# GMAT Reading Comprehension: Method and Traps | topin GMAT guidesReading Comprehension Section Verbal Reasoning, mixed with Critical Reasoning Passages Up to about 350 words, on business, science, social science or the humanities Questions per passage 3 or 4, five choices each Time 2 to 3 minutes to read, then about 1 minute per question Question types Main idea, detail, inference, function, application, author's attitude, structure ## How it works The passage stays on screen while you answer its questions one at a time. Topics are chosen so that no outside knowledge is needed. Questions ask what the passage says, what it implies, why the author includes a detail and how the argument is organised. ## Worked example Economists have long assumed that a firm facing a rival's price cut will match it quickly, since customers treat identical goods as interchangeable. Studies of small grocers, however, suggest that the response is often slower than this model predicts. Many grocers wait several weeks before cutting their own prices, and some never do. One explanation is that regular customers value familiarity: they know where items are shelved and trust the staff, so a small saving elsewhere does not pull them away at once. Yet this loyalty has limits. When the price gap persists, the grocers who delayed longest tend to lose customers they do not win back, which suggests that familiarity buys a firm time rather than immunity. Which of the following can most reasonably be inferred from the passage? 1. AGrocers who match a rival's price cut at once always keep their regular customers. 2. BRegular customers of small grocers are indifferent to price. 3. CThe economists' model overstates how quickly some firms respond to a rival's price cut. 4. DMost small grocers never lower their prices in response to a rival. 5. EIn the long run, familiarity matters more to customers than price. Show the answer C The passage says grocers respond 'slower than this model predicts', so the model overstates the speed of response for at least these firms. A goes too far with 'always'; the passage says nothing about grocers who match at once. B contradicts the last two sentences, where customers leave if the gap persists. D distorts 'some never do' into 'most'. E reverses the final point that familiarity buys time, not immunity. ## A method for Reading Comprehension 1. 1 ### Read for structure, not detail Note in a few words what each paragraph does: states a view, challenges it, gives evidence, concludes. Skim over dense detail; you can return to it. 2. 2 ### Find the author's view Look for contrast words such as 'however', 'yet' and 'but', and for evaluative words. The author's position is often the answer to main idea and attitude questions. 3. 3 ### Classify the question Detail questions need a specific line. Inference questions need something that must be true from the text. Function questions ask why a sentence is there, not what it says. 4. 4 ### Go back to the passage For every question except main idea, reread the relevant lines before choosing. Answering from memory is how reasonable-sounding wrong answers get picked. 5. 5 ### Prove it or cut it Keep a choice only if you can point to words that support it. Cut anything more extreme, broader or more certain than the passage. ## Traps to avoid * Too extreme: 'always', 'never', 'most' or 'proves' where the passage says 'often', 'some' or 'suggests'. * True but not supported: a claim that sounds right in the real world but the passage does not make. * Distortion: the passage's own words rearranged to say something different, often reversing a cause and effect. * Too narrow for a main idea question: a choice that covers only one paragraph. * Rereading a hard passage several times before starting the questions, which costs time the questions need. ## Reading Comprehension FAQs How many passages are in GMAT Focus Verbal? GMAC does not publish a fixed number, but each passage carries three or four questions and Verbal has 23 questions in total, shared with Critical Reasoning. Should I read the questions before the GMAT RC passage? You only see one question at a time, so you cannot preview them all. Read the passage for structure first, then return to it for each question. How long should a GMAT Reading Comprehension passage take? Aim for two to three minutes to read and about a minute per question, so a four-question passage takes six to seven minutes in total. Do I need to know about the topic of a GMAT RC passage? No. Every answer is supported by the passage, and outside knowledge often leads to wrong answers that sound true but are not stated. ## Try Reading Comprehension under real timing Your first full-length GMAT mock is free, with every section included. [Take the free mock ](/gmat/login)