Most advice about reading for CAT VARC gives you a target without context. Read 30 minutes a day. Read two articles. Read The Hindu every morning. None of this tells you what quality of reading you need or how to know if what you are doing is actually working.
The quality of your reading matters more than the quantity. Twenty minutes of focused reading of a dense Economist article, where you track the argument and summarise each paragraph mentally, is worth more than 90 minutes of casual reading where your eyes move across words without your mind engaging with the argument.
The metric that matters is comprehension, not time. After reading an article, can you state the author's main argument in two sentences? Can you identify one thing the author implies without stating? If yes, that was useful reading. If no, the time was not well spent.
In the first two months of preparation, 20 to 30 minutes of focused daily reading is the right target. The goal is to build the habit and develop comfort with complex non-fiction writing. One full article per day, read carefully, is enough.
In months three and four, increase to 40 to 45 minutes. Add question practice to your reading. Read one article and generate or answer questions on it.
In the final two months, maintain 45 minutes of reading alongside your mock test schedule. Do not increase reading time at this stage. Focus shifts to accuracy and speed under exam conditions.
Useful reading is non-fiction, analytically complex, between 500 and 1500 words per article, and read with full attention. Reading The Economist, Aeon, Smithsonian or GRADFLIX counts. Reading social media, news headlines or casual blogs does not build the comprehension skill CAT tests.
GRADFLIX essays are calibrated to exactly the right length and difficulty for CAT RC preparation. One essay per day, with the built-in questions, is a complete daily reading practice in 20 to 25 minutes.
One GRADFLIX essay with RC questions is a complete daily CAT VARC practice session. Philosophy, science, economics, history. Free to start.
Start Today20 to 30 minutes of focused, active reading in the early months, building to 45 minutes by the final months. Quality matters more than duration.
The Hindu is useful for language and current affairs but most CAT RC passages come from international sources like The Economist and Aeon. One hour of The Hindu is less useful than 30 minutes of focused reading from the right sources.
After reading an article, try to state the author's main argument in two sentences. If you can do this consistently, your reading comprehension is improving. If you cannot, you need to slow down and read more actively.
Yes, if you are reading from quality sources with full attention. The medium matters less than the quality of the source and the depth of your engagement with it.