Reading Comprehension

GRE reading comprehension questions test your ability to understand what you read-both content and technique.   Each verbal section on the GRE includes 2-5 relatively short passages, each passage followed by one to four questions.  A passage may deal with the sciences, the humanities , or the social sciences.  Some passages are strictly objective, explaining or describing a phenomenon or process neutrally.  Others reflect a particular bias or point of view:  the author is trying to convince the reader to share his opinion about the subject being discussed.

Testing Tactics:

1.First Read the Question, Then Read the passage.

2.Learn to spot the Major Reading Question Types.

a)Main Idea-To find the central thought of  a passage.

b)Finding Specific Details-To understand what the author states explicitly.

c)Drawing Inferences-To go beyond the author's explicit statements.

d)Application to Other Situations (These are logical reasoning questions).

e)Tone/Attitude-To sense an author's emotional state .

f)Technique-To recognize a passage's method of organization or technique.

g)Determining the Meaning of Words from Their Context-To work out the meaning of unfamiliar words from their context.

3.When Asked to Find the Main Idea, Be sure to Check the Opening and Summary sentences of Each paragraph.

4.When Asked to Choose a Title, Watch Out for choices That are Too specific or Too Broad.

5.When Asked to Determine Questions of Attitude, Mood, or Tone, Look for Words That Convey Emotion, Express Values, or Paint Pictures.

6.When Asked About Specific Details in the Passage, Spot Key Words in the Question and Scan the Passage to Find Them(or Their Synonyms).

7.When Asked to Make Inferences, Base Your Answers on What the Passage Implies, Not what it States Directly.

8.When Asked to Apply Ideas from the Passage to a new situation, put yourself in the Author's Place.

9.When Asked to Give the Meaning of an Unfamiliar Word, Look for nearby Context Clues.

10.Familiarize Yourself with the Technical Terms Used to Describe a Passage's Organization.

11.In Answering Logical Reasoning Questions, Read Each Argument Very Carefully.

12.In Tackling Logical Reasoning Questions, Always Identify the Conclusion of the Argument.

13. In Tackling Logical Reasoning Questions, Pay Particular Attention to Signal Words in the Question(and in the Argument As Well).

14.Always use the Process of Elimination to Reject Incorrect choices.

15.In Questions About Weakening or Strengthening an Argument, Examine the Argument for Any Unstated Assumptions It Makes. 

Strategies:

*Skimming the Passage.

*Scanning-Pay attention to Key words, Signal Words.

*To be a Progressive Reader.

*While Reading Shouldn't do Regression(Going back to read Passage).

*Being Alert.