Reading is a habit that has been regarded as the best time past time for centuries. If it also helps crack an exam of the stature of CAT, it becomes all the more important, to the point of being essential. What one should read should not only be interesting, but also being worth spending time on. Aspirants for CAT hear a lot of views from everyone about what one ought to read and what not, but the understandability of whatever one reads should be given the first preference. We will see in this article how and why to do this.

Let us have a quick look on which all things are deemed important from reading point of view:

• Newspapers
• Novels (both fiction and non-fiction)
• Magazines (especially business magazines)
• Articles on internet
• Any kind of stuff one finds interesting/worthwhile reading.

Now, as we all commonly understand, reading is done essentially to improve upon the English reading/ writing/ understanding skills, basically to crack the English section in CAT. In order to be able to do that, one needs to understand what kind of questions are asked in English section of CAT. Seeing recent patterns, we can deduce that the pattern has moved from being factual to more of deductive/inferential in nature over the last few years.

Thus is born the need to have more inferential kind of reading habits in one's repertoire. And these kinds of articles can be easily found in newspapers -- mostly editorial, political and business sections. This not only prepares one well for CAT, but also keeps her well informed about the recent happenings, which could come handy in GD/PI stage.

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What kind of newspapers to read is a big concern, and the better of the lot are: The Hindu (editorial page recommended), The Economic Times/ Business Standard (would be more handy when interviews start), some online articles of foreign newspapers where any social issue is being discussed or being commented upon, any foreign political happenings etc.

This may seem a bit heavy from at least the exam point of view, but would build an additional knowledge base which can be carried forward easily to the GD/PI stage. If one starts afresh later, one may not get the whole gist of the matter by reading last few months' happenings in a few days, compared to a person who has been regularly following the news. Plus there are a lot of inferential deductions from such articles. Online news articles like on Google-news, The Deccan website, The Telegraph etc, can also be considered.

As far as reading novels is concerned, one should read what one feels interesting to read. Be it a fiction novel or a non-fiction one, poems or plays -- but one should be always interested in reading them. The basic point is, if one finds it interesting enough to read, then one would like to read it often, and thus would make the most out of what the writing is trying to convey.

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People do recommend non-fiction and other heavy kinds of novels, but they don't serve the purpose here if not found interesting enough to read at any point of time. One makes the most out of reading if one enjoys it, which wouldn't be the case if a book is not read whole-heartedly. Thereafter, whenever one feels comfortable enough to move on, one can always try any other genre, but still satisfying the above criteria.

Also worth reading are business magazines, like Business India, Business World, India Today etc. A magazine always helps one form views/beliefs about the current happenings, and thus are more required at interview stage. But it is no harm reading them once in a while even before CAT exam, as the level of written language is good and thus may help in CAT too.

Since these magazines are mostly bi-weekly or monthly, they would also not take much of one's time. Also recommended are any kind of articles one can grab her hands upon, and which are related to any happenings inside/outside India, and therefore stand a chance of being asked in the interview later. Please keep it in mind that it is totally based upon the candidate on how she impresses the interviewer -- that is the only key to sure-shot selection. And having a good amount of current knowledge is a very good measure of that.

One can also garner knowledge by re-attempting comprehensions from already given mock tests. If done after some time, this may act as a check upon the increase/decrease in knowledge and understanding level. By simply comparing the number of mistakes to the ones done before, one can get to know about his preparation level.

This may not be the exhaustive list of all material, but should be enough. Always try to keep a favorite novel by your side, that may help calm your mind in case any mock test goes bad or you are feeling dejected due to any other reason. Keeping your mind free of any tension is the foremost requirement before giving CAT/mock test. And that's why reading always is a person's best past time.

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