CAT 2016 exam as announced by IIM Bangalore will have VARC as the very 1st of the 3 sections. The weightage of Reading Comprehension (RC) part in VARC section will be 70%
and rest 30% will be on Verbal Ability section.
IIM Bangalore, the CAT 2016 convening IIM, proposes to place 34 questions in VARC section. Out of them candidates may face 10 Non-MCQs and 24 MCQs in this section.
VARC: 5 key points to note
-- 5 RC passages are to appear in CAT 2016 exam
-- There will be 2 short RC passages of around 400 words and 3 long RC passages with about 700 words each
-- Short RC passages will be followed by 3 questions each and longer RC passages will be followed by 6 questions each. In all there would be 24 questions following the 5 RC passages in VARC section of CAT 2016.
-- All the 24 questions based on 5 RC passages are expected to be of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) type carrying a penalty of 1/3 negative marking for each wrong answer
-- Total time limit to solve VARC section in CAT 2016 is 1 hour. Any laxity in preparation for RC and failing to score well in RC part of VARC section may drag down your percentile below the qualifying level prescribed by IIMs, FMS and other top B-schools.
Prepare and assess regularly
Preparing Reading Comprehension for CAT 2016 in next 30 days may not prove to be very difficult if you are on right track of preparation and devote time to practice. Toppers who cracked CAT 2015 and got into IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, FMS Delhi are unanimous on the view that it is the practice and analysis of mistakes that can take you beyond your current level of expected percentile in VARC section in CAT 2016 to a much higher level.
RC is considered as one of the most difficult parts to solve especially for the candidates coming from engineering background. CAT 2015 toppers confronted VARC as their weakest section but never got tired from moving with consistent improvement. The result was that they cracked the VARC section with very high percentile.
CAT toppers guide
IIM Bangalore student & CAT 99.99 percentiler, Shashank Heda firmly believes “The scope of improvement in VARC was more when compared to other sections. Thus, I spent more time in solving passages and did detailed analysis of that section’s result in each mock test.”
FMS Delhi student & CAT 99.99 percentiler Abhay Agarwal, suggests “I applied all my efforts in improving my English. I read 4-5 novels in a span of 1-2 months. I read novels which were not at all interesting. This reading habit helped me greatly in focussing on the RCs. I could then critically analyse the passage and could answer the questions properly. Although it took me many attempts in the mocks but finally English was one of my best sections in CAT’15 Result.”
IIM Ahmedabad student and CAT 100 percentiler Pranjal Agarwal, suggesting the preparation strategy for VARC advises “For the Verbal Ability section, the best way to study is by reading articles in newspapers and magazines, preferably on the internet. These would help in the Reading Comprehension types of questions. For opinionated type articles, it’s better to follow some online forums where people write their own articles. Reading articles also help in getting an idea of sentence fluency as well.”
For the past many years, CAT has been awarding maximum weightage to RC passages and with no questions on Logical Reasoning (LR) in VARC section in CAT 2016, you should expect more number of RC questions. Better to improve your reading speed with understanding.
None of the candidates solve all the questions fearing imposition of penalty marks. As such a candidate armed with the accurate solution of 22-24 questions can get 98-99 percentile in this section.
Short & Long RC passages in CAT 2016
Prof Nitish K Sinha CAT expert, IIM Lucknow alumnus and author of titles on QA, LRDI and VARC, widely published by Pearson shares below short & long RC passages followed by MCQs based on the CAT 2016 exam pattern.
This is the opportunity for the CAT 2016 aspirants to get indulged in the real type of CAT questions to assess yourself where you stand on CAT 2016 preparation on Reading Comprehension.
Short RC Passage with 4 MCQs
Below is shared a short RC passage followed by 4 MCQs on the CAT 2016 exam pattern. Since all the questions are of MCQ type it is suggested to skip the one that you are not sure of to avoid negative marking penalty.
Each correct answer is awarded +3 marks and each wrong answer is imposed a penalty of -1 mark. You may calculate your score after attempting the RC passage. For example-
If you attempt all the 4 and 1 is wrong, your score would be 9-1=8; If you attempt 3 and 1 is wrong, your score would be 6-1=5; If you attempt 2 and both are correct, your score will be 6 marks.
Try to attempt the short passage in not more than 10 minutes.
Direction: The passage is followed by 4 questions based on its content. After reading passage, choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions following the passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.
Passage-1
Many critics of Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights see its second part as a counterpoint that comments on, if does not reverse, the first part, where a “romantic” reading receives more confirmation. Seeing the two parts as a whole is encouraged by the novel’s sophisticated structure, revealed in its complex use of narrators and time shifts. Granted that the presence of these elements need not argue an authorial awareness of novelistic construction comparable to that of Henry James, their presence does encourage attempts to unify the novel’s heterogeneous parts. However, any interpretation that seeks to unify of the novel’s diverse elements is bound to be somewhat unconvincing. This is not because such an interpretation necessarily stiffens into a thesis (although rigidity in any interpretation of this or of any novel is always a danger), but because Wuthering Heights has recalcitrant elements of undesirable power that ultimately, resist inclusion in an all-encompassing interpretation. In this respect, Wuthering Heights shares a feature of Hamlet.
1. According to the passage, which of the following is a true statement about the first and second parts of Wuthering Heights?
(a) The second part has received more attention from critics.
(b) The second part has little relation to the first part.
(c) The second part is better because it is more realistic.
(d) The second part provides less substantiation for a “romantic” reading.
2. Which of the following inferences about Henry James’s awareness of novelistic construction is best supported by the passage?
(a) James, more than any other novelist, was aware of the difficulties of novelistic construction.
(b) James was very aware of the details of novelistic construction.
(c) James’s awareness of novelistic construction derived from the reading of Bronte.
(d) James’s awareness of novelistic construction has led most commentators to see unity in his individual novels.
3. The author of the passage would be most likely to agree that an interpretation of a novel should:
(a) not try to unite heterogeneous elements in the novel.
(b) not be inflexible in its treatment of the elements in the novel.
(c) not argue that the complex use of narrators or of time shifts indicates a sophisticated structure.
(d) concentrate on those recalcitrant elements of the novel that are outside the novel’s main structure.
4. The author of the passage suggests which of the following about Hamlet?
I. Hamlet has usually attracted critical interpretations that tend to stiffen into thesis.
II. Hamlet has elements that are not amenable to an all-encompassing critical interpretation.
III. Hamlet is less open to an all-encompassing critical interpretation that is Wuthering Heights.
IV. Hamlet has not received a critical interpretation that has been widely accepted by readers.
(a) I only (b) II only
(c) I and IV only (d) I, II and III only
Long RC Passage with 6 questions
CAT 2016 aspirants, managing the time should honestly complete the long RC passage in not more than 15 minutes and only then should cross check with answers how much they have scored. Each correct answer carries 3 marks and each wrong answer carries the penalty of 1 mark negative marking. So before you arrive at your final score you should calculate and deduct the negative marks out of your credit marks.
Direction: The passage is followed by 6 questions based on its content. After reading passage, choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions following the passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.
Passage-2
Some recent historians have argued that life in the British colonies in America from approximately 1763 to 1789 was marked by internal conflicts among colonists. Inheritors of some of the viewpoints of early twentieth-century progressive historians such as Beard and Becker, these recent historians have put forward arguments that deserve evaluation. The kind of conflict most emphasized by these historians is class conflict. Yet with the Revolutionary War dominating these years, how does one distinguish class conflict within the larger conflict? Certainly not by the side a person supported. Although many of these historians have accepted the earlier assumption that Loyalists represented an upper class, new evidence indicates that Loyalists, like rebels, were drawn from all socio-economic classes. (It is nonetheless probably true that a larger percentage of the well-to-do joined the Loyalists that joined the rebels). Looking at the rebel side, we find little evidence for the contention that lower-class rebels were in conflict with the upper-class rebels. Indeed, the war effort against Britain tended to suppress class conflicts. Where it did not, the disputing rebels of one or another class usually became Loyalists. Loyalism thus operated as a safety valve to remove socio-economic discontent that exist among the rebels.
Disputes occurred, of course, among those who remained on the rebel side, but the extraordinary social mobility of eighteenth century American society (with the obvious exception of slaves)usually prevented such disputes from hardening along class lines. Social structure was in fact so fluid – though recent statistics suggest a narrowing of economic opportunity as the latter half of the century progressed – that to talk about social classes at all requires the use of loose economic categories such as rich, poor, and middle class, or eighteenth-century designations like “he better sort.” Despite these vague categories, one should not claim unequivocally that hostility between recognizable classes cannot be legitimately observed. Outside of New York, however, there were very few instances of openly expressed class antagonism.
Having said this, however, one must add that there is much evidence to support the further claim of recent historians that sectional conflicts were common between 1763 and 1789. The “Paxton Boys” incident and the Regulator movement are representative examples of the widespread, and justified, discontent of western settlers against colonial or state governments dominated by eastern interests. Although undertones of class conflict existed beneath such hostility, the opposition was primarily geographical. Sectional conflict which also existed between North and South – deserves further investigation. In summary, historians must be careful about the kind of conflict they emphasize in eighteenth-century America. Yet those who stress the achievement of a general consensus among the colonists cannot fully understand that consensus without understanding the conflicts that had to be overcome or repressed in order to reach it.
5. The author considers the contentions made by the recent historians discussed in the passage to be
(a) potentially verifiable.
(b) partially justified.
(c) logically contradictory.
(d) capricious and unsupported.
6. The author most likely refers to “historians such as Beard and Becker” in order to
(a) point out historians whose views of history anticipated some of the views of the recent historians mentioned in the passage.
(b) isolate the two historians whose work is most representative of the viewpoints of Progressive historians.
(c) emphasize the need to find connections between recent historians writing and the work of earlier historians.
(d) suggest that progressive historians were the first to discover the particular internal conflicts in eighteenth-century American life mentioned in the passage.
7. According to the passage, Loyalism during the American Revolutionary War served the function of
(a) eliminating the disputes that existed among those colonists who supported the rebel cause.
(b) drawing upper, as opposed to lower, socio-economic classes away from the rebel cause.
(c) absorbing members of socio-economic groups on the rebel side who felt themselves in contention with members of other socio-economic groups.
(d) channeling conflict that existed within a socio-economic class into the war effort against the rebel cause.
8. The passage suggests that the author would be likely to agree with which of the following statements about the social structure of eighteenth-century American society?
I. It allowed greater economic opportunity than it did social mobility.
II. It permitted greater economic opportunity prior to 1750 and after 1750.
III. It did not contain rigidly defined socioeconomic divisions.
IV. It prevented economic disputes from arising among members of the society.
(a) I and IV only (b) II and III only
(c) III and IV only (d) I, II and III only
9. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements regarding socioeconomic class and support for the rebel and Loyalist causes during the American Revolutionary War?
(a) Identifying a person’s socioeconomic class is the least accurate method of ascertaining which side that person supported.
(b) Identifying a person as a member of the rebel or of the Loyalist side does necessarily reveal that person’s particular socioeconomic class.
(c) Both the rebel and the Loyalist sides contained members of all socioeconomic classes, although there were fewer disputes among socioeconomic class on the Loyalist side.
(d) Both the rebel and Loyalist sides contained members of all socioeconomic classes, although the Loyalist side was made up primarily of members of the upper class.
10. The author suggests which of the following about representatives of colonial or state governments in America from 1763 to 1789?
(a) The governments inadequately represented the interests of people in western regions.
(b) The governments more often represented class interests than sectional interests.
(c) The governments were less representative than they had been before 1763.
(d) The governments were dominated by the interests of people of an upper socioeconomic class.
ANSWERS
|
1. |
(d) |
2. |
(b) |
3. |
(b) |
4. |
(b) |
5. |
(b) |
|
6. |
(a) |
7. |
(c) |
8. |
(b) |
9. |
(b) |
10. |
(a) |
1.(d) According to the first sentence, the first part of the novel tends to confirm the “romantic” reading more strongly than the second. Therefore, option (d) is correct are incorrect, as nothing in the passage suggests that critics have paid more attention to the second part, that the two parts have little relation, or that the second part is better. Hence, the answer is option (d).
2. (b) The fourth sentence implies that James represents a very high degree of authorial awareness of novelistic construction and that no such claim is necessarily being made for Bronte. Thus, option (b) is correct. Option (a) is incorrect, since the passage does not imply that there are particular difficulties that James understood uniquely among novelists. Option (c) is also incorrect, as it is not mentioned in the passage, similarly option (d). Hence, the answer is option (b).
3. (b) Here option (a) is incorrect, as the author does not indicate that the unification of different elements is to be avoided in interpretation generally. By contrast, the author’s parenthetical statement about rigidity does present a general warning against inflexibility of interpretation, and is that it supports option (b). Option (c) is incorrect, as the passage does not include that, also option (d) is incorrect. Hence, the answer is option (b).
4. (b) The answer is option (b), as Hamlet is mentioned only in the final sentence of the passage, which refers to “this respect” in which Hamlet and Wuthering Heights are similar. Option (a) is incorrect, as the passage does not provide information about the characteristics of the usual critical interpretations of Hamlet. Option (c) is also no true as it does not suggest anything about a difference in their openness, similarly option (d). Hence, the answer is option (b).
5. (b) Author considers the contentions made by the recent historians discussed in the passage to be partially justified, as it is given in the passage that- looking at the rebel side, we find little evidence for the contention that lower-class rebels were in conflict with the upper-class rebels. All other options are incorrect as they are not related to the passage above. Hence, the answer is option (b).
6. (a) The author most likely refers to “historians such as Beard and Becker” in order to point out historians whose views of history anticipated some of the views of the recent historians mentioned in the passage which is option (a) and is direct from the passage. So, no need to see all other options. Hence, the answer is option (a).
7. (c) The answer is option (c), as Loyalism, thus, operated as a safety valve to remove socio-economic discontent that exists among the rebels is given in the passage which is related to absorbing members of socio-economic groups on the rebel side who felt themselves in contention with members of other socio-economic groups. Option (a) is incorrect, as eliminating the disputes is not mentioned in the passage. Similarly, options (b) and (d) are incorrect as per the passage given. Hence, the answer is option (c).
8. (b) Information I and IV is not mentioned in the passage but II and III is present. So, option (b) is correct, rest all are incorrect. Hence, the answer is option (b).
9. (b) Here option (b) is correct, as it given that identifying a person as a member of the rebel or of the Loyalist side does necessarily reveal that person’s particular socio-economic class which is true as per the passage. Whereas, option (a) is incorrect as the content in it is not related to passage. Similarly, options (c) and (d) are incorrect. Hence, the answer is option (b).
10. (a) The author suggests the governments inadequately represented the interests of people in western regions as a representative of colonial or state governments in America from 1763 to 1789 which is option (a). Option (b) is incorrect, as it is not mentioned in the passage. Similarly, options (c) and (d) are incorrect. Hence, the answer is option (a).
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