Answer Choices to Avoid in CAT RCs

In terms of CAT, it is easy to identify answers for the Quantitative Ability section; after all every question can only have one correct answer. But as soon as we start to consider Verbal Ability, things go haywire. We are not sure which option to select and which option to reject. The problem gets even worse for CAT reading comprehensions, where the options seem to be too close to discern differences among them, and this makes your job very tough.

Keeping this in mind, we list down the types of answer choices that you should generally avoid or be very wary of in the CAT reading comprehension passage. Most incorrect answer options can be divided into these categories; and follow this classification.

Types of Incorrect answer Choices in CAT Reading Comprehensions:

Extreme Words: Answer choices that use extreme words such as "only," "all," "always," "never" and "exclusively" are generally incorrect, and you should avoid them.

Scope trap: Some answer choices sound very good but are not actually related to the topic of the passage. They are outside the 'scope of the passage', that is they are not related to the actual topic of the passage.

Single Fact Focus: An answer choice might place focus on a single fact of the passage only whereas the question requires a more holistic answer. Avoid these types of choices which actually don't answer the given question (even though they present partially correct information).

Mish-Mash: Some answer choices might present partly correct information but might also contain incorrect information. Be careful of these answer choices; these are pretty inviting ones.

Opinion Answers: In some answer choices, the question setter might use words such as "more successful," "more effective" or "more efficient" and convert a factual piece of information into an opinion. Be careful of this trap.

Irrelevant Answers: Some answer choices are simply irrelevant. Make sure you are able to identify these pesky options.

The above given points provides you information with regards to the different kinds of answer choices built in CAT reading comprehension questions. Whenever you sit to solve a RC passage, try to classify the incorrect choices into these categories, and this should greatly enhance your learning.