Best Sources To Prepare For VA-RC
Best Resources To Prepare For Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
VA-RC in CAT checks the individual’s ability to read the text, process it, and understand the passages given. Reading comprehension also checks the ability of one’s vocabulary and text comprehension. In the CAT exam, Reading comprehension (RC) questions hold more than 50% weight in the verbal ability section. As per the recent trends, out of 34 questions in the verbal section, 24 questions will be based on RC. Hence in order to score well in the verbal section, you need to score well in RC.
In the recent competitive exams, RCs have been data-heavy, and have often revolved around current affairs, history, philosophy and scientific case-studies. What is difficult is that most of the options appear to be the same, and it is difficult to distinguish the correct answers from the erroneous ones
1. McKinsey Insights
These articles require careful reading and understanding to grasp the base concept of the write-up. For instance, this article by McKinsey underlining the impact of Artifical Intelligence on the economy is of the type that can be expected in CAT Reading Comprehension sets. What’s more, you also get to learn the views of top analysts and strategists in the business – learnings you can use in your interview processes as well.
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2. The Guardian
What Is The Guardian?
The Guardian is a 200-year-old British daily newspaper, trusted by millions across the globe for quality news reporting and daily updates.
Why The Guardian?
What is noteworthy about The Guardian is the kind of language and words that the authors use to convey their stories to the readers. There is an automatic development of one’s vocabulary as well as general awareness. These type of articles are likely to feature in CAT, and one of the RCs in CAT 2005 was from this newspaper.
3. Aeon Essays
It is one of the common sources of VA-RC for CAT.Aeon is a magazine of ideas and culture. We publish in-depth essays, incisive articles, and a mix of original and curated videos — free to all.It has articles related to all types of content that can be asked in VA-RC.It regularly updates article on daily basis. From the past five years some reading comprehension are taken from aeon essays,thus making a habit of reading 5 articles daily from aeon will help you in cracking VA-RC.
4. National Geographic
What Is The National Geographic?
The National Geographic is a US-based television network which is a household name across the globe. Their articles revolve around fact-based documentaries on history, nature, culture, science etc.
Why National Geographic?
Remember those RCs in your mock tests on the discovery of new species, or a report on over-fishing or the impact of global warming on marine life, etc.? Most of those articles are picked up from the Nat Geo website/magazine. Much like McKinsey, Nat Geo articles require careful reading to understand the base concept of an article. For instance, this article about a historic face transplant, or this one on the impact of air pollution on the human brain, can be expected in an exam such as CAT. You can follow them on Facebook to get daily article updates.
What Is The Hindu?
The Hindu is a Chennai based newspaper which is one of the most popular and widely distributed newspapers of India. It is 140-year-old and produces excellent quality of articles on a daily basis.
Why The Hindu ?
People read The Hindu for news. Aspirants read the newspaper for its Editorials. The Hindu editorials are legendary and are known for being highly informative with the complex vocabulary used by leading intellectuals and writers. There are also detailed interviews prior to the Editorials section, which can also serve as a source for VA-RC practice.
The Hindu will also help you stay updated with current affairs. You can subscribe to their e-paper as well!
What Is The World Economic Forum ?
The WEF is a Swiss non-profit organization which produces research reports and sector-specific initiatives. It is a 50-year-old organisation which is well known for its annual meetings conducted in Davos, a resort in the Swiss Alps, where thousands of business and country leaders gather together to discuss the most pertinent issues that affect the world as a whole.
Why The World Economic Forum ?
The World Economic Forum prepares and compiles various in-depth reports on a variety of topics. This makes their articles/reports data-heavy, with a lot of information to process. The credibility and quality of articles is also very high. By reading the WEF articles, you can train yourself to read only the important material in a large article, and you can enable yourself to increase your reading speed and eye-span. You will also, simultaneously, educate yourself on various topics.
This article on the ‘Future of Energy & Mobility’ is a good example of the type of VA-RC that can come in CAT and other competitive exams.
Some other Sources of VA-RC
To practice Reading Comprehension some of the sources are:
- Newspapers: While reading the newspaper focus on topics such as Social Science(History, Civics, Geography), Natural Science, and Philosophy/Psychology. Read Speaking Tree from Times of India Newspaper daily. You can read newspapers like The Hindu, Economic Times, Times of India, Economist, etc.
- NewYork Times: It is an American Newspaper of New York City. It is one of the expected sources for the Reading Comprehension for CAT. But it is a paid subscription and is not available free.
- The Atlantic: It covers areas like politics, sports, news, health, technology, etc. They have various videos, magazines, Puzzle on various topics.
- Blogs: You can also read blogs they provide good content and opinions. Some of the famous people blogs you can follow are Swaminomics, Wall Street Oasis for finance, Hubspot for Marketing, Curious Cat and Freakonomics for Economics, Forbes, and Harward Business Review for Business and Quartz for Analysis.
- Websites: You can follow websites like www.aldaily.com and www.magportal.com for the articles on the topics you are interested in.
- Books: Books are the another sources of Reading Comprehension. Some of the books which you can read are Animal Farm, 1984, India Unbound, Business Legends, etc. For more books click here.
Reading Comprehension Sources for CAT Exam Questions
Other than these resources, we are also sharing with you a detailed list of each passage covered in CAT 2019,2018, 2017, morning and afternoon slots along with the sources they have been taken from. You can simply click the links given here, read these articles and many more from the same websites.
CAT Exam 2019 – Morning Slot – Reading Comprehension Sources
| Passage Title | Links |
|---|---|
| Passage on Topophilia | Click Here |
| Passage on Folk music | Click Here |
| Passage on Shopping and choice anxiety | Click Here |
| Passage on Aladdin | Click Here |
| Passage on Penguins | Click Here |
CAT Exam 2019 – Afternoon Slot – Reading Comprehension Sources
| Passage Title | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Passage on Dense Cities | Prospectus magazine | Click Here |
| Passage on British Colonial Policy | The Atlantic | Click Here |
| Passage on Why governments move civil servants out of national capitals | The Economist | Click Here |
| Passage on Learning to Speak Lingerie | Newyorker | Click Here |
| Passage on Google and archaeology | npr.com | Click Here |
CAT Exam 2018 – Morning Slot – Reading Comprehension Sources
| Passage Topic | Link |
|---|---|
| The only thing worse than being lied to is not knowing you’re being lied to. It’s true that plastic pollution is a huge problem, of planetary proportions. | Click Here |
| Typically, elephant researchers have cited, as a cause of aggression, the high levels of testosterone in newly matured male elephants or the competition for land and resources between elephants and humans. | Click Here |
| Economists have spent most of the 20th century ignoring psychology, positive or otherwise. But today there is a great deal of emphasis on how happiness can shape global economies, or — on a smaller scale — successful business practice. | Click Here |
| When researchers at Emory University in Atlanta trained mice to fear the smell of almonds (by pairing it with electric shocks),. | Click Here |
| Indian government [has] announced an international competition to design a National War Memorial in New Delhi, to honour all of the Indian soldiers who served in the various wars and counter-insurgency campaigns from 1947 onwards. | Click Here |
CAT Exam 2018 – Afternoon Slot – Reading Comprehension Sources
| Passage Topics | Links |
|---|---|
| More and more companies, government agencies, educational institutions and philanthropic organisations are today in the grip of a new phenomenon: ‘metric fixation’. | Click Here |
| Grove snails as a whole are distributed all over Europe, but a specific variety of the snail, with a distinctive white-lipped shell, | Click Here |
| NOT everything looks lovelier the longer and closer its inspection. But Saturn does. It is gorgeous through Earthly telescopes. | Click Here |
| Will a day come when India’s poor can access government services as easily as drawing cash from an ATM? | Click Here |
| The complexity of modern problems often precludes any one person from fully understanding them. | Click Here |
CAT Exam 2017 – Morning Slot – Reading Comprehension Sources
| Passage Topic | Link |
|---|---|
| London’s Olympics Infrastructure, an Asset or an Albatross | Click Here |
| Scientists have long recognized the incredible diversity within a species | Click Here |
| Why are almost all modern maps the same way up? | Click Here |
| I used a smartphone GPS to find my way through the cobblestoned maze of Geneva’s Old Town, | Click Here |
| Why the Death of Malls Is About More Than Shopping | Click Here |
CAT Exam 2017 – Afternoon Slot – Reading Comprehension Sources
| Passage Topics | Links |
|---|---|
| During the frigid season…it’s often necessary to nestle under a blanket to try to stay warm. | Click Here |
| Despite their fierce reputation. Vikings may not have always been the plunderers and pillagers popular culture imagines them to be | Click Here |
| Typewriters are the epitome of a technology that has been comprehensively rendered obsolete by the digital age. | Click Here |
| Creativity is at once our most precious resource and our most inexhaustible one. | Click Here |
| The end of the age of the internal combustion engine is in sight. | Click Here |
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