How to Improve Reading Comprehensions for CLAT 2024?

As you all know, the new pattern of the CLAT exam includes comprehension-based passages followed by questions. English subjects play an essential role in the CLAT examination.

If you struggle to prepare for reading comprehension in the CLAT exam, then the post shall take you through preparation strategies.

Reading comprehension was a part of CLAT English earlier, but the entire question paper now includes comprehension passages. 

Sometimes, the questions can be direct, but you might get stuck between the questions in a few cases. You might not be able to get the correct answer. Well, no need to worry!

Read through the post that will give you a complete insight into how to improve reading comprehension for CLAT 2024, short tricks to solve reading comprehension questions, and more.

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Top 5 Tips to Improve Reading Comprehensions for CLAT 2024

The Reading Comprehension Passage is very easy to handle if you have some excellent techniques; if you know how to deal with the reading comprehension passage, it will become easy to attempt any question.

Here are five tricks you can follow to enhance your CLAT Exam Preparation and score full marks in reading comprehension passages. 

Don't Preassume Things

• As soon as you read any passage, don't conclude that passage. 
• Don't think you know the answers and already know this passage.
• Read the passage carefully and imagine yourself in the place of any character in the passage. Read the context from the author's perspective.

Learn to Simplify

• Most of you might not be able to summarize the given passage. But, in reading comprehension for CLAT, you need to learn to summarize the passage.
• Simplify the complex sentences to get the gist of the passage. This helps in answering the questions easily and quickly.

Context is the King

• Many things can change in a sentence or a passage, like the part of speech, meaning, voice, and more. 
• Make sure to keep an eye on the context. You need to understand the context carefully before moving to questions.

Solve more and more

• Gear up your preparations well in advance by solving more and more reading comprehensions. 
• Answer the reading comprehension passages from the previous year's CLAT question papers. This is the best strategy for reading comprehension.
• You will not only come across new passages but also find new ways to improve reading comprehension for CLAT. 

Think before Choosing the option

• Generally, most of you might choose which one strikes you as soon as you read the question, but it's incorrect.
• Understand the question carefully and decide the option correctly. "Half right is not right."
• One slight mistake can end up in losing a mark. 

Read more: Reading comprehension para jumble questions for CLAT exam

Important Tips while Solving English Reading Comprehension for CLAT 2024

Most of you might be worried about how to quickly solve the reading comprehension questions in the exam. No need to worry!

We have come up with a few tips and tricks that will help enhance your English Reading Comprehension for CLAT 2024 and score well in the upcoming exam.

• Try to summarize the passage.
• Find out the central idea of the passage or the pinpoint in the passage.
• Keep an eye on minute details in the passage.
• Practice more and more to be a pro at answering RC questions.
• Reading is the key to success. Improve your reading skill and understand the passage in one go.
• Improve your vocabulary.

Sample Questions for CLAT 2024

We have provided a few sample questions for your reference to help you understand the type of questions asked in the exam.

Along with these questions, practice CLAT Mock Tests regularly to analyze your preparation levels.

Question 1:

The old woman didn’t like the look or sound of the kid. She scowled at her husband. ‘Where did you pick up this kitten from? Why do we need her?’ When the old man told her she was a goat kid, she picked her up and exclaimed in amazement: ‘Yes, she is a goat kid!’ All night, they went over the story of how the kid had come into their hands. 

That same night the old lady gave the goat kid that resembled a kitten a nickname: Poonachi. She once had a cat by the same name. In memory of that beloved cat, this goat kid, too, was named Poonachi. They had acquired her without spending a penny, and now they had to look after her somehow. Her husband had told her a vague story about meeting a demon who looked like Bakasuran and receiving the kid from him as a gift. She wondered if he could have stolen it from a goatherd. Someone might come looking for it tomorrow. Maybe her husband had told her the story only to cover up his crime? 

The old woman was not used to lighting lamps at night. The couple ate their evening meal and went to bed when it was still dusk. That night, though, she took a large earthen lamp and filled it with castor oil extracted from the previous year. There was no cotton for a wick. She tore off a strip from a discarded loincloth of her husband’s and fashioned it into a wick.

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She looked at the kid under the lamplight in that shed as though she were seeing her own child after a long time. There was no bald spot or bruise anywhere on her body. The kid was all black. As she stared at the lamp, her wide-open eyes were starkly visible. There was a trace of fatigue on her face. The old woman thought the kid looked haggard because she had not been fed properly. She must be just a couple of days old. A determination that she must somehow raise this kid to adulthood took root in her heart. 

She called the old man to come and see the kid. She looked like a black lump glittering in the lamplight on that pitch-black night. He pulled fondly at her flapping ears and said, ‘Aren’t you lucky to come and live here?’ 

It had been a long time since the couple had such pleasant chit-chat. Because of the kid’s sudden entry into their lives, they ended up talking a while about the old days.

[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from Poonachi, or the Story of a Black Goat, by Perumal Murugan, translated by N. Kalyan Raman, Context, 2018.] 

Question: Why did the old woman doubt her husband’s story about how he had got the kid? 

(a) Because goat kids are only sold in livestock markets. 

(b) Because she thought the story was vague and that he had actually stolen it from a goatherd. 

(c) Because she did not think Bakasuran was so generous as to gift him a goat kid. 

(d) Because her husband was a habitual thief and regularly stole things from other people. 

Answer: (b) 

Read more: Short tricks to prepare for the CLAT exam 

Rationale: The correct answer is (b) – because she thought the story was vague and that he had actually stolen it from a goatherd. Both these points are set out in the third paragraph. There is no information in the passage that would support the claim in option (a); similarly, there is nothing in the passage to indicate that the old woman thought Bakasuran was not generous, neither is there any information in the passage to indicate that her husband was a habitual thief, and so, neither (a), (c), nor (d) is correct. 

Question: Why did the old woman name the goat kid ‘Poonachi’? 

(a) Because the kid made small bleating noises that sounded like ‘Poonachi.’ 

(b) Because the kid reminded the older woman of her husband, whose name was also Poonachi. 

(c) Because the old woman had first thought the kid was a kitten, and so she named it after a beloved cat she had once had. 

(d) Because ‘Poonachi’ was the name typically given to goat kids in the couple's area. 

Answer: (c)

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Rationale: The correct answer is (c) – because the old woman had first thought the kid was a kitten, so she named it after a beloved cat she once had. This is apparent from the first three sentences of the third paragraph. There is no indication of any noises made by the kid in the passage, so option (a) cannot be correct. Similarly, there is no indication of the old woman’s husband’s name in the passage, and so option (b) cannot be correct either. Option (d) cannot be correct since there is no information in the passage about what name was typically given to kids in the area that the old couple lived in. 

Question: What does the word ‘haggard’ as used in the passage mean? 

(a) Dark in color and hard to see. 

(b) Looking exhausted and unwell. 

(c) Direct and outspoken. 

(d) Furry and warm. 

Answer: (b) 

Rationale: The correct answer is (b) – looking exhausted and unwell. This can be inferred from the information set out in the fifth paragraph, which indicates that there was a trace of fatigue on the kid’s face and that the old woman thought the kid looked haggard because she had not been fed properly. Both these pieces of information, that is, that the kid looked fatigued, and had not been fed properly, would support the meaning of ‘haggard’ set out in option (b). While the passage also discusses how dark the kid is, this discussion is not related to the use of the word ‘haggard’ in any way, and so, option (a) cannot be correct. There is nothing in the passage to indicate that the kid made any sounds, so option (c) cannot be correct. Neither is there any discussion in the passage about how furry the kid may have been, and so, option (d) cannot be correct.

Question: Why was the old woman not used to lighting lamps at night? 

(a) Because the couple usually ate their evening meal and slept at dusk. 

(b) Because her daughter used to light the lamps in their household. 

(c) Because the couple was very poor, and could not afford oil for lamps. 

(d) Because the old couple did not usually exchange pleasant chit-chat. 

Answer: (a) 

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Question 2:

Rahul Dravid, the head coach of India's Under-19 cricket team, explained that the 2018 Under-19 World Cup team selection strategy provided many more players to come into the India Under-19 fold. He explained that more than winning — which is not the right touchstone of success of a program at this level — what matters is how many of the players are able to move to the next level, which is playing first-class cricket. Therefore, he decided not to select players from the previous World Cup for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup squad.

1.1   Which of the following statements is consistent with Dravid's selection strategy for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, as stated above?  

• (a) Selecting an inexperienced team at the under-19 level ensures failure, and players who experience failure learn to be humble.
• (b) Playing a sport is more important than winning or losing.
• (c) The Under-19 World Cup is a stepping-stone to first-class cricket; winning should not be the end goal.
• (d) When players are under the age of 19, they do not feel stressed about playing at a World Cup; however, as they age, their ability to play well depends on the number of matches they have already played.

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1.2   Which of the following is the most desirable outcome of Dravid's selection strategy from his perspective? 

• (a) The team lost the World Cup, but 5 players from the squad went on to play first-class cricket.
• (b) The team winning the World Cup, and 1 player getting selected for the national team.
• (c) The team winning the World Cup, and no player getting selected for the next Under-19 World Cup team.
• (d) The team winning the World Cup, and 5 players from the squad going on to play first-class cricket.

1.3   Which of the following statements, if true, contradicts Dravid's selection strategy? 

• (a) First-class cricket selectors evaluate under-19 cricketers based on the win-loss ratio of the team they were a part of.
• (b) First-class cricket selectors evaluate under-19 cricketers based on their ability to cope with injuries.
• (c) First-class cricket selectors evaluate under-19 cricketers based on their individual performances.
• (d) Players who have played in international tournaments face domestic competition better than those who have not.