CAT 2020 VARC Analysis: Slot 1 Breakdown and Strategy

📋 Table of Contents

• Introduction
• CAT 2020 VARC Slot 1 Structure
• Reading Comprehension Breakdown
• Verbal Ability: Summary, Para-jumbles, and Odd Sentence
• Time Management & Ideal Attempts
• Tricky Options: How to Handle
• FAQs
• Conclusion

🔍 Introduction

The CAT 2020 VARC Slot 1 section surprised many aspirants—not with unseen question types, but with the tricky nature of answer choices, slightly lengthy RCs, and intense time pressure. With only 26 questions to attempt in 40 minutes, precision mattered more than ever. This article gives you a comprehensive breakdown and strategy for handling similar papers.

📊 CAT 2020 VARC Slot 1 Structure

• Tighter 40-minute duration
• RC passages were slightly long (~450–500 words)
• Close answer choices increased difficulty

📘 Reading Comprehension Breakdown

Structure

• 4 passages in total:
  • 2 with 5 questions
  • 2 with 4 questions
• Moderate readability
• No extremely abstract passages but all required attentive reading

Key Challenges

• Tricky answer choices made questions time-consuming
• Many RC questions tested inference and critical reasoning rather than direct facts
• Best strategy: attempt 3 passages confidently, skip the one with dense logic or less familiar subject

🧠 Verbal Ability: Summary, Para-jumbles, and Odd Sentence

Summary Questions (3 MCQs)

• Short passages (~50–70 words)
• All answer options were very close
• POE (Process of Elimination) was crucial
• Strategy: Read once to identify the core idea, eliminate options that are too narrow, too broad, or introduce unrelated ideas

Para-jumbles (3 TITA Questions)

• Higher difficulty than 2019
• Required identification of mandatory pairs and logical flow
• No negative marking, hence worth attempting all
• Tip: Use transition signals (but, hence, however) to map flow

Odd Sentence Out (2 TITA Questions)

• Moderate level
• Some sentences appeared related but broke the theme on close reading
• Focus on sentence coherence and paragraph theme

⏱️ Time Management & Ideal Attempts

Tips:

• Attempt all TITA questions (6 in total)
• Avoid spending over 10–11 minutes on any one RC
• For VA, finish in 12–14 minutes and revisit skipped MCQs if time permits

🧩 Tricky Options: How to Handle

• When All Options Look Similar:
• Identify the central idea and stick to it
• Eliminate extreme or absolute words (always, never, entirely)
• For summary questions, reject options that include examples not mentioned in the paragraph
• In RCs, focus on what the question truly asks—is it inference, tone, or structure?

❓ FAQs

1. Was CAT 2020 VARC Slot 1 more difficult than CAT 2019? Difficulty was comparable, but reduced time and tricky options added pressure.
2. How many non-MCQs were there in Slot 1 VARC? There were 6 TITA (non-MCQ) questions—all from the Verbal Ability section.
3. Which VA type was most scoring? Summary and Odd Sentence Out were more manageable; para-jumbles were trickier.

✅ Conclusion

The CAT 2020 VARC Slot 1 paper tested speed, focus, and logical elimination. While the passages were readable, the close answer choices turned otherwise simple questions into potential traps. Knowing what to skip, how to guess TITA smartly, and how to process tricky summaries made the difference between average and top percentile scores.