a) 3 : 1 b) 5 : 2
c) 1 : 3 d) 3 : 2
CONTENTS
Page Number Chapter 1 Introduction to Reading Comprehension 1
Chapter 2 RCs 1-22: Basic Level 3
(Day 1 - Day 22)
Chapter 3 RCs 24-40: Moderate Level 28
(Day 23 - Day 40)
Chapter 4 RCs 41-50: Advanced Level 52
(Day 41 - Day 50)
- 2 - READING COMPREHENSION: An Introduction
The Reading Comprehension section in IIM-CAT or MBA entrance exams is designed to test the aspirant’s ability to read and understand the contents of the given
Reading speed can be calculated simply by the number of words read per minute. But reading skills cannot be simply evaluated.
An aspirant who can read faster will be definitely be able read more and able to attempt more number of questions in the stipulated time period than the person with a slower reading speed.
Step 1: Check the reading speed
To know your current reading speed - select any passage and count the number of words; note the time taken to read the passage and calculate the speed in words per minute.
However such an evaluation may not be the true indicator of your reading speed. Select 4 to 5 different passages of varied length and calculate your reading speed. The reading speed definitely varies. Make a note of all of them and keep checking your reading speed once every week.
The speed also varies significantly from offline reading to online reading and also from subject to subject.
Step 2: Know RC sources
The passages given in IIM-CAT or MBA entrance exams do not come from one particular source and number of words per passage is also not fixed.
Step 3: Know the length of RC passages
Normally IIM-CAT passages vary from 300 words to 1500 words. However, there were passages with 200 words each as well as 2500 words in other MBA entrance exams.
Till 1998, the Reading Comprehension (RC) was a separate section. Starting from 1999, the RC and Verbal Ability section were merged and approximately half of the questions were RC questions and the other half Verbal Ability. Read the following table:
COMPREHENSION:
Understanding what is given in the passage is the most important pre-requisite skill aspirant must learn in order to attempt the questions correctly. Aspirant may be able to read the passage much faster than others but if the aspirant fails to understand the nuances presented in the passages then the advantage of reading speed is of no use at all.
While the aspirant reading the passage, he/she should continuously and constantly think, evaluate, reason out, interpret and infer what has already read. To perform all the above tasks aspirant should read various topics extensively on a regular basis.
Step 4: Familiarize yourself with various types of questions
Identify the details
Main point/idea of the passage
Title for the passage
Draw the inferences/assumptions
Determine the meaning of the words/
phrases
Tone of the passage
Method/Flaw/Parallel of the reasoning of argument expressed in the passage
Step 5: Understand the techniques to improve reading speed
If you ask me “How to score good marks in RC of CAT”, I will say learn the RC concepts thoroughly.
If a person whose reading skills are not honed or is an amateur reader, he/she will read one word at a time.
His/her span of vision is limited to one or two words.
This span of vision must be improved to perform well in the entrance test. The span of vision can be improved with conscious effort.
Amateur Reader:
If you ask me “How to score good marks in RC of CAT”, I will say learn the RC concepts thoroughly.
The above underlines indicate that an amateur reader would be able to read only a few words together and
his/her span of vision is very limited. It also points out that the reader’s grammar skills or very limited. Thus, the reader will not be able understand even simple ideas presented in the RC passages.
Voracious Reader:
If you ask me “How to score good marks in RC of CAT”, I will say learn the RC concepts thoroughly.
The above underlines clearly indicate that the voracious reader would be able to read longer sentences without much difficulty. It also points out that the reader generally recognizes phrases and clauses easily. Thus, the reader will be able to read faster and also able to understand complex sentence constructions.
However, everybody can become a good reader with regular reading of different topics.
Beginner should start reading small stories because story introduces characters and qualities of all the characters and concludes
- 3 -
Passage 1 DAY 1 The history of India begins with evidence of human
activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE, was the first major civilization in India. A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.
This Bronze Age civilization collapsed before the end of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilization, which extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and which witnessed the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born in the 6th or 5th century BCE and propagated their œramanic philosophies.
Almost the entire subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. It subsequently became fragmented, with various parts ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the next 1,500 years. This is known as the classical period of Indian history, during which India has sometimes been estimated to have had the largest economy of the ancient and medieval world, controlling between one third and one fourth of the world’s wealth up to the 18th century.
Much of northern and central India was once again united in the 4th century CE, and remained so for two centuries thereafter, under the Gupta Empire. This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known among its admirers as the “Golden Age of India”. During the same time, and for several centuries afterwards, southern India, under the rule of the Chalukyas, Cholas, Pallavas, and Pandyas, experienced its own golden age. During this period, aspects of Indian civilization, administration, culture, and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to much of Asia.
The southern state of Kerala had maritime business links with the Roman Empire from around 77 CE. Islam was introduced in Kerala through this route by Muslim traders. Muslim rule in the subcontinent began in 712 CE when the Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh and Multan in southern Punjab in
modern day Pakistan, setting the stage for several successive invasions from Central Asia between the 10th and 15th centuries CE, leading to the formation of Muslim empires in the Indian subcontinent such as the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire.
Mughal rule came from Central Asia to cover most of the northern parts of the subcontinent. Mughal rulers introduced Central Asian art and architecture to India.
In addition to the Mughals and various Rajput kingdoms, several independent Hindu states, such as the Vijayanagara Empire, the Maratha Empire, Eastern Ganga Empire and the Ahom Kingdom, flourished contemporaneously in southern, western, eastern and north-eastern India respectively. The Mughal Empire suffered a gradual decline in the early 18th century, which provided opportunities for the Afghans, Balochis, Sikhs, and Marathas to exercise control over large areas in the northwest of the subcontinent until the British East India Company gained ascendancy over South Asia.
Beginning in the mid-18th century and over the next century, large areas of India were gradually annexed by the British East India Company. Dissatisfaction with Company rule led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, after which the British provinces of India were directly administered by the British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid development of infrastructure and economic decline. During the first half of the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian National Congress and later joined by the Muslim League. The subcontinent gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, after the British provinces were partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan and the princely states all acceded to one of the new states.
No. of words: 638 Starting Time: ________
Ending Time:________ Reading Speed:_______
1) What is the Main Point/Central Idea of the passage?
--- ---
2) Write the summary of the passage?
About twenty years ago people noticed computers and TV were on a collision course and started to speculate about what they’d produce when they converged. We now know the answer: computers. It’s clear now that even by using the word “convergence” we were giving TV too much credit. This won’t be convergence so much as replacement. People may still watch things they call
“TV shows,” but they’ll watch them mostly on computers.
What decided the contest for computers? Four forces, three of which one could have predicted, and one that would have been harder to.
The second is Moore’s Law, which has worked its usual magic on Internet bandwidth.
The third reason computers won is piracy. Users prefer it not just because it’s free, but because it’s more convenient. Bittorrent and YouTube have already trained a new generation of viewers that the place to watch shows is on a computer screen.
The somewhat more surprising force was one specific type of innovation: social applications. The average teenage kid has a pretty much infinite capacity for talking to their friends. But they can’t physically be with them all the time. When I was in high school the solution was the telephone. Now it’s social networks, multiplayer games, and various messaging applications.
The way you reach them all is through a computer.
Which means every teenage kid (a) wants a computer with an Internet connection, (b) has an incentive to figure out how to use it, and (c) spends countless hours in front of it.
This was the most powerful force of all. This was what made everyone want computers. Nerds got computers because they liked them. Then gamers got them to play games on. But it was connecting to other people that got everyone else: that’s what made even grandmas and 14 year old girls want computers.
After decades of running an IV drip right into their audience, people in the entertainment business had understandably come to think of them as rather passive. They thought they’d be able to dictate the way shows reached audiences. But they underestimated the force of their desire to connect with one another.
Facebook killed TV. That is wildly oversimplified, of course, but probably as close to the truth as you can get in three words.