The Master Resource List for Reading Comprehension
They manage to pick such interesting topics for RC, dont they? Its always the kind of thing youd choose to read at home in your free time!
Wait. No, thats not quite right. But the topics are relevant to business school well, occasionally. Hmm.
So, let me get this straight. Theyre going to give me somewhat obscure, very dense topics with very complicated ideas and sentence structures. Im going to have about 3 minutes to read such a passage, and then I have to start answering questions about the material. Thats completely artificial; it would never happen in the real world!
Actually, yes it will. Youre going to do case studies in business school. You often wont be given enough time to read through every last detail carefully; instead, youll have to figure out whats important and concentrate on those pieces, while putting together a framework for the main ideas and the big changes in direction or opinion.
At work, youre often going to have to make decisions based upon incomplete information. At times, youll have a ton of informationand not enough time to review it all before you have to take action. These situations are far from rare in the real world.
So when you find yourself a bit unmotivated because you know youve got to study boring RC today, remind yourself that RC will actually help you develop much-needed skills for business school and beyond!
The Master List
Ive put together what Im calling the Master Resource List for this question type. A couple of disclaimers. First, this list includes only free resources, no paid ones. There are a lot of good resources out there that cost some moneytheyre just not on this list!
Second, this list is limited to my own articles. Im not trying to claim that only my articles are good enough to make such a listfar from it. Im most familiar with my own articles, so thats what Im using. (And, okay, I will admit that I think the ManhattanGMAT RC process is the best one out there. But Im biased. :))
How To Read
Before you dive into individual question types, its critical to know some overall processes for Reading Comp, starting with how to read! You already know how to read in general, of course. Im talking about How To Read RC.
Youll notice that the first article, linked above, discusses not only what to read but also what not to read. When you have only a few minutes, its just as important to know what you can skip or skim (and how to make that decision). For more, check out this lesson on What to Read and What Not to Read.
If, after trying the above, you still find yourself really struggling with either reading speed or comprehension, here are some resources to help you Improve Your Reading Skills. That article is especially important for people who dont read regularly in English, either for work or on your own; this is particularly true if your native language is also not English and you did your undergraduate studies in another language.
Finally, one of our two main goals when first reading a passage is to Find the Main Point. (The other main goal is to take some light notes on each paragraph in order to understand the organization of the information.)
When youve mastered those skills, youre ready to learn how to tackle the questions.
The RC Question Types
I literally just said this, but Im going to repeat it: when youve mastered the reading skills, you are then ready to tackle the questions. Dont make the mistake of thinking that you can ignore the previous section and just go straight for the questions. You will be slower and you will make more mistakes if you do that.
RC has three main question types: Main Idea, Specific Detail, and Inference. Each of those question types can have nuances or sub-types.
Main Idea
Most passages will include one Main Idea category question. Most commonly, youll be asked for the primary purpose (i.e., the main idea) of the entire passage, though a question could also ask for the primary purpose or role of just one paragraph.
If youre asked for the purpose of the entire passage, then the correct answer has to cover the overall real estate of the passage as a whole. Wrong answers will often be too narrow (e.g., something that applies primarily to just one paragraph) or too broad (something that includes the main idea but goes beyond it to encompass ideas that were not presented in the passage). Follow the link above to get some practice.
Specific Detail
This category refers to questions that ask about a particular detail in the passage. Most commonly, these questions will begin: According to the passage Your task on these is to find an answer choice that matches something stated specifically in the passage.
That sounds easyif the information is stated right there in the passage, how hard can it be?
As you already know very well, they can make it quite hard. First, the language in the passage is seriously complex; its not always easy to understand what theyre talking about. Second, right answers will often contain synonyms for words that appeared in the passage while some wrong answers will often contain the exact language used in the passage. If youre not careful, youll be tempted to cross off that right answer because the language doesnt match exactly!
Specific Detail Rule: Use the question wording to figure out where to go in the passage. Then re-read that detail carefully. Do NOT rely on your memory!
Why not? I was once taking a standardized test (not the GMAT, but similar) and I was about to pick an RC answer. Then I remembered that I should check the proof in the passage first, soeven though I was sure I was right!I made myself find the proof.
The passage was about some mammals, one of which was the kangaroo rat. I looked at the passage, glanced back at my answerand suddenly realized that the answer said kangaroo not kangaroo rat! I would have been really mad to get a question wrong for that reason!
The moral of the story: find the proof in the passage. Every single time.
Heres a specific detail question to get started. Want another? Here you go.
Inference
Were going to talk about two big things here: how to handle inference questions and how to analyze RC problems in general (which you can then use on any question type).
Inference questions do ask about specific details in the passage, but they add a twist: we have to deduce something that must be true given certain facts from the passage.
For example, if I tell you that my favorite type of book to read is biographies, what could you deduce?
Heres the trap: dont use your real-world conclusion-drawing skills. In the real world, you might conclude that I like reading books in general, or perhaps Im interested in history, or maybe that Im a nerd (really? biographies are your favorite??). These things dont have to be true, though.
What has to be true? I dont like fiction as much as I like biographies. I have read at least one book in a non-biography category (otherwise, I wouldnt be able to tell that biographies are my favorite, which implies a comparison).
Whats the difference? GMAT deductions are usually things that would cause us to say, Duh! in the real world.
My favorite category of book is the biography.
Oh, so you must not like fiction as much as you like biographies.
Uh well, yeah, thats what favorite means I dont like anything else better.
A GMAT deduction should feel like a duh deductionsomething totally boring that must be true given the information in the passage. Here, try out an Inference question.
That article also explains how to analyze your work and the problem itself. Did you miss something in the passage? Why? How can you pick it up next time? Did you fall for a trap answer? Which one? How did they set the trap and how can you avoid it next time? And so on.
Why Questions
Specific questions can come in one other (not as common) flavor: the Why question. These are sort of a cross between specific detail and inference questions: you need to review some specific information in the passage, but the answer to the question is not literally right in the passage. You have to figure out the most reasonable explanation for why the author chose to include a particular piece of information.
Test out this Why question to see what I mean.
Put It All Together
All right, have you got all of the pieces? What to read and what not to read? How to find the main point? How to answer main idea, specific detail, inference, and why questions?
Lets test it out! This first article talks about how to read a tough science passage. This passage was taken from the free set of questions that comes with GMATPrep.
Wait, theres more! Test out your understanding of the passage on this Inference question and then try out this Why question.
Timing
As I mentioned earlier, we really dont have much time to read RC passages. Aim for about 2 to 2.5 minutes on shorter passages and closer to 3 minutes for longer ones. Of course, thats not nearly enough time to read everything closely and carefullybut thats not your goal! As discussed in the How To Read articles above, our goal is to get the big picture on that first read-through, not every last detail.
Aim to answer main idea questions in about 1 minute. You can spend about 1.5 to 2 minutes on the more specific questions. In particular, if you run across an Except question, expect to spend pretty close to 2 minutes; Except questions nearly always take a while.
As always, be aware of your overall time. If youre running behind, skip one question entirely; dont try to save 30 seconds each on a bunch of questions. Also, if RC is your weakest verbal area and you also struggle with speed, consider guessing immediately on one question per passage and spreading your time over the remaining questions.
Great, Ive mastered RC!
Lets test that theory, shall we? Your next step is to implement all of these techniques on your next practice testand dont forget about your timing. Good luck!