Speed is throughput, not swagger
CAT does not award medals for 500 WPM on Instagram. It awards marks for finished passages whose questions you can defend. Speed matters only inside that box.
Find your comprehension gate
Raise speed in ten-WPM steps. After each step, answer two inference questions. The highest speed with both correct is your gate. Train there for a week before stepping again.
If accuracy drops, you did not “fail speed.” You found your current ceiling. Respect it.
Regressions are the brake
Most aspirants try to accelerate while the brake is on. Count regressions per passage. If the count rises with WPM, the brake is still engaged. Fix the brake first.
Chunking beats word-hunting
Reading word-by-word invites subvocalization. Reading in sense-chunks—clause units—lets the eye move in hops. Practice by phrasing: slash the passage mentally at commas and conjunctions.
RSVP: tool, not religion
RSVP can quiet subvocalization for exam-length prose. It can also feel alien on day one. Use it as a ten-minute warm-up, not as your only reading identity. Alternate RSVP days with normal forward reads to transfer gains.
Density training
Speed on light prose does not transfer to CAT. Train on editorials about regulation, ethics, and institutions—the same boring density that shows up on exam day.
Mock translation
When your gated speed rises 30 WPM in drills, expect a smaller bump in mocks at first. Mocks add stems, traps, and adrenaline. Translate drill gains by finishing one more passage, not by chasing a fantasy WPM number.
Warning signs you went too fast
- You remember mood but not mechanism
- You pick options that “sound intelligent”
- You cannot write a spine sentence
Slow down to the last gate that passed comprehension. That is still faster than regressing through the same paragraph twice.
Reading speed for CAT is a by-product of clean movement—not of willpower speeches.