GMAT Club's Reading Comprehension Strategy Guide

Reading Comprehension Tips, Resources, Materials, Books, and Strategies

RC is one of the hardest areas to improve and probably the most challenging of all sections. I hope this thread will be a starting point for RC improvement and also a place to swap strategies/tips, and ask RC-specific questions.


RC Resources Available:

• Rhyme's "How to Destroy Reading Comprehension" Strategy - Recommended!
• Gin's RC Strategy (downloadable Doc File)
• Official Guide 2024 - 2025 Edition
• Manhattan GMAT RC - part of the MGMAT Verbal book along with the CR
• PowerScore RC Bible - contains a section on RC - not much RC practice though - just a few passages
• LSAT RC - this is really HARD and is used very rarely, but I thought I'd give you a full picture
• GMAT Fiction - a collection of fiction books to help (esp. non-native speakers) master the RC section.
• review of Aristotle's RC99 - by rishiraj

Reading Comprehension Strategy Overview:


Option 1. Read the entire passage very carefully first.




Option 2. Skim the passage - Not Recommended



Option 3. Nightblade's Reading Strategy




General RC Tips

1. Always read the First and Last sentence more carefully no matter what. GMAT passages are very structured and the first stence will always contain the main idea and set the tone.
2. Watch for trigger words such as "but, however, still, regardless, nevertheless, although" and others
3. Always ask yourself why the author put this example here
4. Pretend that you are very interested in the reading material or another option is to play a game with the author and try to prove the author wrong - pick at every word
5. Always know what the main idea of the passage is, even if the questions are not asking for it
6. It helps to know the vocabulary but you can make it - as long as you know all of the tone and general words, you will be able to tell author's direction. Specifics may not matter, though again, I have found that good vocabulary helps on RC
7. Do whatever it takes to help you read/remember the passage better - write summary notes (even if you never go back to them), paraphrase each paragraph or even sentence, etc.

Common RC Traps and Pitfalls:

• More often than not, the most typical second best answer choice on the RC will be out of scope. I found it quite amusing and made a game out of it (I know, I am a bit over the top with RC but it was the hardest section for me to master). After a while, I can very quickly (i.e. immediately) pick out an answer choice that goes outside of the scope of the passage as a general question (purpose/title/etc) or even a more specific one.
  
• Another catch/trap you will see quite a bit is reliance on "trigger" words. For example, the passage will spend 2-3 sentences on one point and then at the end will flip it with a "but", "however", or another "trigger" word. This is designed to catch those who skim/skip or don't read attentively and is really a big reason to read the passage attentively (in my view) vs. just rushing through it. For example, a passage may talk about how the number of accidents has been growing and that many people have been injured in the last year in car accidents and at the end, say "but death rates have declined" and an example of a trap would be an answer choice that would say "Injuries and fatalities are rising as the result of car accidents."
  
• Finally a more subtle way to get many of us to pick the wrong answer choice is making the text very heavy fact-based with long complex words and terminology, which distracts from the simple task of analyzing the passage and asking why each sentence is put where it is put. Sometimes, you can get to the answer by just looking at why a certain sentence is in a certain spot. However, most focus on facts, understanding/remembering which minerals or microbes live in which environment, etc. The facts and dry details are there not to test your memory/knowledge of the subject but rather to distract and not let you see the passage structure clearly.

!

Newbie Mistakes with RC 1. Not following a strategy or changing it on the test - biggest issue 2. Poor English vocabulary/skills - if you don't know what you are reading, how do you expect to answer the questions? 3. Taking too much time to answer each question 4. Having to re-read the passage multiple times

Option 3: "The Backwards Reading Comprehension Strategy" by Spiridon
Source: https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-gmat-rea ... 72189.html


I
Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunities—as well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.

II
Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980’s is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small company’s efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.

III
A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as “fronts” with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.

IV
Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becoming—and remaining—dependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.


Notes:

• I intro-civil rights activists-access-congress-money-fed n local agencies-percentages
• II big corp response-increase 72-77- risks for minors-expanding-fixed costs-morale-financial
• III second risk-joint ventures-sometimes legit-sometimes not
• IV minority-danger-dependent-example-single benefactor

You can take more or less detailed notes its up to you. Notes act as a compass to retrieve and organize information fast.


Now try questions (IMPORTANT) but read them upside-down as well starting from E D C B A marking off the obvious wrong choices, when you narrow down choices to 2 pick one and proceed

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies(B) describe a situation and its potential drawbacks(C) propose a temporary solution to a problem(D) analyze a frequent source of disagreement(E) explore the implications of a finding

2. The passage supplies information that would answer which of the following questions?

(A) What federal agencies have set percentage goals for the use of minority-owned businesses in public works contracts?(B) To which government agencies must businesses awarded federal contracts report their efforts to find minority subcontractors?(C) How widespread is the use of minority-owned concerns as “fronts” by White backers seeking to obtain subcontracts?(D) How many more minority-owned businesses were there in 1977 than in 1972?(E) What is one set of conditions under which a small business might find itself financially overextended?

3. According to the passage, civil rights activists maintain that one disadvantage under which minority-owned businesses have traditionally had to labor is that they have

(A) been especially vulnerable to governmental mismanagement of the economy(B) been denied bank loans at rates comparable to those afforded larger competitors(C) not had sufficient opportunity to secure business created by large corporations(D) not been able to advertise in those media that reach large numbers of potential customers(E) not had adequate representation in the centers of government power

4. The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might cause it to

(A) experience frustration but not serious financial harm(B) face potentially crippling fixed expenses(C) have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government(D) increase its spending with minority subcontractors(E) revise its procedure for making bids for federal contracts and subcontracts

5. The author implies that a minority-owned concern that does the greater part of its business with one large corporate customer should

(A) avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expanding(B) concentrate on securing even more business from that corporation(C) try to expand its customer base to avoid becoming dependent on the corporation(D) pass on some of the work to be done for the corporation to other minority-owned concerns(E) use its influence with the corporation to promote subcontracting with other minority concerns

6. It can be inferred from the passage that, compared with the requirements of law, the percentage goals set by “some federal and local agencies” (lines 14-15) are

(A) more popular with large corporations(B) more specific(C) less controversial(D) less expensive to enforce(E) easier to comply with

7. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author’s assertion that, in the 1970’s, corporate response to federal requirements (lines 18-19) was substantial

(A) Corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses totaled $2 billion in 1979.(B) Between 1970 and 1972, corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses declined by 25 percent.(C) The figures collected in 1977 underrepresented the extent of corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses.(D) The estimate of corporate spending with minority-owned businesses in 1980 is approximately $10 million too high.(E) The $1.1 billion represented the same percentage of total corporate spending in 1977 as did $77 million in 1972.

8. The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?

(A) Annoyed by the proliferation of “front” organizations, corporations are likely to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the near future.(B) Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970’s, their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.(C) The significant response of corporations in the 1970’s is likely to be sustained and conceivably be increased throughout the 1980’s.(D) Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970’s made substantial response impossible.(E) The enormous corporate response has all but eliminated the dangers of over-expansion that used to plague small minority-owned businesses

Answers: https://gmatclub.com/forum/minority-own ... 85600.html

Other Resources:

RC Keywords
Keyword glossary with synonyms
General tips
Reading critically in action (You Tube)
List of all RC Tones (maybe overboard)
Massive Collection of YouTube videos about GMAT RC
https://gmatclub.com/forum/guide-to-rea ... 21112.html