---|---|
| RC -1: Anarchism |
RC -1: Investing in renewable energy technologies |
RC -1: Travel writing and feminism during colonial times |
| RC -2: Migration of Northern Seals |
RC -2: Piracy in international trade |
RC -2: The need for economic literacy in the general population |
| RC -3: Currency of Tang dynasty |
RC -3: Freudian models of aggression |
RC -3: Screen time and undercurrents of social class |
| RC -3: Grammar/Vocabulary |
RC -4: A study of visualization |
RC -4: An analysis of human nature |
CAT 2019 RC Topics
Check the table below for CAT RC topics of Slots 1 and 2 of CAT 2019 exam:
| CAT 2019 Slot 1 |
CAT 2019 Slot 2 |
|---|---|
| RC -1: British folk music |
RC -1: Dense cities |
| RC -2: Origin of story of Alladin |
RC -2: Google and archaeology |
| RC -3: Topophilia |
RC -3: Distributing bureaucracy |
| RC -4: Emperor penguins |
RC -4: Language & culture |
| RC -5: Internet shopping and choice anxiety |
RC -5: Passage on British colonial policy |
CAT 2018 RC Topics
Check the table below for CAT RC topics of slot 1 and 2 of CAT 2018 exam.
| CAT 2018 Slot 1 |
CAT 2018 Slot 2 |
|---|---|
| RC -1: Genetics |
RC -1: Grover snails |
| RC -2: India’s view on its legacy of Second World War |
RC -2: Meritocracy and diversified teams |
| RC -3: Plastic pollution |
RC -3: Use of technology in essential services |
| RC -4: Elephant society |
RC -4: Rings of Saturn and their age |
| RC -5: Consumer behaviour studies |
RC -5: Human resource and learning |
Try this CAT Mock Test by Shiksha to assess your preparation level and time-management skill.
| CAT_Mock_Test_Set 1 | CAT_Mock_Test_Set_1_Solutions |
| CAT_Mock_Test_Set 2 | CAT_Mock_Test_Set_2 Solutions |
Types of Reading Comprehension Questions in CAT Exam
Coming to the types of questions asked on Reading Comprehension topics, one can expect a variety of questions in CAT 2025. Each CAT RC passage carries three to four questions which can be of the following types based on the theme of the passage:
- Questions based on Central Theme
- Vocabulary based questions
- Inference based questions
- Facts based questions
- Questions based on tone of the passage
- Passage structure based questions
- Title based questions
Let’s discuss each type of CAT RC questions individually.
Questions based on Central Theme: In this type of RC questions, the test taker has to identify the central theme of the passage. The question could be: ‘Which of the following options sum up the theme of the passage?’ Or ‘What is the central idea of the topic?’
These are generally easy to crack and one can guess the right answer upon reading the passage properly.
Vocabulary based questions: These types of questions in Reading Comprehension for CAT are generally, based on word meaning or antonym/synonym. For example, meaning of a word appearing in the passage will be asked like, ‘What is the meaning of ?’ or ‘What is the synonym of?'
The only way to crack vocabulary-based questions in CAT is by having a strong vocabulary base. There are very less vocabulary based questions in CAT now, though.
Also Read:
- Verbal Ability (VA) solved questions
- Pronouns with exercises
- Parajumbles with exercises
- Prepositions with exercises
- Subject Verb Agreement with exercises
- Types of Clauses with exercises
- Example of Articles with exercises
- Phrases Modifiers with exercises
- Parts of Speech with exercises
- Errors in Tenses with exercises
- Subject and Predicate with exercises
- Nouns with exercises
- Verbs with exercises
- Adverbs with exercises
- Conjunctions with exercises
- Antyonyms with exercises
Inference based questions: These are the toughest type of RC questions as the correct answer is completely dependent on ones understanding of the argument presented in the passage. The types of questions on these passages will be, '
What does the author mean by this?'
or '
What do you infer from this?'
To solve inference-based questions in Reading Comprehension section for CAT, you need to read the passage very carefully and understand the central theme. Break down the sentences while reading the passage, understand the fundamental theme and if needed make notes.
Facts-based questions: These questions are easy to solve, provided you read the passage carefully and mark important points. Also, understand the question well before answering. Fact based questions are usually in the form of fill in the blanks or correct/incorrect statements.
Passage structure-based questions: These types of questions ask candidates to arrange arguments presented in the passage in a logical manner. In CAT, you may also be asked to analyse the logic behind the paragraph. For example, ‘What does the last paragraph describe?’ or ‘What is the main argument in third paragraph?’
To crack CAT RC questions based on structure, read the passage in parts and try to get the gist of each paragraph. Pay attention on words such as ‘however’, ‘but’, ‘although’. Conjunctions can change the meaning of the statement.
Title-based questions: These refer to the questions in Reading Comprehension for CAT where candidates are asked to choose an appropriate title for the given passage. These are the types of questions where one will have to select not the right answer but the most apt option or the title closest to the theme of the passage. These type of questions can be tricky to answer if one hasn’t understood the passage well.
Questions-based on tone of the passage: Tone-based question require application of critical thinking. The questions usually asked are, ‘What is the attitude of the author while saying this statement?’ or ‘The tone of the author is best described as?’
To solve questions-based on tone of the passage, one needs to understand the nature of the passage - positive, negative or neutral.
CAT questions for practice with solutions - VARC
Get here free PDFs of CAT VARC practice questions with answers. The CAT practice questions are of the same difficulty level as CAT.
| CAT Easy Test Set 1 | CAT Easy Test Set 1 Solutions |
| CAT Medium Test Set 1 | CAT Medium Test Set 1 Solutions |
| CAT Difficult Test Set 1 | CAT Difficult Test Set 1 Solutions |
| CAT Easy Test Set 2 | CAT Easy Test Set 2 Solutions |
| CAT Medium Test Set 2 | CAT Medium Test Set 2 Solutions |
| CAT Difficult Test Set 2 | CAT Difficult Test Set 2 Solutions |
| CAT Easy Test Set 3 | CAT Easy Test Set 3 Solutions |
| CAT Medium Test Set 3 | CAT Medium Test Set 3 Solutions |
| CAT Difficult Test Set 3 | CAT Difficult Test Set 3 Solutions |
| CAT Easy Test Set 4 | CAT Easy Test Set 4 Solutions |
| CAT Medium Test Set 4 | CAT Medium Test Set 4 Solutions |
| CAT Difficult Test Set 4 | CAT Difficult Test Set 4 Solutions |
| CAT Easy Test Set 5 | CAT Easy Test Set 5 Solutions |
| CAT Medium Test Set 5 | CAT Medium Test Set 5 Solutions |
| CAT Difficult Test Set 5 | CAT Difficult Test Set 5 Solutions |
| CAT Easy Test Set 6 | CAT Easy Test Set 6 Solutions |
| CAT Medium Test Set 6 | CAT Medium Test Set 6 Solutions |
| CAT Difficult Test Set 6 | CAT Difficult Test Set 6 Solutions |
Also Read:
- Common Pitfalls to avoid while solving RC questions in CAT
-
CAT Preparation: Your Love For Reading Can Get You Desired Result
- Last week preparation tips for VARC
Check out CAT exam preparation tips in this video and solve Mock Test series and sample papers.
Read More:
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Till 2014, there were only two sections in CAT. Quantitative Aptitude was clubbed with Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning was clubbed with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. In 2015, the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning were clubbed together and Quantitative Aptitude and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension made two individual sections. Since 2015, the sectional segregation has remained the same but the number of questions have come down from 100 to 66. The exam duration has also been reduced. Until 2019, the CAT exam was of 180 minutes and the total number of questions were 100. However, in 2020, the question paper structure was revised due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the total number of questions came down to 76. In 2021 and 2022, the number of questions were further lowered to 66. For the last two years, CAT is conducted for 2 hours, and the number of questions is 66. In CAT 2024 however, the number of questions were increased to 68.
The latest CAT question paper structure is: Total questions: 68 Number of sections: 3 Order of sections - 1. VARC 2. DILR 3. Quantitative Aptitude Sectional time limit: 40 minutes VARC questions: 24 DILR questions: 22 Quantitative Aptitude questions: 22.