<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>GMAT Reading Comprehension Skills – GMAT</title> <atom:link href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/tag/gmat-reading-comprehension-skills/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat</link> <description>GMAT Prep Course, Best GMAT Class & Study Books | Manhattan Prep GMAT</description> <lastBuildDate>Fri, 22 Nov 2019 15:39:27 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2</generator> <item> <title>How to Review a GMAT Reading Comprehension Question</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-review-a-gmat-reading-comprehension-question/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 31 Oct 2019 13:59:35 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Reading Comprehension Skills]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gmat-reading-comprehension]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=18256</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Reviewing a GMAT Reading Comprehension question is similar to reviewing a Critical Reasoning problem. Just as with Critical Reasoning, not all RC problems are equally important to review. The most important problems to add to your ‘review later’ list are the ones that were just a bit too hard. Feel free to set aside the […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-review-a-gmat-reading-comprehension-question/">How to Review a GMAT Reading Comprehension Question</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reviewing a GMAT Reading Comprehension question is similar to </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-review-a-gmat-critical-reasoning-problem/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reviewing a Critical Reasoning problem</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Just as with Critical Reasoning, not all RC problems are equally important to review. The most important problems to add to your ‘review later’ list are the ones that were </span><b>just a bit too hard</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Feel free to set aside </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-get-a-nearly-perfect-score-on-the-gmat/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the 800-level problems for now</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but spend some extra time on the ones you </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">almost</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> got right. That’s where you’ll learn the most right now. </span></p> <p><span id="more-18256"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whenever you finish a set of GMAT Reading Comp practice questions, set them aside for a few minutes (or a day), then look over them again. Ideally, do this before you’ve even checked your answers: not knowing the right answer immediately will force you to deeply consider all of the answer choices. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Start your review by just doing the problem again. Take as much or as little time as you want. If you’re reviewing a tough Detail question, you can also go back and highlight or underline details in the passage. You might end up changing your mind about the answer, or you might end up convincing yourself that your original answer was right. You may also end up unsure about the right answer, even once you spend more time with the problem. In that case, check the right answer </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">first</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, before you read the explanation. See if you can come up with a theory, before you read the explanation, for why that answer was right. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you’ve looked over the question a second time, it’s time to decide what you want to remember. You won’t see that exact problem on the test, but the GMAT uses the same types of passages, questions, right answers, and wrong answers across many problems. Here’s how to take notes in a way that will help you approach similar problems on test day.</span></p> <h3><b>Taking Review Notes on a GMAT Reading Comp Question</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The majority of GMAT Reading Comp questions can be described as either </span><b>general</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or </span><b>specific</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. General questions might ask you about the main idea or the purpose of an entire passage, or perhaps about a paragraph or two within the passage. Getting these right relies on doing a few things successfully:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Figuring out which parts of the passage are major points, and which parts are supporting details (and how they fit together to make a single broad point)</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Confidently eliminating wrong answers that somehow don’t match the overall passage</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you review a </span><b>general</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> question, take another look at the passage or paragraph first. You may want to jot down how long you spent reading the passage; if you read the passage slowly, spend some time thinking about which parts of the passage </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/what-not-to-read-on-reading-comprehension-passages/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">you could have safely ignored</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and why. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The right answer to a general question is right because, according to the GMAT, it correctly summarizes the main points. Once you know the right answer to a question you’re reviewing, locate those main points in the passage, and note how the details in the passage support those points. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Each time you do this, you may learn something new about how to spot the main idea while reading a passage. If anything stands out to you on reviewing the passage, take some quick notes. Here are some examples of what your notes could look like, depending on the passage and the specific problem: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The main idea is basically stated verbatim at the end of the first paragraph!</span></i></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">First paragraph introduces a surprise, then the other paragraphs each explain in different ways why it isn’t so surprising after all. So, the main idea will hit those two points: there’s an apparent surprise, but it isn’t really a surprise.</span></i></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><i>If something isn’t mentioned until the last paragraph, then it probably isn’t the main idea, even if it feels like a “conclusion.” </i></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then, look at the answers. Make sure you can fully explain why each wrong answer is wrong. Some of them may be obvious to you; focus your note-taking on the wrong answers that </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">aren’t</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> obvious, especially if you picked one of them! </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Each time you make yourself think (and take notes) about why a wrong answer is wrong, you’re learning to recognize and avoid that type of wrong answer. Even if you didn’t fall for it this time, you’ll still be better prepared on test day.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are some common reasons to eliminate an answer while doing a general Reading Comp problem: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b><i>Too specific</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: only part of the passage discusses this issue</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b><i>Too general</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: the passage only discusses one aspect or example of this issue, not the general issue</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b><i>Too judgy</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: the wrong answer uses a word like </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">argues</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">disagrees</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">contrasts</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">proves</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, etc., while the passage itself is more neutral. </span></li> </ul> <h3><b>Taking Notes on a Specific Detail or Inference Questions</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Detail questions on the GMAT all have something in common, whether they ask you to identify something that the passage says, or something that the passage only implies. Either way, the right answer </span><b>must be a statement you can prove by only using information from the passage. </b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the case of a Detail question, the right answer should be more or less written in the passage somewhere. When reviewing, your first job is to hunt down the “proof” for the right answer. If there’s anything surprising about the proof or how it relates to the right answer, write that in your notes! Did you miss it or misinterpret it? If so, how and why? Knowing what caused you to eliminate a correct answer erroneously will help you refine your own process. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then, look at the wrong answers. Be able to explain why each one is wrong. If any of them were remarkable or surprising to you, especially if you picked one of those, take some notes. Many Reading Comp questions have wrong answers that are wrong for predictable, consistent reasons. (For instance, it’s very common for there to be a wrong answer that uses language similar to that used in the passage, but that has the opposite meaning from the passage itself.) Jot down anything you learned about why an answer might be wrong. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you got the question wrong, figure out two things: what drew you to that particular wrong answer, and what kept you from picking the right answer. This might be something as simple as a misreading (or even not reading that answer choice at all!). But, it could also teach you something about the types of mistakes you tend to make. Anything you learn, write it down for later review.</span></p> <h3><b>Long-term Reading Comp Review</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now you’ve completed a set of Reading Comp questions and you’ve achieved a full understanding of how to read each passage and answer each question. You have some notes written down about what made the right answers right, what made the wrong answers wrong, and how to avoid mistakes next time. Here’s the next step. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A couple of times per week, simply glance over your whole problem log, containing all of your notes on RC problems you’ve done in the past. Do this when you have a few minutes of spare time. There’s no need to redo the problems when you do this. All you’re doing is re-exposing yourself to the notes you’ve taken and taking note of any patterns that stand out, and maybe thinking about which problems you’d most like to redo next.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once a week (if you’re focusing heavily on RC), or just occasionally (if RC is less of a priority), go back into your problem log and actually redo the problems you’ve reviewed. Use a timer, and avoid looking at the answer immediately. Did you get them right the second time? That’s strong evidence that you’ve internalized the lessons from those problems. Did you miss them again? That’s data as well: you now know that you should do some more problems of that same type, or revisit the corresponding chapter(s) in the </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/GMAT-All-Verbal-definitive-Manhattan/dp/1506249043"><span style="font-weight: 400;">All the Verbal guide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h4>Want some more GMAT review tips? Check out these posts.</h4> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-review-a-gmat-critical-reasoning-problem/">How to Review a GMAT Critical Reasoning Problem</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-review-a-data-sufficiency-question/">How to Review a GMAT Data Sufficiency Problem</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-review-a-sentence-correction-question/">How to Review a GMAT Sentence Correction Question</a></li> </ul> <p><b><i>Don’t forget that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free. We’re not kidding! <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/">Check out our upcoming courses here</a>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" data-pin-nopin="true" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> </em></i></b><i><em>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170Q/170V on the GRE. <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/336"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-review-a-gmat-reading-comprehension-question/">How to Review a GMAT Reading Comprehension Question</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>How to Improve GMAT Reading Comprehension Skills</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-improve-gmat-reading-comprehension-skills/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stacey Koprince]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 13 Jun 2017 20:13:52 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[For Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Resources]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Study Guide]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How to Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reading Comprehension]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Reading Comprehension Skills]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Improve GMAT Skills]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=13900</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here. I’ve had multiple conversations recently with different students about how to improve GMAT Reading Comprehension skills, and each person had a somewhat different angle or […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-improve-gmat-reading-comprehension-skills/">How to Improve GMAT Reading Comprehension Skills</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-14022" src="//cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/improve-gmat-reading-comprehension-skills-stacey-koprince.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - How to Improve GMAT Reading Comprehension Skills by Stacey Koprince" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/improve-gmat-reading-comprehension-skills-stacey-koprince.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/improve-gmat-reading-comprehension-skills-stacey-koprince-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/improve-gmat-reading-comprehension-skills-stacey-koprince-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/improve-gmat-reading-comprehension-skills-stacey-koprince-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><b><i>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’ve had multiple conversations recently with different students about how to improve GMAT Reading Comprehension skills, and each person had a somewhat different angle or issue going on. I realized, though, that these students all had something in common—and, therefore, there was one particular thing that they all needed to do to get better at RC.</span><span id="more-13900"></span></p> <h4>What <em>is</em> That One Thing?</h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’ve got to give you some background first.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of the students I spoke with were non-native speakers who didn’t do their undergraduate studies in English. Others did attend English-based schools (and some were even native speakers) but their specific programs of study did not involve very much reading. And still others did read a lot of academic material in school…but that was a long time ago now.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Separately (but actually related, it turns out!), we always make fun of how pedantic and boring the Reading Comprehension passages can be. (Though, secretly, I find a lot of them interesting! ?</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Shh, don’t give me away.)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You can take the exact same topic and write about it at any “level” of writing: grade-school level, high-school level, university-level, magazine-story level, casual-email-to-a-friend level, and so on. These different levels or styles are designed to be appropriate for a particular audience, and that determines such features as vocabulary, sentence complexity, and even what I would call “general human interest” level. For example, a general-market magazine demands pieces that are written with a very engaging style of writing—the reader never has time to get bored or be distracted by something else.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Academic writing, by contrast, is a much more formal style, especially as you get up to university-level writing (or even higher). You’ll have more advanced vocabulary, of course, but the differences go well beyond that. It is much more common to employ sentence structures that are used only in writing; nobody would ever speak aloud that way, even in formal speech. And it’s more common to write </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">dense</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> sentences—sentences that pack a whole lot of complexity into a relatively small number of words.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And here’s one more key to the puzzle: Did you know that the test writers don’t write these RC passages specifically for the GMAT? Rather, they cut down and adapt actual academic articles for their test. So this academic material that you may have missed out on in college (or have just not read for a really long time) is literally the exact type of writing that you’re going to see on the GMAT.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As a result, GMAT testers require lots of exposure to and practice with reading at a university level. Some people have a natural advantage in that they regularly read and analyze this type of writing (whether in school or for work). Others, though, don’t or didn’t—or they did but conducted those studies in a language other than English. If this describes you, then you have some work to do to remedy the problem.</span></p> <h4><b>So…I Need to Recreate My College/University Studies?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">No, definitely not. It’s true that this is not going to be a quick fix, but it’s not going to take you 4 years, either. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Depending on your level of (dis)comfort with this kind of academic writing, you may need a solid 3 to 6 months of regular reading in order to build these GMAT Reading Comprehension skills. (This is yet another reason why it’s a good idea to get a head start on your GMAT studies. Don’t leave it till the last minute!)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The good news, though, is that any steps you take to get better at reading on the GMAT will directly (and immeasurably) help you with graduate school as well. That’s not always the case for some things we have to study for the GMAT.</span></p> <h4><b>How Do I Practice This?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Let’s start by identifying sources (ideally free!) that give you access to this kind of material.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I started with </span><a href="https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight: 400;">MIT’s OCW (OpenCourseWare) website</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, where the school lists hundreds of courses available for free. Under Find Courses, I browsed by Topic. I went for Health and Medicine first—that sounded interesting to me. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/263a.png" alt="☺" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I then picked Health and Exercise Science as my Sub-Topic and looked down below at the Results. (Note: it can take a while for Sub-Topics, Specialties, and Results to populate. Just wait a little.)</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-13902" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/sk-410-image-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - How to Improve GMAT Reading Comprehension Skills by Stacey Koprince" width="1516" height="1338" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/sk-410-image-1.png 1516w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/sk-410-image-1-300x265.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/sk-410-image-1-768x678.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/sk-410-image-1-1024x904.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1516px) 100vw, 1516px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’m looking for something at the Undergraduate level and I decided that Food in American History was the kind of topic that might show up on the GMAT.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the page for that course, click on the Readings tab.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-13903" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/sk-410-image-2.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - How to Improve GMAT Reading Comprehension Skills by Stacey Koprince" width="1440" height="826" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/sk-410-image-2.png 1440w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/sk-410-image-2-300x172.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/sk-410-image-2-768x441.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/06/sk-410-image-2-1024x587.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Twinkies! This is definitely the course for me. ?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then, I started scanning for free readings linked on that Readings page. The first one is an article by Marcy Norton entitled “Tasting Empire: Chocolate and the European Internalization of Mesoamerican Aesthetics.” Perfect! (I’m really not sure what that title means. But it sounds GMAT-like!)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Follow that link and it will take you to Dr. Norton’s article. (I’m not giving you the direct link here. Follow my steps above to find it yourself—so that you know how MIT’s website works!)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, go ahead and read the first 3 to 4 paragraphs of her article. Look up any words you don’t know. (Note: The GMAT will be nice to you. It won’t expect you to know any really technical or obscure words. But when you’re reading for a university-level class, you’re just expected to look up and learn any words you don’t know—and that’s exactly what you’re trying to recreate here.)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, you may notice that this article is seriously long—far longer than anything that will show up on the GMAT. Expect that to be the case for all of the academic articles you find. You don’t need to read the article in its entirety (unless you want to). Typically, the introductory material in an article will be most likely to match GMAT-level passages.</span></p> <h4><b>I Read It. Now What?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As you read, jot down a few notes to help you articulate the main ideas and main contrasts. Then try to say (aloud!) or write a summary, in your own words, about what the author is trying to say. Don’t focus in on all of the details—your goal is not just to repeat the content. Pretend you’re talking to a friend and trying to summarize the main points of this really interesting article that you read (but your friend didn’t).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ideally, in fact, find a friend with whom to have these conversations! If you know someone else studying for the GMAT, you two can help each other. If you have a friend or family member who is naturally good at this kind of stuff, that person can also help you to stretch your GMAT Reading Comprehension skills further.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are some other exercises to try:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">— You and your study friend both read the same article, then both summarize in writing. Send your summaries to each other (at the same time!). Where do you agree or say the same things? Where do you disagree—or where do you write about something that your friend doesn’t and vice versa? Then get together to discuss those similarities and differences.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">— You and your already-a-good-reader friend both read the same article, then you summarize the article either in writing or aloud for your friend. S/he tells you where you did a good job of summarizing and where you might have misinterpreted or missed important points.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 60px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">—Variation on the above: your friend does NOT read the article ahead of time. You summarize for your friend (and your friend is allowed to ask questions if confused about anything). Then, your friend reads the article to see whether there are any major discrepancies and tells you what you may have missed or misinterpreted.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you want to get really serious, you might even try taking a course yourself! Many universities and community colleges run continuing education programs with night and weekend classes. Pick a topic that sounds interesting to you and check the syllabus to ensure that there will be both reading and assignments that will require you to analyze that reading to demonstrate your comprehension. </span></p> <h4><b>Any Other Tips?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are some of the other paths that I followed through MIT’s database. This is just a small subset, but these are the kinds of topics that the GMAT tends to use and all have a decent number of appropriate undergraduate-level courses.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TOPIC: Business. Sub-Topics: Business Ethics; Globalization; Leadership; Management.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TOPIC: Health and Medicine. Sub-Topics: Cancer; Health and Exercise Science; Immunology.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TOPIC: Humanities. Sub-Topic: History. Specialty: Any.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TOPIC: Humanities. Sub-Topic: Literature. Specialty: Nonfiction Prose*.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TOPIC: Social Science. Sub-Topics: Anthropology; Economics; Sociology.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TOPIC: Science. Sub-Topic: Biology. Specialty: Developmental Biology; Genetics.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TOPIC: Science. Sub-Topic: Earth Science. Specialty: Atmospheric; Climate; Geology; Planetary.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">*This one focuses mostly on writing vs. reading…but you’re going to need that for your applications!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the science-y/more technical ones, I would stick to courses whose titles sound pretty introductory. And, in general, go for reading assignments assigned earlier in the course vs. later—unless you actually want to try that whole course.</span></p> <h4><b>Get Ready…Get Set…</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Get on out there and start reading! Let us know how it goes—and share any classes you’ve loved or ideas on other sources in the comments! ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong>Can’t get enough of Stacey’s GMAT mastery? Attend the first session of one of <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">her upcoming GMAT courses</a> absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously.</strong></em></p> <hr /> <p><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/stacey-koprince/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-9719 size-thumbnail" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2015/06/stacey-koprince-150x150.png" alt="stacey-koprince" width="150" height="150" /></a><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/stacey-koprince/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stacey Koprince</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.</strong> Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/#instructor/86" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Stacey’s upcoming GMAT courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/how-to-improve-gmat-reading-comprehension-skills/">How to Improve GMAT Reading Comprehension Skills</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>