Reading Comprehension

Overview

Reading comprehension (RC) is the ability to read and understand unfamiliar materials and to answer questions about them. You will be presented with passages drawn from a variety of subject areas, including both the humanities and the sciences. The questions will ask you to analyze what is stated in the passage and to identify underlying assumptions and implications.

The RC passage and question appear in the verbal section which is of 75 minute duration. Within the section, the sets of passages and questions are not grouped together. Instead, they are interspersed with the sentence correction and critical reasoning questions.

This tests the ability to read critically. Reading comprehension questions relate to a passage that is provided for the examinee to read. The passage can be about almost anything, and the questions about it test how well the examinee understands the passage and the information in it. As the name implies, it tests the ability of the examinee to understand the substance and logical structure of a written selection. The GMAT uses reading passages of approximately 200 to 350 words, covering topics from social sciences, biological sciences, physical sciences, and business. Each passage has three or more questions based on its content. The questions ask about the main point of the passage, about what the author specifically states, about what can be logically inferred from the passage, and about the author's attitude or tone.

Question Format

Reading comprehension questions follow the standard multiple-choice format with five answer choices each. All of the questions fall into one of the following six categories:

  • The main idea of the passage
  • Specific details mentioned in the passage
  • The author’s attitude or tone
  • The logical structure of the passage
  • Further inferences that might be drawn from the text
  • Application of the ideas in the text to new situations

Technique to Solve RC Questions

As you read, mark up the text (or notepaper if the text does not belong to you). This includes the following
three strategies:

  • Highlight or underline key words and ideas.
  • Take notes.
  • Make notes.

Take notes as you read, marking down key words and ideas as you go.Write down the main idea of each paragraph in the text so you can form a rough outline of the passage. This will help you see its structure and the relationship of ideas in the essay.

As you read passages on the GMAT exam, you can make notes about your own reactions to the text, but be sure to use these notes only as a means of deepening your understanding of the material. On the GMAT exam, the reading comprehension questions are strictly limited to your understanding of the material in the passage. You will not be asked your opinion of the ideas in the text. Do not let your personal reaction to the material influence your answer choice. Use only what is written in the passage to determine the correct answer.

Reading comprehension tests always have questions about the main idea of the passage. It is the thought that the writer wants to convey in the text.

Do not confuse the main idea with the topic of the passage. The topic or subject of a passage is what the passage is about. The main idea, on the other hand, is what the writer wants to say about that subject.

Whether explicit or implied, a main idea must be sufficiently general to hold together all of the ideas in the passage. Indeed, everything in the passage should work to explain, illustrate, or otherwise support the main idea. Thus, you can think of the main ideas as an umbrella that covers (encompasses) all of the other ideas in the passage.

Specific detail questions kind of question is easy to recognize:


According to the passage, . . .
According to the author, . . .
The author mentions all of the following EXCEPT In line ##, the author says that . . .

Questions with this form are just asking about concrete details. You do not have to have a theory to answer them.

In addition to understanding the author’s point, you need to know how the author feels about the issue. You get clues to the author’s tone or mood by noticing the words he or she uses. GMAT passages either inform the reader about something or try to persuade the reader to adopt the author’s viewpoint. Informative passages are often more objective than persuasive ones, so the author’s tone is usually neutral. Authors of persuasive passages may exhibit more emotion. You may sense that an author is critical, sarcastic, pessimistic, optimistic, or supportive. When you figure out how the author feels about the topic, write down a short description of the tone on your notepad, like objective, hopeful, or mildly critical. Knowing the tone of a passage helps you choose answers that exhibit the same tone or level of bias.

Logical structure questions ask about the overall development of the passage or about why the author introduces a specific point:

The author develops the passage primarily by which of the following means?
The author introduces the point at line ## in order to . . .

These questions focus on the logical development of the passage. If you understand the main organizing theme, then you should be able to answer them.

Inference questions. ask you to go beyond what is explicitly stated in the passage. They often are phrased like this:

The author implies that . . .
It can be inferred that . . .
Questions in this category are often among the most difficult reading comprehension questions.

Application questions. These questions are often worded as follows:

The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
These questions are also often very difficult.