1. Home
  2. blogs
  3. 1-Year Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension Preparation Plan for CAT

1-Year Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension Preparation Plan for CAT

CL Team December 27 2024
4 min read

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is one of the most competitive entrance exams for admission to top business schools in India. It evaluates a candidate's proficiency in three main sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI), and Quantitative Ability (QA). Among these, the VARC section plays a significant role in determining your overall score, and a well-structured, strategic preparation plan is key to excelling in this area. A one-year preparation plan can provide ample time to hone your skills, enhance your reading comprehension abilities, and tackle verbal ability questions with confidence.

In this blog, we will discuss an effective 1-year preparation plan for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) for the CAT exam, focusing on tips, resources, and techniques to ensure success.

 

Month 1-3: Building a Strong Foundation

The initial three months of your preparation should be dedicated to establishing a solid foundation in Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. During this phase, you need to familiarize yourself with the basics, start building your vocabulary, and develop a habit of regular reading.

Key Focus Areas:

  1. Reading Comprehension (RC): RC forms a significant part of the CAT VARC section. Start reading a variety of texts—newspapers, magazines, fiction, non-fiction, and academic papers. This will help you develop the ability to grasp different writing styles and improve your comprehension skills.
    • Focus on understanding the main idea, tone, and intent of the passage.
    • Practice paraphrasing and summarizing passages to improve retention.
    • Focus on speed and accuracy while reading.
  2. Verbal Ability:
    • Focus on grammar and sentence correction exercises. These are essential to solving sentence correction and para-jumble questions.
    • Work on understanding common idiomatic expressions, sentence structure, and proper usage of tenses.
    • Study parts of speech, subject-verb agreement, conjunctions, and modifiers.
  3. Vocabulary Building:
    • Dedicate time every day to learning new words. Use tools like flashcards, apps, or vocabulary lists to help.
    • Read and underline unfamiliar words, look up their meanings, and use them in your daily conversations to retain them.

Month 4-6: Strengthening Core Skills and Practice

After building a solid foundation, it’s time to strengthen your core skills. In these months, focus on honing your verbal reasoning, critical reasoning, and RC techniques.

Key Focus Areas:

  1. Reading Comprehension (RC):
    • Start practicing a wide range of RC questions from past CAT papers or mock tests. These questions often involve analysis, inference, and application of ideas.
    • Time yourself to ensure that you are reading efficiently without losing accuracy. Target improving your speed while retaining comprehension.
    • Analyze each RC passage deeply and understand why a particular answer choice is correct or incorrect.
  2. Verbal Ability:
    • Focus on improving your performance in Para-Jumbles, Para-Completion, Sentence Correction, and Fill-in-the-Blanks.
    • Solve previous years’ CAT VARC papers, as they provide insight into the types of questions typically asked in the exam.
    • Regularly practice mock questions to identify areas where you need improvement.
  3. Vocabulary:
    • Continue to build your vocabulary by practicing word usage in sentences, reading widely, and using new words in your writing and speaking.
    • Focus on synonyms, antonyms, and contextual meanings of words, as these are commonly tested in the CAT exam.

Month 7-9: Time Management and Strategy Refinement

At this stage, you should be able to solve most verbal ability questions with ease. Now, the focus should shift to improving time management and refining your strategy for the exam.

Key Focus Areas:

  1. Timed Practice:
    • Start taking full-length timed mocks. The CAT exam lasts for 2 hours and 30 minutes, and you should practice solving the VARC section within the time limit (60 minutes for 24 questions in VARC).
    • Learn to manage your time efficiently. If you find a passage or question difficult, move on and come back to it later to avoid wasting time.
  2. Focus on Weak Areas:
    • Identify the areas in which you are making mistakes and dedicate more time to them. For example, if you’re struggling with RCs on abstract topics, spend extra time practicing them.
    • Work on refining your skills in the areas where you feel less confident, whether it’s vocabulary, grammar, or RC.
  3. Mock Tests and Analysis:
    • Take regular mock tests and analyze your performance thoroughly. Pay attention to your mistakes, understand why you went wrong, and avoid repeating those mistakes in the future.
    • Set a goal to improve your accuracy and speed with every mock test.

Month 10-12: Final Touches and Revision

In the final three months, focus on revision, perfecting your strategy, and simulating exam-like conditions. This phase is crucial to solidify everything you’ve learned and improve your speed.

Key Focus Areas:

  1. Final Revisions:
    • Go over all your notes, vocabulary lists, and grammar rules. Ensure that you are comfortable with all types of questions that may appear in the exam.
    • Revise key strategies for each type of verbal ability question. Create a checklist to quickly go through before the exam.
  2. Focus on RC:
    • Continue practicing RC questions with a time constraint. Make sure to maintain consistency in your performance.
  3. Practice Under Exam Conditions:
    • Take at least 3-4 full-length mock tests every week to simulate the real exam. Practice mental conditioning to stay focused for the entire duration of the test.

Tip: During the final month, avoid starting any new topics. Focus on refining and revising what you already know.

 

Career Launcher Nashik: Your Partner in CAT Preparation

As you prepare for CAT 2025, it is essential to have the right guidance and resources to succeed. Career Launcher Nashik is the best coaching institute in Nashik for CAT preparation. With expert faculty, personalized coaching, and a comprehensive study plan, Career Launcher Nashik ensures that you are well-prepared to tackle the CAT exam.

Career Launcher Nashik is the best choice for preparation for the CAT exam, as it offers structured courses, doubt-clearing sessions, and mock tests to improve your performance. The institute’s focus on individual attention and a results-driven approach makes it a top choice for aspirants in Nashik. If you’re serious about cracking CAT 2025, Career Launcher Nashik is the best place to start your preparation journey.

Join Career Launcher Nashik today and pave the way to a successful MBA career!