The CAT room / Past papers
CAT VARC RC Previous Year Questions (2020–2025), Solved
CAT RC, solved and mapped.
Every CAT reading comprehension passage from 2020 to 2025, with every question explained, plus the mind map, glossary and tone analysis. Free for everyone.
Answers follow the official IIM answer key. 72 passages so far.
| Year | Slots | RC passages | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAT 2025 | 3 | 12 | 48 |
| CAT 2024 | 3 | 12 | 48 |
| CAT 2023 | 3 | 12 | 48 |
| CAT 2022 | 3 | 12 | 48 |
| CAT 2021 | 3 | 12 | 48 |
| CAT 2020 | 3 | 12 | 54 |
CAT 2025 RC
Slot 1 · P1The Dynamics of Complex Systems: Tail Events, Contagion, and NonstationaritySlot 1 · P2The Case for Electronic MusicSlot 1 · P3Income Inequality and Economic Growth: A Debate Between Incentives and Social StabilitySlot 1 · P4Law, Insanity, and Criminal Responsibility in Nineteenth-Century CourtsSlot 2 · P1How AI Chatbots Mask Bias Behind a Trustworthy ToneSlot 2 · P2How Instruments Shape the Culture of ScienceSlot 2 · P3How Cavefish Evolved Eyelessness Through Adaptive Trade offsSlot 2 · P4How Literature Reveals the Emotional Life of PlaceSlot 3 · P1How Colonial Forest Laws Still Shape Indian PolicySlot 3 · P2How Tribal Imagination Blurs Space Time and EmotionSlot 3 · P3The Hidden Costs and Contested Legacy of Dam BuildingSlot 3 · P4Can Machines Truly Grasp the Depth of Human EthicsCAT 2024 RC
Slot 1 · P1Reviving Craftsmanship in an Age of Mass ProductionSlot 1 · P2How Economics Learned and Unlearned Its BordersSlot 1 · P3How Invasive Species Nearly Wiped Out Australia's BandicootsSlot 1 · P4Why Digital Storage Makes Films More Fragile Than EverSlot 2 · P1How Unintended Consequences Shape the Course of TechnologySlot 2 · P2The Case for Greater Transparency in Academic Peer ReviewSlot 2 · P3How Medieval Europe Fell for the Mystique of SpicesSlot 2 · P4Understanding What Drives Carnivore Human ConflictsSlot 3 · P1How AI Language Mastery Threatens Democracy and CultureSlot 3 · P2Moutai's Unconventional Path to Global Liquor DominanceSlot 3 · P3Language Extinction and the Case for Liberal Arts EducationSlot 3 · P4Making the Case for Colonising Mars Despite Contamination FearsCAT 2023 RC
Slot 1 · P1How Indian Ocean Novels Remap the Global SouthSlot 1 · P2Why Geography Deserves Equal Standing as an ExplanationSlot 1 · P3The Return of Wolves and Rural France's Uneasy BalanceSlot 1 · P4Why Sahlins Used Foragers to Critique ConsumerismSlot 2 · P1Why Historians Must Select Not Just Collect FactsSlot 2 · P2Netflix as an Unlikely Unifier of European CultureSlot 2 · P3Why Thrifting Alone Cannot Save Fashion From ItselfSlot 2 · P4Why Liberalism Is Reforming, Not Really DyingSlot 3 · P1How Cultural Property Laws Backfire on Archaeological DiscoverySlot 3 · P2The Limits of Pure Reason in Pinker's RationalitySlot 3 · P3Why Defining Romantic Aesthetics Remains a Philosophical ChallengeSlot 3 · P4How Colonialism Planted the Seeds of the Climate CrisisCAT 2022 RC
Slot 1 · P1How Ancient Philosophies Taught Humans to Master EmotionSlot 1 · P2How Cultures Define Originals Copies and the Right to CloneSlot 1 · P3How Humanity's Fear Shaped the Idea of the UndeadSlot 1 · P4How Critical Theory Reveals Technology as a Social EnvironmentSlot 2 · P1How Octopuses and Their Kin Master the Art of CamouflageSlot 2 · P2Challenging Technical Social Dualism in Engineering EducationSlot 2 · P3Institutions as the Coordinating Structures Behind Social LifeSlot 2 · P4Why Musicking Is a Universal Human TraitSlot 3 · P1How Orientalist Scholarship Shaped and Distorted Views of IndiaSlot 3 · P2How Rapid Migration and Disorganization Fueled Urban CrimeSlot 3 · P3How the Logic of Life and Machines Are ConvergingSlot 3 · P4How Overhelpful Software Erodes Human Skill and JudgmentCAT 2021 RC
Slot 1 · P1Why Utopian Order Can Slide Toward DystopiaSlot 1 · P2How the Classic Maya Extended Personhood Beyond HumansSlot 1 · P3How Tea Marketing Turned Consumption Into a Moral VirtueSlot 1 · P4How Solitary Cuttlefish Show Self Control Without Social LifeSlot 2 · P1The Scandal of Knowledge and the Sceptic's ChallengeSlot 2 · P2Why Monolingualism, Not Globalization, Threatens World LanguagesSlot 2 · P3How Indian Nationalism Split the World into Material and SpiritualSlot 2 · P4Why Fiction Often Beats Truth in the Politics of PowerSlot 3 · P1How Pinker Popularised Chomsky's Theory of Universal GrammarSlot 3 · P2How Language Assembled the Idea of the UnconsciousSlot 3 · P3How Comic Book Nano Sentinels Inspired Real Soft RobotsSlot 3 · P4Why Clock Accuracy Always Comes With an Entropy CostCAT 2020 RC
Slot 1 · P1Anarchism as a Radical Response to State PowerSlot 1 · P2How Tang Dynasty China Balanced Coins Grain and Cloth as MoneySlot 1 · P3Why Grammar Rules Matter Before You Can Break ThemSlot 1 · P4How Isolation and Immigration Shaped Elephant Seal DialectsSlot 2 · P1Understanding Visual Culture Through Images Practices and PerceptionSlot 2 · P2What Modern Piracy Owes to Poverty and EmpireSlot 2 · P3Understanding Aggression Through Biological and Social TheoriesSlot 2 · P4The Hidden Costs Behind the Renewable Energy BoomSlot 3 · P1How Travel Writing Constructs Identity, Empire and GenderSlot 3 · P2Reassessing Human Nature Between Hobbes and Rousseau's ExtremesSlot 3 · P3Why the Financial Crisis Demands Public Understanding of FinanceSlot 3 · P4How Screen Time Became a New Class DivideKeep practising CAT RC
Questions about CAT RC PYQs
Where can I practise CAT RC previous year questions for free?
GRADFLIX has every CAT RC passage from 2020 to 2025, all slots, with each question answered from the official key and explained option by option. All free.
How many RC passages are there in CAT?
Recent CAT papers have four RC passages with four questions each, sixteen RC questions out of twenty-four in VARC.
How long are CAT RC passages?
Most CAT RC passages in recent papers run between about 400 and 650 words. Each set here shows its reading time, so you can practise at real length.
Are CAT RC questions repeated?
Passages are not repeated, but the question types are: main idea, inference, author's tone, specific detail, EXCEPT questions and strengthen or weaken. Solving past papers teaches you exactly these patterns.
How should I practise CAT RC PYQs?
Time each set at 8 to 9 minutes, answer before checking, then read the explanation for every option, including the ones you got right. Two sets a day from past papers is a good pace.
Are the CAT RC answers official?
Yes. Answers follow the official IIM answer keys. The explanations are written by Abhishek Leela Pandey.