CAT VARC Strategy: How to Crack Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension

VARC (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension) is where many aspirants either build a lead or lose the plot. Around 70% of the section is Reading Comprehension, so your RC skill largely decides your VARC percentile. Here is how to crack it.

Reading Comprehension: the heart of VARC

Read for structure, not just words

Strong readers track the author's argument: what is the main point, how does each paragraph support it, where does the tone shift. If you can summarise a passage in one sentence, you can answer most questions.

Build a daily reading habit

Read editorials, long-form essays and articles on unfamiliar topics (economics, philosophy, science) for 30 minutes a day. CAT passages are dense and abstract — comfort with hard text is a trainable skill.

Master the answer options

Most RC questions are won by eliminating wrong options, not spotting the perfect one. Watch for the classic traps: too extreme, out of scope, partially true, or a distortion of what the author said.

Verbal Ability (VA): the non-RC questions

• Para-jumbles: find the opening sentence and logical links (pronouns, transitions, cause-effect). These are mostly TITA — no negative marking, so always attempt.
• Para-summary: pick the option that captures the main idea without adding or dropping information.
• Odd-sentence-out: identify the coherent paragraph first, then the sentence that doesn't fit.

Time and selection strategy

With 24 questions in 40 minutes, selection beats speed:

1. Scan all passages in the first minute and start with the one you find easiest.
2. Don't get stuck — if a passage feels impenetrable, move on and return later.