In this guide
This page is for the last few weeks, when you need the method in one place rather than spread across ten guides. Read it once now, then again the week before the exam. Each table links back to the full guide if something feels shaky.
The section at a glance
| Feature | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Questions | About 22–26, roughly a fifth of the paper |
| Passages | Usually four or five, around 450 words each |
| Sources | Fiction and non-fiction, contemporary and older |
| Marking | +1 for a correct answer, −0.25 for a wrong one, 0 for unanswered |
| Time limit | None for the section; you set your own |
The reading routine
- Glance at the stems (about ten seconds) to see what kinds of questions are coming.
- Read once, at a flexible pace. Light on examples, slow at claims, contrasts and conclusions.
- Label each paragraph in three or four words.
- Bracket reported views ("critics say", "some argue") so you never mistake them for the author's.
- Write a one-line map: claim, main reason, what the author concedes, what they reject.
- Answer from the text. Find the line for every answer before you mark it.
Full method: how to read CLAT passages.
Question types and their traps
| Type | How to answer | Most common trap |
|---|---|---|
| Main idea or best title | Must cover the whole passage | Too narrow (one paragraph) or too broad |
| Primary purpose | What the author is doing: arguing, explaining, questioning | Confusing the topic with the purpose |
| Detail ("according to the passage") | Find the exact line | A paraphrase that changes one word |
| Inference | Must be true if the passage is true | "Probably true" options |
| Author would agree | Apply the author's view to a new case | Picking your own view |
| Tone or attitude | Evaluative words; usually moderate | Extreme tone words |
| Vocabulary in context | Predict, then substitute | The dictionary's first meaning |
| Function of a sentence | Its job: example, concession, evidence, pivot | Describing its content instead of its job |
| Weaken or strengthen | Name the author's exact claim first | Options that repeat the passage |
| EXCEPT or NOT | Mark each option T or F; pick the odd one | Forgetting the EXCEPT |
Wrong-option families
| Family | Sign |
|---|---|
| Out of scope | Not in the passage at all |
| Extreme | always, never, all, only, completely, proves |
| Distorted | The passage's words, rearranged to mean something else |
| Reversed | Cause and effect swapped, or the author's view swapped with the opposing one |
| True but irrelevant | Stated, but does not answer this question |
| Half right | Good first half, overreaching second half |
| Outside knowledge | True in the world, silent in the passage |
Signal words
| Signal | Usually introduces |
|---|---|
| But, however, yet, still | The author's own view, after a view they doubt |
| Admittedly, granted, it is true that | A concession |
| Some argue, critics say, it is often claimed | A view the author may reject |
| Therefore, thus, so, hence | A conclusion |
| Because, since, given that | A reason |
| For example, for instance, such as | An illustration: read lightly |
| None of this means, at least, in most cases | A qualification: rules out extreme options |
Tone words
| Direction | Words |
|---|---|
| Positive | appreciative, laudatory, optimistic, admiring |
| Negative | critical, sceptical, cynical, scathing, sarcastic, disapproving |
| Neutral | objective, analytical, descriptive, informative |
| Mixed | ambivalent, measured, balanced, qualified |
| Literary | nostalgic, wistful, ironic, reflective, cautionary |
Close pairs: sceptical doubts a claim, cynical distrusts motives. Critical gives reasons, scathing is harsh. Objective is balanced, indifferent does not care. Ambivalent feels both ways, neutral takes no side. Full list: tone and attitude questions.
Vocabulary essentials
- Words with second meanings: execute (a deed), arrest (a decline), novel (new), appreciate (rise in value), sanction (approve, or penalise).
- False friends: inflammable (burns easily), invaluable (very valuable), enervate (weaken), restive (restless), disinterested (impartial).
- Look-alikes: credible and credulous, eminent and imminent, elicit and illicit, averse and adverse.
Grammar essentials
| Rule | Example |
|---|---|
| Verb agrees with the real subject | One of the witnesses was absent. |
| "Along with", "as well as" do not make a plural | The judge, along with the clerks, is here. |
| Neither…nor: nearer subject decides | Neither the judge nor the lawyers were aware. |
| "The number of" singular, "a number of" plural | The number has risen; a number are pending. |
| Modifier next to what it describes | Walking in, the witness noticed the lights. |
| Fewer (count), less (amount) | fewer cases, less time |
Literary devices
Simile (like or as) · metaphor (direct comparison) · personification (human traits for things) · hyperbole (exaggeration) · understatement (saying less) · irony (opposite of what is expected) · imagery (appeals to the senses) · symbolism (object for an idea).
Time plan
One workable split, from the sample plan in time strategy for CLAT:
| Item | Time |
|---|---|
| English section | About 25 minutes |
| Per passage, including questions | About 5 to 6 minutes |
| Reading a 450-word passage | About 2 to 2.5 minutes |
| Per question | Under a minute |
If a passage passes seven minutes, mark your best answers, note the question numbers and move on.
Negative marking in one line
A guess has a small positive expected value; it becomes clearly worthwhile once you can honestly eliminate one option: (1 − 2 × 0.25) ÷ 3 ≈ +0.17 marks per question.
Quick self-test
The town's new museum was expected to draw tourists. It has, in modest numbers. What no one predicted was that local schoolchildren would become its most frequent visitors, arriving in noisy groups every weekday. The curators, who had planned quiet galleries for adults, have begun rewriting the labels in simpler language. Some visitors complain that the museum now feels like a classroom. The curators seem not to mind.
S1. The main idea is that the museum:
(a) has failed to attract tourists
(b) should stop admitting schoolchildren
(c) has upset its curators
(d) has found an unexpected main audience and is adapting to it
S2. "The curators seem not to mind" suggests that the curators:
(a) are ignoring complaints out of laziness
(b) have closed the museum to adults
(c) accept, and perhaps welcome, the change in audience
(d) agree with the complaints
S3. "Modest", as used in the passage, means:
(a) fairly small
(b) humble in manner
(c) shy
(d) plain in dress
S4. The tone of the passage is best described as:
(a) indignant
(b) gently approving, with light humour
(c) sarcastic
(d) mournful
Answers
- (d). Tourists came "in modest numbers", children became the most frequent visitors, and the labels are being rewritten. (a) is contradicted by "It has". (b) is a complaint from some visitors, not the author's view. (c) is contradicted by the last line.
- (c). They are rewriting labels for children, and the complaint does not trouble them. (a) invents a motive. (b) has no support. (d) is the opposite.
- (a). Numbers can be modest, meaning small. (b), (c) and (d) are real meanings of the word that do not fit numbers.
- (b). "Noisy groups" and the dry last line are light touches; nothing is angry, mocking or sad.
The final week
- One timed English passage a day, of a different type each day: argument, literary, science, older prose.
- Reread your error log and this sheet every other day.
- One full mock with a full review, then rest before the exam.
- No new word lists. Revise your own notebook only.
- The day before: read something light for pleasure, check your admit card and sleep early.
A note on dates and numbers. Exam patterns, vacancies and schedules change from year to year. Always confirm the current details in the latest notification on the Consortium of National Law Universities website .
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