If you are an Indian student preparing for GMAT then mostly it is inevitable that you find adversities approaching your way in the verbal reasoning section. It is comprehensible for an Indian student who does not generally come across GMAT reading comprehension like that despite having a strong knowledge of English. It often happens that the student is in a dilemma as to why they are still lagging behind in the GMAT Verbal section especially. Let us find a quick-fix to this coherent issue.
Solving GMAT reading comprehension part has been hectic for a majority of the students. In the reading comprehension section the analysis is done of the student based on how well they can perceive the whole passage, the rational statements hidden, and eventually pen it down in their own understood words.

What GMAT RC Examine?

It is the test taker’s ability to recognize the plausible statements present in the passage, decode them, portray their own views through statements, and support them. And lastly, their style of writing is highly taken into consideration. 

Reading Comprehension Sections Illustrated:

GMAT reading comprehension section is divided into four passages but you often witness three of five of them. In each passage one will come across three to four questions pinned – this makes way for 16 questions to be answered precisely. It can thus be concluded that around one-third of GMAT AWA section is comprised of reading comprehension. There will be two questions of roughly 200 words and two of 300. It is to be noted that GMAT is a Computer-Adaptive Test (CAT). 

Presentation Affability:

The candidate should notice the manner of presentation of the computer-adaptive test for it might be difficult and confusing for few who are not accustomed to it. The reading comprehension passage will be eyed on one side the screen and the question on the other. There will be one question at a time and students need to know that once they have pressed the next button they cannot backslide. 

Approaches to Play Safe with Reading Comprehension:

Now it is time to start with the passage and the students generally tend to grasp the whole passage from the first para. The reading comprehension passages are majorly conventional. The second part is being used for establishing the third person’s viewpoint. And the last one to portray their own stand on that topic. 

Thereby, it can be ascertained that these following questions are to be recognized even before proceeding with the main four:

Ques. What is the main subject of the passage?

Focus point: The student should probe deep into the main idea behind the passage.

Ques. What is the outlook of the passage?

Focus point: Concentrate on finding a specific goal.

Ques. What is the aim of the passage?

Focus point: What is the motive behind writing this passage?

Ques. What points would you curate after studying this passage?

These few questions will de-clutter the complexities that one has regarding reading comprehension of GMAT, at least too some extent. The student by now has strategized the sequences of formulating the answers. Now, they should move toward perceiving the theories that the author has tried to either convey to the audience or is themselves antithetical about. Understanding the mindset of the author makes you solve the passage in the easiest manner. 

Quick Solution: If you are stuck in any particular sentence because of a tone of dissent in it, always continue reading and never go on running after it. If you pause, it will break the sync and will wash away all the jibe that you create till then after reading the passage.

To What Extent Can GMAT RC Section Be Difficult?

It can really get on your nerves when the passages are out of the world tricky and you just cannot seem to find the proper answer to it. If you are feeling so? Then let us tell you, that is exactly what the test makers want you to feel – confused and lost. 

The passage can be the most lifeless one: Imagine the pain suffered by an MBA aspirant when they come across a tremendously boring science subject matter – that is exactly what the reading comprehension will display so as to choose the cream layer of students. One very intelligent decision to make is to go for the uncommon topic which majority of the students will not go for. GMAT question makers are quite tricky ones, they provide questions on topics like business, technology, education, genetics, disease and more, which are contrary to what the management students study or will study. It takes the student a prolonged time to understand thereby weakening them. 

A drawn-out focus on the screen: A prolonged focus on the computer screen is definitely going to weaken those eyes especially when there are time limits on each section. GMAT is an on-spot exam which means the students have to be prompt in their answers. Whatever they see is on the screen and requires instant attention to answer correctly. It is all true but, it’s also advisable to take a slight break for only two to three seconds to ensure a refreshment – so look away from the monitor for three seconds.

Missing out on the slightest mistake: This is a prevalent issue faced by the GMAT preparers that no matter how hard they try they miss out on a word or so, which turns out to be the mistake to be corrected. One actually needs to be impeccable but more than that – calm. Handling so many arguments along with pinning down the single most astonishing mistake is quite a task. 

How to Answer GMAT RC Questions?

The best way to improve the performance in reading passages is to practice them. It would be better if candidates perform from diverse subject areas. There are a lot of practice tests available for SC and CR. But there is less material for practice available for us. Even the available GMAT RC passages are not enough for candidates to improve their scores. RC 99 can be used to improve the reading passage score. This book contains 99 passages according to the difficulty levels. It covers a wide variety of subject areas and a lot of question types which are accurate in comparison to actual GMAT

How to Use the GMAT RC Guide?

Most of the candidates appearing for the GMAT find the RC section boring. This may be due to the lack of practice or maybe the while-solving answers they get are probably wrong. RC guide can help in improving the reading comprehension section. Candidates need to target 3 to 4 passages every day. They need to read and answer the question taking up to 9 minutes for each passage. They can either start from a low difficulty level and gradually move to higher difficulty levels. And once candidates are well aware of the question types, practice from the mixed passages that come across as the three difficulty levels. This would take around 25 days or a month to finish the RC guide. Subsequently, candidates can take a full-length test to see the difference and their performance in the reading section. The successful aspirants say that GMAT RC preparation must include the habit of reading. Candidates must go through different pieces to get habituated to diverse fields. This must include science, humanity, culture, art, etc. It is a great way to develop an interest in multiple fields.

Preparation Tips to Ease the Pain

Knowing how straining the GMAT preparation can be, here are few tips to help you out with the reading comprehension part:

Time Management

GMAT is all about how well the test taker manages time to attempt the most questions. Always make a complete plan for your time management and its implementation. Never spend more than 2.5 minutes and 3.5 minutes for short and long passages respectively. During practice at home, always keep a timer to find out the exact time required to complete reading the essays.

Skimming

It is always recommended to give the passage a thorough reading once and carefully and SKIM through. Many times what students do is skim, without realizing the fact that they are overlooking minor yet vital details. Curating the main idea always helps the student to leave aside the not-so-important details. It is always advisable to go through the questions at first so that one can remember which sections of the passage are important to notice. 

The competence in finding the main idea is what saves time. It is expected for the reading comprehension passage to be tough so it is encouraged to find the difference between the main idea and the pillaring details. It is your task to find exactly what is making the passages so tricky and curate strategies on your own.

Taking Notes

Many test-takers find it difficult to take notes while reading passages. As test takers have already studied the questions, therefore it will be easier for the test takers to map questions along with the passages. This practice skill will make your exam preparation quite efficient.

Strong knowledge in Vocabulary

Read articles, journals, novels of all kinds to understand the wide range of passages that can be excerpted in the GMAT RC section. It will help the test takers to interpret the main idea, supporting ideas and inferences very easily. A good reading will always help in learning vocabulary. 

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 GMAT Practice papers it is possible for the candidates to actively prepare for the exam.