{"id":6951,"date":"2011-04-20T12:23:12","date_gmt":"2011-04-20T20:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=6951"},"modified":"2011-04-18T12:24:19","modified_gmt":"2011-04-18T20:24:19","slug":"gmat-reading-vs-everyday-reading-what-makes-gmat-passages-tricky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/gmat-reading-vs-everyday-reading-what-makes-gmat-passages-tricky\/","title":{"rendered":"GMAT Reading vs. Everyday Reading: What Makes GMAT Passages Tricky?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you've started studying for the GMAT, you know that reading passages on the GMAT is very different from reading \"normal\" things--novels, newspaper articles, magazines, blogs. Check out our first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/gmat\/verbal-guide\/2011\/02\/14\/gmat-reading-vs-everyday-reading?preview=true&amp;preview_id=12137&amp;preview_nonce=56da06f56f\">GMAT Reading vs. Everyday Reading<\/a> blog post for more.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking to enhance your GMAT Reading Comprehension skills, the best things you can do for yourself are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Understand what exactly makes GMAT passages tricky<\/li>\n<li> Develop strategies for processing complex information, so that you can attack the questions efficiently<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, what can you expect on the GMAT? How are GMAT passages structured differently from normal prose?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-1.jpg\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13416 aligncenter\" title=\"Slide 1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"547\" height=\"263\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">On the GMAT, you shouldn't necessarily expect arguments to be concise or neatly summarized. In fact, the test-makers will often intentionally try to confuse you by providing passages that ramble or contain insignificant details.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Let\u2019s take a look at how this works in a GMAT passage. Here\u2019s an example (pay close attention to how each bit of information is related to the passage as a whole):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13411 aligncenter\" title=\"Slide 2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"509\" height=\"379\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The passage above begins with a main point and some supporting information. Then, there's a digression -- the  \"support of the support\" -- before the passage returns to the main idea.<\/p>\n<p>Keeping this structure in mind, how can we adjust our reading on the GMAT?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-3.jpg\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-31.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13425\" title=\"Slide 3\" src=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-31.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"533\" height=\"258\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Being able to distinguish between the main idea of the passage and the supporting details will help you increase accuracy and save time on Reading Comprehension.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-4.jpg\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-41.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13418\" title=\"Slide 4\" src=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-41.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"519\" height=\"213\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Practice finding the main idea in different types of GMAT passages. That way, on test day, you won't waste time with superfluous details!<\/p>\n<p>To review:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-5.jpg\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-51.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13422\" title=\"Slide 5\" src=\"https:\/\/www.knewton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Slide-51.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"529\" height=\"303\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nIn short, it\u2019s natural to feel like you\u2019re \u201cfighting an uphill battle\u201d with GMAT reading comprehension passages. The key is to keep your calm and employ the reading strategies described above.<\/p>\n<p>Good luck on the test!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve started studying for the GMAT, you know that reading passages on the GMAT is very different from reading &#8220;normal&#8221; things&#8211;novels, newspaper articles, magazines, blogs. Check out our first&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,243,720,735],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-blog","category-reading-comprehension-gmat","category-verbal-gmat-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6952,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6951\/revisions\/6952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}