Reading Comprehension
When or developing your mental shot of each paragraph, ask yourself 4 important things ...
1. Primary Purpose, 2. Ending Conclusion, 3. Connection between Primary Purpose and Ending conclusion, 4. Its function in the overall passage. ** When writing your summary, you can use Abbreviations and Initials to quickly write long names and long ideas.
Some helpful strategies that can help you when trying to answer detail questions include..
1. Read the entire answer choice, understanding that all parts must be correct in order for the answer to be correct.. 2. Before selecting answer, be sure you can back up your answer with support from the passage. 3. Before you begin searching for an answer, be sure to put the answer into your own words.
Why is a Colon ":" used ...
The most important thing to remember about colons is that you only use them after statements that are complete sentences. Never use a colon after a sentence fragment. For example, it's correct to say, "Grammar Girl has two favorite hobbies: watching clouds and seeing how long she can stand on one foot. Use a colon to introduce an item or a series of items that clarifies the previously stated independent clause . Do not capitalize the first item after the colon (unless it's a proper noun). A colon means "that is to say" or "here's what I mean." Colons and semicolons should never be used interchangeably. Example: (You may be required to bring many things: sleeping bags, pans, utensils, and warm clothing.)
Another way to think of the primary purpose of a passage is ...
What did the author achieve by writing this passage? What did they begin the passage discussing, how did the passage transition to the conclusion, and what was the conclusion or ending fact.
All answers to the questions presented in the Reading Comp section is ...
based on the passage provided. As a result, you do not need any previous learned information to answer the questions correctly.
There is a clear distinction between topic and Scope. A topic is broad ; its scope is ...
focused. Scope is important because answer choices that go beyond it will always be wrong. When reading, ask yourself " What aspect of this topic does the author focus on?
A valid answer to an inference question on the GRE is a statement that ...
must be true 100%, not an answer the MIGHT be or COULD be true.
Practice:Be sure to always read the question and the directions first before you read a passage, this will help your mind ....
narrow into the answer if and when it appears throughout your reading.
Do not get mislead by variations on standard question stems. A question that states that all of the answers EXCEPT one apply may have several right answers, but you have to remember that your goal in this type of question is to ...
select the erroneous answer.
"Select the sentence" questions require you to understand a specific sentence in the passage, but often times you cannot simply go straight to the specific question to answer the question, the answer is often revealed by looking at ...
sentence that comes before or after. Be careful to understand the difference between the sentence that discusses the topic of the answer, from the sentence that actually answers the question. The GRE test makers are hoping that you are distracted enough to choose the sentence that simply discusses the topic.
The correct answer to a question regarding the tone of a passage, will typically use language ...
similar to that found in the passage. A correct answer will never use language more extreme than that found in a passage.
Remember that before you begin scanning through the answer choices ....
that you already know what the answer should be based on support from the passage.
The primary purpose of the passage may be hinted at in the beginning , but usually it makes its appearance towards ...
the end of the passage in the final paragraph.
When you read each passage you should always identify three aspects of it, and they include ...
the topic, the precise scope, and the author's purpose.
When reading strategically you want to ...
think about what you are reading, paraphrase complex ideas, ask yourself questions about the passage as you reading, and jot down notes about the author's arguments and counterarguments.
Knowing common wrong answer traps can often help you the most when you are trying to decide between ...
two answer choices.
The questions involving Multiple Answer normally takes more time to complete, because the answers choices seem to be less obviously wrong. As a result you need to read the ...
answer choices more carefully. As usual you to solve this question, go to the passage, verify your selection is supported by the passage and then make your selection.
When dealing with inference questions, be aware of answer choices that are too ...
extreme to be true. You want to select answer choices that are nice and specific.
When the prompt directs you to a paragraph in the passage, it is best to just read that ...
paragraph and maybe the ending sentence of the preceding paragraph in order to get your bearings. Take notes on that paragraph based on what the question is asking.
Another type of question that is very rare is the "Select Sentence" question. In this type of question ...
the prompt asks you to read a section of a passage and highlight a given sentence for a given reason.
Answer choices that deal with anything outside the narrowly defined aspect of the topic will be ...
wrong.
An advanced question type is known as "If, then". In this question type the prompt will say "if x y z happens ", then "", where the theory is then proposed . In this situation you need to locate the ...
area in the passage that the prompt is referring to, rewrite it in your own words, and then anticipate what the answer might be if you apply the "if" portion that is provided by the prompt.
When eliminating answer choices, you should assume all answers are wrong, where your job is to ...
find the one answer choice that is entirely correct. This means you have to comb through and verify every word provided in an answer choice. If one part of the answer choice is wrong, or cannot be supported by the passage, then the entire answer choice is wrong.
When reading actively through long passages, it may be wise to use a "passage map". This will help you nail down the ...
topic,scope and purpose. Use this map to target the bones of the piece, in the form of the passages main ideas, primary arguments, secondary arguments, supporting statements or evidence, and conclusions.The passage map will help you organize the main points of a passage, where for each paragraph you write a one- to-two sentence summary that highlights the main points.
Another way to think of the primary purpose of a passage is to say ...
why did the author write this passage?
A type of question that appears in the Reading Comp question section is the "Paragraph Argument". In this case there is only ...
1 question that follows this one paragraph.
There are a series of ways in which the GRE can try and trick you during the Reading Comp section. These Answer choice tricks include ....
1. Using the words fro the passage, but they twist the meaning. However by seeing familiar words, many test takers make the mistake of selecting it. 2. Providing correct answers that does not answer the question at hand. This means you can find support for the answer in the passage, but its not the answer that corresponds to the question at hand. 3. Will be common sense questions that everyone knows but has no relevance to the passage at all. The answer seems plausible, but there is no evidence in the passage that can support the statement. So we have to remember that every answer choice you select must be supported within the passage. 4. A portion of the answer is correct, but one word or portion of the answer is not correct. You have to be sure that every part, word and detail is correct and can be supported by the text at large. 5. Some answers are just patently incorrect.
When reading the passage be aware of the use of words or phrases that shift or pivot the flow of the passage. These words and phrases include, but are not limited to ...
However, Yet, A new theory has emerged, Recent studies have found.
The hardest part about an inference question is that unlike the previous question types where you could simply predict the answer before choosing, in this type of question you must ...
read all the answer choices, and through the process of elimination select the correct answer.
While engaging in active reading do not try to absorb every single ...
word. You just want to remember the big ideas and the big picture. Do not get bogged down by the details, but understand how the details are used in the passage to create the overall idea/big idea.
A major key to understanding an author's purpose is to understand if the passage is primarily informative or argumentative. This can be deciphered by understanding the author's tone. The tone will reveal the author's ...
attitude toward the subject. The author is trying to persuade you if they make comparisons like (better, more effective) or assertions (should, must, need to,). The author is trying to inform you if the writing is a more straightforward style with no persuasive or judgmental terminology.
Active Reading in terms of paragraph summaries is best when you are dealing with ...
long paragraphs. When dealing with short paragraphs, active reading is when you understand major points provided in passage, their connections, and understand the big picture and author's purpose.
A five-step method for solving the Reading Comp questions is ..
1. Read the entire passage, and make your mental shots. 2. Ignore the answers but go ahead and read the questions. 3. Paraphrase the question, so that its easy for you to understand and to prove that you really grasp what the question is asking you to find. 4. Use your mental shots or paragraph to direct you to the location of the section that will provide the answer you are looking for. 5. Answer the question in your own words based on what you have discovered, and use that to inform what answer choice you should select. This is the most important part, because if you simply go through the answer choices without knowing in your mind what the answer should be, then you can potentially be convinced of the wrong answer choices.
Within the primary purpose questions, there are a series of wrong answer types ...
1. Too general/ vague. In this scenario the answer discusses the topic but it barely brushes the surface of the author's intent. It talks about everything. 2. Too specific. In this scenario a great answer trap is one in which the answer choices focuses on one aspect of the passage or one paragraph instead. 3. The answer choice may mention something that is not directly in the passage. But remember that every answer must be supported by text in the passage.4. Finally a portion of the answer maybe correct while there is a small part that is incorrect. Due to the fact that in the reading comp questions, all answers must be supported by the text, the answer choices must be entirely 100% correct.
Why is a hyphen "-" used ..
The dash can be used in place of a colon when you want to emphasize the conclusion of your sentence. The dash is less formal than the colon. Ex: After months of deliberation, the jurors reached a unanimous verdict—guilty. The white sand, the warm water, the sparkling sun—this is what brought them to Hawaii.
Why is a semi-colon ";" used ?
Use a semicolon between two independent clauses that are connected by conjunctive adverbs or transitional phrases. Use a semicolon to link two independent clauses that connect closely related ideas .When a semicolon is used to join two or more ideas (parts) in a sentence, those ideas are then given equal position or rank. Ex: "Some people write with a word processor; others write with a pen or pencil." "There are basically two ways to write: with a pen or pencil, which is inexpensive and easily accessible; or by computer and printer, which is more expensive but quick and neat."
When dealing with detail questions it is often best to read a few sentences before the word or phrase you are being directed to, and ...
a few sentences afterward as well.
Although you may quickly see an answer among the choices that matches your prediction, it is best if you continue going through all ...
answer choices before making the final selection. Eliminating incorrect answers not only helps narrow down options for questions that are hard to answer, it also validates the selection you are considering.
When dealing with Reading Comp questions, you should always pay the most critical attention to what the question is asking you to ...
answer. When reading the question, you need to take note of Who? what? when? where ? and How?. The GRE loves to trick you.When the GRE poses questions about A, there will be an answer choice pertaining to B.
Tone refers to an author's attitude toward his topic, or how their point of view is expressed. The tone is generally consistent throughout the passage. A tone can be opinionated and forceful within an ...
argument, detached and academic in research presentation, or descriptive when discussing someone else's opinion. When the prompt asks you to decipher the tone of the author based on a quoted piece of text, it is often best you go and reread the area where that quote is lifted. Often times that is the one area where the tone shifts for whatever reason. Think like a GRE test maker.
The next type of questions that appear on the Verbal section is the Structure Question, where the prompt is asking you to ..
define the function of one sentence within the passage, and how it relates to the other sentences that surrounds it.
Vocabulary-in-context refers to questions where the GRE directs you to words in the passage, where you must ...
define the word or explain its purpose. These types of questions appear throughout the verbal section.
When dealing with inference questions, be aware of answer choices that are simply restating facts presented in the text in only ...
different words. An inference statement should gather and make connections from the information from the text and use it to make statements and conclusions that are not explicitly stated in the text..
"Select the sentence" questions require that you pay close attention to what the prompt is asking you to identify. Be aware of every word used in the ...
directive, and insure that the sentence you select does respond to the direct in every way and on every point.
A detail question is typically seen in the lower level questions, where the prompt ...
directs you to a specific word or line in the passage, and you are asked a question about it.
Most active reading happens at the paragraph level. In order to understand the big picture you will have to understand what ..
each paragraph is doing in the passage / or what is the purpose of each paragraph in the passage, and then understand how they connect, and finally understand the big picture which is also the reason why each paragraph performs each function, and why each paragraph relates /connects to each other in the way they are connecting.
One technique that is essential to doing well on the Reading Comp Questions is ...
engaging in "Active Reading"
Within the reading comprehension section, usually the topic, scope, author's main idea or primary purpose and overall tone is introduced during the ....
first third of the passage. It is also during this section that a hint at the passage's structure and flow is presented. As a result, always read the first third of the passage.
A rare question type on the GRE is called the "high light the Passage", or "select the sentence " question. In this type of question you are asked a question by the prompt and you must ...
highlight the sentence in the passage that answers the question correctly.
When reading the passage you should place yourself in the author's seat and use their line of reasoning. From the broadly stated topic, the author will...
identify the narrower scope. From the defined scope the author will lead you to their purpose for writing the piece and their main idea.
Although you may never find an answer for primary purpose that is exactly what you thought it may be...
if an answer choice provided is not incorrect, then it maybe the answer overall.
Practice: When reading a passage, if you come across a hyphen, often times you can simply ...
ignore the exaggerated or emphasized text , and simply read the rest of the sentence that holds the meat of the sentence.
One major technique to solving the Reading Comp is to pretend that the passage is ...
interesting. If you can make yourself believe that the passage is interesting and fun to read, you have a higher chance of paying close attention, remembering details and answering the questions correctly.
When you are reading actively, you will read at a consistent pace in order to ...
make connections between ideas presented within the text. By doing this your purpose is to gain a good understanding of the passage structure in order to anticipate when ideas are about to be presented, when support will be provided, when concluding ideas will be presented and when major pivots will present themselves. Finally through active reading on the long passages, you want to create a mental summary of the passage, or create snap shots of the big ideas for each paragraph. This way it will be easier for you to locate the sections that contains the answers you are directed to find.
The questions given in the reading comprehension section is designed to test your ability to ascertain the author's purpose and meaning, to consider what inferences can properly be drawn from the passage, to research details in the text, and to understand the ...
meaning of words and the function of sentences in context.
Within the GRE there are questions known as the MAQ or the Multiple Answer Question. Due to its level of difficulty , it has been advised that you leave these till the very end to solve to. This type of question there are only 3 answer choices .. provided ...
offered to you. From these 3 choices the answer could possibly be 1, two of them or all 3.
In a structure question, the best approach is to read the sentence you are being asked about first, then ...
paraphrase or rewrite it in your own words. Next read the sentence directly before the main sentence, and then see how both relates. Be advised that the GRE will use vague language to trick you, so it will not be as black and white as you might assume. Understanding the relationship of the sentence to the passage may be easy, but trying to figure out which answer choice represents this relationship is the hard part.
If the question is difficult, instead of consistently rereading the question over and over again, its best if ...
paraphrase the question into your own words. This is a good method to make sure you understand what is being asked of you.
When an author composes a piece, they specifically choose to include certain pieces of information, while excluding other pieces of information. The information that is presented in the manner that it is presented is a clear indication of the author's ...
purpose and main idea.
When dealing with a long passage, instead of reading the 4-5 paragraphs, it may be beneficial to read the questions first ( which you should always do) and then...
read the first paragraph/introduction so that you understand what the passage s about, next scan the passage to where you think the answer may lie, and finally predict your answer and find it among the answer choices.
READ THE DIRECTIONS FIRST, to better understand how you will be required to ...
respond to the questions. Within the reading comp section, a majority of the questions will be followed by 5 answer choices where there is one correct answer. There is also the Multiple-answer question, where there are 3 answer choices that follow a question. In this situation there is a possibility of 1, 2 or 3 (all) answer choices. These questions are known by the representation of the answer choices. In this type the answer choices letters are placed within brackets.
Within the harder section of the GRE, you may be asked inference questions, where inference questions are ...
statements or implications that can be made based on the information presented in the passage. Similar to the idea of "implications".
A key strategy to doing well in the reading comprehension is to understand the passage's purpose and its ...
structure and tone. Many questions posed will concern how the author organizes or expresses his/her idea.
"Select the sentence" questions require to really understand the ..
structure of the sentence, as well as understand the the function of each sentence in the passage. There are only really two sentences that could be the answer.
While engaging in active reading, you need to take note of structure words that pivot the meaning of what the author is saying or presenting. Generally the overall/big picture meanings are connected to these ...
structure words. These structure words include, but are not limited to, However, nonetheless, although, furthermore, additionally, therefore thus, because, for instance. Identifying these words will help you understand the structure and flow of the passage.
The best approach to doing well in the Verbal Section is to know your strength and weaknesses by ...
taking many test and doing examples. This will help you pace yourself and let you know which problems to focus on first in order to get the easy points, and which ones you should leave for last because you have a large probability of getting them incorrect.
The best way to solve a question such as the Vocab -in-context, is to treat it as a ...
text completion, where you remove the word from the sentence and then see what word you would use to replace it. Then find that word you predicted or one similar to it in DEFINITION.
Its really important that you develop the primary purpose in your own words because ...
the answer choices are designed to distort your thinking to the point that you believe incorrect answers.
During the reading comprehension section, the prompt will try to trick you by wording the correct answer in a way that is difficult to ...
understand. Ex: this is a purposely convoluted response. - Provides evidence against an argument of those opposed to a "gold only" standard. Meaning: This provides evidence against an argument made by those in opposition of the the "gold only" standard.
Another type from the MQA is the Multiple Question Answer Inference question. In this type...
we work similarly as we did with general inference questions. Remember that an inference question is one conclusion that can be supported or created by the evidence produced in the passage. Be aware of extreme conditions and words like .. "All", "Never", "Always"
When dealing with the reading Comprehension section, do not read every read every question in succession and then read the passage. Rather its best if you read one question and then read the passage. It is more important for you to be able to use the question stem to know ...
where to look in researching the passage for details, rather than for you to try use the question as a road map. The purpose of analyzing a question prior to reading the passage is to look for guidance as to the specificity and uniqueness of the answer being sought.
The Primary purpose of the passage really means..
why did the author write the passage/ or what was there intent. The primary purpose usually appears in either in the beginning or the end of a passage. Or its a combination of both the beginning and end.
