With Reading Comprehension (RC), quickly absorbing both explicit and implicit information from passages can feel abstract. Since anything from the passage could potentially be tested, even short excerpts may seem information-dense.
The GMAT’s unique format of not allowing you to preview RC questions beforehand is another factor that makes this section an effective gauge of real-world reading skills. In the business world, you won’t know in advance what key points you’ll be “tested” on.
Strategies for GMAT Reading Comprehension
Fortunately, on GMAT Reading Comprehension, the passages and the following questions fall into predictable categories. We will use data about these categories to lay out the best strategies for GMAT RC.
3 Categories of GMAT Reading Comprehension Passages
First, let’s discuss the passage categories. GMAT Reading Comprehension passages fall into three categories:
Business/economics
GMAT Reading Comprehension passages in the business/economics category typically discuss business strategies, market trends, economic theories, or case studies. These passages often propose a problem or question and explore potential solutions or explanations, analyzing factors that influence business decisions or economic outcomes.
Business/economics passages frequently use technical terminology related to finance, management, and commerce, and they tend to be more straightforward and focused on practical applications compared to other categories.
Natural science/research
Natural science/research passages on the GMAT cover a wide range of scientific fields, such as biology, chemistry, physics, and environmental science. These passages discuss research findings, experimental methods, or scientific theories, often describing cause-and-effect relationships or complex processes.
They may compare competing hypotheses or explanations for natural phenomena and frequently use specialized vocabulary, often including data or technical details.
Social science/humanities
GMAT Reading Comprehension passages in the social science/humanities category explore topics in fields like history, literature, philosophy, psychology, or anthropology. These passages often compare and contrast different perspectives, interpretations, or theories, analyzing cultural, social, or historical patterns and their causes or consequences.
Social science/humanities passages may trace the evolution of ideas or debates over time and frequently discuss the views of specific scholars, theorists, or schools of thought.
Of the 60 RC passages in the GMAT Official Guide, Verbal Review, and Advanced Questions book, 16 are business/economics, 23 are natural science/research, and 21 are social science/humanities. There are fewer business/economics passages because these passages are heavily skewed towards easy/medium difficulty, while 26 of the 60 passages are labeled as hard.
GMAT Reading Comprehension Question Categories
More important than passage categories are question categories. The GMAT Official Guide outlines six categories of Reading Comprehension questions:
- Main Idea
- Supporting Idea
- Inference
- Application
- Evaluation
- Style/Tone
Official prep materials will follow these categories, but your experience practicing Reading Comprehension will likely lead you to identify the categories somewhat differently.
First, style and tone questions start to appear in the GMAT Reading Comprehension. The Official Guide includes a brief section about them, but none of the 311 questions in the 60 passages studied appears to fall into this category.
Furthermore, it is helpful to recognize some sub-categories that fall under “Inference” and “Evaluation.” There are two special kinds of Inference questions that deserve special attention. Many questions ask about the author’s views or those of a person/group featured in the passage. I call these people/groups the “subjects” of the passage.
Finally, you are unlikely to use the label “Evaluation” much when thinking about reading comprehension questions. One class of “Evaluation” questions asks about the role a certain detail, sentence, or paragraph plays in the structure of the passage.
Other “Evaluation” questions are actually Critical Reasoning tasks based on Reading Comprehension passages. If you have any level of familiarity with Critical Reasoning, you will recognize these questions instantly.
Thus, it is most helpful to think of Reading Comprehension questions in eight categories:
- Main idea
- Supporting idea
- Inference
- Author Views
- Subject Views
- Function/Plan
- Critical Reasoning
- Application
We list “Application” questions last because they are very rare. Of the 311 questions in the 60 passages studied, only six are Application questions – one for every ten passages. Since a typical GMAT Verbal Reasoning section has four Reading Comprehension passages, you probably won’t even see an Application question. You shouldn’t build your preparation or your reading strategy around these questions.
GMAT Reading Comprehension: Application Questions
But to satisfy your curiosity, here are some examples from the 60 passages in the prep materials:
- Which of the following most clearly represents an example of an “ecological service” as that term is used in line 20?
- Of the following topics, which would be most likely to be studied within the discipline of chemical ecology as it is described in the passage?
- Which of the following hypothetical experiments most clearly exemplifies the method of identifying species’ roles that the author considers problematic?
- Which of the following best describes employee behavior encouraged within learning organizations, as such organizations are described in the passage?
- Which of the following could best serve as an example of the kind of fictional plot discussed by Antonia Castañeda?
- The “serious problem” referred to in line 17 could be solved if which of the following were true?
How frequently do the more common question types appear? Here is a helpful graphic:
This distribution of question types informs the most effective reading strategy. Supporting Idea (detail) and Inference questions can be answered by knowing what the passage says and implies, but these are only half the questions you will have to answer.
GMAT Reading Comprehension Tips
Here are our tips to help you tackle the Reading Comprehension section of the GMAT exam with greater confidence and efficiency.
To answer other types of questions, you’ll have to move beyond simply understanding the information in the passage. The “next level” of reading comprehension can be summarized in three words: remember the author.
A passage is written by someone for a purpose, and the information is selected and organized to achieve that purpose, which may be to inform, attack, or defend a view, propose a method, or compare and contrast ideas.
Effective reading involves focusing your attention not only on what the passage is saying but also on what the author is doing.
Like a novel, movie, or art piece, a passage is a medium through which the author expresses their views on something bigger, and effective reading involves focusing on both what the passage is saying and what the author is doing. Although GMAT passages are not as symbolic or indirect as some artistic works, the author’s presence and intention in “saying” something through the passage is just as real.
Naturally, this whole process can be much easier if you have someone who can guide you along the way, like a one-on-one GMAT tutor.
Use a Three-Track Strategy
When reading GMAT Reading Comprehension passages, you should focus on two main tracks:
- What the passage says: Understand the basic content and information provided.
- What the author is doing: Analyze the author’s purpose and techniques.
With practice, you will learn to recognize what matters about a passage. If it is a natural science/research passage that simply informs the reader about a phenomenon, a species, an experiment, a process, or a cause-and-effect relationship, you should focus your attention on understanding this topic itself.
If it is a social science/humanities passage that contrasts the scholarship of two historians, you should understand the difference between their views and the author’s perspective.
For passages with a purpose beyond simply informing the reader, also consider a third track:
- What the author/subjects think: Understand the views of the author and any subjects mentioned and how these views relate to each other. Determine if they agree or disagree and identify points of contention.
If managing all three tracks feels overwhelming, prioritize understanding what the author is doing and thinking, as these are crucial for main idea and perspective questions. You can always refer back to the passage for specific details.
As you practice, you’ll get better at recognizing key moments in a passage. Always pause to consider the author’s actions and thoughts at the start of new paragraphs or every 15 lines if paragraphs are long.
RC Passage Length
We understand that the varying lengths of GMAT Reading Comprehension passages can feel overwhelming at times. It’s natural to wonder how you’ll manage to read and absorb all the information in a longer passage within the given time constraints.
However, we want to assure you that with practice and familiarity, you’ll develop a sense of how to pace yourself effectively based on the passage length.
As you can see from the data in the chart, most GMAT Reading Comprehension passages fall within two main length ranges: approximately 200-250 words or 300-350 words. Counting the number of lines translates to around 20-30 lines for the shorter passages and 35-50 lines for the longer ones. The passages helpfully include line number markings every five lines (5, 10, 15, etc.) along the left side of the text, making it easier for you to gauge the length at a glance.
While there are a few outliers, particularly in the older Verbal Review book, the more recent Official Guide (2022) and Advanced Questions book seem to adhere to a consistent word count limit that aligns with about 51 lines of text. So, as you practice with the most up-to-date official materials, you’ll start to get a feel for the typical passage lengths you’ll encounter on test day.
Now, let’s revisit the question category pie charts we shared earlier. I want to draw your attention to an interesting feature that might help guide your reading approach…
Notice how the green and orange wedges representing author views and subject views questions compare to the red wedges representing supporting idea (detail) questions.
For business/economics passages and natural science/research passages, supporting idea questions outnumber views questions two to one.
But for social science/humanities passages, views questions outnumber supporting idea questions! If you encounter a passage about history, literature, or anthropology/sociology, give extra attention to what the author and subjects think (track 3).
Useful GMAT Verbal tip from APEX’s co-founder Mike Diamond:
“I’d like to give a special shout-out to our non-native English speakers because many people believe the verbal test assesses English skills. However, it’s more about testing deeper logical reasoning and comprehension skills. So, if you’re a native French or German speaker, and you’re fluent in English, you’ll perform similarly on the test, whether it’s in German (if such a version existed) or in English.
What the test truly assesses is how proactively versus reactively you read and your sense of scope. Scope, as we often refer to it at Apex, involves understanding the right level of detail in an argument or passage—everything it includes and nothing it doesn’t. You don’t want anything too specific or too general. The written passage gives signals that tell you precisely where the scope should be.
This skill is crucial in GMAT verbal, both in critical reasoning and reading comprehension. Calibrating your scope and understanding the appropriate level at which to engage the problem is vital. It’s about prioritizing information and handling subtleties regarding how different pieces of information in a passage or argument interact within a complex system.”
Skim Details
Usually, the reading comprehension passage of the GMAT exam is full of details, such as dates, locations, names, etc.
However, not all of them are important for answering the questions. Most of them are used to distract the candidates’ attention from the central point of the story. You won’t be able to remember each of them, and it’s better not to try. Rather, we suggest you pay attention to why the detail is given – whether it supports an argument, weakens it, etc. Additionally, it would be quite beneficial to remember where (in which paragraph) these details are given so you can quickly return if a question is asked about them.
Abbreviate Big Words
The GMAT exam reading passages are usually full of complex vocabulary, which might appear quite challenging to understand.
Abbreviating big words or names of persons, locations, etc., can save time during the exam, help you avoid distraction, and help you focus more on the meaning of the paragraph.
Do not get bogged down by unfamiliar names; rather, abbreviate them and pay attention to the logic behind the connection between the sentences and the paragraph as a whole.
Practice With More Difficult Materials
For most people, anxiety levels significantly increase during the exam, which often leads to underperforming compared to usual.
Fortunately, this challenge can be overcome by practicing at home with more difficult texts than those generally expected on the exam.
Furthermore, since time is an essential deciding factor for each segment of the exam, try to give yourself 5-10 minutes less for each section at home to improve your time management and reading/understanding ability under pressure.
Understand the Questions
The wording of the questions on the GMAT exam can sometimes be challenging. However, when you understand them correctly, you will spot the right answer right away.
This skill allows the candidates to read the paragraphs with a particular purpose and pay attention to the sentences, providing the possible answers. Understanding the purpose of the question is an essential part of a strategic approach, as well as efficient reading, properly looking for the answer, and accurate answering.
FAQs about The GMAT
How to prepare for the Reading Comprehension section of the GMAT?
To prepare for GMAT Reading Comprehension, read diverse materials, such as scientific articles, essays, and opinion pieces, to familiarize yourself with various writing styles and topics.
Practice summarizing paragraphs and identifying the main ideas, the author’s purpose, and viewpoints in each passage. Use GMAT prep books and online resources to take timed practice tests, focusing on improving accuracy and speed.
What is the average time I should spend on a Reading Comprehension passage?
On average, you should aim to spend about 6-8 minutes per Reading Comprehension passage, including reading the passage and answering all associated questions. The Verbal Reasoning section gives you 45 minutes to answer 23 questions, which include Reading Comprehension, and Critical Reasoning.
Efficient time management and practice are crucial to ensure you allocate your time effectively across all question types.
What happens if I fail any part of the exam?
The GMAT exam does not have a pass/fail outcome, but it provides scaled scores, ranging differently for each section. Total GMAT scores range from 205 to 805. Therefore, if you don’t perform well in one section, it will affect your overall score and not hinder you from passing the exam.
How many times can I take the GMAT?
You can take the GMAT exam a maximum of five times in a rolling 12-month period, regardless of the format. In your lifetime, you can take the exam up to eight times. Note that there is a 16-day waiting period between exams of the same format, but there is none if you switch the formats (for example, from the testing center to online or vice versa).
Contributor: Elijah Mize (Apex GMAT Instructor)