Many CAT aspirants underestimate the power of newspapers. Reading daily is not just about staying updated; when done strategically, it can sharpen comprehension, expand vocabulary, and train your brain to handle complex arguments all critical for CAT success.

Why Newspapers Matter for CAT

At first glance, editorials or business sections may seem dense or intimidating. But this is exactly the kind of material that mirrors the Reading Comprehension (RC) passages you’ll face in CAT. By practicing regularly:

• You spot recurring vocabulary in politics, economics, or technology, which strengthens your verbal ability.

• You recognize how arguments are structured, helping you tackle critical reasoning questions and RC inference questions.

• You train your reading speed and comprehension under pressure, directly translating to faster, more accurate RC performance.

How to Read Newspapers Effectively for CAT

1. Pick the Right Sections

• Editorials & Opinions: Focus on pieces with clear arguments. Summarizing these helps you practice identifying main ideas, supporting points, and conclusions the exact skills CAT tests in RC and LR.

• Business & Economy: Even if your background isn’t commerce, understanding trends like GDP, inflation, or startup funding builds context for business-themed passages and helps you interpret charts or DI sets in the exam.

• National & International Affairs: This improves general awareness and critical reading skills, which are useful for both VARC and interviews.

2. Summarize in Your Own Words

• After reading, write a 2-3 sentence recap of the article. This trains you to extract essential information quickly just like identifying the gist of RC passages.

• Try summarizing without looking back, which strengthens memory retention and improves your ability to answer inference questions accurately.

3. Track and Use New Vocabulary

• Keep a small notebook or digital doc of unfamiliar words. Don’t just note meanings write your own sentence using each word.

• This builds an active vocabulary, which makes comprehension faster and boosts confidence for verbal reasoning questions.

4. Apply Critical Thinking

• Ask yourself: “What is the main argument? Which statements are assumptions? How is the conclusion supported?”

• These mini-exercises mimic the analytical skills needed for Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI) sets in CAT.

 Benefits

• Faster Reading & Comprehension: Regular practice reduces hesitation, helping you manage RC passages under time pressure.

• Stronger Critical Reasoning: Identifying assumptions, conclusions, and argument flow in articles mirrors CAT LR questions.

• Improved Vocabulary in Context: Learning words in the context of real articles is more effective than rote memorization.

• Interview & GD Prep: Being updated on business and global trends gives you talking points for PI or GD sessions, indirectly supporting your overall MBA application profile.

Reading newspapers strategically is one of the most underrated yet high-impact CAT prep habits. It simultaneously improves comprehension, reasoning, and vocabulary while keeping you aware of current affairs. By making it a daily, structured practice, you turn every editorial, business report, or national news article into a mini-CAT exercise preparing your mind for the kind of thinking the exam demands.