🗣️ CAT 2024 Verbal Ability (VARC) Section Analysis: Slot-Wise Breakdown & Lessons for CAT 2025

 

The VARC section of CAT 2024 continued its recent tradition of being conceptually RC-heavy, with moderate Verbal Ability (VA) and plenty of traps in answer choices. The key differentiator, once again, was accuracy in reading and elimination.

 

🧠 Overview of VARC 2024

  • Total Questions: 24
  • Reading Comprehension (RC): 16 Qs (4 passages × 4 Qs each)
  • Verbal Ability (VA): 8 Qs (Para-summary, Para-jumbles, Odd One Out)
  • TITA: Most VA questions were TITA
  • Overall Difficulty:
    • Slot 1: Moderate to Tough
    • Slot 2: Moderate
    • Slot 3: Easy to Moderate

 

 SLOT-WISE VERBAL ANALYSIS

📌CAT 2024 – Slot 1: Moderate to Tough

📚 RC Breakdown:

  • RCs were dense and abstract—topics from sociology, psychology, ecology, and AI ethics.
  • Options were close and confusing, with 2–3 answer choices often seeming correct.
  • No direct inference questions—all required careful reading + elimination.

✍️ VA Breakdown:

  • 2 Para-jumbles (TITA): Moderate, 4–5 sentence types
  • 2 Para-summaries (MCQ): Tricky—close options
  • 2 Odd One Out: Abstract arguments

🔍 Key Observations:

  • RC passages were wordy and idea-dense (~500–600 words each).
  • Para-summary questions had subtle shifts in tone and detail.
  • Many reported low accuracy despite “feeling good” during the section.

🎯 Good Attempts: 16–18

✅ Good Score: 36–40

📌 CAT 2024 – Slot 2: Moderate

📚 RC Breakdown:

  • One passage on economics and inflation, another on evolutionary biology, a third on media influence, and one on AI & cognition.
  • Medium length (~450–550 words); questions required detail-based understanding.
  • Some direct inference + main idea questions provided relief.

✍️ VA Breakdown:

  • 3 Para-jumbles (TITA): Moderate
  • 2 Para-summaries: One easy, one tricky
  • 1 Odd One Out: Easy

🔍 Key Observations:

  • RC was more balanced—neither too factual nor too abstract.
  • VA section was manageable, especially for those familiar with structure-based solving.
  • High ROI possible for those with reading habits.

🎯 Good Attempts: 18–20

✅ Good Score: 40–45

📌 CAT 2024 – Slot 3: Easy to Moderate

📚 RC Breakdown:

  • Topics included history of architecture, digital privacy, climate narratives, and psychology of habits.
  • Passages were readable and shorter (~400–500 words).
  • Questions were more direct, with fewer traps.

✍️ VA Breakdown:

  • 2 Para-jumbles (TITA): Easy
  • 2 Para-summaries: Direct and answerable
  • 2 Odd One Out: Moderate

🔍 Key Observations:

  • Reading speed helped a lot in this slot.
  • Many students finished with 2–3 minutes to spare.
  • Ideal slot for those confident in reading comprehension.

🎯 Good Attempts: 20–22

✅ Good Score: 45–50

📊 Comparative Snapshot

Feature

Slot 1

Slot 2

Slot 3

Overall Difficulty

Moderate to Tough

Moderate

Easy to Moderate

RC Tone

Abstract, dense

Balanced

Easy & factual

VA Difficulty

Moderate

Easy–Moderate

Easy

Good Attempts

16–18

18–20

20–22

Good Score (Raw)

36–40

40–45

45–50

🔑 What CAT 2025 Aspirants Should Learn

  1. RC is Still the King

RC makes up 66% of the section. Practicing with a mix of abstract and factual articles is key.

  1. Tone & Inference Mastery

Trap options test your understanding of tone, scope, and logical flow—not just facts.

  1. Practice with TITA Para-jumbles

Accuracy in TITA comes only through muscle memory—solve 100+ PJs before October.

  1. Make Reading a Daily Habit

Read articles from Aeon, NYT, The Guardian, The Hindu, Eon, Nautilus, and JSTOR to simulate CAT-style RCs.

  1. Mock Smartly, Not Just Hard

Analyze not just the questions you got wrong, but also the ones you got right for the wrong reason.

Here’s a complete, month-wise preparation plan for CAT 2025 – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), aligned with CAT 2024 trends and smart strategy:

 

 

📅 CAT 2025 VARC Preparation Plan (June–November)

Target: 98+ percentile with strong RC and VA accuracy

 

✅ JUNE – Foundation Phase

Goals: Build reading habits, understand CAT VARC structure, and begin light practice.

📚 Focus Areas:

  • Read 1 long article daily (700–1000 words)
  • Topics: Philosophy, Psychology, Economics, Environment, Sociology
  • Learn question types: Main idea, inference, tone, summary

📝 Practice:

  • 2 RCs/week from previous CAT papers
  • 5 Para-jumbles and 2 Para-summary questions/week
  • Start a “Words in Context” vocabulary journal

 

✅ JULY – RC Skills + VA Foundations

Goals: Strengthen comprehension and start solving VA seriously

📚 RC Focus:

  • RC Strategy: Elimination > Selection
  • Practice 3 RCs/week: Time-bound (12–15 mins each)
  • Learn to identify:
    • Author’s tone
    • Main argument
    • Contradictions and comparisons

✍️ VA Focus:

  • Para-jumbles (4-sentence, 5-sentence) – 20/week
  • Para-summary – 10/week
  • Odd One Out – 5/week

 

 

✅ AUGUST – Accuracy Building Phase

Goals: Balance speed with comprehension, increase exposure to TITA formats

📚 RC Focus:

  • 4 RCs/week from mock level material
  • Practice: Inference-based, assumption, tone, application Qs
  • Track accuracy using RC logs (create error tracker)

✍️ VA Focus:

  • Time-bound VA sets: 6–8 Qs in 20 mins
  • Deep analysis of confusing questions
  • Reinforce grammar intuitively (through reading, not rules)

✅ SEPTEMBER – Mock Integration Phase

Goals: Shift from practice to simulated testing

🧪 Mock Strategy:

  • Full 40-min VARC sections twice a week
  • 1 Full-length CAT mock/week
  • Analyze:
    • % accuracy
    • Qs skipped
    • Trap choices

📚 RC:

  • 5 RCs/week from past CATs + mock-level
  • Use time blocks: 30 mins = 2 RCs

✍️ VA:

  • Focus on difficult para-summaries & odd-one-outs
  • Maintain TITA question logs
  • Practice VA under sectionals

✅ OCTOBER – Final Refinement

Goals: Fix weak zones, improve test temperament

🧠 What to Do:

  • 3 mocks/week with full VARC analysis
  • RCs: Push reading speed to 250–300 wpm
  • VA: Solve past 5 years’ actual CAT VA questions
  • Analyze incorrect TITA logic

✅ NOVEMBER – Exam Temperament + Micro-Focus

Goals: Maximize performance in 40 mins

🧪 Weekly Routine:

  • 4 sectionals (VARC) + 3 full CAT mocks
  • Revise RC themes and tone vocabulary
  • Practice RCs across slots (CAT 2023, 2024)

✍️ Additional Tools

Tool/Activity

Frequency

Read newspapers/articles

Daily (45 mins)

Maintain vocab/context log

3x/week

Revise VA errors

Weekly

VARC Group Discussions

Weekly (1 hr)

📚 Recommended Reading Sources

Source

Focus

The Hindu (editorials)

Tone, structure, Indian context

Aeon / Eon

Philosophy, Psychology

NYT / The Guardian

Global issues, Opinion pieces

JSTOR Daily

Abstract RC practice

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CAT 2025 Magic Toolkit