If you’re a naturally slow or ‘bad’ reader, you’re probably thinking that GRE Reading Comprehension isn’t exactly going to be a walk in the park.
It’s known to be one of the most challenging sections to improve on, and even avid readers often get frustrated by low scores.
If you’re feeling discouraged or frustrated, don’t be. With a really smart strategy, anyone can significantly improve their performance and score higher on the Verbal — whether they consider themselves to be good readers or not. Sound too good to be true? It’s really not.
One of the biggest myths about reading comprehension is that you can’t be great at it unless you’re a natural speed reader with a Shakespearean ability to decode that might as well have been written in Greek. But…what if there was another way? A way that actually gives you the confidence you need to attack RC questions, and get it right practically every time? A way that doesn’t rely on you somehow getting blessed with superhuman reading powers right before the test?
You Don’t Score Points In GRE Reading Comprehension For Reading…
Seems loopy at first glance, but it’s actually so obvious.
ETS isn’t actually testing how good someone is at reading, but rather how skilled they are at answering the questions.
And that’s precisely why even ‘good readers’ struggle. It doesn’t matter how great you are at reading if you’re rubbish at doing the only thing that can earn you points.
This is wonderful news for the rest of us who aren’t naturally ‘good’ at reading. As long as the focus is on answering the questions themselves, the less you’ll be bogged down by the idea that GRE reading is about having to wade through dense, convoluted, impossible-to-decipher texts. Instead, think of it like this — reading comprehension should be approached like a game: your only goal is to score points.
In fact, being overly focused on reading can be dangerous and can actually cost you on the GRE.
Here are some of the roadblocks ETS sets you up with, that challenges even the most eager of readers:
- Passages tend to be boring – so the more you read at a stretch, the more you’re likely to get distracted
- Sentence and paragraph structures tend to be complex – so meanings and connections may not be apparent at first glance
- You’re expected to do everything within a ridiculously short span of time – RC can be frustrating simply because of the speed at which you’re expected to read the passage and answer the questions
Taking all of this into account, one of the worst things you can do is try to digest the entire passage at once. This is like trying to gobble up an entire cake in one bite — not only is it difficult, it’s just not worth doing!
A GRE Reading Comprehension Strategy That Actually Works For The Rest Of Us (Step-by-Step + Worked Example)
This strategy is all about maximizing on the effort it takes to solve GRE RC questions while minimizing the time spent on unnecessary reading.
The focus is not on comprehending everything, since it’s easy to get carried away doing that and lose track of time.
Instead, it’s about digesting chunks of the passage at a time so that you understand enough to work through the answer choices in a methodical manner.
The most important thing is to let go of the temptation of trying to understand everything in the passage. When you divert all your efforts into answering the questions instead, your performance skyrockets.
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the strategy:
Step 1: Skim.
ETS will often treat you to dense, labyrinthine paragraphs that can quickly become a time suck. But we can sidestep all this by skimming the text.
Skimming is not the same thing as speed reading (i.e. trying to read very quickly). Rather, it’s an intentional way of reading that helps you understand the big picture while ignoring smaller, more irrelevant details.
How do you skim? One way is to read only the first and last sentences of every paragraph.
This can boil down a mammoth block of text to just a few sentences. Word-wise, you’re focusing your attention on roughly 30% of the content. This is not only much more manageable, it’s also a more efficient way to grasp what the passage as a whole is about.
Skimming is also intentional in the sense that you’re not just passively reading. You’re tuned into the author’s attitude and shifts in points of view, for example. You’re also noticing ways in which the writing is signaling contrasts (e.g. ‘but’, ‘however’), emphasis (e.g. ‘indeed’, ‘in fact’), cause-and-effect relationships (e.g. ‘as a result’, ‘because’), and general transitions (e.g. ‘at first’, ‘then’, ‘finally’).
While skimming, your aim is to construct a mental summary of the passage. Don’t write anything down (again, this is because writing stuff down takes time and you don’t want to be wasting precious seconds taking notes on things you don’t even know will be tested).
What about short passages? For these, of course, you don’t need to read only the first and last sentences. But, our approach to skimming still applies here (summarize the main idea while reading critically, and don’t get caught up in the details).
Step 2: Analyze the question for key terms or phrases.
Once we’ve skimmed and mentally summarized the passage, we move onto the questions. At this point, we focus on the question stem only (don’t look at the answer choices, unless the question stem gives you nothing to go on).
Pay attention to key terms or phrases that pop up in the question stem. For instance, does it ask about a specific person, a theory, a keyword? Basically, we’re looking for clues that tell us where the answers should be located in the passage.
The question type is also a very helpful clue.
Here are some common question types on the GRE Reading Comprehension section and how they should be approached (Note: for examples on how to analyze all GRE RC question types, check out the book GRE Reading Comprehension Process, which lays out this exact strategy):
| GRE RC question type | Example | What to do next |
| Purpose of a paragraph | “The primary purpose of the passage is to…” | Use your mental summary to proceed with the answer choices. Only refer back to the passage if you really need to. |
| Purpose of a sentence | “Which of the following best describes the function of this sentence?” | Read the actual sentence plus the sentence before it if you need additional context. |
| Understanding a key term or phrase | “In the context in which it’s used, the word X most nearly means…” | Locate where the passage discusses the key term and analyze it before going through the answer choices. |
| EXCEPT questions | “The passage’s description of X includes all of the following EXCEPT…” | Locate where the passage discusses the key term. Go through the answer choices and find one that is not discussed. |
| Inference questions | Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about X? | See if you can proceed with your mental summary. Or, use key terms to locate where X is discussed and then proceed with the answer choices. |
| Which of the following is true? | “According to the passage, which of the following is true about X?” | Locate where the passage discusses the key term and analyze it before going through the answer choices. |
| Strengthening/Weakening arguments | “Which of the following, if true, would most weaken/strengthen X’s argument?” | Locate the argument in the passage and identify its conclusion and reasoning. Find the answer choice that weakens (or strengthens) the reasoning. |
Step 3: Go back to the passage (if needed) and locate where the relevant information is.
If the question demands it, we go back and read (critically) the relevant sentence(s). The point here is that we’re only going to do any reading if it helps us answer the question—and even then, we only focus on the relevant bits. You’re never going to read the passage in its entirety.
Step 4: Go back to the answer choices and use a process of elimination to deduce the correct answer OR select the appropriate sentence for Select-In-Passage questions.
Once we’re armed with the details we need, we go through each of the answer choices in turn, making a decision as to whether we can reject it or not. If we’re not sure about anything or think we need even more info, we move on to the remaining answer choices and see what else we can eliminate.
If we manage to reject all but one, then the remaining answer choice has to be the correct one (for single-answer questions). For questions where multiple answer choices may be correct, or if we’re still not sure once we’ve combed through all of the options, then we can go back to the passage to double check or gather more info.
An Example GRE Reading Comprehension Passage (Questions & Answer Explanations Included)
Here’s an example to show this strategy in action.
The Passage
The Questions
1. The author refers to a hungry lizard primarily in order to
(A) demonstrate the similarity between the hunting methods of mammals and those of nonmammals
(B) broaden the application of his argument by including an insectivore as an example
(C) make a distinction between higher and lower levels of consciousness
(D) provide an additional illustration of the brutality characteristic of predators
(E) offer an objection to suggestions that all animals lack consciousness
2. It can be inferred from the passage that in animals less intelligent than the mammals discussed in the passage
(A) past experience is less helpful in ensuring the survival
(B) attention is more highly focused
(C) muscular coordination is less highly developed
(D) there is less need for competition among species
(E) environment is more important in establishing the proper ratio of prey to predator
3. According to the passage, improvement in brain function among early large mammals resulted primarily from which of the following?
(A) The interplay of predator and prey
(B) Persistence of free-floating awareness in animals of the grasslands
(C) Gradual dominance of warm-blooded mammals over cold-blooded reptiles
(D) Interaction of early large mammals with less intelligent species
(E) Improvement of the capacity for memory among herbivores and carnivores
4. According to the passage, as the process of arousal in an organism continues, all of the following may occur EXCEPT
(A) the production of adrenaline
(B) the production of norepinephrine
(C) a heightening of sensitivity to stimuli
(D) an increase in selectivity with respect to stimuli
(E) an expansion of the range of states mediated by the brain stem
The Method
Let’s first skim the passage to grasp its main ideas and overall structure.
As you can see, those are some pretty bulky paragraphs and the writing itself looks super convoluted. But don’t panic! During the skimming process, we’re going to focus on just the first and final sentences of each paragraph and try to unpack what the author’s trying to say.
This means that our first goal is simply to read and try to understand just 6 sentences instead of three large blocks of text. And while doing this, we’re going to actively summarize (in our minds) what each paragraph is trying to say.
Here’s what that summary could look like:
Para 1 – Large mammals became more intelligent as a result of the interaction between two animal groups (i.e. the hunting and the hunted).
Para 2 – The kind of intelligence that evolved through this interaction can be defined by attention. Consciousness allows these animals to link their past attention to the present and thereby carry out goal-directed activities (i.e. hunting prey or escaping a predator).
Para 3 – Intelligence and consciousness come together to give rise to different ‘styles’ in predators and prey. The last sentence is hard to work out so we’re just going to ignore it for now.
(Remember, you don’t need to be writing down any of this.)
Now, let’s move on to the questions.
1. The author refers to a hungry lizard primarily in order to…
Instantly, you should recognize this as a ‘purpose of a sentence’ question.
We’ll need to go back to the passage and locate the key term ‘hungry lizard’. We’ll also likely need to read the sentence before it to put the key term in context.
Here’s the relevant bit from the passage, along with our analysis:
“Perhaps it does not experience forethought as we know it, but the animal does experience something like it. The predator is searchingly aggressive, inner-directed, tuned by the nervous system and the adrenal hormones, but aware in a sense closer to human consciousness than, say, a hungry lizard’s instinctive snap at a passing beetle.”
Analysis: The author seems to be talking about the nature of a predator’s consciousness, and how it’s more comparable to that of human consciousness than that of a hungry lizard. A lizard, according to the author, acts in a more instinctive or reflexive manner while a predator, somewhat like humans, is more consciously aware of its surroundings.
Now that we’ve extracted the relevant information, let’s go ahead and analyze the answer choices.
(A) demonstrate the similarity between the hunting methods of mammals and those of nonmammals
Nope. The author’s talking about consciousness/awareness, not hunting methods.
(B) broaden the application of his argument by including an insectivore as an example
This isn’t what the author was trying to do. The lizard was included as an example to show contrast, not to broaden anything. We can cross this out.
(C) make a distinction between higher and lower levels of consciousness
This looks like a good choice. The author does make a distinction (a comparison that highlights contrast). In this case, it was a distinction between higher (a predator) and lower (the lizard) levels of consciousness.
(D) provide an additional illustration of the brutality characteristic of predators
Nope. This doesn’t match our analysis at all.
(E) offer an objection to suggestions that all animals lack consciousness
Again, no. This doesn’t match our analysis at all.
The correct answer has to be (C).
2. It can be inferred from the passage that in animals less intelligent than the mammals discussed in the passage…
So this is a question where we’ll need to make an inference (take what’s written in the passage one step further). There’s no specific key terms in the question stem for us to use, so the smart thing to do here would be to use the answer choices to show us where we need to look in the passage.
(A) past experience is less helpful in ensuring the survival
The key term is ‘past experience’. Scanning the passage, we find this (end of para 2):
“One meaning of intelligence is the way in which these images and other alertly searched information are used in the context of previous experience. Consciousness links past attention to the present and permits the integration of details with perceived ends and purposes.”
Analysis: This seems to be saying that one way to define intelligence is how you use your past experience. We can take this a step further and say that less intelligent animals don’t use their past experience as much, and they evolved this way presumably because it was less helpful for their survival.
So we can’t reject this answer choice just yet. Let’s see what the others say.
(B) attention is more highly focused
Attention was talked about in the second paragraph. Scanning that, we find this:
“It ranges from a passive, free-floating awareness to a highly focused, active fixation.”
This helps us reject the second choice, because the author’s linking highly focused attention to more intelligent animals, not less.
(C) muscular coordination is less highly developed
Key term is ‘muscular coordination’. There’s nothing in the passage about this, so we can reject this.
(D) there is less need for competition among species
Key term is ‘competition’. There’s nothing in the passage about this, so we can reject this.
(E) environment is more important in establishing the proper ratio of prey to predator
Again, nothing to do with the passage.
The correct answer has to be (A).
3. According to the passage, improvement in brain function among early large mammals resulted primarily from which of the following?
This question refers to the passage as a whole.
We should be able to rely on our mental summary to work through most if not all of the answer choices.
(A) The interplay of predator and prey
This is kind of a vague statement, but there’s really nothing in there to reject.
It does seem to be a pretty good match to our own analysis of para 1, which should contain the main argument (‘Large mammals became more intelligent as a result of the interaction between two animal groups, the hunting and the hunted.’).
(B) Persistence of free-floating awareness in animals of the grasslands
No. We know from the previous question that ‘free-floating awareness’ has to do a lower level of intelligence.
(C) Gradual dominance of warm-blooded mammals over cold-blooded reptiles
No. This wasn’t part of the main argument at all.
(D) Interaction of early large mammals with less intelligent species
This is based on a misinterpretation of the text. We know it’s to do with an interaction between predator and prey, but there was nothing to suggest that the prey were less intelligent.
(E) Improvement of the capacity for memory among herbivores and carnivores
Nothing in the author’s main argument talks about memory.
The correct answer has to be (A).
4. According to the passage, as the process of arousal in an organism continues, all of the following may occur EXCEPT:
The key term here is ‘arousal’. So let’s go back to where the passage talks about the arousal process.
In the second paragraph, we find this:
“The processes of arousal and concentration give attention its direction. Arousal is at first general, with a flooding of impulses in the brain stem; then gradually the activation is channeled. Thus begins concentration, the holding of consistent images.”
Analysis: So arousal first happens with the help of the brain stem and is more ‘general’ in nature. Then, gradually, the state of arousal gets channeled (I guess more narrowed down) and this is when concentration happens.
In the third paragraph, we find this:
“Although in both kinds of animal, arousal stimulates the production of adrenaline and norepinephrine by the adrenal glands, the effect in herbivores is primarily fear, whereas in carnivores the effect is primarily aggression. For both, arousal attunes the animal to what is ahead.”
Analysis: This is more straightforward. The author’s basically talking about how adrenaline and norepinephrine elicit different responses in predator and prey. The responses help them both adapt to what they’re about to do.
With an EXCEPT question, we’ll need to now analyze the answer choices and select something that’s not included in these descriptions.
(A) the production of adrenaline
This is included.
(B) the production of norepinephrine
This is included.
(C) a heightening of sensitivity to stimuli
Not too sure about this. But that’s okay! Let’s come back to this later.
(D) an increase in selectivity with respect to stimuli
We just read that as arousal happens, it gets more ‘focused’ or selective in nature. So this is included.
(E) an expansion of the range of states mediated by the brain stem
Again, not too sure about this.
We’ve narrowed it down to (C) and (E).
So let’s go back to the passage to see if sensitivity to stimuli is ever discussed. In the second paragraph, where it talks about arousal levels, it says this:
“From the more relaxed to the more vigorous levels, sensitivity to novelty is increased.”
So (C) is definitely included, which means that:
The correct answer has to be (E).
Master Your New RC Skills With An Error Log
The skills needed to answer GRE RC questions are exactly that — new skills you’ll need to develop and master. When doing your own questions, slow down and consciously go through each step until you arrive at the answer. If you got it wrong, log the question along with the explanation and review it periodically so you don’t forget it. Remember, it’s not about practicing the questions, it’s about practicing the process and recalling the reasoning behind why you got an answer right or wrong.
An error log can be created using Excel/Sheets or an app such as 21st Night. 21st Night is a spaced repetition app (created by GRE tutor Trevor Klee) that makes it super easy to make your own error log.
Here’s how it works: you input your question (copy/paste or just take a photo or screenshot), the answer, the explanation (this is important as we said), plus a hint. You can also tag it with a category and subcategory — so you can add the question type, topic (e.g. science, humanities) or whatever you feel would be most helpful. Then, review your questions and the app takes care of the rest. Based on your performance, it will resurface a question just as you’re about to forget it.
The app also displays helpful analytics so you can see what kind of questions trip you up the most. You can filter the questions using those categories during practice so you can really laser focus on your weaknesses.
Tip: You can try out 21st Night for free here.
Over time, you’ll speed up and surprise yourself at how quickly and accurately you can zip through the RC section!
Need More Worked Examples?
The strategy outlined here was based on the book The GRE Reading Comprehension Process by Trevor Klee, a GRE tutor who initially used it to score a 170V on his own GRE. The book contains tons more worked examples with in-depth explanations for RC passages of varying lengths. Get your copy here.