Zollege is here for to help you!!
Need Counselling
GMAT logo

Reading Comprehension Question Types, Strategies, Books, and Samples

Overview es 2Reading ComprehensionRegistrationOverview en 2Preparation TipsPractice PaperResultCut offmock testNewsQ&A
Sayantani Barman's profile photo

Sayantani Barman

Experta en el extranjero | Updated On - Jan 24, 2023

Reading Comprehension is part of the GMAT Verbal section which consists of a total of 36 questions. There are three to four passages in GMAT Reading Comprehension which have multiple choice questions. Each Reading Comprehension consists of 9-16 comprehension questions. For attempting GMAT reading comprehension, candidates can improve through practice. Any improvement in GMAT reading comprehension is going to require a lot of hours of work. GMAT Passage would include three short passages and one long passage in general. The GMAT Syllabus can be distributed roughly into three common categories including Business, Science, and History. GMAT Online is available for candidates to take GMAT from home for safety measures.

GMAT Reading Comprehension Overview 

Reading Comprehension passages take advantage when students encounter unfamiliar words. It can be a real blow to confidence, making them question whether they can complete the task at hand. Practice can help candidates learn some of the jargon associated with weaker areas. Candidates can also go through GMAT Syllabus to help them understand the exam better. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions. Reading Comprehension passage would require you to do the following:

  1. Understanding the words and statements
  2. Identify the relationships between ideas and concepts logically
  3. Drawing inferences
  4. Pointing out flaws in assumptions and reasoning
  5. Understanding the concepts of quant and follow it in writing

Reading Comprehension Question Types 

GMAT Comprehension questions requires candidates to understand the given passage and encounter certain questions. The questions are of the following types which candidates would find while attempting this section:

  1. Main Idea
  2. Supporting ideas and details
  3. Inferences
  4. Out-of-Context
  5. Logical structure and organization
  6. Style and tone

GMAT Reading Comprehension Strategies 

The reading comprehension questions on the GMAT are designed to understand, analyze, and apply information and concepts presented in written form. Candidates can follow the below GMAT reading comprehension tips:

  • Understand words and statements provided - Candidates need to summarize the given passage or evaluate the overall purpose in the given passage. Candidates’ response is analyzed in terms of recognising whether they have been able to identify the central theme or idea of the passage without getting into details of the subject.
  • Identify logical relationships between ideas and concepts - The supporting ideas and details in the GMAT reading comprehension passage requires candidates to focus on facts of the passage. The candidates are required to notice the explicit ideas and details within the passage. These questions focus on analyzing how much the candidate is able to understand the words and statements given in the passage.
  • Draw inferences from the passage - GMAT Comprehension based on inference is typically an unwritten conclusion that needs to be true and relevant to the given passage. The inference question type does not require to state explicitly something from the passage. It requires the candidates to answer about what is implied through the statement. Candidates must learn how to derive inference from the passage before answering the question. There are GMAT reading comprehension free pdf download available online for candidates to practise.
  • Point out flaws in assumption and reasoning - Out-of-context questions ask candidates to apply information from the passage to a different context. They often ask to identify a parallel situation or analogous example. These types of GMAT Reading Comprehension examples includes a question type where candidates need to apply information that is not from the passage. Accordingly, from the given passage, candidates need to identify relationships of ideas and find similarity with information that is not in the passage.

The following examples of the GMAT reading comprehension question could be found in the exam:

  1. The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about…
  2. The author of the passage would be most likely to disagree with which of the following statements about…
  3. The relationship between…is most similar to which of the following?
  • GMAT RC Logical structure and organization - GMAT Reading Comprehension passages include questions based on the logical structure. Candidates need to analyze the function and purpose of the key elements. These are based on evaluating the purpose of the information given in the passage based on a sentence, a term or a paragraph. The questions which are included in the GMAT RC passage for logical structure type of questions are the following:
  1. The purpose of the last paragraph of the passage is to
  2. Which of the following best describes the purpose of the highlighted sentence?
  3. Which of the following, if true, would most clearly undermine…
  • GMAT Reading Comprehension Style and tone - GMAT Passage includes style questions which require candidates to choose an answer which best suits the author’s opinion from the passage. Candidates need to identify the tone of the author in the passage and accordingly, determine the correct choice of answers. This implies the ability of the candidate to decode the attitude or emotions of the author in the passage.

Best Book for GMAT Reading Comprehension

GMAT Reading Comprehension books are considered the best study material for GMAT RC strategy. The following are the best GMAT preparation books for practicing different GMAT passages. These books contains GMAT reading comprehension passages with answers, RC strategy GMAT, and more. 

There are several books containing GMAT Reading Comprehension questions that the candidates can use like:

  • Manhattan Reading Comprehension GMAT
  • Reading Comprehension GMAT Preparation Guide Manhattan Prep
  • Aristotle GMAT Reading Comprehension
  • GMAT Official Guide 2021 – Check PDF
  • Manhattan Prep GMAT – All the Verbal – Check PDF
  • Kaplan GMAT Prep Plus – Check PDF
  • McGraw Hill’s GMAT Practice Test – Check PDF

Approach to GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions

Considering that there are several types of RC questions GMAT which candidates need to answer for which it is important for them to follow effective strategies. Effectively, approaching the GMAT RC passage should include active planning and certain strategies which could be undertaken by the candidates for attempting this section. GMAT Reading Comprehension strategies would help students to enhance their GMAT Preparation. The following GMAT RC strategy can be considered effectively by the candidates:

  1. GMAT Reading Comprehension practise: Considering that GMAT RC passages in which candidates require a bit longer time. Accordingly, candidates need to ensure that they are able to undertake active practice for their GMAT Reading Comprehension
  2. Watch for transition Words and Phrases: candidates can consider focusing on the transition words including cause and effect, agreeing upon the same argument, adding evidence, contrast or opposition, conclusion.
  3. Abbreviate jargon: it is important that candidates are able to abbreviate jargon and make a mental map of their technical term.
  4. Make a Mental Summary: While reading the passages it is important to make a mental summary. Candidates must consider the important points in GMAT RC questions notice the key ideas and find relationships and concepts.

Read More Reading Comprehension Passage Samples

GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Papers 

In order to ace their GMAT Reading Comprehension and achieve a higher GMAT Score, it is important for candidates to undertake that GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice. GMAT RC practice is important for candidates to enhance their abilities in successfully attempting the GMAT RC passages. With the help of the 1000 GMAT RC practice papers it is possible for the candidates to actively prepare for the exam.

A few GMAT reading comprehension practice free PDFs are given provided below:

The way to make the most possible improvement in GMAT Reading Comprehension is to use these categories. Candidates can use them to recognize and break down the sources of your current errors and try to continually address those issues. Above all, the most important strategy for approaching the passages is to always read with the main idea in mind. Whether the author is making an argument or simply laying out information, there will always be a main idea that governs the passage’s content and organization. Candidates should use GMAT Practice papers to improve their possibility of a much higher score.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

Ask your question

Answered Questions

BS

Bhavya Singh

18 Mar 21ISB Hyderabad

Several factors affect the chance of a candidate getting a seat in ISB Hyderabad. Not only the GMAT score, but also the application profile, essays, and performance in the interview combined together decides whether a candidate should get a seat or not in such an elite institute. The points listed below are some important aspects to consider for admission to such institutes.

  • There is no fixed cut-off for ISB Hyderabad, as declared by the institute. There are examples of people with a GMAT score of 720 not getting a seat from the interviews. On the other hand, there are candidates with a score of 700-710 but are successful in getting a seat in ISB Hyderabad.
  • GMAT score is not the only criteria for getting a seat, but the door to get an interview call. The quality of essays written by the candidate, his/her application/ profile, and the performance in the interviews are also considered.
  • For candidates with an average profile, a GMAT score of 720+, along with a complete application and a good essay can be considered to have high chances to receive an interview call. After having a call, the rest depends on how the candidate will perform in his/her interview.

This is the overall scenario for admission in ISB Hyderabad, for a student with an average profile.


MN

Mahak Nigam

30 Jun 22Master of Business Administration Degrees & Finance, Aditya Institute of Management Studies and Research

More than 140 Business Schools in India accept GMAT scores. Here is a list of popular B-School that accept GMAT scores.

IIM Ahmedabad (PGPX) IIM Bangalore (EPGP) IIM Calcutta (PGPEx)
IIM Indore (EPGP) IIM Kozhikode (EPGP) IIM Lucknow (IPMAX)
XLRI Jamshedpur MDI Gurgaon IMT Ghaziabad
IIFT Delhi FMS Deli ISB Hyderabad/Mohali

Many other reputed B-School across the country also accept GMAT scores.


AV

Arvind Verma

30 Jun 22Studied at Indian School of Business

ISB Hyderabad accepts both examination scores. So, you can opt for either of GMAT or GRE. Your chances of selection or rejection will remain the same. Go through the examination pattern and syllabus and choose the one in which you feel that you will be able to score better. Ultimately having a good score is what matters during admission. As per the recent trends, ISB Hyderabad cutoff for GMAT is 600, while for GRE it is 311. 


AS

Aditi Sen

12 May 21PGDM from Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad (2019)

There are many business schools in India that require GMAT scores at the time of admission.

Some of the top business schools with requiring GMAT scores in India are:

Institute Name

GMAT Score

ISB, Hyderabad & Mohali

730 or higher

S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai

550

IIM Ahmedabad

711

School of Management, NMIMS Mumbai

600

IIM Bangalore

710

Great Lakes Institute of Management

600

IIM Calcutta

701

XLRI Jamshedpur

710

IIM Lucknow

680

IMT (All campuses)

720

IIM Indore

700

ICFAI Business School (Hyderabad & Mumbai)

700

IIM Kozhikode

700

A few other institutes include - MDI Gurgaon, FMS Delhi, Sunstone Business School Noida, ISB Indore, and more.


NM

Nishad JK Makol

10 Mar 23PGDM Marketing & Consulting, S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (2017)

I see that you already have more than 50 months of work experience. My suggestion for anyone with such work experience is to opt for the 1-year PGPM Program rather than the 2-year PGDM Program. Keep working for another year and earn your fee for the 1-year program. This way you will save time. Money and even be spared from investing additional efforts when the same could be done in lesser time. The cutoff for both the programs is

Program

Cutoff

PGPM

660

PGDM

85 Percentile