GMAT Reading Comprehension Tips: Top 8 DOs and DON’Ts

Reading Comprehension (RC) questions make up roughly one-third of the questions you’ll see on the Verbal section of the GMAT, so knowing how to do well on GMAT Reading Comprehension is an important part of earning a good Verbal score.

Furthermore, although the GMAT Verbal section is composed of about the same number of Reading Comprehension, Sentence Correction, and Critical Reasoning questions, you’ll likely spend a larger portion of your total time on the Verbal section answering RC questions than you will answering other types of Verbal questions.

Thus, without a solid GMAT RC strategy, you may find yourself without enough time to complete the Verbal section without guessing on a number of questions at the end.

In this article, I give you my top 8 GMAT Reading Comprehension tips, including essential dos and don’ts, and strategies for pacing yourself and taking notes when tackling RC questions. But first, let’s review some key facts about GMAT RC and learn about the various RC question types.


GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed to test how carefully you’ve read a passage, whether you understand what you’ve read and can accurately interpret the information given, and whether you can identify relationships between the ideas that are presented in the passage. You can view a sample Reading Comprehension passage and question at the bottom of this page.

With that in mind, let’s review some key facts about Reading Comprehension on the GMAT.


As you may know, the GMAT Verbal section consists of a total of 36 multiple-choice questions that you have 65 minutes to complete. Those questions are a mix of Reading Comprehension, Sentence Correction (SC), and Critical Reasoning (CR) that can appear in any sequence and in a roughly even split. So, each of those 3 types of questions will make up about a third of the questions you see in the Verbal section. For RC, that means you’re likely to see 4 passages, each of which typically has 3 or 4 questions associated with it. Thus, on the Verbal Section of the GMAT, you’ll likely see 12 to 14 Reading Comprehension questions.


The GMAT presents Reading Comprehension questions in a split-screen format, with the passage presented in its entirety on the left side of the screen and the questions about the passage presented one at a time on the right side. So, while you will be able to see the passage at all times as you answer Reading Comprehension questions, you will see the questions associated with the passage one at a time. Even though multiple questions are associated with a single RC passage, the same rules that apply to other GMAT question types apply to RC questions: You cannot view the next question until you’ve submitted an answer to the question in front of you, and you cannot go back to a previous question, even if it’s associated with a passage you’re still working on.


RC passages are classified as either “short” or “long.” Short passages are generally made up of 2 to 3 paragraphs and fewer than 50 lines, for a total of about 200 to 250 words, although occasionally a short passage may be just 1 paragraph. Typically, short passages are accompanied by 3 questions. Long passages are generally made up of 3 to 4 paragraphs and more than 50 lines, for a total of more than 300 words, although occasionally a long passage may be 2 paragraphs. Typically, long passages are accompanied by 4 questions.


The subject matter of RC passages encompasses the humanities, social sciences, business, and the physical and biological sciences. So, you may see passages discussing art, music, film, literature, human rights, international law, history, economics, politics, sociology, medicine, health care, astronomy, technology, philosophy, physics, biology, or chemistry, to name a few topics.

Fortunately, you do not need to have any specialized subject knowledge in order to understand RC passages or answer RC questions. In other words, you don’t need to be Socrates to interpret an RC passage discussing philosophy, or have a background in international law to answer questions about an RC passage discussing that topic, or have taken an astronomy course in college to be able to answer questions on a passage about astronomy just as accurately as you could answer questions on a passage about the subject that was your college major. All of the information you need to answer RC questions is contained within the passage that is presented to you. No outside facts or figures, unprovided dates, or expertise in a particular area is required. RC passages are NOT subject tests; they’re tests of your ability to understand and interpret what you read.

Now that we’ve covered the “ABCs” of GMAT Reading Comprehension, let’s learn how to identify the 6 types of RC questions and what each question asks you to do.


The GMAT features 6 different general categories of RC questions (in no particular order):

• Main Idea
• Supporting Idea
• Inference
• Application
• Logical Structure
• Style

Of course, you won’t be told which type of question you’re being presented with when you see one, but each question type tends to use particular words or phrases that will alert you to what it’s asking you to do. Knowing the 6 main RC question types will help you learn what to look out for when reading RC passages, a key skill for efficiently finding correct answers to RC questions. Let’s look at what each question type tests.


Main idea questions test your ability to identify the primary purpose or main point of a passage. In other words, a main idea question is concerned with the “macro” of the passage, not the “micro” or details. This is the most common type of Reading Comprehension question on the GMAT. In fact, you will likely see a main idea question for each RC passage you encounter.

Some common ways a main idea question might be phrased are as follows:

“The passage is primarily concerned with”

“The main point of the passage is”

“The primary purpose of the passage is to”

“In the passage, the author is primarily interested in”

“The author’s central thesis in the passage is”

“The passage can be described as which of the following?”

“Which of the following statements most accurately captures the central idea of the passage?”

“Which of the following most accurately summarizes the main idea of the passage?”

As I’ll discuss later, since main idea questions are so common in GMAT RC, being able to identify the main point or purpose of a passage is an important part of GMAT RC strategy.


Unlike main idea questions, supporting idea questions ask you to focus on key details or facts in a passage. Your job is to notice specific pieces of information that are explicitly stated in the passage. Your job is not to find something implied or use outside facts you happen to know to answer the question. For instance, a supporting idea question on a passage about providing clean drinking water to people in Sub-Saharan Africa might list 5 ways to provide the water and ask you to choose the one that was not mentioned in the passage (the other 4 will be explicitly stated in the passage). Whether all 5 are possible ways of providing clean water in real life does not matter; what matters is what is actually stated in the passage.

Some common ways that supporting idea questions may start off are as follows:

“All of the following are mentioned as … EXCEPT:”

“The author mentions all of the following as … EXCEPT:”

“According to the passage …”

“According to the passage, which of the following is true of …

“According to the passage, each of the following is true of … EXCEPT:”

“The passage asserts which of the following about …”


An inference is an unwritten conclusion that must be true based on the information given in a passage. So, when an RC question asks about an inference, it is not asking about something that is explicitly stated in the passage. Rather, it is asking about something implied. When presented with an inference question, your job is to find the answer that conveys something that must be true, given what the passage says, yet at the same time is unwritten by the author. Inferences are not the same as assumptions, which present new information that isn’t in the passage. An inference can be derived from the information already given in the passage. Being able to recognize the difference between an assumption and an inference can help you avoid falling for a common trap in inference questions. Some of the ways an inference question may appear are as follows:

“It can be inferred from the passage that …”

“The passage suggests that if …”

“The passage suggests that which of the following …”

“The author implies that …”

“It can be inferred that the author of the passage believes that …”

“From the passage, it can be inferred that that the author would agree with …”

“Which of the following can be inferred from the passage regarding …”

“It can be inferred that which of the following is true …”

Since inferences are not explicitly stated, you can’t specifically look for them in a passage, so your understanding of the implications of what the author is saying will be key in answering inference questions.


Application questions ask you to apply information from the passage to a context that is outside of the passage. Often, your job will be to identify an example or situation that is analogous to something in the passage, to determine whether the author would agree or disagree with a statement, recommendation, or belief not stated in the passage, or to recognize the similarity between a relationship or idea discussed in the passage and one not discussed in the passage. For example, let’s say a passage describes a symbiotic relationship between two organisms; an application question might ask you to identify the answer choice that presents some other mutually beneficial relationship that has nothing to do with organisms, maybe a relationship within an economic system or between parts of a machine. So, your ability to grasp relationships, make connections, and understand the author’s opinions, sentiments, and motivations will help you answer application questions. Some common ways that application questions may appear are as follows:

“The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about …”

“The author of the passage would be most likely to disagree with which of the following statements about …”

“The author of the passage would be most likely to make which of the following recommendations to …”

“The passage suggests that the author of the passage believes which of the following?”

“The relationship between … is most similar to which of the following?”


Logical structure questions ask you to analyze the function and purpose of key elements in a passage. For example, you might be asked to determine the purpose of a piece of information, a term used, a sentence, a paragraph, or a quote, to name a few examples. Does the element in question compare and contrast two theories? Refute an idea? Define a concept? Present a plan of action and discuss potential outcomes? Offer a solution to a problem? You also may be asked to identify strengths and weaknesses of the argument laid out in the passage or assumptions made by the author. Some common ways that logical structure questions appear are as follows:

“The purpose of the last paragraph of the passage is to”

“Which of the following best describes the purpose of the highlighted sentence?”

“The author of the passage mentions … in order to help explain which of the following?”

“Which of the following most accurately describes the organization of the passage?”

“Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the author’s conclusion in the first sentence of the third paragraph?”

“Which of the following, if true, would most effectively strengthen the author’s position that …”

“Which of the following, if true, would most clearly undermine …

“Which of the following, if true, would most effectively counter the author’s criticism of …”


Style questions ask you to choose an answer choice that best captures some aspect of the author’s opinion or tone. So, your ability to “decode” the author’s word choices in order to assess her attitudes, sentiments, and motivations for writing will be key when answering style questions. Is the author in agreement with someone or something? In disagreement? Is she happy about something? Bothered? Indifferent? If she’s making an argument, how strong is her conviction in that position? Is she approaching an argument from an objective point of view? Is she questioning a finding or belief? Noticing the author’s writing style or tone is an important part of your overall understanding of an RC passage. Of course, your ability to “read between the lines” comes into play here, since the author is highly unlikely to explicitly state in the passage, “I’m happy about X” or “my opinion about XYZ could be easily swayed.” Here are some common ways that style questions may appear:

“The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about …”

“The author of the passage would be most likely to disagree with which of the following statements about …”

“The author of the passage would be most likely to make which of the following recommendations to …”

“The passage suggests that the author of the passage believes which of the following?”

Now that we know how to recognize the most common GMAT RC question types and what they’ll ask us to do, let’s explore my top 8 tips, including key dos and don’ts, for performing well on Reading Comprehension.


Some test-takers like to read the first question that appears alongside a passage before reading the passage itself. I don’t recommend that strategy because what tends to happen is that instead of reading the passage holistically and being prepared for whatever questions come their way, these test-takers read the passage with the goal of finding the answer to the first question. Thus, their overall understanding of the passage suffers and they gloss over key points. In the end, they often spend more time going back to the passage and re-reading than they would have if they had simply read the passage first, without the “blinders” on. Don’t allow the first question to narrow your view, either consciously or subconsciously, of what is important information in a passage. As subsequent questions are presented, you will find that you lack the necessary comprehension to answer them.

Another pitfall of reading the first question before you read the passage is that you may be more tempted to simply skim the passage instead of reading it in its entirety, since you already “know” what the first question is asking you to find. However, you are likely to miss many of the nuances, connections between ideas, and relationships between different parts of the passage if you merely skim. You will probably find it harder to interpret the meaning or function of sentences and be more likely to choose trap choices.

So, to better ensure your understanding of an RC passage and your ability to work through RC questions efficiently, read the passage carefully, in its entirety, before you read the first question.


GMAT students sometimes make the mistake of trying to remember or understand every detail in an RC passage, an unproductive strategy. The fact is, you cannot predict which details the questions associated with the passage will focus on and which details will prove irrelevant. It’s also important to realize that while, yes, RC questions may ask about specific facts or processes mentioned in the passage, your overall understanding of what is being discussed, and why, and how, is the essential foundation on which your knowledge of the passage rests. After all, you can always refer back to the passage to locate a particular fact, idea, or detail, but your understanding of how those relate to other facts, ideas, and details in the passage, or relate to the author’s overall argument or motivation, won’t be sitting there on line 6 of paragraph two. GMAT Reading Comprehension is not testing whether you have a photographic memory for detail — if that were the case, then a passage wouldn’t remain on the screen when it came time to answer the questions. What GMAT RC really tests is whether you’re noticing what is going on in a passage and understanding what you read.

So, when you first read an RC passage, read to basically understand what the author is saying. Notice what type of thing the author is saying. Is she presenting a contrast? Disputing a common belief? Showing how a historical development occurred? Taking that last example, when you do your initial read through, you don’t need to then be able to repeat back exactly how the historical development occurred; you can quickly refer back to the passage if a question asks you about a particular detail related to that. However, you should come away from your initial reading of the passage with an understanding of how the author went about saying what she said, the function of each paragraph, how she chose to present the material. What is the author’s main idea? Were any cause-and-effect claims made in the passage? Problems and their solutions introduced? Contrasting viewpoints expressed? Processes explained?

Do you need to understand every bit of jargon the author uses to explain a particular process, theory, etc., or be able to repeat each step in a process? No. In fact, GMAT RC passages will sometimes attempt to distract you with jargon or dense, complicated detail. Your job is to understand what role the information plays in the passage — why is it there? What function does it perform? Remember, RC is not a subject test. You don’t need knowledge of the topic in a passage, or a complete understanding of every word used in the passage, in order to be able to correctly and efficiently answer all of the questions related to the passage.


As I touched on earlier, main idea questions ask you to take a bird’s-eye view of a passage and identify the main point or primary purpose of a passage. Since you can just about count on 1 main idea question for each RC passage you see on the GMAT, always identifying the main point or primary purpose of a passage when you first read the passage is a wise strategy. How would you summarize what the passage says? What is the author’s overall message?

Many GMAT students fall into the trap of assuming that the main idea of an RC passage will be stated in either the first or last paragraph of the passage. While that is certainly possible, there is no rule that the main idea has to be in the first or the last paragraph. In fact, some trap answers in main idea questions are strongly worded sentences that are directly related to what is said in the first and/or last paragraph but don’t actually articulate the passage’s main idea, although they appear to.

When identifying the main idea, you want to look at the “big picture,” figuratively and literally. If you assume that the main idea is contained within the first or last paragraph, or the first three sentences, or the first sentence of the last paragraph, etc., instead of considering the passage as a whole, you may end up with a limited understanding of the passage. This is another reason why reading the passage thoroughly before you start reading the questions is a good idea. You don’t want to be influenced by the phrasing or word choices in RC answers, and thus misinterpret the passage or mistakenly home in on certain sentences in the passage that are not as relevant as an answer choice makes them seem. An incorrect choice may use words that are identical to words in the passage, in order to direct your attention away from what is actually the main idea while making you think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Similarly, an incorrect choice might focus on a concept that is mentioned frequently in the passage but isn’t actually the main idea. Thus, it’s smart to identify for yourself what the overall point of a passage is before the GMAT’s deceptive answer choices attempt to misdirect you or narrow your view.

So, when you do your initial read-through of an RC passage, quickly identify what you think is the main point or primary purpose of the passage. Of course, your initial impression is not set in stone; you can always refer back to the passage as you’re deciding between answer choices in a main idea (or any other) question.