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Reading Comprehension PYQs (previous year questions) for XAT: Reading Comprehension (Verbal and Logical Ability) had 115 questions across the 9 official XAT papers we tagged (2016–2024), and appeared in 9 of them. Asked in 9 of 9 years. The concepts asked in the most papers: RC Inference, RC Application, RC Detail.
Year-wise question count
Asked in 9 of 9 years.
| Year | Questions |
|---|---|
| XAT 2024 | 13 |
| XAT 2023 | 12 |
| XAT 2022 | 12 |
| XAT 2021 | 15 |
| XAT 2020 | 12 |
| XAT 2019 | 12 |
| XAT 2018 | 13 |
| XAT 2017 | 12 |
| XAT 2016 | 14 |
Most-asked concepts
Sorted by the number of papers a concept appeared in.
| Concept | Questions | Papers | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| RC Inference | 30 | 9 | 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 |
| RC Application | 24 | 8 | 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 |
| RC Detail | 22 | 8 | 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 |
| RC Vocabulary | 17 | 7 | 2024, 2023, 2021, 2020, 2018, 2017, 2016 |
| RC Main Idea | 7 | 4 | 2022, 2021, 2020, 2018 |
| RC Conclusion | 4 | 3 | 2024, 2022, 2021 |
| RC Structure | 3 | 3 | 2021, 2017, 2016 |
| RC Weaken | 4 | 2 | 2020, 2019 |
| RC Contradiction | 2 | 2 | 2019, 2018 |
| RC Interpretation | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| RC Tone | 1 | 1 | 2019 |
How to practise Reading Comprehension PYQs
- Start with the concepts at the top of the table. They have come back the most.
- Solve one year’s Reading Comprehension questions from the official PDF against the clock, then check the answer listed below.
- Log every miss as a concept gap, a calculation slip or a misread. Each needs a different fix.
- Once a concept is clean in two papers, move to the next. Then sit a full paper from the year pages.
Questions by year
Each line gives the question number, type, concept, our one-line summary, with a link to the official PDF.
XAT2024
- Q.63 · MCQ · RC Inference: Best interpretation of reductive instincts PDF
- Q.64 · MCQ · RC Detail: Why realist novels capture unpredictable moments PDF
- Q.65 · MCQ · RC Inference: What cannot be inferred about beauty PDF
- Q.66 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Why beauty is both a blessing and a site of conversion PDF
- Q.67 · MCQ · RC Detail: Best description of the civilization-barbarism axis PDF
- Q.68 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Author's use of the term moral frames PDF
- Q.69 · MCQ · RC Conclusion: Best conclusion from a passage on political thinking PDF
- Q.70 · MCQ · RC Detail: Statement not true about an ignorant mind PDF
- Q.71 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Meaning of calling us engines of misbelief PDF
- Q.72 · MCQ · RC Inference: Statement the author on misbelief would agree with PDF
- Q.73 · MCQ · RC Conclusion: What cannot be concluded about herd immunity PDF
- Q.74 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Why vaccination is called a banking of immunity PDF
- Q.75 · MCQ · RC Inference: View the author would hold based on the last paragraph PDF
XAT2023
- Q.15 · MCQ · RC Detail: Time-related reason for procrastination per the passage PDF
- Q.16 · MCQ · RC Inference: Inference about procrastination from the passage PDF
- Q.17 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Meaning of deficient memory for visceral rewards PDF
- Q.18 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Meaning of interpretation not being timeless PDF
- Q.19 · MCQ · RC Application: Activity that is not an act of interpretation PDF
- Q.20 · MCQ · RC Detail: Difference between manifest and latent content PDF
- Q.21 · MCQ · RC Application: Example closest to the idea of a hyper-object PDF
- Q.22 · MCQ · RC Application: Statement that is not human-centric PDF
- Q.23 · MCQ · RC Inference: Statement not in line with the author's views on business PDF
- Q.24 · MCQ · RC Detail: Feature not associated with bad storytelling in society PDF
- Q.25 · MCQ · RC Application: Option that best captures a good story PDF
- Q.26 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Statements matching the meaning of an unreasonable story PDF
XAT2022
- Q.15 · MCQ · RC Inference: Inference from a passage contrasting bullshit and lies PDF
- Q.16 · MCQ · RC Detail: Why a bullshitter neither reports nor conceals truth PDF
- Q.17 · MCQ · RC Application: When a liar would turn into a bullshitter PDF
- Q.18 · MCQ · RC Detail: Contrast between hedonic and eudaimonic lives PDF
- Q.19 · MCQ · RC Detail: Best definition of a psychologically rich life PDF
- Q.20 · MCQ · RC Conclusion: Best conclusion from a passage on psychological richness PDF
- Q.21 · MCQ · RC Main Idea: Author's view of stupidity as a cognitive failing PDF
- Q.22 · MCQ · RC Inference: Why stupidity is compatible with intelligence PDF
- Q.23 · MCQ · RC Application: How a leader can avoid stupidity per the passage PDF
- Q.24 · MCQ · RC Application: Who best fits Arendt's idea of a public person PDF
- Q.25 · MCQ · RC Detail: Best description of public action in Arendt's sense PDF
- Q.26 · MCQ · RC Inference: Reason people focus on behaviour over public action PDF
XAT2021
- Q.10 · MCQ · RC Main Idea: Core message of a Microsoft restructuring excerpt PDF
- Q.11 · MCQ · RC Structure: Role of the second paragraph in the Microsoft excerpt PDF
- Q.14 · MCQ · RC Inference: Inference from a passage on conquest and union PDF
- Q.15 · MCQ · RC Detail: What guides our emphasis on dualism or unity PDF
- Q.16 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Meaning of discussing questions within allowed uncertainties PDF
- Q.17 · MCQ · RC Main Idea: Essence of a passage on doubt and scientific progress PDF
- Q.18 · MCQ · RC Inference: Statement about human ancestors that cannot be inferred PDF
- Q.19 · MCQ · RC Detail: Best definition of quorum sensing in bacteria PDF
- Q.20 · MCQ · RC Application: Example not based on the premise of numerical sensing PDF
- Q.21 · MCQ · RC Detail: Why people answer phones in meetings to say they are busy PDF
- Q.22 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Intent of the line on cell phones outnumbering toilets PDF
- Q.23 · MCQ · RC Inference: Inference contrasting multitasking with single-tasking PDF
- Q.24 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Meaning of 'absent presence' in a passage on gender data gap PDF
- Q.25 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Meaning of 'double not thinking' in the passage PDF
- Q.26 · MCQ · RC Conclusion: Best conclusion on the gender data gap and data-based decisions PDF
XAT2020
- Q.13 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Meaning of the phrase 'labile sense of self' PDF
- Q.14 · MCQ · RC Inference: Statement the author on exile would most disagree with PDF
- Q.15 · MCQ · RC Application: Project proponent's view of displaced families based on the passage PDF
- Q.16 · MCQ · RC Weaken: Option that undermines the author's claim on pointless jobs PDF
- Q.17 · MCQ · RC Inference: Best inference from a passage on pointless jobs PDF
- Q.18 · MCQ · RC Main Idea: Principle underlying a passage on pointless jobs PDF
- Q.21 · MCQ · RC Main Idea: Essence of a passage on knowledge as a commodity PDF
- Q.22 · MCQ · RC Inference: Best inference from a passage on commodified knowledge PDF
- Q.23 · MCQ · RC Application: Example the author on commodified knowledge would endorse PDF
- Q.24 · MCQ · RC Inference: Author's view of how humans perceive pleasure PDF
- Q.25 · MCQ · RC Application: How to sustain pleasure according to the author PDF
- Q.26 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Meaning of 'emptiness' as used in the passage PDF
XAT2019
- Q.7 · MCQ · RC Weaken: Statements that undermine the link between mood disorder and creativity PDF
- Q.8 · MCQ · RC Inference: Inference that does not follow from a passage on mood disorders PDF
- Q.9 · MCQ · RC Weaken: Option that makes the author's contention fallacious PDF
- Q.10 · MCQ · RC Contradiction: Statement contrary to a passage on women's public speech PDF
- Q.11 · MCQ · RC Application: Setting where a female politician would not show the discussed features PDF
- Q.12 · MCQ · RC Weaken: Option that makes the passage's core argument irrelevant PDF
- Q.13 · MCQ · RC Detail: False statement about elevation as an emotion PDF
- Q.14 · MCQ · RC Inference: Why disgust is not a self-transcending emotion PDF
- Q.15 · MCQ · RC Detail: Function of elevation per the passage PDF
- Q.16 · MCQ · RC Application: Author's likely response to a visitor disliking modern art PDF
- Q.17 · MCQ · RC Detail: Prerequisite to appreciate art per the passage PDF
- Q.18 · MCQ · RC Tone: Tone of the writer's remark on audiences absorbing art PDF
XAT2018
- Q.1 · MCQ · RC Application: Street-naming policy that best fits the passage's view of history PDF
- Q.2 · MCQ · RC Main Idea: Essence of a passage on why we study history PDF
- Q.3 · MCQ · RC Contradiction: Statements that would contradict the author's view of history PDF
- Q.4 · MCQ · RC Inference: Relation between doubt and belief according to Peirce PDF
- Q.5 · MCQ · RC Application: What applying for XAT indicates under Peirce's theory PDF
- Q.6 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Word closest in meaning to 'dilettantism' in context PDF
- Q.7 · MCQ · RC Application: Applying Peirce's idea of belief to a study-hours example PDF
- Q.8 · MCQ · RC Main Idea: Essence of a passage on the hard problem of consciousness PDF
- Q.9 · MCQ · RC Application: Example that best illustrates the hard problem PDF
- Q.10 · MCQ · RC Inference: Inference about science and the mysteries of nature PDF
- Q.11 · MCQ · RC Inference: Why labour and capital are poles apart per the passage PDF
- Q.12 · MCQ · RC Detail: What the working class subsists on per the passage PDF
- Q.13 · MCQ · RC Inference: True statement about capital and the working class PDF
XAT2017
- Q.13 · MCQ · RC Inference: What the narrator 'I' in the passage refers to PDF
- Q.14 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Meaning of 'supercilious attitude' in the passage PDF
- Q.15 · MCQ · RC Inference: Statement the author on endless upgrades agrees with most PDF
- Q.16 · MCQ · RC Application: Quote the author on endless upgrades would agree with most PDF
- Q.17 · MCQ · RC Application: Workforce policies the author on upgrades would recommend PDF
- Q.18 · MCQ · RC Application: Admission criterion an existentialist director would favour PDF
- Q.19 · MCQ · RC Inference: Author's view on existentialism and libertarianism PDF
- Q.20 · MCQ · RC Inference: Group the author of the human-nature passage would favour PDF
- Q.21 · MCQ · RC Structure: Sentence that most distances man from nature PDF
- Q.22 · MCQ · RC Detail: Why psychopaths' core deficit hurts long-term success PDF
- Q.23 · MCQ · RC Detail: Correct statement on empathy and compassion per the author PDF
- Q.24 · MCQ · RC Application: Describing a teacher who refuses to raise a student's marks PDF
XAT2016
- Q.13 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: Meaning of 'interchangeable' in a paragraph PDF
- Q.14 · MCQ · RC Inference: Necessary condition of communication per the passage PDF
- Q.15 · MCQ · RC Detail: Two limitations of ping-pong as a communication metaphor PDF
- Q.16 · MCQ · RC Application: Examples closest to action, interaction and transaction PDF
- Q.17 · MCQ · RC Vocabulary: What 'matters' refers to in a passage on markets PDF
- Q.18 · MCQ · RC Inference: Statement that cannot be inferred about markets and the state PDF
- Q.19 · MCQ · RC Structure: Relationship between the two paragraphs on markets PDF
- Q.20 · MCQ · RC Detail: Statement definitely correct about Objectivism's axioms PDF
- Q.21 · MCQ · RC Detail: Essence of the law of causality per the passage PDF
- Q.22 · MCQ · RC Application: Pair best illustrating identity and identification PDF
- Q.23 · MCQ · RC Interpretation: How the author reads Bacon's line on obeying nature PDF
- Q.24 · MCQ · RC Inference: Statement definitely not an approximation to complete truth PDF
- Q.25 · MCQ · RC Inference: Conclusion that cannot follow from two statements on mass PDF
- Q.26 · MCQ · RC Application: Most probable inference about the Big Bang theory PDF
Other Verbal and Logical Ability topics
- Critical Reasoning and Para-jumbles PYQs
- Vocabulary and Grammar PYQs
- Poems and Literary Passages PYQs
FAQ
How many Reading Comprehension questions come in XAT?
In the official papers we tagged: 13 in 2024, 12 in 2023, 12 in 2022, 15 in 2021, 12 in 2020, 12 in 2019, 13 in 2018, 12 in 2017 and 14 in 2016. That is 115 questions in all, about 50% of Verbal and Logical Ability.
Which Reading Comprehension topics repeat in XAT?
Asked in the most papers: RC Inference, RC Application, RC Detail. The concept table lists every one with its count.
Are these official XAT questions?
Yes. Every question is from an official XAT paper hosted on our year pages. The one-line summaries are ours; open the PDF linked beside each question for the full text.