reading comprehension passages for mba

How to Read CAT RC (Reading Comprehension) passages

Reading CAT RC passages requires a combination of skills: comprehension, time management, and strategic reading. Regular practice with diverse passages and topics is essential for success. Remember, it’s not just about understanding the words but also the author’s intent, argument, and structure. The Common Admission Test (CAT) is renowned for its challenging Reading Comprehension (RC)

September 4, 2023

Table of Contents

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is renowned for its challenging Reading Comprehension (RC) section, which assesses a candidate’s ability to read, understand, and analyze complex passages. Excelling in this section is crucial for a strong performance in the CAT Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section .

In this article, we will explore effective strategies for reading CAT RC passages and maximizing your score.

The RC section in CAT typically consists of several passages, each followed by a set of questions. These passages cover a wide range of topics, from literature to science to social issues. The key to success lies not only in comprehending the passages but also in managing your time efficiently.

CAT RC Passages: Understand the Passage Structure

Before delving into the content of a CAT RC passage, it is crucial to have a solid understanding of its structure. This will not only help you navigate through the text with ease but also enable you to identify key elements and comprehend the author’s perspective.

A typical CAT RC passage consists of three parts – introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction typically presents the main idea or topic of the passage, while the body explores and elaborates on the topic in detail. The conclusion summarizes the main points and may provide the author’s perspective or opinion on the topic.
Within each part of the passage, there may be different types of paragraphs – descriptive, comparative, argumentative, etc. Identifying the paragraph type can help you to better understand the author’s argument and perspective.
Another essential part of understanding the passage structure is identifying transitional words and phrases. Words like ‘however,’ ‘in contrast,’ ‘moreover,’ etc., can help you understand how the author is linking various parts of the passage and organizing their thoughts.

By understanding the passage structure and its various elements, you will be better equipped to tackle CAT RC passages and answer questions with accuracy.

CAT RC Passages: Skim the Passage

One of the most effective strategies for tackling CAT RC passages is to start by skimming the passage. This technique allows you to quickly identify the main ideas and get an overview of the content.

When you first look at the passage, don’t worry about understanding every detail. Instead, focus on the introductory paragraph, topic sentences, and any bold or italicized words. These can give you a sense of the overall theme and structure of the passage.
As you skim, try to keep a mental map of the passage in your head. This can help you identify where to find specific information later on.
Remember skimming doesn’t mean skipping over everything. Instead, aim to read quickly while still paying attention to the content. This will save you time and improve your overall comprehension.

If you get to the end of the passage and still don’t feel like you have a good grasp of the content, don’t worry. The next step is to read the passage more closely for understanding, which we’ll cover in the next section.

CAT RC Passages: Read the Questions First

One of the most important strategies for effectively reading CAT RC passages is to read the questions before diving into the passage. This approach helps you understand what information is necessary and guides your reading, enabling you to focus on the relevant details and save time. By doing this, you can avoid being overwhelmed by the text and significantly improve your comprehension.

When reading the questions, pay attention to the keywords and phrases that indicate the type of answer required. This will help you to identify the information you need to focus on when reading the passage. For example, if the question asks for the “author’s opinion” or “main argument,” keep an eye out for phrases that indicate the author’s perspective.

Also Read: How to solve assumption based CAT RC and CR Questions

CAT RC Passages: Highlight and Annotate

Effective highlighting and annotation can make a world of difference in your ability to comprehend and analyze CAT RC passages. When done correctly, highlighting and annotation can help you retain key information, identify important details, and quickly locate relevant information when answering questions.

When highlighting, try to focus on the most significant points of the passage. These may include key arguments, supporting evidence, and the author’s stance on a particular issue. Use different colors or symbols to differentiate between important concepts and supporting details. For instance, you might use a yellow highlighter for key arguments, a blue highlighter for evidence, and a green highlighter for the author’s stance or opinion.

Annotations can also be incredibly helpful in organizing your thoughts and understanding the passage content. Consider making notes in the margins or underneath each paragraph to summarize the main idea or highlight specific details. You might also want to use symbols or abbreviations to denote different types of information, such as key arguments, evidence, or examples.

Remember that effective highlighting and annotation is all about striking a balance. You don’t want to highlight or annotate so much that it becomes overwhelming or distracting. Rather, aim to identify the most important information and focus on retaining those key points.
Practice your highlighting and annotation skills with CAT RC passages as much as possible to build your confidence and effectiveness. By mastering this technique, you can improve your comprehension and accuracy when answering questions on the CAT 2023 exam.

CAT RC Passages: Read for Understanding

Reading the passage with a focus on understanding the details, arguments, and author’s perspective is crucial for answering comprehension questions. Here are a few strategies to help improve your reading comprehension skills:

Take it one paragraph at a time: Focus on understanding the content of each paragraph before moving on to the next. This will help you grasp the author’s ideas and how they connect to one another.
Identify the main idea: Look for the central theme or topic of the passage. This will give you a framework for understanding the supporting details.
Pay attention to transitions and signal words: Words like “however,” “therefore,” and “in contrast” signal changes in the author’s argument or perspective. Paying attention to these will help you follow the author’s train of thought.
Visualize: Create mental images or diagrams to help you understand complex ideas or relationships. This can be particularly useful for passages that include data or statistics.

Also Read: CAT Reading Comprehension Preparation Tips & Strategies

CAT RC Passages Analyze Answer Choices

After reading the passage and understanding its main ideas, the next step is to analyze answer choices . This is where the actual test-taking skills come into play. When analyzing answer choices, keep in mind:

Eliminating wrong answers: As you read through the answer choices, eliminate ones that are clearly incorrect. This can save you time and increase your chances of selecting the correct answer.
Avoiding traps: Watch out for answer choices that are designed to trick you, such as options that are partially correct but don’t fully answer the question or those that use extreme language.
Identifying the best answer: Remember that the correct answer is the one that best aligns with the passage, is factually accurate, and directly answers the question.

By analyzing answer choices in this manner, you will be better equipped to select the correct answer and increase your chances of scoring well in CAT RC passages.

CAT RC Passages: Practice, Practice, Practice

The key to mastering CAT RC passages is consistent practice. The more you practice, the more familiar you become with passage structures and your reading speed and comprehension improve. It is recommended that you practice 2-3 passages daily to build endurance and improve your skills.

You can find CAT RC practice resources online, in CAT preparation books , or through coaching centers. Make sure to choose reliable sources and set up a study schedule that suits your daily routine.
When practicing, it’s crucial to focus on understanding the passages rather than just finishing them quickly. Analyze your mistakes and identify areas for improvement to strengthen your skills.
It’s also recommended to time yourself when practicing CAT RC passages. This will help you manage your time efficiently during the actual exam and improve your pacing.
Incorporating mock CAT exams into your practice routine will give you a realistic experience of the exam format and build your confidence for the actual test day.
Remember that consistent practice is the key to success in CAT RC passages. By dedicating time regularly to practice CAT RC passages, you will be able to improve your skills and achieve your desired score in the CAT 2023 exam.

With dedication and consistent practice, you will be able to read CAT RC passages with ease and achieve success in the CAT 2023 exam. So, start practicing today and continue to hone your skills until you reach your desired score.

Also Read: Linear Arrangement Questions for CAT 2023

How to Read CAT RC passages FAQ

Q1: How do I effectively read CAT RC passages?

Ans : To effectively read CAT RC passages, follow the step-by-step guide provided in this section. These strategies will help you ace the CAT 2023 exam.

Q2: What is the importance of understanding the passage structure?

Ans : Understanding the passage structure is important as it helps you navigate through the text. This section explains the different parts of the passage and how to identify key elements.

Q3: How can skimming the passage save time?

Ans : Skimming the passage allows you to quickly grasp the main idea and get an overview of the content. Learn effective skimming techniques to improve your comprehension and time management.

Q4: Why should I read the questions before the passage?

Ans : Reading the questions before delving into the passage helps you focus on relevant information and saves time. Discover the benefits of this approach and how to use it to your advantage.

Q5: How can highlighting and annotating help with CAT RC passages?

Ans : Highlighting and annotating strategies can help you organize your thoughts, identify important details, and refer back to the passage easily. Learn how to effectively use these techniques.

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201+ CAT RC [Reading Comprehension] Practice Questions

Table of Content for Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension Practice for CAT with Video Solutions
CAT RC Practice with Textual Explanation
CAT 2021 RC with Solutions
CAT 2020 RC with Solutions
CAT 2019 RC with Solutions
CAT 2018 RC with Solutions
RCs on Business and Economics
RCs on Science and Technology
RCs on Philosophy & Humanities
RCs on Art, Literary and Criticism

CAT Reading Comprehension is a very important part of the VARC section of CAT . Out of the 34 questions of Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section in CAT Syllabus , 24 questions are from Reading Comprehension.

The difficulty level of the CAT RC passages and the questions is on the higher side. Until CAT 2018 the overall difficulty was easy to moderate, but since CAT 2019 the difficulty level of the questions in CAT Paper has increased.

Moreover, a good number of questions are of critical reasoning type. Inference questions, strengthen and weaken questions form almost 50 percent of the questions.

CAT previous years RC Passage Download PDF

The best way to prepare for CAT reading comprehension section is to first get used to reading a wide variety of articles.

This must be followed by solving questions, starting with lower difficulty and then moving gradually to higher difficulty questions.

Here on this page we have collated a wide range of passages from different sources. The difficulty level of the passages and of the questions is on the higher side.

Tips on how to solve CAT Reading Comprehension

Don’t get into the minor details of the passage; just focus on what each paragraph has to say
As you read, create a map of the passage; you must remember what thing is located wherein the passage
Once you read the question, come back to the part of the passage that is likely to have the answer
Compare the options and eliminate the incorrect choices based on the evidence that you see in the passage
Choose the answer once you are convinced of the right choice

CAT Reading Comprehension with Video Solutions

CAT RC with Video Solution 1
CAT RC with Video Solution 2
CAT RC with Video Solution 3
CAT RC with Video Solution 4
CAT RC with Video Solution 5
CAT RC with Video Solution 6
CAT RC with Video Solution 7
CAT RC with Video Solution 8
CAT RC with Video Solution 9
CAT RC with Video Solution 10
CAT RC with Video Solution 11
CAT RC with Video Solution 12
CAT RC with Video Solution 13
CAT RC with Video Solution 14
CAT RC with Video Solution 15
CAT RC with Video Solution 16
CAT RC with Video Solution 17
CAT RC with Video Solution 18
CAT RC with Video Solution 19
CAT RC with Video Solution 20
CAT RC with Video Solution 21
CAT RC with Video Solution 22
CAT RC with Video Solution 23
CAT RC with Video Solution 24
CAT RC with Video Solution 25
CAT RC with Video Solution 26
CAT RC with Video Solution 27
CAT RC with Video Solution 28
CAT RC with Video Solution 29
CAT RC with Video Solution 30

CAT 2021 Reading Comprehension Questions

CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 1
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 2
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 3
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 4
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 5
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 6
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 7
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 8
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 9
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 10
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 11
CAT 2021 RC passage with Solution 12

CAT 2020 Reading Comprehension Questions

CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 1
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 2
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 3
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 4
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 5
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 6
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 7
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 8
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 9
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 10
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 11
CAT 2020 RC passage with Solution 12

CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension Questions

CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension set 1
CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension set 2
CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension set 3
CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension set 4
CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension set 5
CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension set 6
CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension set 7
CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension set 8
CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension set 9
CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension set 10

CAT 2018 Reading Comprehension Questions

CAT 2018 RC set 01
CAT 2018 RC set 02
CAT 2018 RC set 03
CAT 2018 RC set 04
CAT 2018 RC set 05
CAT 2018 RC set 06
CAT 2018 RC set 07
CAT 2018 RC set 08
CAT 2018 RC set 09
CAT 2018 RC set 10

FREE CAT RC Practice with Textual Explanation

CAT RC Practice Passage 1
CAT RC Practice Passage 2
CAT RC Practice Passage 3
CAT RC Practice Passage 4
CAT RC Practice Passage 5
CAT RC Practice Passage 6
CAT RC Practice Passage 7
CAT RC Practice Passage 8
CAT RC Practice Passage 9
CAT RC Practice Passage 10
CAT RC Practice Passage 11
CAT RC Practice Passage 12
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CAT RC Practice Passage 44

Category : Business and Economics

Category : science and technology, category : philosophy & humanities, category : art, literary and criticism, list of articles on cat verbal ability.

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Free Reading Comprehension Test

To help you practise for CAT, XAT, IIFT, SNAP, NMAT and other MBA entrance exams.

72 marks in CAT are dependent on RCs! Over the past few years the pattern for RC section in CAT has remained consistent.There were a roughly equal number of direct and inferential questions and they ranged from easy to moderate level. These 72 marks can easily be ensured by taking sufficient practice tests. Previous year SNAP, IIFT exams had mostly direct questions and 2-3 inferential questions while RC section of XAT was dominated by inferential questions. The difficulty of questions of RC section in all the exams varied from basic to medium level of difficulty.

Why take Basic Reading Comprehension Test

Of the 6 RC passages in CAT 2016, most passages had questions which were direct and easy to understand. IIFT has 4 passages and all are mostly, of the basic level and easy to read and solve. Of the 11 RC questions in SNAP 4-5 are of the basic level while, XAT has 6-7 basic level questions. As RC requires no prior knowledge, therefore, the only way to mastering the RCs is through practice tests and careful analysis of the tests

Take Test 1
Take Test 2
Take Test 3

Why take Advanced Reading Comprehension Test?

First pick the passage you think you are comfortable with and then move onto the other passages in the test. The advanced level practice tests will help you to score more in CAT as 10-12 questions out of the 24 RC questions were from the expert level. XAT and NMAT have 4-5 questions from advanced level of RCs, while SNAP and IIFT, each has 2-3 questions of the advanced level. The key to scoring well in RCs lies in picking out the right passages and lots of practice as the questions are logic based.

Why take Expert Reading Comprehension Test?

3-4 questions in NMAT and SNAP are from the expert difficulty level while, CAT and XAT have 2-3 questions. A good score in RCs lies in taking as many practice tests as one can lay hands on.

Weightage of Reading Comprehension in different MBA entrance exams


Total Qs in Reading Comprehension	24	12	16	11	8
No. Of passages	5	4	4	2	2

The raw score required in VARC for a 99%ile in the last three instalments of CAT has been tabulated below


CAT 2014	110
CAT 2015	75
CAT 2016	75

Reading Comprehension is the mainstay of the VRC section of CAT. Reading Comprehension is probably the only thing you should care about in VRC for CAT in order to score a 99%ile. Same is the case for IIFT where RCs help to boost the score of the student. In SNAP and NMAT isnât extremely dominant and there are other type of questions from where you can get the marks from.

Note: The above given data has been compiled and corroborated from the exams of 2015 and 2016. The number of questions may change drastically in the exams in the coming year.

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Tips to tackle rcs.

Stay focused: It will help you understand and retain efficiently.
Analyze the passage: A good passage analysis demands you to act like a detective who rummages through the crime scene to find the cues. The cues in your case refer to the main ideas or important points.
Read the passage twice: If the passage appears complex, give a second reading to it.
Do not obsess over minor details: They tend to deflect you from the central idea/theme of the passage. These points may appear too much factual/complicated but may serve just as a deviation from the main topic.
Be extra careful with the main idea/title questions: Be mindful of the scope of the passage and do not mistake these questions for conclusions or recommendations. Such questions intend to ask you about the main topic around which the whole passage is built.
Author's point of view: The best way to comprehend the passage is to assume yourself in the place of author and understand the feelings or experiences he must be going through while writing the passage.
Structure of the passage: The way the author has organized the flow of his thoughts in the passage is an indication of the message he wishes to convey. The tone and attitude of the author can be: formal/informal, pessimistic/optimistic, sad/happy, serious/humourous, sarcastic, analytical, narrative etc.

Lastly, practice is the key to perfection. This mock test will help you know your strengths and the areas you need to work upon. It will help you test your vocabulary as well as your reading comprehension skills. The given test is based on the pattern followed for MBA entrance exams.

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Reading Comprehension

Mba preparation #grammar.

April 03, 2023

April 03, 2023 @ 04:46 PM

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| April 03, 2023 @ 04:46 PM

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IPM/BBA Hons

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UPDATED AT : April 3, 2023

READING COMPREHENSION

A good reader.

ENJOYS READING

UNDERSTANDS BETTER READS FASTER

READS MORE

Reading is in itself a good habit to inculcate. Besides increasing awareness and knowledge, a good reading habit will enhance your chances of cracking the MBA entrance exam, as you will be able to take the maximum advantage of the Reading Comprehension (RC) section as also be better equip to tackle the Verbal Ability (VA) section itself. For those who have not developed a good reading habit yet, it's time they begin. This module will discuss the Reading Comprehension section in detail, will outline some of the techniques that can help you sail through this section and lastly, include enough practice questions, incorporating the various types of questions that could come in the exam.

Because MBA entrance exams are timed exams and each second is crucial, an MBA aspirant should be able to able to go through the passage quickly and process the information or issues presented in the passage quickly and precisely.

The aspirant could adopt any of the following three strategies to deal with RC. It is to be noted that these strategies can be adopted at the convenience of the aspirant, who can pick what works best for him/ her. Also, inculcating these strategies as a habit (not just for the MBA entrance) will improve the overall reading abilities of the aspirant.

This strategy, developed by Francis Pleasant Robinson, comprises the following 5 steps:

a. Survey- The first step is survey or skim. This step requires you to become familiar with the organization and general content of the passage you are about to read. This may include skimming through the title, introduction, first sentence of each paragraph (also called topic sentences), conclusion and questions given. This will enable you to get a quick sense of the passage/chapter and help you read faster.

b. Question- Forming questions in your mind as you read the passage/chapter, gives a purpose to the whole exercise, improves your concentration and highlights the main ideas.

c. Read- Read the passage section by section quickly. Following the first two steps will make the reading easy and you will be able to comprehend the passage precisely.

An efficient reader is able to derive meaning from known vocabulary and known grammar, can infer, interpret and anticipate, can think selectively during the process of reading, can retrieve the main points. The fastest speed of reading silently is 150 words/minute. An average reader can read at the speed of 60 words/minute.

d. Recite-After finishing reading each section, see if you can answer the questions for the section.

e. Review-Though during CAT exam , you won't get much time to complete this process. However, in the process of becoming a good reader, this step is crucial. Reviewing and remembering the material that you read helps in retaining the main points for a long time.

1 Top 20 Reading Comprehension Passages with Q&A
2 Tips on how to comprehend paras in Reading Comprehension

This strategy, developed by Nancy Bailey, comprises the following 4 steps:

a. Survey-Survey the entire passage, as done for the previous strategy.

b. Read- You can divide the sections into paragraph. This will enable you to make connections easily.

c. Underline-After reading each section, underline the main points, as a way of remembering them when you begin to solve the questions.

d. Notes- This enables the person to capture and subordinate ideas.

This strategy, developed by Dorothy Watson, comprises the following 4 steps:

a. Estimate- This requires the reader to estimate how far they can read and still remember and also estimate their knowledge.

b. Read- This essentially remains the same as in the previous two strategies.

c. Review- This remains the same as in SQ3R.

d. Question-This step ensures you keep the questions in your mind and search for the answers.

The aim of this strategy is to interact productively and actively and to get the reader to link what he/ she knows with new information.

The aspirant might face the following probable types of questions in the exam:

i. Inference - An inference can be defined as a statement that is based on some situations, observations, facts or specific details. These types of questions require you to grasp what is implied in the passage but not directly stated. The answers to these questions are hard to find as they are not as visible as the specific questions. Such questions are usually framed in the following manner:

-"Which of the following cannot be inferred from the passage?"

-“What does the author mean by _____?”

-What can be inferred when the author states _____?”

-The sentence, ‘______’, implies that _____”

-The passage suggests which of the following about _____"

The way to answer such questions is to link clues with prior knowledge. The correct answer to such questions is usually an obvious logical consequence of a sentence in the passage. The aspirant should search for the statement in the passage which acts as a premise for the conclusion to be laid on.

ii. Central Idea -Such questions relate to the main idea highlighted in the passage. It may also reflect the main aim of the author in writing the passage. Such questions may come in the following form:

-"Which of the following most accurately states the main idea of the passage?"

-"The primary purpose of the passage is to ______"

-"The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?"

-"The main point made by the passage is that ______"

The aspirant must identify the crux of the author's argument or the basic premise on which the passage is built. Identifying the subordinate ideas can also help in identifying the main idea.

iii. Tone and style - Such questions asks you to identify the attitude or mood of the author or the passage or a specific part of the passage. Such questions are usually formed in the following manner:

- "The tone of the author is best described as______"

-"The attitude of the author toward _____ is best described as _____"

-"Which of the following views does the author most likely favour"

Certain specific words used in the passage can reveal the tone and style of the author. The author may be sarcastic, prescriptive, preaching and so on.

iv. Logical Reasoning - Such questions require you to process a set of information and apply logic to find the correct answer. Such questions can come in the following form:

-"Which of the following, if true, best support _____ (a statement from the passage)?"

-"Which of the following, if true, will weaken the argument made by the author in paragraph 2?"

Such questions require you to understand the link between different section of the passage and also identify the main premise.

vi. Vocabulary - The comprehension may include questions to test the vocabulary of the aspirant. Generally, such questions will be with reference to context and can be done by identifying the context in which the word or phrase has been spoken. Usually, such questions are framed in the following manner:

-"In the passage, the phrase _____ refers to _____"

-"In the statement _____, the word _____ means _____"

If the aspirant does not understand the meaning of the word or phrase in question, reading a couple of lines before and after the line in which, the word has been used, can give a considerable clue regarding the context of the word in most cases.

vii. Re-arrange - These questions require the aspirant to re-arrange the statements in a specified sequence. These are not very difficult to attempt. A carefully reading of the passage should be sufficient to answer such questions.

1 Average Reading Comprehension Passages
2 Difficult Reading Comprehension Passages

Test Yourself

To help the aspirant, few questions are provided below for practice with an answer key at the end.

The World Conservation Congress, a summit for governments and civil society, has got under way in Bangkok at a time when competitive pressures on natural resources are at a new high and biodiversity is under unprecedented threat. The conclave is held every four years by the IUCN-World Conservation Union (earlier known as the International Union for Conservation of Nature) to frame guidelines for sustainable development and protection of natural heritage. India, a member state of the world body, stands to benefit from the wealth of experience being presented by nearly 5000 delegates at the nine- day Congress. The assembly in Bangkok could not be held at a better time for India: it can provide critical inputs for the ongoing debate on the draft National Environment Policy (NEP). The NEP, to be debated by NGOs and other stakeholders in coming weeks, has been criticised for its controversial proposals that will enable speedy environmental clearances for projects and withdrawal of full protection for endangered flora and fauna citing public or national interest.

The pointers provided by the World Conservation Union (WCU) constitute a good framework for evaluation of India's approach to environmental issues in the 21st century, as outlined in the NEP. Sustainable development envisages that economic gains and the fruits of progress are equitably distributed in society. But experience has shown that these are invariably weighed against the environment and the poor who depend on it. The use of water would clearly top such a list of priorities in this country. The case for preserving mountain systems for water security cannot be overstressed: half of all humanity depends on hill ranges to access safe water to produce electricity, sustain industry and agriculture, and for drinking. Equally significantly, half the wetlands have disappeared over the last century, which should be sufficient reason for the NEP to adopt the expert recommendations on wetlands that were submitted to the Environment Ministry after considerable field research. The Bangkok Congress, the third such event held by the WCU, also draws attention to the loss or degradation of 80 per cent of global forest cover. Again, this assessment matches the NEP estimate that India's forest cover has dwindled to a worrying 23 per cent. The only way forward would, therefore, be to reverse the damage from exploitative mining, logging, and unsound agriculture in the remaining forests and afford them absolute protection.

Can economic progress and environmental conservation find an acceptable median? The discussions at the WCU Congress are centred on the universal value that people's welfare should guide all environmental policies. It follows that protection of incomparable natural resources is a prerequisite for such well being. The familiar example is that of the rivers and seas: if they are polluted, fish stocks decline and water security is also lost. As the WCU has emphasised, the priorities must, therefore, be protection of biodiversity and endangered species, pollution control, efficient management of renewable resources, and promotion of organic agriculture. There is considerable interest among consumers and governments in some countries in products manufactured through sustainable methods. Given the intricacies of global trade agreements today, new standards to identify such goods and services may be necessary. Such green certification methods can be built into international treaties and agreements to facilitate positive action by importing countries without risk of litigation under trade laws. The withdrawal of import restrictions on timber by some European countries owing to trade obligations is an example of the distortions that are created by such pacts, which could be used to interpret environmental safeguards as unfair barriers.

1. According to the passage, the norms of sustainable development favour that

a. the poor should be given special treatment

b. the poor should be special beneficiaries of economic development

c. environment should be valued more than social development

d. benefits of development should reach to all equally

e. none of the above

2. In the light of the passage, NEP is in controversy for which of the following reason(s)?

a. it has given national development a precedence over environment

b. it proposes summary environmental viability study of the projects

c. only (a) and (b)

d . in it the norms of environmental safeguard is half- measured

e. all the above

3. According to the passage, forest conservation cannot be promoted by preventing

a. wanton felling of trees

b. excessive mineral digging

c. wrong cultivation practices

d. water harvesting

4. In trade and commerce, environmental norms could be made effective by which of the following methods?

a. strengthening punitive measures in the event of violations

b. identifying environmentally viable modes of production

c. framing new methods of measurement of environment friendly methods

d. inclusion of these methods into trade pacts

i. all of the above	ii. only c. and d.
iii. only a. , c. , d.	Iv. only b. , c. , d.
v. only a. , b.

5. Find the word that is the most appropriate synonym of the word as used in the passage

a. median i. mean ii. mode iii. middle path iv. balance v. paradigm

b. dwindle i. diminish ii. mitigate iii. worn iv. wane v. deteriorate

The Working Group on Minorities at its Geneva session in May 2002 highlighted that constructive resolution of tensions involving minorities is by way of "integrating diversity". This means that persons belonging to minorities acting alone or in community should be given adequate opportunity to maintain and develop their distinct identities while at the same time participating in and making a contribution to the wider society and respecting the territorial integrity of the State.

Integrating diversity goes hand in hand with governance which is firmly grounded in international human rights law. This requires that States protect the rights of all those residing within their jurisdiction without distinction of any kind. It is immaterial whether these persons are recognised by the State as a national minority.

The Human Rights Committee functioning under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 has expressed the view that to secure State protection, members of the minority community need not be citizens of the country nor its permanent residents. The protection extends to migrant workers who constitute a minority.

In order to accord this protection, States should take special measures to ensure the existence of conditions for minorities to maintain and develop their own distinct cultural identities. More specifically, what is required is: (A) sensitivity to the needs, especially linguistic and educational, of persons belonging to minorities so as to enable each individual to develop his/ her identity; (B) allowing minorities the opportunity to participate effectively in public life, including the political decision- making process; and (C) providing minorities with access to a fair share of public goods, including economic opportunity.

Such measures do not constitute preferential treatment. Their aim is to achieve equal and meaningful enjoyment of above rights in order to ensure de facto equality.

1. What is the meaning of the term "integrating diversity" as used in the passage?

a. abandoning the minorities

b. achieving the objectives of Human Rights Committee

c. giving linguistic and educational independence to backward communities by making them empowered and bringing them into the national mainstream

d. giving minorities sufficient chances to maintain and develop their distinct identities

2. With which of the following does "integrating diversity" go well?

a. proper distribution of wealth

b. secularism as a political creed

c. observance of political and social morality

d. providing educational opportunities to all

3. Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of the word "accord" as used in the passage.

a. constitute

b. withdraw

c. precipitate

d. suppress

4. Which of the following statements is/are true in the context of the passage?

a. the Working Group on Minorities had met at Geneva in May 2002

b. integrating diversity means national solidarity and secularism

c. integrating diversity and good governance are the two sides of the same coin

i. only a. ii. only b. and c. iii. only a. and b. iv. only a. and c. v. all a. , b. and c

5. Which of the following statements is not true in the context of the passage?

a. linguistic and educational needs of minorities should be recognized

b. minorities should be allowed to participate effectively in public life

c. minorities should be involved in political decision making process

d. minorities should be allowed to maintain their own distinct political identities

e. minorities should be given preferential treatment

Radically changing monsoon patterns, reduction in the winter rice harvest and a quantum increase in respiratory diseases- all part of the environmental doomsday scenario which is reportedly playing out in the South Asia. According to United Nations Environment Programme report, a deadly three-km deep blanket of pollution comprising a fearsome cocktail of ash, acids, aerosols and other particles has enveloped this region. For India, already struggling to cope with a drought, the implications of this are devastating and further crop failure will amount to life and death question for many Indians. The increase in premature deaths will have adverse social and economic consequences and a rise in morbidities will place an unbearable burden on our crumbling health system. And there is no one to blame but ourselves. Both official and corporate India has always been allergic to any mention of clean technology. Most mechanical two wheelers roll off the assembly line without proper pollution control systems. Little effort is made for R & D on simple technologies, which could make a vital difference to people's lives and the environment.

However, while there is no denying that South Asia must clean up its act, skeptics might question the timing of the haze report. The Johannesburg meet on Rio+10 is just two weeks away and the stage is set for the usual battle between the developing world and the West, particularly the U.S. President, Mr. Bush has adamantly refused to sign any protocol, which would mean a change in American consumption. U.N. environment report is likely to find a place in the U.S. arsenal as it points an accusing finger on countries like India and China. Yet the U.S. can hardly deny its own dubious role in the matter of erasing trading quotas. Richer countries can simply buy up excess credits from poorer countries and continue to pollute. Rather than try to get the better of developing countries, who undoubtedly have taken up environmental shortcuts in their bid to catch up with the West, the U.S. should take a look at the environment profligacy, which is going on within. From opening up virgin territories for oil exploration to relaxing the standards for drinking water, Mr. Bush's policies are not exactly beneficial- not even to Americans. We realize that we are in this together and that pollution anywhere should be a global concern. Otherwise, there will only be more tunnels at the end of the tunnel.

1. Both official and corporate India is allergic to

a. failure of monsoon

b. poverty and inequality

c. slowdown in industrial pact

d. mention of monsoon technology

e. crop failure

2. Which, according to the passage, is a life and death question to many Indians?

a. increase in respiratory diseases

b. use of clean technology

c. thick blanket of pollution over the region

d. failure in crops

e. dwindling agricultural yield

3. Choose the word which is similar in meaning to the word 'profligacy' as used in the passage.

a. wastefulness

b. conservation

c. upliftment

d. criticalness

e. denouncement

4. What we must realize, according to the passage?

a. no country should show superiority over other countries

b. U.N. is putting in hard efforts in the direction of pollution control

c. all countries must join hands in fighting pollution

d. nobody should travel through tunnel to avoid health hazards

e. we must strive hard to increase agricultural production

5. Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word 'morbidity' as used in the passage.

a. powerfulness

b. softness

c. healthiness

d. acuteness

e. purposefulness

1. d. benefits of development should reach to all equally

2. a. it has given national development a precedence over environment

3. d. water harvesting

4. i. all of the above

5. a. iv. balance b. i. Diminish

1. d. giving minorities sufficient chances to maintain and develop their distinct identities

2. b. secularism as a political creed

3. b. withdraw

4. v. a., b., c.

5. e. minorities should be given preferential treatment

1. d. mention of monsoon technology

2. d. failure in crops

3. a. wastefulness

4. c. all countries should join hands in fighting pollution

5. c. healthiness

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How to ace Reading Comprehension (RC)

GMAT test prep expert and personal tutor, Chiranjeev Singh, shares tips on how to improve your reading comprehension (RC) score.

How to ace Reading Comprehension

By chiranjeev singh.

What’s being tested in RC and why?

The name of the section is Reading Comprehension . So, what do you think is being tested in this section?

You’re right. It’s a test of comprehension. In other words, the better your comprehension, the better your score in this section. Simple! And common sense!

Yet, I’ve come across quite a few people who have been taught in classroom courses offered by Indian GMAT prep institutes that they don’t need to read the entire passage; they just need to read the first and the last line of each paragraph. They’re told that it’s not possible to read, let alone comprehend, the entire passage in 2-3 minutes. Thus, to ‘ace’ the GMAT RC section, they need to focus on just the first and the last lines.

The logic even makes sense to many people since they can see that it’s not possible for them to read such complex passages within the time constraints of the test. Thus, they end up believing that this must be the way to beat this challenging test.

Of course, almost all of them realize a few months later that this ‘logical’ way of preparing doesn’t work for them (A few exceptions end up achieving high scores not because of this approach but despite it).

The problem is not with the people. The problem is with the way and the logic behind it.

How can you expect yourself to score well in a test of comprehension without ‘comprehending’ the passage? Isn’t trying to do so equivalent to trying to fool the test makers? “You guys want to test my comprehension skills? I can score well in this section without comprehending much. You know, I’m smarter than you all”.

Of course, the approach backfires. After spending months following the approach, people realize that they are at the same level where they started from.

RC section tests comprehension skills. And the reason comprehension skills are tested is that you’ll need to have them to perform well in your MBA and beyond. The point is that in your MBA and beyond, you are expected to come across new ideas and information; your level of comprehension will determine how much you understand these things.

Ignorance about Ignorance

I have heard a story about the Pandavas of Mahabharat. Once upon a time, their Guru taught them that one should not get angry in any situation in life. The Guru then asked them whether they have understood the message. Everyone but Yudhishthira said yes. The Guru was surprised to see no response from Yudhishthira. Generally, Yudhishthira was the first one to understand anything. “How could he not understand this simple message?”, the Guru wondered.

The Guru repeated the message “we should not get angry in any situation in life” and asked Yudhishthira whether he has understood now. He still said no. The Guru became upset but repeated the message again for him. When Yudhishthira again said he had not understood the message, the Guru slapped him. After being slapped, Yudhishthira immediately said, “yes, I have now understood the message.”

“A slap is what takes you to understand a simple message?”, the Guru asked Yudhishthira.

Yudhishthira replied, “Guruji, when you slapped me, I did not feel anger. Thus, I now think I have understood your message of not getting angry.”

While others thought they had understood the message after remembering it, Yudhishthira had a higher benchmark; he considered the message understood only after he had imbibed the message in his life.

So, when you two people say that they have ‘understood’ something, we don’t know how much each one has understood. The reasons is that their benchmarks of understanding may be very different; one may say that he has understood after superficially knowing it while the other may say that she has understood only after deeply understanding it.

Similarly, even when two people say that they have ‘comprehended’ an RC passage, their levels of understanding may vary so much that one may get all questions right while another may hardly get one-third right (I narrate one such real-life story in this article ). While for one, comprehending the passage may mean understanding the exact meaning and purpose of each statement, for another, it may mean just going through the statements.

Of course, the second person is ignorant about the right way of ‘comprehending’ a passage. However, the problem is not this ignorance. If he doesn’t know the right way, he can always learn it. The problem is ignorance about ignorance. The person doesn’t know that he doesn’t know how to read. He thinks he knows. Since he is not even aware of the problem, there’s no way he’s going to find a solution for the problem.

Even though I’m making it sound black and white i.e., one person knows the right way to read while the other doesn’t, it’s actually not. There are levels of comprehension. I find people stuck at different levels. And the reason they remain stuck is that they don’t know there is a higher level of understanding possible. They are ignorant of their ignorance.

What does comprehension mean?

I’m going to use the term ‘comprehension’ according to my benchmark. There are two aspects of comprehending a passage:

Generally, people falter in understanding the meaning of individual statements in two ways: they fail to understand the exact meaning of certain words and structures such as ‘unless’, ‘must’, ‘if then’, ‘a few’, ‘few’ etc, and they fail to understand complex sentences.

Understanding relationships/connections between statements – RC passages are not a collection of independent facts. Statements are connected. There’s an underlying story, which you will understand only if you try to do so. Understanding the exact meaning of a statement is one aspect. The second aspect is to understand the purpose of each sentence – why that sentence is there. It must be related to what has happened before that in the passage. We need to make a deliberate effort to understand the connection. This ‘deliberate’ effort is what I find missing in many people. They go through the passage without any such deliberate effort. Thus, they understand the connections that their minds can naturally make (given their familiarity with similar contexts or logical structures) but fail to see the connections that would require some conscious effort. They don’t even know that they are supposed to take pauses while reading the passage and to ask themselves how statements are connected with the previous ones.

Misconceptions

Before I talk about how to read an RC passage and how to attempt the questions, I’d like to address two common misconceptions that hold people back from improving their RC performance.

There is nothing to learn in RC – In SC, there are many rules to master. In CR, there are a bunch of concepts to understand. What is there to learn in RC? Nothing. This thinking leads to the second misconception.
RC performance cannot be improved – If there’s nothing to learn, how can you improve your performance? You either have it in you or don’t have it.

As I said, these are misconceptions. People can improve and have improved considerably in terms of their RC performance. People improve by learning better processes and by improving their comprehension skills.

Before we talk about the process to follow while reading an RC passage, let’s talk about a more fundamental aspect – the mindset you need.

Comprehend – Your mindset while reading an RC passage should be that you are trying to ‘comprehend’ the passage and not trying, through tricks or techniques, to just find answers to the questions. The importance of the correct mindset cannot be overemphasized. Without the right mindset, nothing else may work .

Have Interest/Be Curious – If you do not have interest in the passage you’re reading or are not curious about the text, you’re not going to get a good understanding of the passage, simply because your mind may not form connections between various ideas presented in the passage. Thus, if you don’t find yourself naturally interested in the subject matter, you need to build interest in the passage deliberately. For example, one of my students would speak to himself while reading an RC passage, “Interesting. I want to know more about it.” One common reason why people find passages boring is that the passages are too difficult for them. For example, if I play chess at the expert level, I’m going to find it hard to remain interested since the level is too challenging for me. If that is the reason, it may make sense for you to focus on easier passages first. Also, do not worry about timing while doing such passages. Take as much time as you need. Your objective should be to have a good understanding of the passage, regardless of the time it takes. If you time yourself on a hard passage, this may be too overwhelming for you.

Accuracy first, timing later – Your first aim should be achieving a high level of accuracy (90-95%) in untimed practice in a mix of questions of varying difficulty levels. Once you hit your desired accuracy level, you may start focusing on ways to improve your timing. This article may give you a perspective on how to improve your timing:

Process for reading a passage

We’ve discussed that our objective/mindset is to comprehend the passage. We have also discussed what comprehension means. The process is thus:

Understand a statement ‘in isolation’ – In other words, understand the literal meaning of the statement without relating it to what you’ve previously read. People who start relating statements even while they are reading them end up misunderstanding statements. As they read a new statement, they start imposing their expectations on the new statement. Thus, in many cases, they are reading their own expectations, not what the sentence is actually saying. Thus, it is critical to understand the exact meaning of a statement in isolation and then make connections.

Here, at times, there will be keywords to help you understand the connections between ideas. However, some people understand the connections very superficially. When they see ‘however’, they’ll just say that there is a contrast. When I ask them, “what exactly is the contrast here?”, they’ll be clueless. Just saying that the new idea is in the opposite direction to the previous idea is not enough; you need to figure out ’exactly’ how the direction is opposite. Similarly, if you see ‘because’, you need to figure out exactly how one idea supports the other. If you don’t understand, you’re not going to score well on a test of comprehension.

Get it right the first time – There are three levels of re-reading people engage in:

Statement level – They read a statement and then realize that they need to reread it to understand it.

Paragraph level – They read a paragraph and then realize that they need to reread it to understand it.

Passage level – They read the entire passage and then realize that they need to reread it to understand it.

Of course, the worst level of reading is at the passage level. It’s as if we are sleeping while reading the passage that we don’t realize that we’re not understanding it. This never happens to me.

The second level of rereading is at the paragraph level. This is also very rare (one in a hundred probably) for me.

While rereading individual statements is more common than rereading at other levels, we need to understand that

Any rereading is bad and reflects a deficiency in our way of reading.

It’s about understanding the story, not about remembering all the details . We are being tested on comprehension skills, not on memorization skills. Thus, we are not expected to remember all the details. If we come across a question that is around some detail, we can always go back to the relevant part of the passage to answer the question.

Process for attempting questions

Understand the exact meaning of the question stem : In many instances, I’ve found that people fail to understand what exactly the question is asking. Clearly, in such cases, your chances of getting the right answer are remote. Taking multiple pauses while reading the question stem may help in assimilating the question stem better.
Predict the answer – You’re not expected to come up with the exact wording of the answer, but you’re expected to have a good idea of what the correct answer could say. If you don’t have such an idea after reading the question stem, you may revisit the relevant part of the passage. The point is to have some idea of what you’re looking for before moving onto the options; otherwise, the options may completely mess up your mind. The following steps will help you get more learning out of your practice. You are not expected to follow these steps during mocks or the actual exam.

Not given – If an option is nowhere given in the passage, it cannot be the answer to such a question.

Contradictory – Some options may be in the opposite direction to what is given in the passage. Of course, such options cannot be the answer to such questions.

Given but doesn’t answer – This option can be inferred from the passage but doesn’t answer the question.

All good – You selected only the correct option and rejected the four incorrect options. A good indicator that you were comfortable with the question.
Selected more than one option, including the correct option – In this case, you have something to learn – where did you falter that you did not find a problem with the incorrect option?
Rejected all five options – In this case, you rejected the four incorrect options – that’s good. However, you need to understand why you rejected the correct option. Clearly, your reason for rejecting the correct option is wrong. And if your reason for rejecting the correct option is the same as your reason for rejecting some other options, you need to re-evaluate those options too.
Worst case – You rejected the correct option and selected one or more incorrect options. Antardhyaan jao! Kya kar rhe ho life me! 🙂 This case indicates some serious comprehension problems w.r.t. the passage, the options, or both.

Other recommendations

Easy – > Medium -> Hard – Nobody wants to do easy and medium passages. Because they won’t get you 740 or 760 on the GMAT. However, they’d get you to 650-700. And unless you reach there, there’s no chance you’ll reach 760. Secondly, easy and medium passages will help you build a foundation. If you directly jump to hard passages, not only will you get most hard questions wrong, but you’ll also not be able to learn from those hard passages since you will not have the capability to even learn from those passages. I see that many people continue to wrestle with hard questions and thus waste their time even though they do not even have a 85% accuracy on medium questions.
Build familiarity with a subject area by reading RCs from a subject area together – Many a time, people struggle very heavily with RCs from a specific subject area such as science or sociology. The reason they struggle is that they don’t have any familiarity with the subject matter – they don’t know what’s going on in these passages. It’s hard to figure out how statements connect with each other. The reason they don’t have familiarity is that they have not read similar content ever or for a long time. The way out is to build familiarity. How do we do so? By doing 20 such passages together (I don’t mean ‘in one go’ or ‘in one day’. I mean you don’t do other stuff in between). Of course, you need to go through them with the right mindset and process we discussed above. If you do so, you’ll be able to have a much better idea as to what happens in such passages, what kind of terminology is used, etc. Thus, when you read the 21st passage, you’ll be much more comfortable.

I have analyzed two hard official passages in detail in two separate videos. Here are the links: Video 1 and Video 2 .

I hope this article helps you improve your reading comprehension score. I’ll be happy to hear from you – what you liked in the article and what can be improved.

About the author: A passionate teacher and learner, Chiranjeev Singh is a private GMAT tutor based out of Delhi. CJ (as he is commonly called) is an IIMA Alumnus and has scored 780 on the GMAT (we’ve verified his score from the Pearson VUE site). He follows a skills-based questioning-driven methodology and takes online sessions for students across the world. This article is part of CrystalConnect, an outreach initiative by MBA Crystal Ball.

Also read: – How long does it take to prepare for the GMAT? – 2-Month GMAT study plan for working professionals – When is the right time to take the GMAT? – How to study for the GMAT effectively: Expert tutor shares tips – Low GMAT score success stories – 5 most common GMAT mistakes and how to avoid them – How to start preparing for GMAT – How to score 700+ on the GMAT

4 thoughts on “How to ace Reading Comprehension (RC)”

Thanks CJ for such wonderful insights to tackle much dreadful RCs. I liked the story of Yudhrishtra from Mahabharata and how skillfully you have releated it to read an RC passage. 🙂

Thank you, Vasundhara! 🙂

Very nice article, tips and learning on RC sir.

Thanks for such a structured RC based article. Really helpful.

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Management Articles

How to Improve English for MBA Exams

Updated On: November 20, 2023 05:10 pm IST

English is a very important subject in MBA entrance exams and it can help you reach an excellent score from a good score. Here is how you can improve your English for MBA entrance exams.

Exam Pattern of Popular MBA Entrance Exams

English syllabus in mba entrance exams, english preparation tips for mba entrance exams, best books to improve english for mba exams, popular mba colleges in india.

How to Improve English for MBA Exams: In India, it is almost mandatory to qualify in an MBA entrance exam in order to take admission to MBA colleges, particularly when we talk about the top-tier colleges. Some private colleges do offer direct admission to MBA without entrance exam but there are very limited seats offered under that category every year. Hence, for a majority of MBA aspirants, admission through entrance exam is the way to go. MBA entrance exams can prove to be a tough nut to crack. There is intense competition for top colleges such as the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and a good score is necessary to stand out from the pack. One area where MBA aspirants often face difficulty is preparing for English in MBA exams. Given below are the exam patterns of popular MBA exams in India. It can clearly be seen that English is a section that is common across all of the MBA entrance exams and is a very important section for any MBA aspirant.

Check the table below for the MBA Entrance Exam Pattern for popular exams in India. The English sections have been highlighted for each exam.


		34
	Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	32
	Quantitative Ability	34
		40
	Mathematical Skills	40
	Data Analysis & Sufficiency	40
	Intelligence & Critical Reasoning	40
	Indian & Global Environment	40
	Logical Reasoning	25
	General Awareness	25
	Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation	25
		25
	Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation	28
		26
	General Knowledge	25
	Decision Making	21

Hence, we can see that the English section is an important section of any MBA entrance exam. Having a good preparation strategy for English can boost your score and help you get into a good MBA college.

Before you start preparing, it is important to take note of the syllabus for the English or Verbal Ability or Language Comprehension section of the MBA entrance exams. There are three main areas on which any candidate has to focus when preparing for English in MBA entrance exams.

English Grammar and Usage

Reading Comprehension

While different exams may have a different exact syllabus, there are quite a few topics or types of questions which are commonly seen no matter which MBA exam you attempt. Given below are some of the important topics covered in the English section of MBA entrance exams.

Passages / Reading Comprehension	Vocabulary-Related Questions
Error Correction in Sentences	Jumbled Passages
Cloze Test / Fill in The Blanks	Grammatical / Contextual Usage

These form the majority syllabus of English in most of the MBA entrance exams in India. Hence, it is very important that candidates have a good preparation of these topics for a good score in the exam.

Let's be honest, short-term preparation strategies are not really ideal for English preparation. It requires long-term dedication and constantly staying in touch with the language. Any candidate who has stayed in touch with English either from school-level or in the form of movies, music etc. will find it easier to go through the English section in the MBA entrance exam with mediocre preparation than a candidate who is not in the habit of using or reading English.

However, that does not mean that short-term preparation for English does not work. Just like any other section in the MBA exam, English also has a fixed syllabus and candidates can improve their English with short-term strategies as well.

Tips to Prepare for Reading Comprehension Section in MBA Exams

Reading Comprehension is considered one of the toughest and most time-consuming topics in entrance exams. Here are some tips to improve your performance in the Reading Comprehension questions.

Build a daily reading habit.

Read different types of content (news, books, articles, opinion pieces, blogs etc.)

After reading, try to note down important information about the content such as:

What was it about?

What is the author trying to say?

Key information / facts

The tone of the passage etc.

Tips to Improve English Grammar for MBA Entrance Exams

Having a good knowledge of English grammar is very important for a good score in an MBA entrance exam. Here are some tips to improve English grammar. When it comes to grammar, it becomes necessary to deal with the grammatical rules. However, since grammar can be essentially endless it is important to restrain yourself in this area.

Refer to the previous year question papers and understand the type of questions appearing in the entrance exam.

Understand the construction of sentences and try to identify the various parts of speech in a sentence.

Pay special attention to exceptions in grammatical rules.

Tips to Build Vocabulary for MBA Entrance Exams

Vocabulary-related questions might be asked in various forms including synonyms and antonyms, contextual usage, word closest / farthest in meaning etc. Given below are some tips to improve vocabulary for MBA exams.

Always consult a dictionary when you come across a difficult word while reading. Note down the word and its meaning.

It is better to not just try to cram up word meanings but understand the usage of a word in a sentence.

Learning root words will help increase your vocabulary manifold with less work. It is a good way to work smartly when you have less time.

Do not spend a lot of time on vocabulary. This is one area that can automatically improve with an overall improvement in English.

The table below contains some of the best English preparation books relevant to MBA entrance exams in India.


English Grammar & Composition	Wren & Martin	Wren & Martin
Word Power Made Easy	Normal Lewis	Penguin India
Wiley's ExamXpert Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension	Captain AK Kalia	Wiley
How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension	Arun Sharma	McGraw Hill Education
PSC for VA for CAT	Nishit Sharma	Pearson Education India

If you properly follow the tips and tricks to improve English for MBA exams, you will be able to get a good score and apply to the leading MBA colleges in India.


	Mumbai	17.50
	Jaipur	6.16
	Pune	1.77
	Gurgaon	17.50
	Sehore	2.00
	Jaipur	2.00
	Delhi	0.20
	Hyderabad	10.50
	Jalandhar	5.80
	Bhopal	1.90

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What is the best MBA college having the best placements and accepting TSICET

Dear student,

Here is a list of colleges accepting TSICET exam score for admission in MBA courses .

Admission to colleges depends on your TSICET score. If you have shortlisted colleges, do share names, so that we can help you with placement information. Good luck!

Does university of hyderabad accept ICET exam?

No, TS ICET is not accepted for admission to MBA & MCA in University of Hyderabad . For MBA, the university accepts CAT scores and for MCA admissions, the university accepts NIMCET scores. However, these universities accept ICET exam scores:

Osmania University (OU)
JNT University, Hyderabad (JNTUH)
Kakatiya University (KU)
Satavahana University
Palamuru University (PLMU)
Mahatma Gandhi University (MGUN)
Telangana University Nizamabad

See the complete list of colleges accepting ICET score .

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GMAT™ Reading Comprehension Tips for Non-Native English Speakers

Preparing for the GMAT™ exam is a challenge for many aspiring business school students. English as a second language (ESL) test takers, like many of the prospective business mater’s and MBA applicants I advise, face additional challenges that native English speakers typically do not. Often, I find that a hurdle for ESL test takers is the lack of exposure to the topics presented in the GMAT™ exam , which ultimately leads to gaps in comprehension.

Recognizing these issues, test takers can prepare for such passages by familiarizing themselves with content and vocabulary within these topics.

At MBA Key , we believe the best way to train for the GMAT is with the GMAT itself. The practice questions from the GMAT Official Guides provide the best resources to gain mastery of the GMAT content, language, style, and vocabulary.

Here are some of my personal tips for success in GMAT Reading Comprehension.

Leverage the GMAT reading passages

There’s nothing better than practicing with the real thing! Find out which topic areas you have the most trouble with. I typically find that our students are often unfamiliar with vocabulary in certain social science passages: archaeology, law, and politics.

The best way for better comprehension, and thus efficiency in parsing through a passage, is to get a “feel” for these passages. Start by reading the passages for the pure joy of reading and learning about the topics, rather than pressuring yourself with time limits and questions that you have to answer.

As you read more and more of the same types of passages, you will find that the content hovers around similar issues. Build your own vocabulary list for each topic and you will prove to yourself that the same vocabulary is used over and over, and with practice you’ll recognize the patterns you need to quickly grasp the text.

Gain exposure to topics foreign to ESL students

If you didn’t matriculate from a Western, English-speaking high school or university, you most likely did not have the same history and cultural lessons that would help you efficiently comprehend legal, historical, or cultural passages.

Beyond familiarizing yourself with GMAT Reading Comprehension passages, take a short history lesson on YouTube or Wikipedia on topics such as Native American history, women’s rights, and US voting. You are not expected to become an expert on these topics; instead, aim to get exposure and familiarity with the vocabulary used in these topics.

These are some tried and tested recommendations that have worked for many ESL students. Sure, it takes a bit of extra work—but if you can get invested in these topics (at least for the sake of your GMAT success), the payoff is well worth it.

The GMAT is already a challenging undertaking; MBA Key believes that if you can find your inner curiosity to spark the interest that will get you invested in the arguments presented – you’ve put yourself in a position that is focused and ready to attack the questions!

April Thanarat is an mba.com Featured Contributor and the Director of MBA Key.

She has over 20 years of experience teaching GMAT and counseling MBA candidates. Her passion and expertise have made her the most sought-after GMAT instructor in Thailand. As Director at MBA Key , April leverages her diverse, international background to help students build and achieve their academic and professional goals.

Free GMAT prep! Get your free GMAT™ Official Starter Kit + Practice Exams 1 & 2 , which includes a sampler of 90 past exam questions and the first two full-length GMAT™ practice exams that match the real exam format, increase in difficulty, and help you manage your pacing.

CAT & Other MBA Entrance Tests

Verbal Ability and RC

Reading Comprehension

Quick practice, question 1 of 5.

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

For those of us who work in the Sciences, the last decade has been a boon to research and discoveries. This has been facilitated by the massive data collection and data analysis which would have been inconceivable just a few decades ago. As a side consequence of these changes, many of us thought that the time has finally arrived where data will be the absolute arbiter of truth. If the global events of 2016, in general, are any indication, then we were dead wrong thinking this. One may even ask, in an era of fake news and alternate facts, is data that relevant? One can do all the fact-checking in the world but it won’t matter if the person to whom the evidence is being presented gives the rejoinder, ‘What does the evidence have to do with it?’

As a data scientist, I imagined that an argument based on careful analysis of data coupled with sound statistical reasoning should be enough to convince any person of one’s argument. However, in many contexts, this may have the opposite effect. Thinking about why people act this way becomes easier if we rather drop the assumption that people are rational and start thinking that people’s rationality is mediated via emotions. However, there is a hidden assumption in this assertion that all people evaluate evidence in the same manner. The presence of confirmation bias and other cognitive biases in humans tell a different story altogether. People are more likely to be sceptical and thorough in an investigation if the evidence presented to them goes against what they already believe. Even things like what people perceive as the scientific consensus varies from person to person.

The current political climate of data nihilism did not arise in a vacuum. In the nineties, we had the culture wars including the assault on science in public schools. Post-modernism also played a role in relativizing truth. All this may sound gloomy as journalists even wrote about the death of facts as early as five years ago but now people are even questioning whether one can no longer even trust the data that the government is collecting. The history of the 20th century is a testament to data manipulation by different communist regimes and ideologically driven research agendas that led to nothing.

Then there is the Dunning-Kruger Effect where people with low competency tend to greatly overestimate their ability in a given area of expertise. Couple that with culturally induced ignorance and we have a recipe for disaster. Confucius had a maxim that real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance. The rise of populism and authoritarianism in the world as of late has been a grim reminder that people are far from rational. The phenomenon of data nihilism and culturally induced ignorance do have one thing in common, an appeal to values. Studies show that people are more likely to change their minds if there is an element of social desirability involved. If a person thinks that changing their position in a certain context is non-threatening or desirable then they are more likely to engage and even change their position. You don’t lead with the facts to convince. You lead with the values – to give the facts a fighting chance. So data scientists and journalists have a harder task at hand, not only do we have to use data to tell stories but also we have to use idioms and framing that makes the other side listen. That solves half of the problem, i.e. the presence of ignorance, but if the problem is just data nihilism then all bets are off.

In this passage, the author is primarily trying to:

Analyze why people reject facts and evidence.

Suggest ways in which scientific thinking can be promoted.

Complain about the fact that most people are irrational.

Understand the current climate of irrationality.

Explain why some people are incapable of scientific thinking.

Fundamentals of Solving an RC

Methods to Select the Right Passage

Types of Questions on RC

Types Of RC Passages

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EnglishForEveryone.org

Reading comprehension worksheets terms of use, read theory workbooks visit our online store here .

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Critical Thinking Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Take these as online quizzes here!

Short Story Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Beginning Level
Answers for this series are included at the end of each worksheet.
"My Friend" - Low Beginning. 3 answer choices. 7 questions. 74 words.
"My House" - Low Beginning. 3 answer choices. 7 questions. 92 words.
"Time to..." - Low Beginning. 4 answer choices. 11 questions. 89 words.
"My Family" - Low Beginning. 4 answer choices. 6 questions. 90 words.
"Rainy Day" - Low Beginning. 4 answer choices. 5 questions. 78 words.
"A Call to the Pool" - Low Beginning. 4 answer choices. 5 questions. 116 words.
"The Singing Bird" - Low Beginning. 4 answer choices. 5 questions. 96 words.
"Seeing Stars" - Low Beginning. 4 answer choices. 8 questions. 92 words.
"I Fly" - Low Beginning. 4 answer choices. 4 questions. 113 words.
"The Drive" - Mid Beginning. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 120 words.
"Zach's Animals" - Mid Beginning. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 104 words.
"Griffin's Talents" - Mid Beginning. 4 answer choices. 9 questions. 112 words.
"A Happy Visitor" - Mid Beginning. 4 answer choices. 5 questions. 170 words.
"An Adventure" - Mid Beginning. 4 answer choices. 5 questions. 177 words.
"Running" - Mid Beginning. 4 answer choices. 5 questions. 148 words.
"Paul Cooks" - Mid Beginning. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 112 words.
"Bella Hides" - Mid Beginning. 4 answer choices. 8 questions. 135 words.
"First Prize" - Mid Beginning. 4 answer choices. 8 questions. 155 words.
"What Number?" - Mid Beginning. 4 answer choices. 12 questions. 154 words.
"The Interview" - High Beginning. 4 answer choices. 9 questions. 205 words.
"Julian's Work" - High Beginning. 4 answer choices. 12 questions. 194 words.
"Talia's Special Day" - High Beginning. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 204 words.
"One Hundred Dollars" - High Beginning. 4 answer choices. 13 questions. 273 words.
"New Shoes for Maddy" - High Beginning. 4 answer choices. 11 questions. 223 words.
"The 20" - High Beginning. 4 answer choices. 12 questions. 256 words.
"Big City Noise" - High Beginning. 4 answer choices. 13 questions. 238 words.
Intermediate Level
"By the Water" - Low Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 9 questions. 225 words.
"A Cold Day" - Low Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 14 questions. 286 words.
"Vet Emergency!" - Low Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 247 words.
"Late" - Low Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 14 questions. 284 words.
"The Brenners" - Low Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 13 questions. 297 words.
"Bullied" - Low Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 13 questions. 197 words.
"The New School" - Low Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 14 questions. 286 words.
"The Park" - Low Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 11 questions. 297 words.
"Worth Working For" - Mid Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 280 words.
"The Rent Man" - Mid Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 12 questions. 215 words.
"Time with Grandpa" - Mid Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 9 questions. 237 words.
"The Bus Driver" - Mid Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 15 questions. 294 words.
"A Day Like No Other" - Mid Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 12 questions. 305 words.
"A Mystery" - Mid Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 247 words.
"Just One Touch" - Mid Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 15 questions. 326 words.
"Wanga" - Mid Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 13 questions. 340 words.
"Ana Finds an Apartment" - Mid Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 12 questions. 408 words.
"Guermo's Surprise" - High Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 9 questions. 372 words .
"Canopy of Nature" - High Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 8 questions. 332 words .
"Blizzard in Birmingham" - High Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 319 words.
"A Christmas in March" - High Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 385 words.
"Bail" - High Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 301 words.
"Clean Water Act" - High Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 632 words.
"BB" - High Intermediate. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 511 words .
Advanced Level
"The Mini Problem" - Low Advanced. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 291 words .
"Flower Power" - Low Advanced. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 368 words.
"Seeing Clearly" - Low Advanced. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 284 words .
"Accused" - Low Advanced. 4 answer choices. 12 questions. 285 words.
"City Girl" - Low Advanced. 4 answer choices. 13 questions. 429 words.
"Fried" - Mid Advanced. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 235 words.
"Tattoo" - Mid Advanced. 4 answer choices. 11 questions. 350 words.
"The Transfers" - Mid Advanced. 4 answer choices. 12 questions. 381 words.
"Wild" - Mid Advanced. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 493 words.
"Scorpion" - Low Advanced. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 333 words
"Remains of a Marriage" - Mid Advanced. 4 answer choices. 11 questions. 345 words.
"Museum Hours" - Mid Advanced. 4 answer choices. 10 questions. 179 words.
"Seeing Through" - High Advanced. 5 answer choices. 10 questions. 326 words.
"Ursula Pugh" - High Advanced. 5 answer choices. 8 questions. 324 words.
"Dreams" - High Advanced. 4 answer choices. 12 questions. 357 words.
"Tracks" - High Advanced. 5 answer choices. 11 questions. 531 words.
"Love Train" - High Advanced. 5 answer choices. 12 questions. 646 words.
"The Storm" - High Advanced. 4 answer choices. 12 questions. 407 words.

Informational Passages Reading Comprehension Worksheets

In these reading comprehension worksheets, students are asked questions about information they have read about a specific topic. each passage reads similar to a newspaper of journal article, and provides interesting information about some aspect of history, nature, mechanics, science, art, and more. questions involve critical thinking with a focus on logic and inference..

Answer Key - This answer key is available but still under development.
"The Sun" - Low Beginning. 3 questions. Under 50 words.
"Gas" - Low Beginning. 3 questions. Under 50 words.
"Music" - Low Beginning. 4 questions. Under 50 words.
"Birds" - Low Beginning. 4 questions. Under 50 words.
"The Heart" - Low Beginning. 4 questions. Under 50 words.
"The Butterfly" - Low Beginning. 5 questions. Under 50 words.
"Pigs" - Low Beginning. 3 questions. Under 50 words.
"The Brain" - Low Beginning. 3 questions. Under 50 words.
"The Ocean" - Low Beginning. 7 questions. Under 100 words.
"Trees" - Low Beginning. 4 questions. Under 100 words.
"Alligators" - Low Beginning. 6 questions. Under 100 words.
"The Blow-Dryer" - Low Beginning. 5 questions. Under 100 words.
"Green Grass" - Low Beginning. 6 questions. Under 100 words.
"Taste" - Low Beginning. 4 questions. Under 100 words.
"Bees" - Mid Beginning. 10 questions. Under 200 words.
"Frogs" - Mid Beginning. 10 questions. Under 200 words.
"Beds" - Mid Beginning. 10 questions. Under 200 words.
"Humans" - Mid Beginning. 10 questions. Under 200 words.
"Fish" - Mid Beginning. 10 questions. Under 200 words.
"Houses" - Mid Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Soda Pop" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 200 words.
"Tea" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 200 words.
"Ice Fishing" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Bears" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Flags" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Leonardo Da Vinci" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words..
"Tennis" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Dogs" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Money" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Abraham Lincoln" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Corn" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Umbrellas" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Ben Franklin" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Cars" - High Beginning. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
Answer Key - This is the answer key for to the intermediate level informational passages.
"Helicopters" - Low Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Yellowstone National Park" - Low Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"Empress of the Blues" - Low Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"The Cactus" - Low Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"Space Exploration Voyagers 1 and 2" - Mid Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"Television" - Mid Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"Hibernation and Estivation" - Mid Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"Marco Polo" - Mid Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"Movie Ratings" - Mid Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"Birdsongs" - Mid Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"Counting" - Mid Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"Easter Island" - High Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 400 words.
"Mosquitoes" - High Intermediate. 12 questions. Under 700 words.
"Fingerprints" - High Intermediate. 11 questions. Under 700 words.
"Mother's Day" - High Intermediate. 10 questions. Under 700 words.
"Europe" - High Intermediate. 12 questions. Under 700 words.
Answer Key - This is the answer key for to the advanced level informational passages.
"Chocolate" - Low Advanced. 10 questions. Under 600 words.
"Houses Around the World" - Low Advanced. 10 questions. Under 700 words.
"Cells" - Low Advanced. 10 questions. Under 700 words.
"Soccer" - Low Advanced. 12 questions. Under 700 words.
"Bathtubs" - Low Advanced. 12 questions. Under 700 words.
"Pollution" - Low Advanced. 12 questions. Under 700 words.
"Interstate Highways" - Low Advanced. 10 questions. Under 800 words.
"The U.S. Census" - Low Advanced. 10 questions. Under 800 words.
"Sleep" - Low Advanced. 11 questions. Under 800 words.
"The U.S. Postal Service" - Mid Advanced. 11 questions. Under 800 words.
"Chemical Elements" - Mid Advanced. 11 questions. Under 800 words.
"Africa" - Mid Advanced. 11 questions. Under 1000 words.

Technical Reading Comprehension Worksheets

In these reading comprehension worksheets, students are asked questions about the meaning, significance, intention, structure, inference, and vocabulary used in each passage. each passage reads like an encyclopedic or technical journal article. answers for worksheets in this section can be found at the end of each individual worksheet..

"Water" - Beginning level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 300 words.
"Paper" - Beginning level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 300 words.
"The Flu" - Beginning level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 400 words.
"Nuts" - Beginning level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 400 words.
"The Sun" - Beginning level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 400 words.
"The White House" - Beginning level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 400 words.
"Soap" - Intermediate level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 400 words.
"Clocks" - Intermediate level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 400 words.
"The Robin" - Intermediate level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 400 words.
"Hybrid Vehicles" - Intermediate level. 4 questions with answers included. Under 500 words.
"Photography" - Intermediate level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 500 words.
"Biomimetics" - Intermediate level. 4 questions with answers included. Under 700 words.
"The Great Debates" - Intermediate level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 400 words.
"Salt" - Advanced level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 700 words.
"Colony Collapse" - Advanced level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 600 words.
"Columbian Exchange" - Advanced level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 700 words.
"Ethanol" - Advanced level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 600 words.
"Generations" - Advanced level. 3 questions with answers included. Under 600 words.
"The Hubble Telescope" - Advanced level. 7 questions with answers included. Under 1000 words.
"Intellegence Augmentation" - Advanced level. 5 questions with answers included. Under 1000 words.

Role Play Reading Comprehension Worksheets

In these reading comprehension worksheets, students can increase their understanding of colloquial and idiomatic expressions and get a feel for conversational english. they also allow several students to participate at the same time - which makes them really fun great for use in school or at home..

Answer Key - This is the answer key to the role play worksheets.
"What Time Is It?" - Beginning Level. 4 questions. Under 100 words.
"How Are You?" - Beginning Level. 4 questions. Under 100 words.
"Tie Your Shoes!" - Beginning Level. 4 questions. Under 100 words.
"Where Are My Glasses?" - Beginning Level. 4 questions. Under 100 words.
"A Cookie" - Beginning Level. 4 questions. Under 100 words.
"Where Are My Keys?" - Beginning Level. 4 questions. Under 100 words.
"City Life, Country Life" - Beginning Level. 10 questions. Under 200 words.
"Flu Shot" - Intermediate Level. 5 questions. Under 200 words.
"Vinegar" - Intermediate Level. 4 questions. Under 200 words.
"Wait for Me!" - Intermediate Level. 8 questions. Under 400 words.
"Glasses" - Intermediate Level. 8 questions. Under 400 words.
"Hungry" - Advanced Level. 8 questions. Under 400 words.
"Want to Know a Secret?" - Advanced Level. 8 questions. Under 200 words.
"Milk and Aesthetics" - Advanced Level. 8 questions. Under 500 words.

Dual Version Reading Comprehension Worksheets

In each of these reading comprehension worksheets, the same story is told, but with two versions: one that is basic, and one that is more advanced. this allows students to make direct comparisons between the advanced version to the more basic one, and makes for a powerful learning experience..

Answer Key - Coming Soon!
"An Overcast Day" - Beginning Level. 4 questions. Under 200 words.
"Who Knows My Name?" - Beginning Level. 4 questions. Under 200 words.
"A Call to the Pool" - Beginning Level. 6 questions. Under 300 words.
"Oh No!" - Beginning Level. 8 questions. Under 300 words.
"An Adventure" - Beginning Level. 6 questions. Under 400 words.
"Happy Birthday" - Beginning Level. 4 questions. Under 400 words.
"My Family" - Beginning Level. 8 questions. Under 300 words.
"My Family" - Beginning Level. 5 questions. Under 300 words.
"Driving Directions" - Beginning Level. 6 questions. Under 400 words.
"A Happy Visitor" - Beginning Level. 7 questions. Under 300 words.
"The Singing Bird" - Intermediate Level. 10 questions. Under 300 words.
"Violet Makes a Cake" - Intermediate Level. 8 questions. Under 400 words.
"A Visit to the Doctor" - Intermediate Level. 7 questions. Under 400 words.
"Making Dinner" - Intermediate Level. 8 questions. Under 400 words.
"The Market" - Intermediate Level. 10 questions. Under 500 words.
"Maria Gets Her License" - Intermediate Level. 8 questions. Under 500 words.
"A Paper for School" - Advanced Level. 7 questions. Under 300 words.
"A Birthday Surprise" - Advanced Level. 7 questions. Under 600 words.
"Getting a New Job" - Advanced Level. 8 questions. Under 600 words.
"The Dinner Party" - Advanced Level. 9 questions. Under 600 words.

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Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Inferences worksheets.

Context Clues Worksheets
Theme Worksheets

Main Idea Worksheets

Reading Games

Summary Worksheets

Online Tests
Figurative Language Worksheets

Short Stories with Questions

Nonfiction Passages
Genre Worksheets

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Here are a bunch of free reading comprehension worksheets. These will help students master reading skills. You can print, edit, or complete these worksheets online . Try the nonfiction or short story reading worksheets to cover general reading skills. Or focus on specific reading skills like making predictions .

Nonfiction Passages with Questions

Story Structure Worksheets
Characterization Worksheets
Setting Worksheets

Making Predictions Worksheets

This is a preview image of TV. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

All Nonfiction Passages

This is a preview image of "Two Leaves". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

All Short Stories

This is a preview image of Inferences Worksheet 1. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

All Inferences Worksheets

This is a preview image of Main Idea Lesson 1. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

All Main Idea Worksheets

This is a preview image of Theme Worksheet 1. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

All Theme Worksheets

This is a preview image of "The Breakaway". Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

All Story Structure Worksheets

This is a preview image of Characterization Worksheet 1. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

All Characterization Worksheets

This is a preview image of Setting Worksheet 1. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

All Setting Worksheets

This is a preview image of Summarizing Worksheet 1. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

All Summary Worksheets

This is a preview image of Making Predictions Worksheet 1. Click on it to enlarge it or view the source file.

All Prediction Worksheets

This is a picture of a teacher helping two students who are reading a text.

324 Comments

Thank you soooo much for all of these great resources! Especially valuable for my ELL students.

gdugeugeuygh

This test makes no sense.

Blanca Portillo

Wow. I could not not agree more with all these positive comments people have posted on this wonderful website. I do thank whoever created such a great resource for teaching. I have been exploring and using the worksheets. Not only do I but also my students have found them pretty useful and meaningful. Best wishes. and Keep up the wonderful work.

Thank you so much for your material. This has been a lifesaver! I wish to improve my students’ reading skills and you have been helping so much!

Priscilla Araba Hagan

Awesome. This has become my go-to site for testing my students’ reading comprehension. Keep it up!

I love your website my kids benefit so much from everything you do! THANK YOU!!

Priscilla Hagan

This has been a great find. I love the stories and so do my students. I have particularly found the nondiction passages wonderful – the ones which appear in their reading books are often bland and not engaging – and so do my students. They’re learning so much and it’s stirring their curiosity to do their digging about the topics they most enjoy.

Since comprehension questions in our part of the world are not mcqs – they are usuallyquestions which require short answers – I usually dowload the passages and prepare my own questions, with maybe one or two mcqs from your question bank thrown in. Thus, my students cannot find answers and it makes them do the hard work of comprehending the passages.

I also underline some of the words and phrases and ask them to find words or phrases which mean the same and can replace them in the passage – that’s another important component of questions asked on reading comprehension passages in my part of the world, Ghana. Maybe those complaining about cheaters can use some of these strategies. They can also tweak the questions on this site to do away with cheating.

Mr. Morton, you’re amazing. Love, love this site. My students and I are the better for it.

Ayana Sanchez

Hello from Panama, this website has proven so helpful to help my students study for the TOEFL

Keshia Cabriole

Good Morning may we use the Redwoods and Arm Races Story for our study? I would like to say that the story and questionnaire will be a big help if you allow us to use your story to our study.

Of course. Best wishes!

Sahar Zaher

Greetings from Egypt….I’ve been using this site for the past 3 years, and it never failed to impress me and my students. It’s very resourceful and I use it on daily basis. Wherever the owner of this site is, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You are so welcome! Thank you for using my site.

Honestly, I am writing this short message from the far lower corner of Africa,all the way from Namibia. Coming across this website has just proven to me that truly good people still exist in this world,as opposed to my traditional name which means “Good people are extinct.” I am so grateful to the person who shared all this helpful and precious information. May God continue to fill your heart and life with gifts overflowing upto an eternal fold. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I appreciate the kind words and hearing your story. I wish you the greatest possible success in all your endeavors.

Thank you so much for this. I am a 5/6 grader and I think my teachers will enjoy this too. I use this also over the summer so I can keep track of my smartness 🙂

Your website has been very helpful. I really appreciate all the material and worksheets you have available for free. Thank you!

gabriel simon

love your materials; like to be a member

Abeku Adams

Whoever you are behind this resource, know that you are a good person and I am grateful for making such superb materials available to us. I am in Ghana, West Africa. You’ve made life a lot easier. Do you have a button to which those who wish to make a small number of donations can go?

This website is supported by advertisements. No need for donations! But I am very happy that you like the site and took the time to comment. Best wishes!

Malik Radwan

These comprehensions were really helpful in studying It would be great if you would add poetry comprehensions too (the ones that ask for literary elements) Really thank you.

Do you mean poems with questions like these ?

Jornalyn N. Agapito

Thank you so much for this reading material. It was great help to my students to develop love in reading.

You’re such an amazing person! Thank you for sharing these materials. They helped me a lot as an ELA middle school teacher. May God bless you!

Excellent passages

I am looking for material for a 10-12 reading comprehension class. Your materials are great, but a lower interest level from HS students. Any suggestions for upper levels?

Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful worksheets!

JHANNET VELÁSQUEZ

EXCELLENT WEBSITE!

Excellent and the really valuable resource.

Delores J. Mayes

My students has searched and found the answer keys to these readings. I wish there was a way the teacher’s could sign in for the content and keep the cheaters from having the honest kids miss out on these readings. What has our world gone to. This is so sad that my students would copy answers word for word and expect to get a 100% as well as their parents. We are growing a nation of untruth and cheaters.

Yeah, that is pretty frustrating.

It’s tough to keep the content free and open while preventing students from finding the answers.

One thing that might help is downloading the .RTF file and editing the titles of the assignments. A persistent student will still be able to find the answers, but that may make it a little harder.

Also, remember, cheaters are only cheating themselves! And the system and everyone else too, but mainly themselves! Best wishes!

Hi Ma’am Dolores. That happened to me years ago during the MDL (modular distance learning) in our country, Philippines. You know what I did, I shorten my URLs and add number 1 at the end of it. This way, they can no longer trace my resources.

Alexandra Bardon

Thank you Mr. Morton for sharing! Your material is just what we need to keep students busy during lockdown. I really appreciate it. K. Bardon

Harbani Kaur

Thank you so much for sharing so much worksheets

This is a great website! thank you very much for sharing.

PASKARAN RAMAYA

Thank you very much Mr.Morton for providing such good reading texts . You have a big heart to share the resources without expecting nothing in return. I’m a teacher and it has been a great help to me in preparing reading materials for my students. Thank you!

Nusrat Jahan

I am pleased to get such a wonderful worksheet through this website.

love your website, thanks for caring and sharing your talents in many ways. the resources are quite helpful, and the games are invigorating

You, My Friend, have a guaranteed slot in heaven for sharing all of this amazing material.

I am a middle school remedial reading teacher and finding supplemental material for our students is always a challenge. Your content will be so helpful!

Thank you for your generosity. I have liked and am following your FB page, and I’ve already referred several of my teacher friends to check this out.

People like you make the world a better place.

I wish you all the success in the world, and hopefully some advertisers so you can start getting some money for all of this content.

Thank you for the kind words and the blessings. I wish you, as well, the greatest possible success.

Wonderful resources for teachers and learners.Express my heartfelt Thanks.

Great website could be a bit more specific on some stories and grade 4-8 is quite a gap

Übermom Fakoya

This is such a treasure trove, especially during this period of remote learning. To also offer these gems freely is great magnanimity on your part. I am grateful; thank you ever so much!

Do more worksheets for Grades 1-5.

Lawrence Fried

Hi. I use your material alot. Question: Regarding these Reading Comp worksheets, how to you level them at “grades 2-6”? Quite a gap!

I have neglected the earlier grades for a long. I am beginning anew at this website: worksheetland.com

Please join me.

it so excellent helpful for English language learning

Mary Levtzow

Thank you for sharing and caring about each child’s potential.

Excellent website!!!

Thank you for allowing some things to still be available without having to sign your life away first.

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