Reading Comprehension Question Types, Strategies, Books, and Samples

Reading Comprehension Question Types, Strategies, Books, and Samples

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Reading Comprehension is part of the GMAT Verbal section which consists of a total of 36 questions. There are three to four passages in GMAT Reading Comprehension which have multiple choice questions. Each Reading Comprehension consists of 9-16 comprehension questions. For attempting GMAT reading comprehension, candidates can improve through practice. Any improvement in GMAT reading comprehension is going to require a lot of hours of work. GMAT Passage would include three short passages and one long passage in general. The GMAT Syllabus can be distributed roughly into three common categories including Business, Science, and History. GMAT Online is available for candidates to take GMAT from home for safety measures.

GMAT Reading Comprehension Overview 

Reading Comprehension passages take advantage when students encounter unfamiliar words. It can be a real blow to confidence, making them question whether they can complete the task at hand. Practice can help candidates learn some of the jargon associated with weaker areas. Candidates can also go through GMAT Syllabus to help them understand the exam better. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions. Reading Comprehension passage would require you to do the following:

  1. Understanding the words and statements
  2. Identify the relationships between ideas and concepts logically
  3. Drawing inferences
  4. Pointing out flaws in assumptions and reasoning
  5. Understanding the concepts of quant and follow it in writing

Reading Comprehension Question Types 

GMAT Comprehension questions requires candidates to understand the given passage and encounter certain questions. The questions are of the following types which candidates would find while attempting this section:

  1. Main Idea
  2. Supporting ideas and details
  3. Inferences
  4. Out-of-Context
  5. Logical structure and organization
  6. Style and tone

GMAT Reading Comprehension Strategies 

The reading comprehension questions on the GMAT are designed to understand, analyze, and apply information and concepts presented in written form. Candidates can follow the below GMAT reading comprehension tips:

  • Understand words and statements provided - Candidates need to summarize the given passage or evaluate the overall purpose in the given passage. Candidates’ response is analyzed in terms of recognising whether they have been able to identify the central theme or idea of the passage without getting into details of the subject.
  • Identify logical relationships between ideas and concepts - The supporting ideas and details in the GMAT reading comprehension passage requires candidates to focus on facts of the passage. The candidates are required to notice the explicit ideas and details within the passage. These questions focus on analyzing how much the candidate is able to understand the words and statements given in the passage.
  • Draw inferences from the passage - GMAT Comprehension based on inference is typically an unwritten conclusion that needs to be true and relevant to the given passage. The inference question type does not require to state explicitly something from the passage. It requires the candidates to answer about what is implied through the statement. Candidates must learn how to derive inference from the passage before answering the question. There are GMAT reading comprehension free pdf download available online for candidates to practise.
  • Point out flaws in assumption and reasoning - Out-of-context questions ask candidates to apply information from the passage to a different context. They often ask to identify a parallel situation or analogous example. These types of GMAT Reading Comprehension examples includes a question type where candidates need to apply information that is not from the passage. Accordingly, from the given passage, candidates need to identify relationships of ideas and find similarity with information that is not in the passage.

The following examples of the GMAT reading comprehension question could be found in the exam:

  1. The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about…
  2. The author of the passage would be most likely to disagree with which of the following statements about…
  3. The relationship between…is most similar to which of the following?
  • GMAT RC Logical structure and organization - GMAT Reading Comprehension passages include questions based on the logical structure. Candidates need to analyze the function and purpose of the key elements. These are based on evaluating the purpose of the information given in the passage based on a sentence, a term or a paragraph. The questions which are included in the GMAT RC passage for logical structure type of questions are the following:
  1. The purpose of the last paragraph of the passage is to
  2. Which of the following best describes the purpose of the highlighted sentence?
  3. Which of the following, if true, would most clearly undermine…
  • GMAT Reading Comprehension Style and tone - GMAT Passage includes style questions which require candidates to choose an answer which best suits the author’s opinion from the passage. Candidates need to identify the tone of the author in the passage and accordingly, determine the correct choice of answers. This implies the ability of the candidate to decode the attitude or emotions of the author in the passage.

Best Book for GMAT Reading Comprehension

GMAT Reading Comprehension books are considered the best study material for GMAT RC strategy. The following are the best GMAT preparation books for practicing different GMAT passages. These books contains GMAT reading comprehension passages with answers, RC strategy GMAT, and more. 

There are several books containing GMAT Reading Comprehension questions that the candidates can use like:

  • Manhattan Reading Comprehension GMAT
  • Reading Comprehension GMAT Preparation Guide Manhattan Prep
  • Aristotle GMAT Reading Comprehension
  • GMAT Official Guide 2021 – Check PDF
  • Manhattan Prep GMAT – All the Verbal – Check PDF
  • Kaplan GMAT Prep Plus – Check PDF
  • McGraw Hill’s GMAT Practice Test – Check PDF

Approach to GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions

Considering that there are several types of RC questions GMAT which candidates need to answer for which it is important for them to follow effective strategies. Effectively, approaching the GMAT RC passage should include active planning and certain strategies which could be undertaken by the candidates for attempting this section. GMAT Reading Comprehension strategies would help students to enhance their GMAT Preparation. The following GMAT RC strategy can be considered effectively by the candidates:

  1. GMAT Reading Comprehension practise: Considering that GMAT RC passages in which candidates require a bit longer time. Accordingly, candidates need to ensure that they are able to undertake active practice for their GMAT Reading Comprehension
  2. Watch for transition Words and Phrases: candidates can consider focusing on the transition words including cause and effect, agreeing upon the same argument, adding evidence, contrast or opposition, conclusion.
  3. Abbreviate jargon: it is important that candidates are able to abbreviate jargon and make a mental map of their technical term.
  4. Make a Mental Summary: While reading the passages it is important to make a mental summary. Candidates must consider the important points in GMAT RC questions notice the key ideas and find relationships and concepts.

Read More Reading Comprehension Passage Samples

GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Papers 

In order to ace their GMAT Reading Comprehension and achieve a higher GMAT Score, it is important for candidates to undertake that GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice. GMAT RC practice is important for candidates to enhance their abilities in successfully attempting the GMAT RC passages. With the help of the 1000 GMAT RC practice papers it is possible for the candidates to actively prepare for the exam.

A few GMAT reading comprehension practice free PDFs are given provided below:

The way to make the most possible improvement in GMAT Reading Comprehension is to use these categories. Candidates can use them to recognize and break down the sources of your current errors and try to continually address those issues. Above all, the most important strategy for approaching the passages is to always read with the main idea in mind. Whether the author is making an argument or simply laying out information, there will always be a main idea that governs the passage’s content and organization. Candidates should use GMAT Practice papers to improve their possibility of a much higher score.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.

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