{"id":29383,"date":"2021-11-28T10:00:48","date_gmt":"2021-11-28T15:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?p=29383"},"modified":"2022-07-30T01:26:47","modified_gmt":"2022-07-30T05:26:47","slug":"the-master-resource-list-for-gmat-reading-comprehension-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-master-resource-list-for-gmat-reading-comprehension-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Master Resource List for GMAT Reading Comprehension, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything.\u00a0<\/em>Manhattan Prep<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Stacey Koprince<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.<\/em><\/p>\n

In\u00a0Part 1<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0of this series, we discussed how to read Reading Comprehension (RC); if you have not yet read that post, do so now, and then continue with this post.<\/p>\n

The RC Question Types<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you remember the last thing I said at the end of the first post? When you have mastered the reading skills, you are then ready to tackle the questions. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you can ignore the previous post and just go straight for the questions. You will be slower, and you will make more mistakes if you do that.<\/p>\n

RC has three main question types: Main Idea, Specific Detail, and Inference. Each of those question types can have nuances or subtypes. We will tackle the first two in this post and cover Inference and the minor Why question type in the next post.<\/p>\n

Main Idea<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most passages will include one Main Idea category question. Most commonly, you will be asked for the \u201cprimary purpose\u201d (i.e., the main idea) of the entire passage, though a question could also ask for the primary purpose or role of just one paragraph.<\/p>\n

If you are asked for\u00a0the purpose of the entire passage<\/strong><\/a>, then the correct answer has to cover the overall \u201creal estate\u201d of the passage as a whole. Wrong answers will often be too narrow (e.g., something that applies primarily to just one paragraph) or too broad (e.g., something that includes the main idea but goes beyond it to encompass ideas that were not presented in the passage). Follow the link at the beginning of this paragraph to get some practice.<\/p>\n

Specific Detail<\/strong><\/p>\n

This category refers to questions that ask about a particular detail in the passage. Most commonly, these questions will begin with \u201cAccording to the passage\u2026.\u201d Your task on these is to find an answer choice that matches something stated specifically in the passage.<\/p>\n

That sounds easy\u2014if the information is stated right there in the passage, how hard can it be?<\/p>\n

As you already know very well, they can make it quite hard. First, the language in the passage is seriously complex; it is not always easy to understand what they are talking about. Second, right answers will often contain\u00a0synonyms<\/em>\u00a0for words that appeared in the passage, while some wrong answers will often contain the exact language used in the passage. If you are not careful, you will be tempted to cross off that right answer because the language does not match exactly!<\/p>\n

Specific Detail Rule<\/em>: Use the question wording to figure out where to go in the passage. Then reread that detail carefully. Do NOT rely on your memory!<\/p>\n

Why not? I was once taking a standardized test (not the GMAT, but similar), and I was about to pick an RC answer. Then I remembered that I should check the proof in the passage first, so\u2014even though I was\u00a0sure<\/em>\u00a0I was right!\u2014I made myself find the proof.<\/p>\n

The passage was about some mammals, one of which was the\u00a0kangaroo rat<\/strong><\/a>. I looked at the passage, glanced back at my answer\u2026 and suddenly realized that the answer said\u00a0kangaroo<\/em>\u00a0not kangaroo rat! I would have been\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0mad to get a question wrong for that reason!<\/p>\n

The moral of the story: find the proof in the passage. Every single time.<\/p>\n

Try this\u00a0specific detail question<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to get started. Want another?\u00a0Here you go<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything.\u00a0Manhattan Prep\u2019s\u00a0Stacey Koprince\u00a0teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. In\u00a0Part 1\u00a0of this series, we discussed how to read Reading Comprehension (RC); if you have not yet read that post, do so now, and … Read More  <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[104,175,212],"class_list":["post-29383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","tag-gmat","tag-manhattan-prep","tag-reading-comprehension"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Master Resource List for GMAT Reading Comprehension, Part 2<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In\u00a0Part 1\u00a0of this series, we discussed how to read GMAT Reading Comprehension; if you have not yet read that post, do so now, and then continue with this post.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-master-resource-list-for-gmat-reading-comprehension-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Master Resource List for GMAT Reading Comprehension, Part 2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In\u00a0Part 1\u00a0of this series, we discussed how to read GMAT Reading Comprehension; 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