Block 2

Vanquishing the Verbal Section

The Verbal section of the GMAT mixes reading comprehension questions with critical reasoning questions — about half and half. In this block, we explain how to approach a variety of questions in both categories and present you with plenty of sample reading passages and questions to help you gain valuable practice.

Acing the Reading Comprehension Questions

Reading comprehension questions are designed to test how well you understand unfamiliar reading material. But you’re probably less concerned with the reason these passages are included on the GMAT than you are with getting through all that reading and question-answering with enough time remaining to confront those pesky critical reasoning questions. What you need is a proven strategy. And in this section, we deliver by introducing you to the types of passages and questions you’ll encounter and telling you how to deal with them.

Knowing what reading comprehension questions look like

When the GMAT presents you with a reading comprehension question, you’ll see a split screen with an article passage on the left and a question with five answer choices on the right. Although every passage has more than one question (usually, passages have about three to four questions), only one question pops up at a time. You read the passage (which contains about 350 words), click on the choice that best answers the question, and confirm your answer. As soon as you confirm your answer, another question pops up on the right side of the screen. The passage remains on the left. Sometimes a question refers to a particular part of the passage. For these questions, the GMAT highlights the portion of the passage you need to focus on to answer the question.

Approaching reading passages

Reading comprehension questions don’t ask you to do anything particularly unfamiliar. You’ve probably been reading passages and answering multiple-choice questions about them since you were in elementary school. If you’re having difficulty answering reading comprehension questions correctly, don’t worry: Your reading skills are likely fine. You’re probably just not familiar with the specific way you have to read for the GMAT.

You have about two minutes to answer each reading comprehension question, and that includes the time for reading the passage. Generally, you shouldn’t spend more than five minutes reading a passage before you answer its questions, so you have to read as efficiently as you can. You need a plan for getting through the passage in a way that allows you to answer questions correctly and quickly. When you read a passage, focus on the following elements:

• The passage’s general theme
• The author’s tone
• The way the author organizes the passage

Don’t try to figure out the passage’s minutiae while you’re reading it. If you encounter a question about a tiny detail, you can go back and reread the relevant section.

Mastering the message: The main point

Generally, people write passages to inform or persuade. Most of the passages on the GMAT are informative rather than argumentative, and even the argumentative ones are pretty tame.

The main point of GMAT passages is often to discuss a topic, to inform the reader about a phenomenon, or to compare one idea to another. Rarely does a GMAT passage seek to condemn, criticize, or enthusiastically advocate a particular idea or position.

Because most authors present the main theme in the first paragraph or two, you’ll probably figure it out in the first few seconds of your reading. If it’s not clear in the first paragraphs, it probably appears in the last paragraph, where the author sums up the ideas. After you’ve figured out the author’s overall theme, quickly jot down on your note board a word or two to help you remember the theme.

Absorbing the ambiance: Author’s tone

In addition to understanding the author’s main point, you need to know how the author feels about the issue. You get clues to the authors’ tone or mood by the words they use. 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 a short description on your note board, 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.

Don’t let your personal opinions about a passage’s subject matter influence your answer. Remind yourself that correct answers are true according to the passage or according to the author.

Finding the framework: The passage’s outline

Knowing the structure of a passage is much more important than understanding its details. Instead of trying to comprehend everything the author says, focus on how the author lays out the information. Standard essay format includes an introduction with a thesis, two or three supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion. Many GMAT passages are excerpts from larger works, so they may not exhibit exact standard essay form, but they’ll contain evidence of all three elements. As you read, determine the passage’s overall point and the main points of each paragraph.

You may find it helpful to construct a mini-outline of the passage as you read it. Underneath the main theme, jot down a word or two on your note board that describes the type of information contained in each paragraph. Building an outline in your head or on your note board helps you know where in the passage you can find answers to questions about particular details. Doing so also helps you answer any questions that ask you how authors develop their points.

Even though you don’t need to read and understand every detail of a passage before you answer its questions, we highly recommend that you scan the entire passage before you attempt the questions.

Sticking to the subject: Types of passages

You may think that because the GMAT measures your aptitude for MBA programs, its reading passages deal with subjects like marketing and economics. You’re wrong. Although some of the passages do concern business matters, you’ll also read about topics from the natural and social sciences. The GMAT wants to see how well you analyze a variety of topics, unfamiliar and familiar. In the following sections, we explore the types of reading passages found on the GMAT.

Experimenting with natural science passages

Physical and biological sciences mean big business. Some of the areas of commerce that depend on science include pharmaceuticals, computers, agriculture, the defense industry, household products, and materials manufacturing (such as plastics and polymers). These industries, taken together, exert a huge influence on people’s lives and the nation’s economy. Just think of this country without computers and pharmaceuticals, not to mention modern agriculture!

Note that reading comprehension questions don’t assume that you have any previous knowledge in the subject. If you do come across a reading passage on chemistry and it’s been 20 years since you’ve studied the periodic table, relax. The answer to every question is located somewhere in the passage.

When you come across a passage on a subject that you’re familiar with, don’t rely on your outside knowledge to answer the question! Make sure the answers you choose can be justified by information contained in the passage.

Natural science passages tend to be more objective and neutral than persuasive in tone. So usually the main theme of a natural science topic is to explain, describe, or inform about a scientific event.

Gathering in social circles: Social science passages

In addition to natural science passages, the GMAT presents passages about a different kind of science: social science, which includes topics like law, philosophy, history, political science, archeology, sociology, and psychology. The good news about social science passages is that their topics tend to crop up more in the news and in daily conversation than does, for example, physics! So you’re more likely to be comfortable, if not necessarily familiar, with them.

Although passages about the social sciences are still mostly descriptive and informative, they’re more likely to be persuasive than natural science passages, so you may see more variety in the kinds of tones these passages display.

Getting down to business passages

Business passages may be objective or persuasive and are generated from fields like economics, marketing, resource management, and accounting, among others. Finally, topics you’re familiar with! You’ll probably breeze right through most of these passages. But don’t let familiarity with the topic serve as an excuse to slack off. You need your powers of concentration for every passage regardless of the topic.

If the passage is on a familiar subject, don’t fall into the trap of using your own information to...