The author's overall tone in the first paragraph can be described as

sceptical about the excessive efforts to sanitise planets where life has not yet been proven to exist.

approving of the amount of money NASA spends to restrict the spread of contamination in space.

indifferent to the elitism of a few scientists aiming to corner space exploration.

equivocal about the reasons extended by the group of scientists seeking to limit space exploration.

Which of the following best conveys the main point of the first paragraph?

The full impact of technological advances cannot be estimated in the short run as the ripple effects often extend far beyond the original intent.

The secondary effects of most major technological advances in the past, especially if they were unintended, have turned out to be beneficial.

The entire impact of a technological advance should be evaluated by the boost its secondary effects gives to generating further technological advances.

It is important to judge an invention not by its immediate outcomes, but by the holistic impact of its secondary effects.

In the first paragraph the author is making the point that economists like Becker

used economics to analyse non-market behaviour, without incorporating perspectives from other areas of inquiry.

tended to guard their discipline from poaching by academics from other subject areas.

benefitted from the application of their principles and concepts to non-economic phenomena.

had begun to borrow concepts from other disciplines but were averse to the latter applying economic principles.

Reading Comprehension — CAT Previous Year Questions

514 solved PYQs · 2017–2025 · VARC

Solved PYQs: 514
Years covered: 2017–2025
Avg / year: ~57
Subject: VARC

How many CAT questions come from Reading Comprehension?

Reading Comprehension has contributed 514 questions to Common Admission Test papers between 2017 and 2025 — an average of about 57 questions a year. That count is measured from EByAi’s bank of 6,737 CAT questions, not estimated from a syllabus. Every one of the 514 questions carries a written, step-by-step solution, and each is tagged to Reading Comprehension within VARC, so you can drill this chapter across every year at once instead of hunting through paper PDFs. Practising a chapter’s full PYQ history is the fastest way to learn the patterns examiners reuse.

Sample Reading Comprehension questions from real CAT papers

These are 5 real questions from the bank — exactly as asked, with the answer one tap away. All 514 Reading Comprehension questions (with full written solutions) are available in practice.

Question 1 · CAT 2024
The author's overall tone in the first paragraph can be described as
1. (A) $approving of the amount of money NASA spends to restrict the spread of contamination in space.$
2. (B) $sceptical about the excessive efforts to sanitise planets where life has not yet been proven to exist.$
3. (C) $indifferent to the elitism of a few scientists aiming to corner space exploration.$
4. (D) $equivocal about the reasons extended by the group of scientists seeking to limit space exploration.$
Show answerAnswer
$Answer: (B) sceptical about the excessive efforts to sanitise planets where life has not yet been proven to exist.$
Question 2 · CAT 2024
What is the minimum percentage of students who will vote in the election?
1. (A) $38%$
2. (B) $36%$
3. (C) $32%$
4. (D) $40%$
Show answerAnswer
$Answer: (B) 36%$
Question 3 · CAT 2024
Which of the following best conveys the main point of the first paragraph?
1. (A) $The secondary effects of most major technological advances in the past, especially if they were unintended, have turned out to be beneficial.$
2. (B) $The full impact of technological advances cannot be estimated in the short run as the ripple effects often extend far beyond the original intent.$
3. (C) $The entire impact of a technological advance should be evaluated by the boost its secondary effects gives to generating further technological advances.$
4. (D) $It is important to judge an invention not by its immediate outcomes, but by the holistic impact of its secondary effects.$
Show answerAnswer
$Answer: (B) The full impact of technological advances cannot be estimated in the short run as the ripple effects often extend far beyond the original intent.$
Question 4 · CAT 2024
In the first paragraph the author is making the point that economists like Becker
1. (A) $tended to guard their discipline from poaching by academics from other subject areas.$
2. (B) $benefitted from the application of their principles and concepts to non-economic phenomena.$
3. (C) $used economics to analyse non-market behaviour, without incorporating perspectives from other areas of inquiry.$
4. (D) $had begun to borrow concepts from other disciplines but were averse to the latter applying economic principles.$
Show answerAnswer
$Answer: (C) used economics to analyse non-market behaviour, without incorporating perspectives from other areas of inquiry.$
Question 5 · CAT 2024
What could be the minimum percentage of subscribers who used multiple apps in 2024?
1. (A) $16.5%$
2. (B) $20.0%$
3. (C) $10.0%$
4. (D) $22.0%$
Show answerAnswer
$Answer: (B) 20.0%$

Reading Comprehension questions by year

Year	Questions	Share of chapter questions
2025	9
2024	59
2023	64
2022	59
2021	64
2020	70
2019	69
2018	62
2017	58

Practise these 514 questions with solutions

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FAQs

How many CAT questions have been asked from Reading Comprehension?

EByAi's bank holds 514 real CAT questions from Reading Comprehension, asked between 2017 and 2025 — about 57 per year on average. Every count is measured from actual papers, not estimated.

Is Reading Comprehension important for CAT?

514 questions over 9 papers make Reading Comprehension a high-weightage chapter in CAT VARC. The year-wise table above shows exactly how often it appears.

Can I solve Reading Comprehension PYQs online for free?

Yes. EByAi lets you solve CAT past-year questions in the browser with written solutions — free daily practice, no card needed.

More CAT VARC chapters

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