GMAT Reading Comprehension
GMAT Reading Comprehension—Always Look Out for Wordplay
The official GMAT reading comprehension practice questions and the questions in the GMAT exam itself are the result of a complex and time consuming process led by experts. The considerable investment required for each official GMAT reading comprehension question not only reflects its caliber but also emphasizes its distinctiveness in assessing the vital skills endorsed by the Graduate Management Admission Council.
The GMAT reading comprehension questions come under the verbal section. It is vital that you depend on the GMAT official questions especially for the reading comprehension questions. This is because more than any other question type like critical reasoning or problem solving, the reading comprehension questions employ recurring structures and tactics and practicing with the right questions can be of immense benefit to finding the correct answers quickly.
Take a look at our breakdown of the official GMAT reading comprehension practice questions to gain insight into strategies like understanding the main idea in the passage, locating the keywords, isolating the scope of the passage and understanding the tone and subjectivity of the passage to help you reach the correct answer in minimum time.
Best Practices for Reading Comprehension
The first step in any set of reading comprehension questions is to read the passage in the most efficient and effective way. This means that you should focus on 3 key items in your reading and worry less about small details or complicated, abstract information:
Structure: Focus on the overall organization of the reading comprehension passage and the general topics of each paragraph so you can find keywords from questions quickly. Identify important transition words or shifts in the direction of the passage (nothing is more important than noting strong transitions or continuations in RC).
Type of Passage: Is the passage opinionated or simply presenting information? If there is tone or subjectivity, note what it is and be ready for questions relating to it.
Purpose: Why did the author write the passage and what is the scope of the passage? The primary purpose of the passage must match the type of passage and use the proper scope.
For this passage you should note the following:
Structure. Paragraph #1 presents a commonly held belief followed by the important transition word "however," which presents evidence contrary to this belief. Paragraph #2 presents the findings of a researcher who is trying to explain the changes to the commonly held theory. Paragraph #3 is a continuation of the explanation provided in #2, with additional findings provided to explain the new phenomenon.
Type. This passage is explanatory/descriptive and provides the findings of one researcher along with a potential explanation for a new phenomenon. The author is not providing his own theory or an opinion on the findings.
Purpose. This passage exists to present a change to a commonly held belief and provide a potential explanation for it.
After reading each passage on the exam, you will answer 3 or 4 questions relating to it. Most verbal sections on the new GMAT Focus exam contain 4 reading comprehension passages, two of which have 4 questions and two of which have 3 questions. For the questions you will encounter, there are three broad types:
General Passage Questions. These questions relate to broader issues in the passage and examples would be: What is the primary purpose of the passage? Which of the following would best describe the role of the 3rd paragraph in relation to the whole? For these questions, you can usually answer them from your initial reading but you may still need to look back to confirm or validate certain answers.
Conclusion/Rephrase Questions. These questions require you to make a proper conclusion based on concrete evidence in the passage or simply regurgitate something that exists in the passage. Examples would be: Which of the following can be inferred about the tribal water rights discussed in the 3rd paragraph? Which of the following was mentioned by the author as a reason for the company's change to its maternity and sick leave policies? For these questions, it is mostly about finding the right information in the passage and then being clear on what constitutes a valid conclusion. Precision in wording and noting wordplay are keys to success in these types of questions.
Function Questions. These questions ask you to explain how or why an author is using a certain example, word, or sentence in a passage. Often, that component will be highlighted in the passage and sometimes you must simply locate what is referenced in the question. Examples would be: The author discusses the hunting traits of Orca whales in order to _________. Which of the following best describes the role of the highlighted portion in relation to the passage as a whole? For these questions, the answer does not lie in the referenced text but rather in the broader context within which you find it.
Now that you have a general understanding of core Reading Comp strategies for the different question types, go ahead
GMAT Reading Comprehension, Sample Question #1
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Explanation
Detailed Solution
This question is clearly a Conclusion/Rephrase type in which you must make a proper conclusion about the role of liquid water. In reading comprehension, you will appreciate questions with specificity in the question stem as you can go locate an important keyword(s) more quickly and look for the potential answer. Here you need to locate the keywords "liquid water" and then use that section to analyze each answer.Note: For Conclusion/Rephrase and Function questions, you should ALWAYS go back to the passage and locate concrete proof for the correct answer and invalidate the other four. This question is a great example: without going back and noting very particular wording in the answers, you are doomed to get it wrong! In paragraph #2 you can find the keywords "liquid water" easily as shown in the paragraph below (note: since the final paragraph is a continuation of this one, it is possible you will need to look there too):
To explain these changes, geophysicist Robin Bell and her colleagues have been studying the role played by liquid water under the ice sheet. They have found that although the base of the ice sheet is insulated from changing atmospheric temperatures, it can melt because of friction as it moves over underlying rock. The meltwater lubricates and accelerates the ice streams. Furthermore, some lakes below the ice sheets are draining, adding more lubrication that further destabilizes the streams.
Now let's evaluate each answer:
- Nothing is given about the original source of the water in the lakes under the ice sheet. This answer uses a few terms found in the paragraph ("atmospheric temperature") but does not make a proper inference from them and takes the answer out of scope immediately with "originally."
- This is probably the most commonly chosen incorrect answer and it employs classic wordplay. We know that the liquid water can accelerate ice streams but in no place does it say this water is "creating NEW ice streams". While the water resulting from melting is probably creating some new streams, there is zero evidence for that in the passage. Easy answer to eliminate. In the first paragraph, you learn that snowfall replenishes ice mass, not liquid water.
- The liquid water is created from friction created in the movement…it is not creating or increasing the friction.
- Correct. This is the classic "boring but must be true" correct answer that is often used in conclusion questions. This is correct simply because of the clause "some lakes below the ice sheets are draining." Since draining means "flow out of," you know for sure that liquid water is flowing out of the lakes under ice sheets.
In creating a question like this, the test-makers are hoping you will overlook words like "originally" or "new" in answer choices (A) and (B), or simply pick one of them because it seems to match what you remember from your original reading of the passage.
Remember to be highly analytical in reading comprehension questions and always evaluate all answers carefully, with a special attention to precision in wording.
Correct Answer
(E)
GMAT Reading Comprehension, Sample Question #2
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Explanation
Detailed Solution
This is another Conclusion/Rephrase question, but it is a bit trickier. First, finding the right information is harder. Acceleration of ice streams is discussed explicitly in both the 2nd and 3rd paragraph. Since several answers reference Antarctica, it is likely that the answer will be found where the acceleration is discussed in the final paragraph as shown in red:
Ordinarily, ice streams cause ice shelves to accumulate at the streams' ocean outlets. These shelves block and slow the streams. But since ice shelves are sensitive to ocean temperatures, global warming can melt them. In 2002, ice streams flowing into the Larsen B ice shelf in West Antarctica accelerated dramatically after much of the shelf collapsed into the ocean. This suggests that global warming could allow far more land-based ice to flow into the ocean, raising sea levels rapidly.
As in the last question, you must then analyze each answer carefully, finding proof in the passage and looking out for wordplay or flawed conclusions that simply use words from the passage:
- Correct. This answer requires you to link together a few parts of the paragraph. Fact #1 in 2nd sentence: since ice shelves are sensitive to ocean temperatures, global warming can melt them. Fact #2: an ice shelf collapse in Antarctica (which is directly linked to global warming and thus increased ocean temps in the final sentence) caused ice stream acceleration.
- The acceleration was caused by a shelf collapse and we do not know if that was an overall loss of mass in the entire West Antarctic ice sheet.
- Substantially out of the scope of the passage. In no place is the amount of snowfall occurring in Antarctica discussed.
- The most commonly chosen incorrect answer. In the 2nd paragraph you learn that heat from friction is accelerating ice streams. However, this answer says heat from friction caused an ice shelf to collapse! Read answers very carefully in reading comprehension and focus on precision in wording.
- Like in the previous question, you have no idea if new lakes are forming from meltwater so this is incorrect.
Both of these sample questions require you to find the right information and then sort through cleverly made incorrect answers that are pretty close to being correct except for a word or two. Once you learn the repeated wording cons and other tricks used in creating these RC questions, they become easier and easier.
Correct Answer
(A)
Caution: Avoid Unofficial GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions
Practicing with poorly constructed questions from the GMAT verbal section, especially the RC questions from unofficial sources like the question banks of test prep companies can result in the internalization of wrong tactics. This would result in you spending a disproportionate amount of time reading through the RC passages affecting your overall performance in the exam. So, the safest strategy would be to depend exclusively on official reading comprehension passages for practice and completely avoid other sample questions.
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