GRE Reading Comprehension

by Deepa Mittal

Reading Comprehension (RC) questions test your ability to understand the passage, to infer what is
stated, and to draw conclusions from the passage.

The passages are drawn from different sources including magazines, journals, and biographies
covering different subjects like humanities, biological sciences, physical sciences, and natural sciences.
The test will have around 3 passages, each with 2 or more questions.

These passages form around 25% of the questions asked in the verbal section.
Reading Strategy
1. Read the passage faster than your normal speed to get the
general idea, without trying to memorize the details. The first and
the last lines of each paragraph are the most critical ones.
2. Look for the main idea of the passage, what each paragraph is
about, and find the author's tone.
3. Carefully note the use of transitional words (but, yet,
although, despite etc) as one question is most likely to be asked
from that sentence. These questions exist to check if you made the
turn with the author or not.
4. Tackle the questions.
5. As you read the passage again, look for the reasons why
author has introduced a specific detail or conclusion. If you
cannot understand some part of the passage, don't dwell on it and
move further along in your work.

Seven Types of RC questions

I Primary Purpose

This type of question will ask about the main purpose of the passage or the possible title for the
passage.

e.g What is the main idea of the passage?

Which of the following would be suitable title for the passage?
The author is primarily concerned with……….

Reading first and last line of each paragraph will help you answering this question.

II Implied Meaning

This type of question asks about the information that can be inferred from the passage.
For example: If the passage states that "X is true only if Y is false." Then the implied question may
ask "If Y is true what can be inferred?"

This type of question may look like

It can be inferred from the passage that ..……….
The passage implies that ………….

III Specific Detail

e.g According to the passage, ……..….

The passage states that …………….

Find the line number which contains content similar to the question text.
Reading several lines above and below that line will provide you with the answer to the question.

IV Structure/Organization

To answer this type of question, read the first line of every paragraph as well as the last line of the
opening and closing paragraphs of the passage.

This type of question might look like:

Which of the following best describes the structure of the passage?

Which of the following best describes the structure of the first paragraph of the
passage?

If the question asks about the structure of a specific paragraph read the first and last line of that
specific paragraph

V Application Questions

These questions require you to understand the connotation of the

passage and apply that knowledge to a new situation. These questions
are the most difficult as they require you to go beyond is directly
stated the passage.

e.g With which of the following statements would the author most
likely agree ?
Which one of the following is the most likely source of the passage?

VI Tone Questions

These questions require you to identify the author's tone or attitude

towards the information presented.
e.g The author's attitude towards …….. could best be described as of:
The tone of the passage can best be described as:

Figure out whether the author's tone is positive, negative or neutral.

The answer choices expressing tone as extremely positive or
extremely negative can often be eliminated as the author is not likely
to be extreme in presenting his views.

VII Except/Least/Not

For the except/least/not questions you are looking for the untrue
answer among five answer choices.

e.g With which of the following statements would the author least

likely agree ?
It can be inferred from the passage that the author would agree with all the following except

RC Traps
1. The answer choice may restate part of the passage nearly
verbatim. Such answer choices may seem to be tempting, but
they may not be the correct answer to the question asked.
2. The choices may contain statements that are true. But remember
you are not looking merely for a true statement, but the one that
is an answer to the question asked.
3. The choices that are too negative or too extreme will never be
the correct choice. Eliminate such choices.
How to Improve GRE Reading
Comprehension
A common mistake is to avoid GRE reading comprehension during GRE preparation
and to just suffer through reading passages on test day. However, the last thing you
want to be when you're applying to graduate school is common. RC questions make up
roughly 25% of the GRE verbal section, so don't take this part of the section lightly.

Practice Reading Comprehension Daily

Reading comprehension will seem difficult at first, but like most things in life, with
practice, it'll get easier--much easier. Practice reading GRE-level materials, like The
New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, on a regular basis. Articles from The
Journal and The Times are of the same caliber as the GRE, and since it's daily, your
reading source will be endless. Make sure you get the online version so you'll get used
to reading long articles from a computer screen (since the GRE is strictly a computer
adaptive test except in a few select regions).

If The Journal isn't for you, try Kaplan Verbal Workbook or ETS Practicing to Take the
GRE.

Read Actively

While you're reading, ask yourself, "What is the main theme? Is this the author's opinion
or is the article all facts?" This will better prepare you for the RC questions following a
passage as the GRE usually asks questions that pertain to the main ideas of the article.
Asking yourself these questions will also help you stay better focused on the passage.
Don't get caught asking yourself, "What did I just read?"

Read for the Main Idea

Remember, you can go back to the passage all you want. Don't try to memorize every
detail. Instead, try to figure the main idea of the passage and pay attention to how
everything is set up. For instance, is the author for or against something? Does the
author refer to a historical event and then look to the future or does he just look to the
past? In other words, do your best to see the passage as a whole. You can look back at
the parts when you're answering questions.
Summing Up

Practice actively reading GRE-level material daily, and eventually, real GRE passages
will seem easy. Also, don't sweat the details. You can refer to the passage as much as
you want.

How to Improve on GRE Reading Comprehension

By CHRIS LELE on September 17, 2012 in Reading Comprehension Strategies, Verbal

Reading Comprehension is probably the most difficult section to improve on. Even when
improvements occur, they occur slowly. Many become discouraged—and rightly so. After all,
there are few sections in which you can still feel flustered and perplexed even after reading
the explanation. Perhaps my number one piece of advice on this matter: don’t give up.

There are of course more specific pieces of information that can help you improve on
Reading Comprehension. This advice is aimed not at somebody who is just starting off
(though it is relevant as well), but for those who feel they’ve hit a plateau.

You may have even applied my other advice: read widely from publications noted for their
high-quality prose. Doing this will help you strengthen your reading brain. But to get over
the hump, you will want to apply the strategies below.

Practice, as much as possible, using official material

Content-wise nothing beats practicing with actual GRE questions. The style and tone of the
passage, the why questions and answer choices are worded, and the subtlety between the
correct answer and the incorrect answers can only be found in actual questions.

Know why the wrong answers are wrong

The wrong answers are the soul of the Reading Comprehension question. That may sound
odd, like I’m trying to channel Shakespeare, but let me elaborate. Oftentimes, you may
know the general answer to a question. That is not what the GRE is really testing. It is
testing whether you can tell the difference between an answer choice that is almost right
and one that is clearly right. Indeed, while sifting through the verbiage of the answer
choices, you are truly employing your critical thinking skills.
Only by having a strong sense of why the correct answer is correct and the incorrect answer
incorrect will you truly have mastered a question.

Re-do passages
Many times students balk at doing the same reading passages: ‘I’ve done that one before.’
Unless you have the photographic memory of an autistic savant, you’ll probably have
forgotten most, if not all, of a passage you read six weeks ago.

Secondly, it is not about getting questions right. It is about knowing why the correct answer
is correct and the wrong answer wrong (as I just noted above). The chances that you
remember the nuances between answer choices are slight to none. Thus each time you go
through the answer is a fresh opportunity to exercise your analytical muscles.

Be aware of your propensities for mistakes

Often there is a pattern to your mistakes. It could be inference questions in which you infer
too much. It can be missing a single word in the passage that makes all the difference. It
could be misinterpreting answer choices. Anticipating these mistakes can help you greatly.

How to Approach GRE Reading Comprehension

 

By CHRIS LELE on August 22, 2011 in Reading Comprehension Strategies, Verbal

I’ve already talked about an effective, powerful strategy for dealing with Reading
Comprehension questions: Active Reading. In this post, I want to focus more on the
questions themselves, especially the best approach to avoid getting trapped by misleading
answer choices.

The RAMA Method – For Success on the new GRE Reading Comprehension

The RAMA method is one I’ve refined over the years, while tutoring for the GMAT, SAT, and
GRE. While there are differences between each test in terms of approach, and what to look
out for, the tests are overall very similar. Below is the RAMA I’ve adapted for the New GRE.

So, you’re probably wondering, what does RAMA stand for? R (Re-phrase), A (Anticipate), M
(Match), A (Awareness). Let’s take a closer look!

1.     Re-phrase question your in own words

Reading the question is the obvious part. The not-so-obvious part is putting the question
into your own words. What often happens is you will read the question, and then go back to
the passage without understanding what the question was asking in the first place. At this
point, you are likely to grasp at words in the passages that look important. Then, you may
go back to the passage and simply look for those words in the answer choices. The test
writers know this, and will, therefore, make sure that even the wrong answer choices
include words from the passage.

Instead of falling into this trap, it is best to rephrase the question in your own words. The
more straightforward your interpretation of the question, the better you will be able to
navigate through the passage when looking for the answer.

2.     Anticipate the answer

Now that’s you’ve re-phrased the question in your own words, you must return to the
passage and find the answer. Once you think you’ve found the answer, try to phrase the
answer in your own words. If you are noticing a common theme, i.e. putting everything in
your own words, that is because doing so is the single most effective away to avoid getting
trapped by the answer choices. On other hand, if you immediately begin scanning the
answer choices without anticipating the answer, you’ll likely get trapped. This is especially
true on primary purpose/main idea questions.

3.     Match Answer

Once you have come up with your own answer, you want to return to the answer choices
and match them up with the answer choice that you think is the closest. If none of the
answers works, you can return to the passage and read it one more time to see if you’ve
misinterpreted something. Or, you can eliminate answer choices to see if you are left with
one answer. To effectively eliminate wrong answer choices you need an…

4.     Awareness of Wrong Answers Choices 

When the test writers are creating a multiple-choice question, they create wrong answer
choices that fall into several categories. Knowing these categories can help you correctly
identify and eliminate wrong answers.

o Too Extreme
For an answer to be correct it has to be indisputable. If there is some room for argument
then the question is not valid. Answer choices containing words like always, never, not,
impossible, are usually incorrect. On the other hand it is a lot safer, at least from the test
writer’s perspective, to come up with a correct answer that has words like might be,
sometime, usually, tends to be, etc.

o Assumes Too Much

Similar to (A) Too extreme, wrong answers that assume too much usually are partially right,
but then they go a little too far; that is, you cannot back up the question with the
information in the passage. And this part is key – every correct answer can always be
backed up by information in the passage. If you start to make logical leaps from information
in the passage, then you begin to assume too much. If that’s the case, then you are more
likely to fall prey to wrong answers that assume too much. So again – be careful and always
back up the answer with information in the passage.

o Rotten Fruit

When we shop for fruit, we don’t grab a specimen because one side appears unblemished.
Instead we hold up the fruit, rotate slowly in our hands, until we’ve given the entire fruit a
good once over. Only then do we toss it in our cart.

Oftentimes, when we scan the answer choices, we are looking for the part of the answer
that is correct. Doing this is much like picking up the fruit based on only what looks good. In
Reading Comprehension, as in fruit buying, we want to look for the rotten spot. For if one
part of an answer choice is wrong, the entire answer choice is wrong.

o Beyond the Scope of the Passage

If an answer choice includes information that is not even mentioned in the passage, then
the answer choice is incorrect.

o Too Broad/Too Specific

This type of wrong answer pertains specifically to main idea, or primary purpose, questions.
If an answer choice is only about a specific part of the passage, then it is too specific. Or

o True…But Doesn’t Answer the Question

Sometimes, an answer can be true, but that doesn’t mean it is correct. Often, the test
writers will include something that is true in the real world, i.e. a factual statement.
However, that statement might not answer the question, or it simply can’t be backed up by
the information in the passage (which would make it a type of “Beyond the Scope of the
Passage”).

Other times, an answer is correct, but it pertains to a different part of the passage.
Therefore, it does not answer the question directly.

Takeaway:

This may all seem rather complicated, and it can be. But don’t worry – by doing a
few reading comprehension passages and applying the RAMA technique, you will
start to get a sense of how all of the above comes together.