Improve Reading Comprehension: The Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) section is a crucial part of the CAT exam, testing your ability to quickly comprehend and analyze complex texts. A strong performance in this section can significantly boost your overall score. However, many aspirants struggle with reading speed, which can hinder their ability to complete the section on time. Improving your reading speed without compromising comprehension is key to excelling in the VARC section. Here’s a guide on how to enhance your reading speed effectively.
Why Does Reading Speed Matter in the CAT Exam?
Reading speed is not just about how fast you can move your eyes across the text; it’s about how quickly you can understand and retain the information. In the CAT exam, you’ll encounter lengthy passages with dense information, and the ability to read and comprehend them swiftly can give you a competitive edge. The goal is to strike a balance between speed and accuracy, ensuring that you can answer questions confidently without rushing through the material.
Techniques to Improve Reading Speed
Practice Regularly with Diverse Reading Material
Reading a wide variety of materials—such as newspapers, journals, novels, and academic articles—can help you adapt to different writing styles and improve your reading flexibility. Focus on materials that are dense and complex, similar to what you might encounter in the CAT exam.
Set aside time daily to read challenging articles from sources like The Economist, The Guardian, or academic journals. This will help you get used to different sentence structures and vocabulary, which are common in CAT passages.
Use a Pointer or Guide
A simple yet effective technique to increase reading speed is using your finger, a pen, or a digital tool as a pointer to guide your eyes. This helps reduce distractions and keeps your focus on the text, allowing your eyes to move more smoothly across the page.
Try to move the pointer at a steady pace that is slightly faster than your comfortable reading speed. This will push you to read faster while maintaining comprehension.
Expand Your Peripheral Vision
Instead of reading word by word, try to read chunks of words or even entire lines at once by expanding your peripheral vision. This reduces the number of eye movements (saccades) you need to make, speeding up your reading process.
Practice this by trying to read groups of three to four words at a time, focusing on capturing the meaning of entire phrases rather than individual words.
Avoid Subvocalization
Subvocalization is the habit of silently pronouncing each word in your head as you read. While it can help with comprehension, it significantly slows down reading speed. To overcome this, try to focus on visualizing the content or mentally summarizing what you’ve read, rather than “hearing” the words in your mind.
Another technique is to read faster than you can subvocalize, forcing your brain to process the information visually rather than audibly.
Skim and Scan
Skimming involves quickly glancing through the text to get an overview, focusing on key sentences like the introduction, topic sentences of paragraphs, and the conclusion. Scanning, on the other hand, is about searching for specific information, such as names, dates, or keywords.
Practice skimming and scanning regularly to identify the main ideas and important details in a passage quickly, which can save you time during the exam.
Improve Your Vocabulary
A strong vocabulary enables you to understand and process information more quickly, as you won’t have to pause to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words. Regularly learning new words and their usage can make your reading more fluent.
Use vocabulary-building apps, read extensively, and keep a vocabulary journal to note down and revise new words.
Timed Practice
To simulate exam conditions, practice reading passages within a set time limit. Start by timing how long it takes you to read a passage and gradually reduce the time as you get better. This will help you get accustomed to the pace required during the CAT exam.
Regular timed practice will also help reduce the anxiety of being under time pressure, making you more efficient during the actual exam.
Summarize What You Read
After reading a passage, take a moment to summarize the main points in your own words. This reinforces your comprehension and helps you retain the information. Practicing summarization trains your brain to pick out the most important information quickly, which is essential for answering questions accurately.
Writing down summaries can also help improve your ability to identify the core message of a passage, which is often tested in the VARC section.
Practice Reading Comprehension Questions
Regularly practice reading comprehension (RC) questions from previous CAT papers or mock tests. This will help you become familiar with the types of questions asked and how to approach them efficiently.
Focus on understanding the passage’s structure, identifying the author’s tone, and recognizing any arguments or counterarguments. This will help you answer RC questions more accurately and quickly.
Stay Consistent and Track Progress
Improving reading speed is a gradual process that requires consistency. Set realistic goals and track your progress over time. Use apps or tools that measure your reading speed and comprehension to monitor your improvement.
Celebrate small milestones, such as reading a passage faster than before or accurately answering more questions, to keep yourself motivated.
Conclusion
Improving your reading speed for the Verbal Ability section of the CAT exam is a crucial step toward achieving a high score. By incorporating these techniques into your daily practice, you can enhance both your speed and comprehension, ensuring that you can navigate through complex passages with confidence. Remember, it’s not just about how fast you read but how well you understand and apply the information. With consistent practice and the right strategies, you’ll be well-equipped to tackle the VARC section and maximize your CAT performance.