30 Reading Comprehension.docx
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30 Reading Comprehension.docx
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30ReadingComprehension
3.0ReadingComprehension
ReadingcomprehensionquestionsappearintheVerbalsectionoftheGMATexam.TheVerbalsectionusesmultiple-choicequestionstomeasureyourabilitytoreadandcomprehendwrittenmaterial,toreasonandevaluatearguments,andtocorrectwrittenmaterialtoconformtostandardwrittenEnglish.BecausetheVerbalsectionincludescontentfromavarietyoftopics,youmaybegenerallyfamiliarwithsomeofthematerial;however,neitherthepassagesnorthequestionsassumeknowledgeofthetopicsdiscussed.ReadingcomprehensionquestionsareintermingledwithcriticalreasoningandsentencecorrectionquestionsthroughouttheVerbalsectionoftheexam.
Youwillhave75minutestocompletetheVerbalsection,oranaverageofabout13/4minutestoanswereachquestion.Keepinmind,however,thatyouwillneedtimetoreadthewrittenpassages--andthattimeisnotfactoredintothe13/4-minuteaverage.Youshouldthereforeplantoproceedmorequicklythroughthereadingcomprehensionquestionstogiveyourselfenoughtimetoreadthepassagesthoroughly.
Readingcomprehensionquestionsbeginwithwrittenpassagesupto350wordslong.Thepassagesdiscusstopicsfromthesocialsciences,humanities,physicalorbiologicalsciences,andsuchbusiness—relatedfieldsasmarketing,economics,andhumanresourcemanagement.Thepassagesareaccompaniedbyquestionsthatwillaskyoutointerpretthepassage,applytheinformationyougatherfromthereading,andmakeinferences(orinformedassumptions)basedonthereading.Forthesequestions,youwillseeasplitcomputerscreen.ThewrittenpassagewillremainvisibleontheleftsideaseachquestionassociatedwiththatpassageappearsInturnontherightside.Youwillseeonlyonequestionatatime,however.Thenumberofquestionsassociatedwitheachpassagemayvary.
Asyoumovethroughthereadingcomprehensionpracticequestions,trytodetermineaprocessthatworksbestforyou.Youmightbeginbyreadingapassagecarefullyandthoroughly,thoughsometesttakersprefertoskimthepassagesthefirsttimethrough,oreventoreadthefirstquestionbeforereadingthepassage.Youmaywanttorereadanysentencesthatpresentcomplicatedideasorintroducetermsthatarenewtoyou.Readeachquestionandseriesofanswerscarefully.Makesureyouunderstandexactlywhatthequestionisaskingandwhattheanswerchoicesare.
Ifyouneedto,youmaygobacktothepassageandreadanypartsthatarerelevantgoansweringthequestion.Specificportionsofthepassagesmaybehighlightedinrelatedquestions.
Thefollowingpagesdescribewhatreadingcomprehensionquestionsaredesignedtomeasure,presentthedirectionsthatwillprecedequestionsofthistype,anddescribethevariousquestiontypesThischapteralsoprovidestest-takingstrategies,samplequestions,anddetailedexplanationsofallthequestions.Theexplanationsfurtherillustratehowreadingcomprehensionquestionsevaluatebasicreadingskills.
3.1WhatisMeasured
Readingcomprehensionquestionsmeasureyourabilitytounderstand,analyze,andapplyinformationandconceptspresentedinwrittenform.Allquestionsaretobeansweredonthebasisofwhatisstatedorimpliedinthereadingmaterial,andnospecificpriorknowledgeofthematerialisrequired.
TheGMATreadingcomprehensionquestionsevaluateyourabilitytodothefollowing:
·Understandwordsandstatements.
Althoughthequestionsdonottestyourvocabulary(theywillnotaskyoutodefineterms),theydotestyourability,tointerpretspecialmeaningsoftermsastheyareusedinthepassages.ThequestionswillalsotestyourunderstandingoftheEnglishlanguage.
Thesequestionsmayaskabouttheoverall,meaningofapassage.
·Understandlogicalrelationshipsbetweenpointsandconcepts
Thistypeofquestionmayaskyoutodeterminethestrongandweakpointsofanargumentorevaluatetherelativeimportanceofargumentsandideasinapassage.
·Drawinferencesfromfactsandstatements.
Theinferencequestionswillaskyoutoconsiderfactualstatementsorinformation.
presentedinareadingpassageand,onthebasisofthat.information,reachconclusions.
·Understandandfollowthedevelopmentofquantitativeconceptsastheyarepresentedinwrittenmaterial.
Thismayinvolvetheinterpretationofnumericaldataortheuseofsimplearithmetictoreachconclusionsaboutmaterialinapassage.
Therearesixkindsofreadingcomprehensionquestions,eachofwhichtestsadifferentskill.Thereadingcomprehensionquestionsaskaboutthefollowingareas.
Mainidea
Eachpassageisaunifiedwho1e-thatis,theindividualsentencesandparagraphs,supportanddeveloponemainideaorcentralpoint.Sometimesyouwillbetoldthecentralpointinthepassageitself,andsometimesitwillbenecessaryforyoutodeterminethecentralpointfromtheoverallorganizationordevelopmentofthepassage.Youmaybeaskedinthiskindofquestionto一
·recognizeacorrectrestatement,orparaphrasing,ofthemainideaofapassage;
·identifytheauthor'sprimarypurposeorobjectiveinwritingthepassage;or
·assignatitlethatsummarizes,brieflyandpointedly,themainideadevelopedinthepassage.
Supportingideas
Thesequestionsmeasureyourabilitytocomprehendthesupportingideasinapassageanddifferentiatethemfromthemainidea.Thequestionsalsomeasureyourabilitytodifferentiateideasthatareexplicitlystatedinapassagefromideasthatareimpliedbytheauthorbutthatarenotexplicitlystated.Youmaybeaskedabout一
·factscitedinapassage;
·thespecificcontentofargumentspresentedbytheauthorinsupportofhisorherviews;or
·descriptivedetailsusedtosupportorelaborateonthemainidea.
Whereasquestionsaboutthemainideaaskyoutodeterminethemeaningofapassageasawhole,questionsaboutsupportingideasaskyoutodeterminethemeaningsofindividualsentencesandparagraphsthatcontributetothemeaningofthepassageasawhole.Inotherwords,thesequestionsaskforthemainpointofonesmallpartofthepassage.
Inferences
Thesequestionsaskaboutideasthatarenotexplicitlystatedinapassagebutareimpliedbytheauthor.Unlikequestionsaboutsupportingdetails,whichaskaboutinformationthatisdirectlystatedinapassage,inferencequestionsaskaboutideasormeaningsthatmustbeinferredfrominformationthatisdirectlystated.Authorscanmaketheirpointsinindirectways,suggestingideaswithoutactuallystatingthem.Inferencequestionsmeasureyourabilitytounderstandanauthor'sintendedmeaninginPartsofapassagewherethemeaningisonly,suggested.Thesequestionsdonotaskaboutmeaningsorimplicationsthatareremotefromthepassage;rather,theyaskaboutmeaningsthataredevelopedindirectlytoimplicationsthatarespecificallysuggestedbytheauthor.
Toanswerthesequestions,youmayhaveto—
·logicallytakestatementsmadebytheauthoronestepbeyondtheirliteralmeanings;
·recognizeanalternativeinterpretationofastatementmadebytheauthor;or
·identifytheintendedmeaningofawordusedfigurativelyinapassage.
Ifapassageexplicitlystatesaneffect,forexample,youmaybeaskedtoinferitscause.Iftheauthorcomparestwophenomena,youmaybeaskedtoinferthebasisforthecomparison.Youmaybeaskedtoinferthecharacteristicsofanoldpolicyfromanexplicitdescriptionofanewone.Whenyoureadapassage,therefore,youshouldconcentratenotonlyontheexplicitmeaningoftheauthor’swords,butalsoonthemoresubtlemeaningimpliedbythosewords.
Applyinginformationtoacontextoutsidethepassageitself
Thesequestionsmeasureyourabilitytodiscerntherelationshipsbetweensituationsorideaspresentedbytheauthorandothersituationsorideasthatmightparallelthoseinthepassage.Inthiskindofquestion,youmaybeaskedto—
·identifyahypotheticalsituationthatiscomparabletoasituationpresentedinthepassage;
·selectanexamplethatissimilartoanexampleprovidedinthepassage;
·applyideasgiveninthepassagetoasituationnotmentionedbytheauthor;or
·recognizeideasthattheauthorwouldprobablyagreeordisagreewithonthebasisofstatementsmadeinthepassage.
Unlikeinferencequestions,applicationquestionsuseideasorsituationsnottakenfromthepassage.Ideasandsituationsgiveninaquestionarelikethosegiveninthepassage,andtheyparallelideasandsituationsinthepassage;therefore,toanswerthequestion,youmustdomorethanrecallwhatyouread.Youmustrecognizetheessentialattributesofideasandsituationspresentedinthepassagewhentheyappearindifferentwordsandinanentirelynewcontext.
Logicalstructure
Thesequestionsrequireyoutoanalyzeandevaluatetheorganizationandlogicofapassage.Theymayaskyou一
·howapassageisconstructed—forinstance,doesitdefine,compareorcontrast,newidea,orrefuteanidea?
·howtheauthorpersuadesreaderstoaccepthisorherassertions;
·thereasonbehindtheauthor'suseofanyparticularsupportingdetail;
·toidentifyassumptionsthattheauthorismaking;
·toassessthestrengthsandweaknessesoftheauthor'sarguments;or
·torecognizeappropriatecounterarguments.
Thesequestionsmeasureyourabilitynotonlytocomprehendapassagebutalsotoevaluateitcritically.However,itisimportantforyoutorealizethatlogicalstructurequestionsdonotrelyonanykindofformal10gic,nordotheyrequireyoutobefamiliarwithspecifictermsoflogicorargumentation.Youcananswerthesequestionsusingonlytheinformationinthepassageandcarefulreasoning.
Aboutthestyleandtone
Styleandtonequestionsaskabouttheexpressionofapassageandabouttheideasinapassage
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