GRE For Dummies with Online Practice, 9th Edition

Chapter 5

Getting the Gist: Reading Comprehension

IN THIS CHAPTER

Approaching the Reading Comprehension passages

Discovering tips and tricks designed to save you time

Reading Comprehension questions on the GRE comprise about half of the Verbal questions and therefore about half of your Verbal score. Each question concerns a single passage that is sort of like a graduate-level journal article on a science, social sciences, or humanities topic that you’ve probably never considered before and never will again.

Each Verbal section contains about four Reading Comprehension passages, each having one to four questions. The computer screen is split, with the passage on the left and a question on the right. You get the questions one at a time while the passage stays in place.

This chapter introduces the three Reading Comprehension question formats, presents strategies for identifying the correct answers quickly, and provides some sample passages along with questions and their answers so you know what to expect on the test.

All Reading Comprehension questions are based directly on what’s in the passage. To answer the questions, you don’t need to know anything about the topic beyond what’s ...