The Ultimate Guide To Destroy GRE Reading Comprehension - CrunchPrep GRE PDF

8/11/2015
TheUltimateGuidetoDestroyGREReadingComprehensionCrunchPrepGRE
The Ultimate Guide to

Destroy
GRE Reading
Comprehension
57Tips,StrategiesandSpeedReading
TechniquestoAcetheMostDifficult
SectionontheGRE
ByJitta&Sachin
https://crunchprep.com/grereadingcomprehensionguide
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MENU
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Reading
Comprehension
WhentryingtoimproveyourGREscore,an
importantquestionyouneedtoconsideriswhy
theReadingComprehensionsectionisso
important?
Rememberthetimeyouweresoexcitedtoreadanarticleabout
CardiovascularCartography?
Meneither.
WhataboutPhytoplanktonDiversity?
OrFancellisfamoussculptureStatuadiVulcano?
No?
Okay.MaybeastoryofCantorshierarchyofinfinities,or
researchontheremnantsofNeanderthals,oranexcerptfroma
bookbySolzhenitsynabouttheSovietforcedlabourcamp
systemduringthelate1920s?
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Alright,wegetit.
Youhatethesethingswithallyourheart,andyoureliterally
pullingyourhairsoutalready.
Butthinkaboutit.Theonlywayyougettoattendgradschool,
isbywritingatestwhereyounotonlyhavetoreadthingslike
these,butalsounderstand,andanalyzethemthoroughly.
Weknow.Itlookslikeanuphilltask.Itsoundsboring.It
completelydrainsyourbrain.Andattheendoftheday,it
seemspointless.
Butwhatif,youcanturnsomethingsoesotericintosomething
thatyoureallylovetodo?
Somethingsodestructivetosomethingyoucandestroyby
yourself?Thatiswhatyouaregoingtodo.
ThisguideisanultimatereferenceforyoutoaceReading
ComprehensionontheGRE,andbolsteryourVerbalscore
evenfurther.
Beforewemoveontothequestiontypesandstrategies,itis
importanttoknowwhytheReadingComprehensionsectionis
importantforyou.Ifyourunthenumbers,youllnoticethatof
atotalof40questionsonthetwoverbalsectionsyouwillface
ontestday,around20arefromReadingComprehension.
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Nowtherestwowaystolookatthis.YoucaneithersayNo,
thisisadisaster!,orWow.ThismeansIcanhave20pointsin
mybagalready.Cool!Ifyourethelattertype,thisarticleisfor
you.Nowtogether,letsdestroythemostdreadfulquestion
typeontheGRE.
Whats the Reading Comprehension section

all about?
Thetestmakersoftenpurposefullyfillthepassageswithjargon
andcomplexvocabulary.Foranuntrainedtesttaker,itwould
takealotoftimetocomprehendsuchpassages.Becausewe
usuallyreadessaystoretaininformationanddetails,whileon
theGRE,readingthatwaywillgetyouboggeddownand
confusedwithunnecessaryinformation.Soyouhavetolearn
howtoreadtoacetheGRE.
OntheGRE,youcanexpectaboutfivepassagespersectionand
thesepassageswillhave15questionseach,foratotaloften
ReadingComprehensionquestionspersection.Thesepassages
willvaryfrom15paragraphsinlength.
Now,wheredotheygetthesepassagesfrom?TheGRE
passagescanbeacademicornonacademicandaredrawnfrom
books,magazines,biographies,workofliterature,scholarly
journalsandtextbooks.Thetopicsincludesocialscience,
naturalscience,humanities,arts,politicsandeverydaylife
issues,too.Thepassagesmimicthematerialyoullbereading
ingradschool,withadvancedvocabulary,complexsentence
structure,andcomplicatedideas.
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Thereare3typesofquestionsyoullhavetoansweronthe
readingcomprehension:
MultiplechoiceQuestionsChoose1answer:Theseareyour
average,multiplechoicequestionswith5answerchoicesoutofwhichyou
mustselectONLYONEanswerchoice.Youshouldreadalltheanswer
choicesbeforeselectinganychoice.
MultiplechoiceQuestionsChoose1ormoreanswers:Here,
youllhave3answerchoices,andyoullhavetochooseeverycorrect
answer,whichcouldbeone,twoorallthreeofthem.Nopartialcreditis
awarded,either!Keepinmindthattheseanswerchoicesneedto
evaluatedseparately.
SelectinPassage:Thisisatotallynewsubquestiontype,uniquetothe
GRE.Youllhavetoclickonasentenceinthepassagethatanswersthe
question.
Sofarsogood.Now,letstakealookatanexamplesentence
extractedfromtheOfficialGuide:
IenjoyedADreamofLightandShadow:PortraitsofLatin
AmericanWomenWritersforthesamereasonsthat,asachild,
Iavidlyconsumedwomensbiographies:thefascinationwith
howthebiographicaldetailsofanotherfemaleslifeare
representedandinterpreted.
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Doesthissoundsuperdifficulttocomprehend?Areyoustuck?
Well,thisisjustonesinglesentenceandtherewillbeamany
sentenceslikethisinasinglepassage,onthetest.
Therealchallengeforyouwillbetoreadthesentencesquickly
andyetunderstandthepassagestructureandprocessthe
informationinthemsoyouwillbeabletoanswerthequestions
thatfollow.Remember,youarenotreadingthepassageto
knowaboutthebiographicaldetailsofawomanslifeorhow
Galileoinventedthetelescope.Youarereadingthepassage
onlytoanswerthequestionsandonceyouhaveansweredthe
questions,youdonthavetorememberanypartofthepassage.
So,avoidreadingtoretaintheinformation.
Components of a Passage:
TheGREpassagesareorganizedinmanydifferentways.Some
passagesintroducetheproblemandthenexplaintheauthors
solutionforthatproblem.Somepassagesaskaquestionand
answeritlaterinthepassage.Somepassagescriticizeanold
hypothesisandintroduceanewone.Doyouseeapatternhere?
Well,mostofthepassagesthatshowuponyourtestwillbe
madeupofcertainbuildingblocks.Byknowingandscouting
fortheseblocksinapassage,youcanmoreeasilyfollowthe
meaningandstructureofthepassage.
Mostpassageshavefourpossiblebuildingblocks:
ThePoint
Background
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Support
Implications
Thepoint isthemostimportantpieceofinformationthe
authoristryingtoconveyinthepassage.Yourjobasareader,
istofindthispoint.Bytheendofyourfirstreadthrough,you
shouldbeabletoidentifythemainpointtheauthoristryingto
convey.
Thebackground istheinformationthatyouneed,inorder
tounderstandthepoint.Sometimes,theauthormakestwisting
statementsthatmakesitdifficulttounderstandwhethera
statementisbackgroundinformationorasupportingevidence.
So,youshouldbecautiouswheneveryouseeadditional
information.
Support istheadditionalinformationgivenbytheauthorin
theformofevidenceorexamples,inordertosupportthemain
pointthathasbeenmade.Youshouldalwayskeepaneyeatthe
variousevidencesandsupportingexamplesthattheauthor
provides.
Implications aretheaftereffectsofthemainpoint.They
aretheendresults.Theconsequences.Implicationsarequite
easytounderstandwhencomparedtotheotherthreebuilding
blocksofaReadingComprehensionpassage.
Themainpurposebehindidentifyingthecomponentsofa
readingcomprehensionpassage,istounderstandthebasic
structureandorganizationofthepassage.Understandingthis
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isreallyimportant,sincetheGREasksyouquestionsbasedon
structure,organization,tone,andmainideabehindthe
passage.So,understandingthesebasiccomponentswillhelp
youanswersuchquestionsquickly.
CHAPTER 2
8 Types of Questions you

will see on Reading
Comprehension
Understandingthequestiontypesthatyouwill
seeontestdaywillhelpyoudeviseproper
answeringstrategiesandelimination
techniques.
Onanaverage,aReadingComprehensionpassagehas35
questionsandtheendofit.Butthesequestionsareofseveral
kinds,andeachofthemrequiresadistinctskillsettoanswer.
Wehavecategorizedallsuchquestions,andhavealsoincluded
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thestrategiesyouneedtoimplement,ifyouwanttosolvethem
all.Herearethemostpopulartypesofquestionsyouwillsee
ontheReadingComprehensionpassages:
1. Main Idea Questions

Theseareprobablythemostfrequentquestionsyouwillseeon
anyreadingcomprehensionpassage.Mainideaquestionsask
youtoidentifythemainideaortheprimarypurposebehind
thepassagethatisgiven.Examplequestionsare:
Inthispassage,theauthorisprimarilyconcernedwith?
Whichofthefollowingwouldbethemostappropriatetitleforthegiven
argument?
2. Tone of the Author Questions

Consideredasatrickyquestionbymanystudents,toneofthe
authorquestionsaskyoutoidentifythetoneoftheauthor,or
thepassage.Examplesinclude:
Theauthorsattitudetowardscontemporarycinemacanbebestdescribed
as?
Thepassageregardstheideaofmodernartisticactivitywith?
3. Specific Fact Questions
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Thesearethequestionsthataskyoutospotinformationthatis
specificallyincludedasafactortruth.Specificfactquestions
willoftenbeconsequentialinnature.Theyusuallylooklike
this:
Theauthorreferstoexamplephraseinline5,primarilyinorderto?
Accordingtothepassage,thecriticsconsideredtheideasfoundinthe
novelistsworktobe?
4. Implied Questions
Impliedquestionsaskyou,asareader,toidentifyanidea
whichissuggestedorimplied,eitherdirectlyorindirectly.For
example,animpliedquestionlookslikethis:
Itcanbeinferredfromthepassagethat,inevaluatingthescientiststheory,
someofthecriticswere.?
Thepassagesuggeststhatifthepredictionsofthegeologicaldepartmentwere
tobetrue,itwouldbe.?
5. Structural Questions
Structuralquestions,asthenamesuggests,askyoutoidentify
thetechnique,orthewritingstyleadoptedbytheauthor,in
presentingfactsorviews.Forexample:
Whichofthefollowingbestdescribesthestructureofthepassage?
Whichofthefollowingbestdescribestheorganizationofthelines17through
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23?
6. Extrapolation Questions
WidelyregardedasthemosttwistedofallReading
Comprehensionquestions,extrapolationquestionsrequireyou
toextrapolateorcomparetheauthorsideastoothersituations,
includingsituationsthatareanalogous.Inordertoanswerthis
typeofquestions,youmustgobeyondwhatisstatedinthe
passage,drawaninferencefromthepassage,andthenmatchit
withthesituationsgivenintheanswerchoices.Example
questionsare:
Whichofthefollowingsituationsismostcloselyanalogoustothesituation
describedbytheauthorasanirony,inlines11and12?
Whichofthefollowingdescribesasituationthatisanalogoustothesituation
describedinthesecondparagraph?
7. Negative or Exception Questions

Thesearethequestionsthataskyouwhichofthegivenanswer
choicesisnottrueaccordingtotheauthororthepassage,or
whichoftheanswerchoiceswithwhichtheauthorofthe
passagewouldnotagree.Examplesare:
Thepassagestatesallofthefollowingaboutmitochondria,except?
Theauthorassertsthattechnologyhasledusdoallofthefollowing
miraculousexperiments,except?
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8. Contextual/Definition of a term or word

Questions
Thesearethequestionsthattestyourabilitytoworkoutthe
meaningofanunfamiliarword,basedoncontextwithinthe
passage.Forexample:
Asitisusedinthepassage,thetermconvivialcanbebestdescribedas?
Theterminchoate,usedbytheauthorinline18,refersto?
CHAPTER 3
7 Trap Answers to Avoid on

Reading Comprehension
Oneofthereasonswhystudentsfinditdifficult
toseparatethewronganswersfromtheright
ones,isbecausetheyfallpreytothetrap
answers.
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Thereareafewtypesofanswerchoicesthatcanbeeliminated
immediately,withoutevenconsideringiftheyarelocallyright
ornot.TheanswerchoicesforthequestionsinReading
Comprehensionhaveafewrules,andthoseanswerchoicesthat
dontfollowthemcanberuledoutimmediately,usingthe
ProcessofEliminationmethod.Youcandothiseasily,ifyou
knowwheretospotthemistake.Heresabriefguideonhowto
spotanswerchoicesthatcanberuledoutrightawayas
incorrect.
Ifyoureadilyjumptoconclusionswhenyoucomeacrossthe
firstchoicethatlooksgood,thereisagreatchanceyoumight
getthequestionwrong,becausetherecouldbeotherchoices
thatarefarbetter.Butsinceyouhaventreadthemyet,you
dontknowit.So,thebestwaytohandlesuchquestions,isto
narrowdownanswerchoicesusingtheprocessofelimination
untilyougetthebestchoice.
Ifyoureallytryandfollowtheprocessofelimination,youwill
easyfindoutthatfindingouttherightanswerisactuallyreally
easy.Oneofthereasonswhymoststudentsfinditdifficultto
separatethewronganswersfromtherightones,isbecause
theydonotfollowtheprocessofelimination.Toillustrate
further,takealookatanexampleofwhatthegivenchoicesfor
aquestionmightlooklike:
Ifyoumisreadthepassage,thislooksright
Mayberightclosecallwithsomesubtledifferencemoststudentsmiss
Correctanswer!
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Theoppositeofthecorrectanswer
Somethingcompletelyofftopic,butitsoundsimpressive
So,ifyoureallytakeacloserlook,thereisonlyoneright
answer,andtheremainingarepretentiouslyclosetobeing
right.Belowarethetrapanswerchoicesthatyoushould
eliminateimmediately,nomatterhowappropriate,corrector
logicaltheysound.Wehavealsoincludedexamplesforeachof
theanswertypes,soyouwillhaveaclearcutunderstandingof
howsuchanswerswouldlooklike,ontherealGRE.
There is only one right

answer, and the remaining
are pretentiously close to
being right.
1. Answer choices that use extreme or
categorical words such as only, all, always,
every, never and exclusively
TheGRE,beinganinternationalexam,triestobeasneutralas
possible,andneverdoesitincludesuchextremesounding
statements,words,orphrases.Youshouldneverconsider
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answeroptionscontainingsuchwordsasright,becausethe
ReadingComprehensionpassageitselfisneutral,andnever
triestobetooextreme,beitpositiveornegative.
Considerareadingcomprehensionpassagewheretheauthor
talksaboutviralfeverthatspreadthroughEastAfrica.Example
answerchoicesthataremostdefinitelywrong,areshown
below:
1. Accordingtotheauthor,allwomeninEastAfricasufferfromtheviralfever
2. Accordingtotheauthor,onlywomeninEastAfricasufferfromtheviralfever
3. Accordingtotheauthor,womeninEastAfricawillneversufferfromtheviral
fever
4. Accordingtotheauthor,womeninEastAfricahavealwayssufferedfromthe
viralfever
2. Answer choices that make use of

information that doesnt appear in the text
Alsoknownasoutofcontextanswers.Theseanswerchoices,
whilelogicallycorrect,donotuseinformationfromthe
passage,andhencecanbeconsideredasoutofcontext.Most
studentsmakeahugemistakehere,bylinkingthelogicgiven
intheansweroption,tocommonsense.Remember,youshould
neverusecommonsenseonreadingcomprehensionpassages.
Generalknowledgeusuallydoesntapplyhere,becauseitisthe
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authorsopinionthatreallycounts.So,leaveouttheanswer
optionsthatarebeyondthescopeofthepassage,nomatter
howrighttheyare.
below:
1. Accordingtotheauthor,womeninWestAfricasufferfromtheviralfeverdue
toheredity.(WestAfricaiscompletelyoutofscope)
2. Accordingtotheauthor,womeninEastAfricasufferfromtheviralfever
becausetheyaregenerallyweakerthanmen.(Commonsense,henceoutof
scope)
3. Answer choices in which facts are

distorted
Ifanansweroptionhasanyofthefactsdistortedorslightly
changed,thensuchanansweroptioncanneverberight.Only
thoseoptionsthathavetheexactfactstobackthemup,should
beconsideredasright.
talksaboutviralfeverthatspreadthroughEastAfricadueto
poormedicalfacilities.Exampleanswerchoicesthataremost
definitelywrong,areshownbelow:
1. Accordingtotheauthor,womeninEastAfricasufferedfromtheviralfever
lastyear,becauseofthecivilwar.(distortedstatement)
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4. Answer choices that ask you to make

judgments
Anyanswerchoicethatasksyoutoaffirmthatone
method/approach/thoughtisbetter,ormoresuccessful,or
moreefficientthananother,canbeconsideredwrongwithout
secondconsideration.PassagesontheGREneveraskthe
readertojudgeanything,andthejudgmentwillhavealready
beenmadebytheauthor.Hence,anyansweroptionthatneeds
yourjudgment,iswrong.
below:
1. WomeninEastAfricaaremoreeasilypronetosufferfromtheviralfeverthan
men.(asksyoutomakeacomparison/judgmentwithoutsufficientproof)
5. Answer choices that include outrageous,

illogical, unscientific, or politically incorrect
statements
NopassageontheGREincludescontroversial,oroutrageous
statements.Likewediscussedalready,readingcomprehension
passagesareasneutralastheycanbe.TheGREisstrictly
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againstanysortofdiscrimination(religious,racial,gender,
etc.)anditspassagesnevertrytooffendanyparticularsetof
people.So,suchansweroptionswillneverbetrue.
below:
becausetheyareallowedtosocialize.(outrageousstatement)
2. Itisthedutyofawomantositathomeandtakecareofthehousehold.
(Politicallyincorrect,genderdiscrimination.)
becausetheyareusuallypronetodiseases.(illogical)
6. Answer choices that are true, but assume

something that is not mentioned in the
passage
Sometimes,thesituationsmentionedintheansweroption
mightsoundtrue,butifyoutakeacloserlook,asmall
assumptionwillbemade,whichinvalidatestheentireoption.
Thetesttakerspurposefullydothistotestyourlogical
reasoningskills.So,youneedtorememberthatifsome
assumptionhasbeenmadewhichisnotmentionedanywhere
inthepassage,thenthatansweroptioncanbeconsidered
wrong.
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below:
1. PregnantwomeninEastAfricaarepronetotheviralfever,becausethey
probablydontexercisemuch.(anassumptionhasbeenmade)
7. Answer choices that cannot be backed by

solid proof from within the passage
Nomatterhowconvincinganansweroptionmightseem,you
shouldnevertreatitastrue,aslongasitdoesnthaveasolid
evidenceorproofthatsupportstheassertion.Theproofcanbe
anythingfromastatistictoanexample,butitshouldbe
mentionedwithinthepassage.Otherwise,youshouldtreat
suchananswerasinvalid.
below:
1. Accordingtoasurvey,womeninEastAfricasufferfromtheviralfevermore
oftenthanwomeninWestAfrica.(nosolidproof,ordetailsofthesurvey)
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CHAPTER 4
The 5 Step Process to

Destroy Reading
Comprehension on the GRE
Astepbystepprocessforthosebusystudents
lookingforsomequickinformationon
skyrocketingtheirperformanceontheReading
Comprehensionsection.
Ifyoudonthavethetimetoreadtheentireguide,andare
lookingforsomequickinformation,hereisastepbystep
processyoucandeploy,ifyouwanttoscorehighonthereading
comprehensionsection.Thoughbriefdescriptionshavebeen
givenforeachofthesteps,wehavediscussedeachstepingreat
detail,inthefollowingchapters.
1. Read the first paragraph and the first and

last sentences in the other paragraphs
Whenyoubegintoreadthepassage,youshouldnotreaditin
itsentirety.Instead,youmustemployasmartstrategythatwill
savelotsoftime.Readonlythefirstandlastparagraphsofthe
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passage,makingsureyouclearlyunderstandwhatitisthatthe
authoristryingtoconvey.Thisisbecause,youshouldtryas
muchasyoucantonotcomebacktoreadthispartonceyou
readthequestions.Ifyoudidthispartright,youshouldbeable
toanswerquestionsassoonasyouseethem.
Thefirstparagraphcontainsthemainideabehindthepassage,
andthelastparagraphcontainstheconclusion,andwill
generallygiveyouanideaoftheauthorstoneandintentions.
Now,onceyouaredonewiththefirstandthelastparagraphs,
movetotheothers.Evenhere,youmustnotreadtheentire
text.Remembertoreadonlythefirstandthelastoneortwo
sentencesintheotherparagraphsandunderstandthestructure
oftheparagraph.Repeatthestepsfortherestofthe
paragraphs,andyouwillbeleftwithanoverviewoftheentire
passageinafewsentences.
Forexample,thesemustbethethoughtsinyourmindasyou
readtheentirepassage:Okay.So,the1stparagraphclaims
thatXYZisanewlyfoundphenomenonandhencemustbe
welcomed,the2ndparagraphsaysitsmustnotbenecessarily
trueandthatweshouldbecarefulaboutit,becauseofafew
implications[withexamples],butthe3rdparagraphsaysthat
XYZisstillimportanttosolvemajorityofcases,andthe4th
andthefinalparagraphconcludesthatalthoughXYZworks
90%ofthetime,itisratherfoolishtothinkthatitistheonly
cure.
2. Make notes as you read

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Makingnoteswhilereadingthepassageisasmartstudents
wayofscoringhigherontheReadingComprehensionsection.
Writingquicknoteswillkeepyourbrainnaturallyengagedand
helpyoumovethroughthepassagedeliberately,while
rememberingmostofthedetailsthatyouhaveread.Visual
learningisapowerfulwayofrememberingthingsforalong
time,andwhenyoumakenotesoutofthegivenpassage,you
arenotonlydoingittorememberitforlonger,butyouarealso
makingiteasyforyoutorefertothedetailslater.
Itisalotbetterstrategyspendafewextrasecondsjottingdown
helpfulnotesthantowasteseveralminuteslookingforthat
sentencelateron.Thereareseveraltechniquestotakedown
notesintelligently.Ifyoureallywanttosavetime,youshould
tryandkeepthenotesassmallaspossible.Identifythemost
relevantinformation,andwritedownkeywordsorphrases
thataremostrelevanttothetopicathandthingslikedates,
names,theories,definitions.Replaceallthehardsounding
wordswithsimplewordsthatyoucaneasilyunderstand.
Youcanalso,useshorthand,ortextinglingo,alongwith
variousformsofillustrations,symbols,treediagrams,
relationships,arrows,etc.Thiswillsignificantlyshortenthe
informationyouneedtowrite,andwillmaximizeefficiency.
3. Identify Key Words and Signal Words

Theonlywayyoucansolveanyreadingcomprehension
questionontheGRE,isbyunderstandingkeywords,and
signalingwords,andwhattheymeantothepassage.Wecannot
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stresstheimportanceofkeywordsandsignalingwordsany
morethanthis.Whileskimmingthrougheachparagraph,you
shouldscantheentireparagraphforkeywordsandsignaling
wordsusedbytheauthor.Theseareveryimportant,asthey
moreoftenthannotaskedinthequestionsthatfollowthe
passage.Plus,whenyouencounteraninferenceoradetailed
question,youwillknowexactlywheretogointheparagraph.
EveryReadingComprehensionpassagehasafewtomanykey
wordsandphrases.Thesearealsoknownassignalingwords.
WordslikeFirst,second,third,furthermore,ontheother
hand,forexample,namely,foronething,inaddition,
nevertheless,forthesereasons,proponentsbelieve,critics
believe,but,however,whether/if,accordingto,therefore,
consequently,Incontrast,claims,goessofarastoclaim,others
argue,etc.
AsyoupracticesolvingmoreandmoreReading
Comprehensionpassages,youwillstarttothinklikethetest
makers,anddevelopasenseforwherethetestmakersare
likelytodrawquestionsfrom.
4. Recap With a Visual Movie

Onceyoufinishreadingtheentirepassage,andfinishwriting
downnotes,youshouldntstartsolvingquestionsrightaway.
Sinceyouareunderpressure,thereisgreatchancethatyou
haveforgottensomeofthedetailsgivenbytheauthorin
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passage,bythetimeyoufinishansweringthefirstquestion.
Sincethefirstquestionismostoftenamainideaquestion,you
caneasilyanswerit,asitisalwaysatthetopofyourmind.
Butinordertoanswertheremainingquestions,youwillhave
torememberallthedetailsperfectly,sinceyouideallydont
wanttogobackandsearchfortheminthepassageagainand
again.So,whatyouneedtodois,whenyouthinkyouareready
tostartansweringquestions,youshouldstopdoingeverything
else,closeyoureyes,andplayamovieinsideyourhead.This
moviemustbeavisualofthepassagethatyouhavejustread,
andmusthaveapropersequence.Doingthiswillnottakemore
than1020seconds,butitwillhelpyoucementtheentirestory
inyourhead.Whenyoucandothissuccessfully,start
answeringquestions,andyouwillseethedifferenceinhow
muchinformationfromthepassageyouareabletoretain.
5. Start Answering The Questions

Nowwehavealreadydiscussedthevarioustypesofquestions
youwillfindonthereadingcomprehensionsection,itwillbe
easierforyoutoidentifyaquestiontypeandanswerit
accordingly,withaproperstrategy.Rememberthatfor
MultipleSelectquestions,youdontgetpartialcreditsfor
gettingoneortwooptionsright.Youwillhavetochoosethe
entireanswercorrectly,byselectingallapplicableoptions,and
onlythenwillyouranswerbeconsideredcorrect.
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Also,whenansweringMultipleSelectquestions,youshould
remembertotreateachansweroptionseparately.Wewill
discussmoreonthislater.Now,whileansweringquestions
relatedtothetoneoftheauthororthewritingstyle,youshould
remembertoautomaticallyeliminateanswerchoicesthathint
thattheauthorisbeingcompletelynegative.Ifananswer
choiceimpliesthattheauthorhasuseddrasticorextreme
languagetocriticizethetopiche/shewriteson,thenyou
shouldautomaticallydisqualifythatanswerchoice.
CHAPTER 5
26 Tips and Strategies to

Destroy Reading
Comprehension on the GRE
Themostextensivelistofstrategiesyouwill
everfind,thatwillhelpyouonyourconquestof
themostdreadedsectionontheGRE.
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Now,forthoseofyouwhohavethetime,andthepatience
required,letusbeginthisfascinatingjourney.Wewillnow
discusssomeextremelypowerfultipsandstrategiesthatwill
helpyoumasterthereadingcomprehensionsection.These
provenstrategieshavehelpedhundredsofstudentsscorehigh
onthereadingcomprehensionsectionoftheGRE.Whilethisis
themostexhaustive,detailedguidethereeveris,itisnt
completeyet.Restassured,wewillbeaddingnewstrategies
everynowandthen,sodontforgettokeepcheckingthisspace
often.
1. Start Reading Today

Thismightsoundprettystraightforward,butitisverytrue.Itis
alsosomethingthatgetsneglectedveryoften.Ifyouare
planningtotaketheGREsometimenextyear,youshouldstart
readingalot,rightfromtoday.Eventhoughtricksandtipswill
helpyouimproveyouperformanceontheReading
Comprehensionasatopic,makingreadingahabitwillmake
youabetterreader,andabetterjudgeofdifferentstylesof
writing.Thiswillnotonlymakeyoubetterasanindividual,but
willalsohelpyouscorehigheronthetest.Therearetonsof
books,newspapers,andmagazinesatyourdisposal,butonlya
handfulofthemwillactuallyhelpyouwithyourGREprep.
Dontworry,wehavealist.
Someofthebestandthemostresourcefulnewspapersand
magazinesyoucansubscribetoare:
TheNewYorker(http://www.newyorker.com/)
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TheEconomist(http://www.economist.com)
ScientificAmerican(http://www.scientificamerican.com)
MITTechnologyReview(http://www.technologyreview.com)
TheGuardian(http://www.theguardian.com)
Ifyoumakeanhonestefforttoreadtheseeverysingleday,you
willnotonlyimproveyourreadingcomprehensionskillsby
leapsandbounds,butyouwillalsocomeacrosshundredsifnot
thousands,ofnewvocabulary.Whichisexactlywhatyouneed,
toacetheVerbalsectionontheGRE.
Andifpossible,getintoahabitofreadingfromascreenrather
thanaconventionalbook.Alloftheaforementioned
newspapersandmagazineshavetheirownelectronicversions
andwebsitesforyoutoreadfrom,andithelpsifyoureadthem
onlineratherthanonpaper,becausethatiswhatyoudoonthe
GRE.Yes,itisratherdifficultandprobablyuncomfortableto
readfromascreen,andreadingaconventionalbookseems
rathernice,butthemoreyougetusedtoreadingfroma
computerscreen,themorecomfortableyouwillbeontestday.
Plus,youllbesavingafewtreestoo!
2. Read Before You Sleep

Makeitahabittoreadbeforeyougotobed.No,notFacebook
newsfeeds,funnycatmemes,orrandomtweets,butuseful
stuff.Stuffthatwillimproveyourthinkingcapacity,andyour
comprehension.Ifyoucan,tryandreadafewpagesofanovel
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oranewsitemontheinternet.Trytoreadonyourlaptopora
tablet,atleastfor30minutesbeforeyougotobed,andifthat
isntpossible,tryreadingatleastafewpagesofabookbefore
goingtobed.
Thiswillhelpyoualotinthelongrun,becausethemoreyou
getyourmindusedtoreading,thesharperitwillbeontheday
ofyourtest.Plus,ifyoucanunderstandcomplexthingswhen
youaresleepy,imaginewhatyoucandowhenyoureawake.
3. Paraphrase Extensively
Moreoftenthannot,youwillseealotoftechnicaljargoninthe
passages.Dontgetintimidatedbytheterminologythatyouare
notfamiliarwith.TheGREdoesnttestyourabilityto
rememberorhavetheknowledgeoftechnicaltermsand
jargon.Evennativespeakerswouldnotknowmuchaboutalot
oftermsandvocabularyusedinthepassages.So,allyouneed
todois,replacethatoneparticulartermwithsomefamiliaror
easywordthatyoucanunderstand,andcontinuereadingthe
passage.Thissituationisparticularlycommonwhenitcomes
topassagesonscienceandtechnology.So,ifyoudont
understandaword,substitutethatwithacommonlyknown
word.
Forexample,thepassagesays:Stomatopodsaremarine
crustaceans.Now,allyouknowisthatmarinemeans
somethingrelatedtowater.So,youcaneasilyreplacethat
sentencewithsomethinglike:Tomatoesareweirdanimalsin
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water.Seehoweasyitbecomes?Ofcourse,itdoesnotmake
anysense,butyouwouldagreethatthelattersentenceisalot
easiertorecollect,evenafterfivetotenminutesofreading.
Firstofall,Tomatoesissomethingyoucaneasilyremember,
andyoucanstilllinkittotheoriginalwordStomatopods.
Second,theGREisnevergoingtoaskyouwhatexactlya
crustaceanmeans.Itmight,however,askyourelevant
questions,whichyoucaneasilyanswerifyouhavereadthe
passagewellenough.Even,inanimprobableeventwherethere
comesaquestionaskingyouthemeaningoftheword
crustacean,youcanstillansweritwithease,becauseyou
alreadyhaveasolidideaofthetopic,andyoucanmakean
educatedguessastowhatitmeans.
4. Practice In a Timed Setting

Thereisonlyonemantratosucceed:Practice,practiceand
practiceevenmore.Alotofstudentsdofollowthismantra,but
theyleaveoutonelittleaspect:Time.Itisimportanttopractice
allyourtestsinatimedsetting.Itiseasytosolveaquestionin
tenminutes,andalmostanyonecandoit.Butdoingitinunder
100secondsiswaytoohard,andonlythosewhohavepracticed
foralongtimecandothatrepeatedly.Ergo,thosearetheones
withhighscoresontheGRE.Youwillalsohavetolearnwhen
youshouldstoptryingandmoveon,andthisonlyhappens
whenyouareusedtopracticinginatestlikeenvironment.
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There is only one mantra to

succeed: Practice, practice
and practice even more.
Alotofstudentsfailtopracticeinatimedsetting,andhence
endupwithtimemanagementissuesduringthetest.Dontbe
oneofthoseguys.Evenifyouarenotwritingatest,andevenif
itisjustafewpracticequestionsyouaredoingforfun,havea
timerwithyou,andsetitfor100seconds.Practicelikeathletes.
Athletesdontjustjogduringpractice.Theyworkashardas
theydowhentheyareinacompetition.Thatshowyoushould
practice.Remember,theharderyoupractice,theeasierthe
gamewillbe.
5. Ace Sentence Equivalence

ScoringmorepointsontheReadingComprehensionsection
dependsonhowwellyoucansolveSentenceEquivalence
questions.What?How?
Ifyouareoneofthoseadvancedstudents,youwillfindoutthat
SentenceEquivalencequestionsarerealtimesavers.Ifyouare
verygoodatvocabulary,andifyouhavepracticedwellenough,
youwillfindoutthatSentenceEquivalencequestionscanbe
solvedinunderaminute.Yes,weknowofalotofstudentswho
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cansolveSentenceEquivalencequestionsin4050seconds.
Andyoucaneasilydoitunder60seconds,ifyoupracticehard
enough.
Now,thismeans,youaresavingyourselves30secondsof
precioustimeperquestion.Thatequalstoabout45extra
minutesonyourwatch,whichyoucanusetosolvearound23
questionsonReadingComprehension.Itmightsoundcrazyif
youareabeginner,butitstrue.Allyouneedtodoisbecomea
masterofSentenceEquivalence,andBam!Youhavelotsof
extratimetosolveReadingComprehensionquestions.
6. Use Error Logs

Createanerrorlog.Ifyouarenewtothis,anerrorlogis
basicallyalogwhereyounotedownalltheerrorsthatyou
make,duringyourprep.Itcanbeapracticequestion,oran
entiretestdoesntmatter.Themoreeffectivelyyouusethe
errorlog,themoreclarityyouwillhaveonwhereexactlyare
you,intermsofreadinesstotakethetest.Theerrorlogalso
validatesyourstrengthsandweaknesses,soyouwillhavesolid
datainordertomakechangestoyourstudyplan.
Ifyoutryandusetheerrorlogeffectivelyforawhile,youwill
beabletoseeadistinctivepatternofthemistakesyoumake
andtheareasyoumakethemin.Believeitornot,theerrorlog
willbeyourbestteacher!Youcanonlygetahigherscorewhen
youknowifyouareimprovingconstantlyornot.Itisquiteeasy
tocreateanerrorlogitcanbeanything,butanexcelfilewould
bethemostpreferredoption,sinceitiseasiertonotonlyuse,
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butalsomakechangesinthefuture.Makeanexcelsheetwith
theentirelistoftopicsyouaregoingtostudyinthenextfew
months:Algebra,Geometry,TextCompletion,etc.Andwrite
downyourconfidencelevelsinthenextcolumn,onascaleof1
to5with5beingveryconfidentand1beingclueless.
7. Join GRE Forums and Groups

IfthereisoneplacewhereyoucanlearnfortheGREforfree,it
isforums.Moststudentsdontpreferforumsasameansof
learningbecausetheymainlyconsistoffellowstudents,and
moststudentsdontliketolearnfromfellowstudents.They
thinktheyareallatthesamelevel.Butyoucouldntbemore
wrongifyouarethinkingthesame.Firstofall,noteveryoneis
atthesamelevel,andsecondofall,forumsdonthavejustthe
currentstudents.Therearetonsofstudentswhohavealready
writtentheGREandscoredhighandtherearelotsoftrainers
whohelpoutstudentswithfreesuggestionsandstrategies.
So,ifyoucanparticipateinforumdiscussionsandFacebook
groupsthatarededicatedtoGRE,youwillnotonlylearnso
much,butyouwillalsoactuallymeetalotofsmartpeopleand
learnfromthem.Ifyouareoneofthosesmartstudents,you
canalsotryandhelpoutotherstudentswiththeirdoubtsand
problems.Forumsareagreatwayofnetworkingwithother
peoplewhohavethesameinterestsasyou.
8. How to Skim the Right Way?

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Hereisagreattipforyoutoreadtheentirepassagequickly:
Readthefirstandlastparagraphsofthepassageslowlyand
verycarefully,rephrasingeachsentenceinyourhead.If
possible,writedownnotesonthescratchpaper,paraphrasing
thegivencomplexsentencesintosomethingthatyoucaneasily
understand.Makesureyouclearlyunderstandwhatitisthat
theauthoristryingtoconvey,becauseideally,youshouldnt
comebacktoreadthispartonceyoureadthequestions.As
soonasyouseethequestions,youshouldbeabletoanswer
them.
Now,onceyouaredonewiththefirstandthelastparagraphs,
movetotheothers.Readthefirstoneortwosentencesinthe
otherparagraphsinordertovisualizethestructureofthe
paragraph.Readingthismuchwillbeenough,andwillgiveyou
abirdseyeviewofwhatisgoingtohappennext,inthat
paragraph.Repeatthestepsfortherestoftheparagraphs,and
youwillbeleftwithanoverviewoftheentirepassageinafew
sentences.
Forexample,thesemustbethethoughtsinyourmindasyou
readtheentirepassage:Alright.So,the1stparagraphclaims
thatXhappensveryoften,the2ndparagraphsaysitsnot
necessarilysoandthattherearequiteafewexceptions[with
examples],butthe3rdparagraphsaysthatXstillholdstruein
themajorityofcases,andthe4thandthefinalparagraph
concludesthatalthoughXhappens90%ofthetime,itisrather
foolishtothinkthatXisalwaysboundtohappen.
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Seehowthingscanbecondensedintojustafewlines.Havinga
clearideaoftheentirestructureofthepassageallowsyouto
answergeneralquestionssuchasWhatisthetoneofthe
author?andWhataccordingtotheauthoristhemainideaof
thepassage?etc.Thesesortofquestionsareveryeasyandcan
beansweredwithin10seconds,ifyouhaveacrystalclearidea
oftheentirepassage,whichcanbeexplainedwithinafewlines
likeweshowedabove.So,basically,ifyouusethisstrategy,you
willbecapableofansweringabout50%ofReading
Comprehensionquestionseasily,withinafewseconds.
9. Tweet To a Friend
Nowthatwehavediscussedtheabovetechnique,thereisa
similartechniquethatwehavefoundtobeextremely
resourcefulwhilesolvingReadingComprehensionquestions.It
iscalledTexttoafriendorTweettoafriendformat.This
formatisfairlysimple.Whatif,assoonasyoufinishreadinga
particularparagraphfromthepassage,youareaskedtosenda
summaryofitasatextmessageorasingletweettoyour
friend?Now,youknowthatyoucannotwritemorethan140
charactersinatweet.Whichmeansroughlyaround20words.
So,ifyoucancondensea100wordparagraphinto20words,or
atweetsizedparagraph,itmeansthatyounotonlyhave
completelyunderstoodthepointsmadebytheauthorinthat
paragraph,butalsohavereducedthetimerequiredtoanswer
eachquestion.Ifthereare5paragraphsinthepassage,you
nowhaveonlyabout80100words,whichisfareasierandfar
moretimesavingtoskimthrough,whenyoureadquestions.
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Thistechniquehasbeentriedandtestedbyusandour
students,andithasprovedtobeextremelyeffectiveinsaving
time.Onanaverage,studentssavedatleast5minutesper
passage(on45questions)ontheirpracticetests.So,weurge
youtogiveitatryinyournextpracticesession,andseehow
wellitworksforyou.
10. Look For Keywords

Whilereadingthefirst12sentencesinthebeginningofeach
paragraph,youshouldalsoscantherestofthetextinthe
paragraph,especiallylookingoutforkeywordssuchas
importantnames,dates,andotherstandoutterminologyused
bytheauthor.Theseareveryimportant,astheymoreoften
thannotaskedinthequestionsthatfollowthepassage.Plus,
whenyouencounteraninferenceoradetailedquestion,you
willknowexactlywheretogointheparagraph.
Youmightaskwhythistechniqueisatimesaverwhenyoustill
havetogobackandreadthetextalloveragain.Butthetruth
is,evenifyouareeversocarefulaboutreadingtheentire
passagethefirsttimearound,someoftheinference/support
questionsontheGREaresodetailed,thatmostofthetimeyou
willhavetogobacktoreadthelinesanyway.So,ifyouhave
alreadyfiguredoutthedetailslikenamesanddatesandother
keywords,youdonthavetowasteadditionaltimeonfinding
themalloveragain.Youknowwhereexactlytogoback.This
savesquiteafewseconds,believeitornot.
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11. Read Aggressively

Writingquicknotesasyoureadthepassagewillkeepyour
brainnaturallyengagedandhelpyoumovethroughthe
passagedeliberately.Moreaboutnotetakinglater,butthis
processiswhatwecallAggressiveReading.AggressiveReading
iswhenyouarereadingquicklybutstillunderstandthestuff
thatsinthere.Youarenotsimplyreadingfast,youarereading
fastandeffectively.
Asyouread,jotdownaquicksummaryforeachparagraphon
thescratchpaper,andnotethemainideasnames,theories,
andotherimportantdetailsmentionedinthepassage.Students
oftenskipthisnotetakingstepbecausetheythinkittakestoo
muchtime.Butthinkaboutit:Itismuchbettertotakeafew
extrasecondstojotdownhelpfulnotesthantowastepotential
minutesstaringblanklyatthescreenlookingforthatsentence
thatkeepshidingfromyou.Also,yournoteswillprovideuseful
shortcutsandshortenedphrasesforsomeofthebroader
readingcomprehensionquestions,whichcanactuallyhelpyou
savetimeintheend.
12. The Rotten Tomato Technique

Someanswerchoiceslookliketheperfectanswerstothegiven
question,butinreality,theyareonly90%correct.Students
oftentendtoreadonlythe90%andtheirfuturisticbrainstell
themthattheremaining10%isgoingtobethesame.So,they
thinkthatitistheanswertothegivenquestion,andsinceitis
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90%right,itmustbecorrect.Butsadly,theGREtestmakers
arefaraheadofyouwhenitcomestosettinguptrapswithin
answerchoices.
Itverysooftenhappensthatthereissomesortofmistakeoran
assumptionintheother10%oftheanswerchoicethatyou
thoughtwasperfect.Butoutofexcitementandanxiety,andnot
tomentiontheclockthatisalwayssprinting,youoverlookthat
onepartoftheanswer,andselectitasright.Littledoyouknow
thattheremaining10%containssomethingthatisblatantly
wrong,andthusitinvalidatestheentireansweroption.
ThisiswhyweatCrunchPrepusetheRottenTomato
Technique.Picturethis:Whenyouarebuyingtomatoesfrom
themarket,whatdoyoudo?Youinspecteachtomato100%,
andonlyifyouaresurethattheentiretomatoishealthy,you
purchaseit.Ifyoufindanydarkspot,orarottenpart,thenno
matterhowsmallitis,youputitback.Thisisthesamestrategy
youshouldusetocheckifanansweroptionissuitableornot.If
everthereisonethingevenifitisasinglewordthat
doesntseemright,ordilutestheentiresentence,thenyou
shouldtreattheansweroptionasinvalid,andmoveontothe
nextchoice.
So,thenexttimeyouaresolvingquestionsonReading
Comprehension,rememberthattheRottenTomatotechnique
givesyouhealthyresults.
13. Pause and Play

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SometimeswhenyouarereadingalongReading
Comprehensionpassage,youreyesfeelglazedandwatery.If
youfeelglazedeyesstartingtosetin,lookawayfromthe
passage.Byjustturningyoureyesinadifferentdirection,you
willbe,inaway,hittingaresetbuttononyourbrain.Whenyou
lookawayfromthescreen,orcloseyoureyesforafewseconds,
youshouldalsotakeafewdeepbreaths,andgetsomeoxygen
uptothebrain.Justafewsecondsofrestwillmakeahuge
differencetoyourperformance,andyoucanthenreturntothe
passage.
Dontstartthinkingaboutwastingsecondshere.Yourstateof
mindisfarmoreimportantthantime,andifyoureallythink
yourminddeservesafewsecondsofrest,thenmaybeshould
giveitsomerest.
14. Dont Read Too Fast

Dontreadtoomuchtoofast.Yourbrainhasanaturaltendency
toblockofftoomuchinformationatatime,andwhenyouread
toofastwhenyouareunderpressure,yourbrainsimplyblocks
thingsoff.Thisisabitsimilartohowwhenyouforget
someonesname,youcannotrecollectitnomatterhowhard
youtry,butyougetitatalaterpointwhenyouaredoing
somethingelse.Whenevertoomuchinformationisbeing
thrownatyourbrain,itcannottakeitallatonce.Andthisis
whyitshutsoffforafewseconds,orevenminutes,andyou
cantgetanythingintoyourheadforawhile.
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Thiswillonlywasteyourtimeduringthetest,andwillincrease
pressureonyourbrainevenfurther.Soitisbestforyouifyou
canreadatasteadypace.Ifyouwouldliketoreadfaster,you
shouldunderstandthatspeedreadingcannotbeachieved
overnight.Itcomeswithalotofpractice,andyoushouldstart
doingitrightnow.WehavediscussedaboutSpeedReading
techniquesingreatdetail.Takealookatthefinalchapter
(//crunchprep.com/grereadingcomprehensionguide#six)if
youwouldliketoknowmore.
15. Identify Signaling Words

EveryReadingComprehensionpassagehasafewtomanykey
wordsandphrases.Thesearealsoknownassignalingwords.
WordslikeFirst,second,third,furthermore,ontheother
hand,forexample,namely,foronething,inaddition,
nevertheless,forthesereasons,proponentsbelieve,critics
believe,but,however,whether/if,accordingto,therefore,
consequently,Incontrast,claims,goessofarastoclaim,others
argue,etc.
Thislistisfarfromcomprehensive,butyougettheidea.Asyou
workthroughmoreandmoreReadingComprehension
passagesduringpractice,youwillstarttothinklikethetest
makers,anddevelopasenseforwherethetestmakersare
likelytodrawquestionsfrom.Thiswillbeofgreatadvantageto
you,becauseifyoucananticipatetheoncomingquestion,you
willbementallyreadywiththeanswer,asyoureadthroughthe
passage.
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16. Focus is Key

ThepassagesonReadingComprehensionaremoreoftenthan
notdull,boring,andconcernsubjectsyoueitherfind
uninterestingorarecompletelyaliento.Butthatisnot
somethingyoushouldworryabout,becauseyouarenotalone.
Thetestmakersselectpassagesastomakeeveryonefeel
uncomfortablenotjustyou.So,ifyoufindapassageunfairor
superhard,rememberthatitisthesameforeveryoneelse.
Everytesttakerisinthesameboatasyouare.
DontbeatyourselfupovernothavingreadupontheNazi
cultureorquantumtheoryorthelifecycleofdolphins.Thetest
giversdontexpectyoutohaveanyexpertiseonsuchabstruse
subjects.Theyareonlytestingyourabilitytoreadquickly,to
extractandprocessinformationefficientlyandtodraw
inferencesandmakelogicalconnectionsevenwhenyouknow
nothingaboutthematerial.So,allyouneedtodoissettle
down,takeadeepbreath,acceptthechallenge,andstart
reading.Maintainingfocusiskey.Whichiswhyweask
studentstotakedownnotesastheyreadthepassage.Youare
writingnotesprimarilytohelpyoutofocusonthetext.
17. Practice Active Reading

Itisveryimportanttoreadactively,notpassively.Passive
readingisforknowledge,orforpleasure,butnottoscorehigh
onacompetitivetestliketheGRE.Youneedtoactivelyextract
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information,insteadofpassivelyabsorbingit.Focusonthe
mainpoints.Bestrategic.Getusedtoreadingonlycertainparts
ofapassagecarefully.
Theseinclude:theopeningparagraph,theconclusionandthe
openingandclosingsentencesofeachparagraph.Theyhelp
youanswerstraightforwardquestionslike:Whatistheauthors
mainpoint?Whyistheauthorwritingthis?Whatisthe
authorswritingstyle?,Whatistheauthorsattitudetowards
thetopic?,etc.
18. Unhear That Song Already

Itisextremelycommonthatyoualwayshavethatonesongin
yourheadduringtheentiretimeyoutakethetest.Youarenot
aloneresearchshowsthatcloseto90%ofushavethis
phenomenon,popularlycalledasanearworm.Whilethisis
completelynatural,andthereisnothingwronginit,itmaybe
oneofthereasonsyourbraincannotgiveits100%duringthe
test.Themoreactivitiesyourbraindoes,thelesseritspendsits
focusonthetest.
So,beforeyougointothetestcenter,youwillhavetocleanse
yourbrainoffthesongthatsstuckinside.UseUnhearIt
(http://unhearit.com)orsimilarwebsites,andgetthatsong
outofyourheadbeforeyouleaveforthetestcenter,oreven
better,beforeyouenterthetestingarea.Wehavetestedthis,
anditseemstoworkfinemostofthetime.
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19.Rephrase the Original Question

Ifyouthoughtthatyouwillbesafeonceyoufinishreadingthe
dreadfulpassage,youshouldprobablyholdthatthoughtfora
while.Thequestionsthatfollowthepassageareequally
deceitful,andtheywillneverbestraightforward.Youshould
alwaysbeonthelookoutfortroublingquestionswhichinclude
doubleandtripleconceptualquestions.Thismeans,ifthe
authorhasincludedmorethanoneconceptorscenario,there
mightbequestionsthatarecomplexandlengthyinnature.
Thesequestionsmayalsoincludedoublenegatives,ordouble
triggerwordsjusttoconfuseyoufurther.
Onewaytosolvethesequestions,istobreakdownthequestion
partbypart,andanalyzeit.Thisisareallyeffectivestrategy,
butittakestimeforyoutobreakdownquestions,andthenfind
answerstoeachpartseparatelyfromthepassage.Instead,you
cansimplyreadthequestionsthoroughlyandcarefully,and
thenbasedonwhatyouunderstood,youcanrephrasethe
questioninyourownwords.Thisismakethequestionsound
simpler,anditwillbeeasyforyoutogobacktothepassagein
searchoftheanswerifthequestioniseasiertounderstand.
20. Check the Number of Questions First

Beforeyoudecidehowmuchtimeyoushouldbevestingona
ReadingComprehensionpassage,youshouldseehowmany
questionsthereareintotal.Beforeyouevenbeginreadingthe
passage,checktoseehowmanyquestionaregiven,andthen
decideonthetimeyouwouldliketospendonthepassage.If
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therearetoomanyquestionsandyouthinkitwouldtakealot
oftime,thenitisbettertomarkitandskiptotherestofthe
section.Ifyoudontdothis,youllriskreadingtheentire
passageandthenfindoutthatyouwanttoskipitaltogether.
Thismeans,youwillhavewastedaround45minuteswithout
anyoutcome.So,makesureyoucheckthenumberofquestions
beforeyoustartreading.
21. Be Careful With Multiple Select

Questions
WhenyouareansweringMultipleSelectquestions,youshould
remembertotreateachansweroptionseparately.Sometimes,
itiseasytogetlostinthedetails,andstudentsassumethatif
theyareaskedtoselectmultipleanswers,thenitmustmean
thatbothoptionAandB,forexample,mustbetrueinorderfor
theanswertobecorrect.
No,thatisnothowitworks.Youshouldbetreatingevery
answerchoiceseparately,onitsown.Ifyouarereadingoption
A,dontbotherabouttheotheroptions.SeeifAfitsasthe
answer,andifdoes,selectit.Onlythenshouldyoubemoving
tooptionB.WhenreadingoptionB,forgetabouttheother
choices,includingA.Twoanswerchoicescannotbecombined
toformoneanswer,andhenceyoushouldtreatthem
separately.
22. Embrace the Passage

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Asmuchasyouwishitweretrue,youknowthattherewontbe
anyReadingComprehensionpassagesonyourfavoriteTV
shows.AllReadingComprehensionpassagesaredesignedto
troubleyouwithnewconcepts,newinformation,andnew
questions.But,ifyouareasmartreader,youwouldnotget
boggeddownbythesheerlengthordepthofquestionsand
paragraphs.Instead,whatyoushoulddois,embracethe
passagecompletely.
Yes,youreaditright.Embracethepassageasifitwereyour
friend.Appreciateitforitsuniqueness,greatness,andits
wealthofinformation,butalsoembraceitforitsstupidity,
stubbornness,anditsstrangeness.Justaswithyourbest
friend,youshouldunderstandthataReadingComprehension
passagehasitsownflaws,andkeepinmindthatitisalways
lookingtotroubleyou,andwasteyourtime.
Embrace the passage as if it

were your friend.
Whileembracingthepassageanditsplusesandminuses,you
shouldalsolearntoloveitdespitewhatitis.Sometimes,itis
reallydifficulttokeepyourfocusonthepassage,becauseno
matterhowmuchyoutry,youhatetolearnaboutorangutans
oraboutthesciencebehindnaturalreflexes.Whatyoucando,
however,istryandfallinlovewiththesubject.Tellyourself
thattodayyoureallywanttoknowwhystarsdie,orwhy
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Rasputinledtohisowndownfall.Youshouldlearntofakeyour
loveforthepassage,deceiveitwithyourfakeenthusiasm,and
thendestroyitwhenitfinallysurrenderstoyourrelentless
pursuit.Thatishowyoumasterboringpassages.Itsoundsevil,
butyoucanthelpit.
23. The Tone of the Author Is Never

Negative on the GRE
Thisisaveryimportantpointyoushouldremember.TheGRE
beinganinternationallyacclaimedtest,doesnteverinclude
essaysorparagraphsthatarenegativeinnature.Thetest
makersselectthepassagesanddesignthequestionsso
carefullythattherewontbemuchroomfornegativity.
Hence,youcansaythatthetoneoftheauthoriseitherneutral
(whichismostlythecase),orpositiveorpraisinginnature.
Nowthisdoesntmeantheauthordoesnotcriticizeanythingin
thepassage.Yes,therewillbealotofcriticism,butmostofitis
constructive.Meaning,theauthorsaysthatsomethingis
wrong,buthe/shealsogivesthenecessaryreasonsbehindtheir
stance.So,thisqualifiesthetoneasneutral.
Sometimes,theauthoradvocatesforaparticularreasonora
cause,inwhichcase,he/sheisbeingpositiveaboutthetopic.
Buttherewillnotbemanyessayswheretheauthorseverely
criticizesanddemeanssomeoneorsomethinginthepassage.
Hence,whileansweringquestionsrelatedtothetoneofthe
authororthewritingstyle,youshouldrememberto
automaticallyeliminateanswerchoicesthathintthatthe
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authorisbeingcompletelynegative.Ifananswerchoice
impliesthattheauthorhasuseddrasticorextremelanguageto
criticizethetopiche/shewriteson,thenyoushould
automaticallydisqualifythatanswerchoice,andmoveon.
24. Pay Utmost Attention to Tough Reading

Comprehension Passages
Theseareverydifficulttounderstand,especiallybecausethe
authorusesseveraltrapstoconfuseyou.Youwillfindsatiric
commentswhichlooklikepraisesbutareinfactcriticisms,you
willseemultiplecomparisonswherethemainideaiscompared
toothersimilarscenariossoastoconfuseyouaboutwhichof
themisthemainidea.
Oftentimes,theauthorcamouflageshis/heropinioninthe
formofothersopinions.Thepassagehasopinionsofother
people,butnottheauthors.Youshouldbereallycarefulhere,
andseewhethertheauthorissupportingordisapprovingtheir
opinions.Whenyouthinkthingsaregoingbeyondyour
control,stopreading.Markitforreview,andcomebacklater
withafreshermindset.Maybeyouwillcrackthecodelater.
Whywastetimenow?
Beverycarefulwhenyouseetwistedquestions.Sometimesyou
willbeaskedtoprovideanalogies,orsituationsthataresimilar
totheonesmentionedinthepassage.Thesearesomeofthe
dangerousquestionsyouwillsee,becauseeverysituation
seemslikeananalogytoabeginner.So,youshouldpractice
suchquestionsrigorously,andbeaheadofthecurve.
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25. Make Notes Intelligently

Youcanuseseveraltechniquestotakedownnotesinan
intelligentmanner.Moststudents,whenaskedtomakenotes,
writedownafewsentencesaltogether.Butthinkaboutit.Why
doyoutakenotes?Soyoucansavetime.Butifyouarewriting
downafewsentenceseverytimeyoureadaparagraph,areyou
reallysavingtime,orwastingitevenfurther?
Ifyoureallywanttosavemoretime,youshouldnotkeep
writingsentences.Instead,youshouldtryandkeepthenotesas
smallaspossible.Nowyoumayask,howdoyoustorelotsof
informationwithonlyafewwords?
Bybeingsmart,istheanswer.Identifythemostrelevant
information.Writedownthekeywordsorphrasesthatare
mostrelevanttothetopicathandthingslikedates,names,
theories,definitionsonlythemostimportantdetailsshould
makethecut.Eliminateallthefillerwordsandsecondary
details.Replaceallthetoughtorememberlanguagewitheasy,
andsimplewords.Paraphrasewithexaggeration.Write
whateveryouwant,aslongasitfitsthemaintheme,andyou
understandit.
Also,useshorthand,ortextinglingo.Replaceshouldwithshd,
questionwithques,communicatewithcomm,etc.Thisis
reallyhelpfulbecause,ifyouveevernoticed,writingisalot
slowerprocessthantyping.So,useshortenedversionsof
words,andtrywritingwhatyouhaveunderstood,insteadof
repeatingsentencesfromthepassage.
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And,whosaidyouhavetouseonlywords?Youcanuse
illustrations,symbols,treediagrams,relationships,arrows,etc.
Thiswillsignificantlyshortentheinformationyouneedto
write,andwillmaximizeefficiency.
26. The Best Time Saving Strategy

Studentsoftenuseanswergridsinordertosavetime.Butdid
youknowthatthereisanevenbettertimesavingstrategy?
UsingananswergridwhilesolvingaReadingComprehension
questionmeansyoushouldkeepshiftingyourfocuswhile
readingansweroptionsonthescreen,andwhilestrikingoff
optionsonthescratchpaper.Somovingyoureyesoffthe
screenandoffthescratchpaperrepeatedlyleadstolackof
focus.Ittakestimetoread,andthenstrikeoffoptionsonthe
paper.Whywastetimewhenthereisabetteralternative?
Weusuallyrecommendourstudentstousetheirlefthand(or
right,ifyouareasouthpaw)andfoldfingersastheyeliminate
eachansweroption.Confused?Dontbe.
Itisprettysimple.Assignoptionstoeachofyourfingers,(A=
thumb,B=index,C=middle,etc.)andfoldfingersasyou
eliminatedeachoftheoptions.Thismethodisnotonlymuch
simplertoapply,butitismuch,muchfasterthananyother
method.Sinceyoudontneedtowriteanythingonthepaper,
youdontneedtolookdown,andyoucankeepyoureyesonthe
screen!
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Wehaveaskedourstudentstotestthismethodduringtheir
practicetests,andonanaverage,theyhavesaved56seconds
perquestion!Now,6secondsmightnotseemlikealottoyou,
buttheyareinvaluable.Dontbelieveme?Youdothemath:
thereareabout20ReadingComprehensionontheGRE.Thats
20questionsmultipliedby6seconds=120seconds,ortwo
minutes.Whichmeans,youwillhaveenoughtimetosolve
anothertwoquestions!Andthatshouldgiveyouachanceto
increaseacoupleofpointsonyourfinalscore.
So,thosearethevarioustipsandstrategiesthatyoucanuse
effectively,tocompletelyannihilatetheReading
Comprehensionsection.Otherguidesusuallyendhere.Butwe
atCrunchPrepwantyoutogetyourselfacquaintedwithsome
ofthemostadvancedtechniquesthatyoucanuseontheGRE.
TheseadvancedspeedtechniqueswillhelpyousolveReading
Comprehensionquestionsattheblinkofanyeye,andyoucan
bragaboutyournewlyacquiredskillswithyourfriends.
CHAPTER 6
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11 Speed Reading
Techniques That Help You
Conquer Reading
Comprehension
11ofthemostadvancedspeedingtechniques
thatwillhelpyoureadandunderstandReading
Comprehensionpassagesatlightningspeed.
Readingislikeexercisingamuscle.Whatthegymistoyour
muscles,readingistoyourmind.Andjustlikeyouexercise
yourmuscleseverydayinthegym,youshouldexerciseyour
mindeverydaybyreading.
Weallhaveacapacitytoreadmuchfasterthanweactuallydo
today.Ourreadingspeed,justlikethesizeofourmuscles,
changesaswegothroughlife.Duringschool,wegothrough
about150200wordsaminute,becausewejustlearnedhowto
readproperly.Duringhighschool,youincreasethespeed
automaticallyto300wordsperminute,becauseyourbrain
developsquitequickly.Whenyougotocollege,youhavelotsof
otherthingstodo,andverylittletimeavailable,whichiswhy
yourbrainautomaticallyadjuststoreading400wordsper
minute.
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Butthemomentyougetoutofcollege,younomorehavea
reasontoreadlotsofinformationeverysingleday.Thatis
whenthebrainstartstorelax,andslowlybutsurely,the
readingspeedgoesbackto200wordsperminute.ButtheGRE
requiresthatyoureadmuchfasterthanthis.Actually,the
higheryourreadingspeedis,thehigheryourscorewillbe,on
theverbalsection.So,howcanyoudothat?Howdoyou
improveyourreadingspeeddrastically,inaverysmalltime
frame?
The higher your reading

speed is, the higher your
score will be.
Belowaresomefantasticreadingtechniquesthatwe,andour
studentshaveusedwhilestudyingfortheGRE.These
techniquesarequiteadvancedinnature,andittakesseveral
daystoafewweeksforyourbraintoadjusttothenewreading
speeds.Also,thesetechniquesrequiregreatamountsof
practiceandpersistencefromyourend,soifyouthinkyou
cannotputinalotofeffortinthecomingfewweeks,orifyou
donthavethatmuchtimebeforethetest,tryimplementingat
leastoneortwoofthegiventechniques.Ideally,thesetipsare
forthosestudentswhoaretargeting165+ontheVerbal
section.But,evenotherwise,ifyouhavelotsoftimeleftbefore
yourtestbegins,youshouldtryandimplementthemall,and
practiceasmuchasyoucan.
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1. Chunk Reading
ChunkReadingisperhapsoneofthemostsignificant
techniquesusedbyadvancedreaderstogatherasmuch
informationastheycaninaverylimitedtime.Thetechniqueis
rathersimpleandstraightforward:Readmultiplewordsata
time.Normally,youreadeachwordseparatelyandasyou
movealong,youunderstandthemeaningofthesentence.But,
thisprocesstakestime.
Instead,youshouldreadchunksofwordsatasingleinstance,
andcompleteeverysentenceinamaximumoftwoorthree
instances.Forexample,takethesentence:Thequickbrown
foxjumpedoverthelazydog.Usually,youwouldreaditas
Thequick|brown|fox|jumped|over|thelazy|dog.But,when
youusethechunkreadingtechnique,youreaditasThequick
brownfox|jumpedoverthelazydog.Thereshouldntbeany
gapbetweenreadingeachword.Moreadvancedreadersread
thisentiresentenceinonesingleinstance,thus,reducing
readingtimedrastically.
So,thenexttimeyouseeapieceoftext,readthesentencesin
chunksandseehowmuchtimeyouaresavingperparagraph.
InatimelimitedenvironmentsuchastheGRE,thistechnique
willsaveyouatleast2secondsper10words.Whichmeans,for
anaverageReadingComprehensionpassagethathas350
words,youwillsave70secondsoftime.
2. Dont Vocalize the Text

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Whenyouarereadingthissentence,thereisaninnervoice
insideyouthatisreadingitout,andonlyyoucanhearit.This
iscalledvocalizing,anditisaprocessthebrainimplementsin
ordertocompletelyunderstandwhatyouarereading.Brilliant,
butthereisoneproblemwiththis:ittakeslotsoftime.You
musthavealreadyheardthefactthatyoucanonlyreadasfast
asyoucanspeak.Thisisbecause,wehavebeentrainedtodo
so,sincechildhood:toreadaloud.Andourbrainshavebeen
hardwiredtoreadonlyasfastaswecanspeak,albeit,notas
fastaswewouldlike.
Whenyoureadaloud,ittakestimefortheinformationseenby
youreyestoreachthebrain,whichconvertsthevisualtextinto
sound,whichyoucanhearasyourinnervoice,andthenthe
brainagaindecodesinformationthroughthisinnervoice.This
isquitearoundaboutprocess.Butithasbeenobserved,
however,thatwhenyouarereadingatasuperfastpace,the
braincannotvocalizethetext.Thisisthereasonwhythe
averagehumantendstoreadatacomfortablepaceinorderto
avoidnotunderstanding.Itisanaturalresponse,notyour
fault.
Butyouarenottheaveragehuman,youareaGREtesttaker.
Youcannotaffordtoreadatacomfortablepace,sincetimeis
alwaysprickingyoufrombehind.Sowhatdoyoudo?Youstop
vocalizingthetextyouarereading.Now,thisisntaseasyasit
sounds,sinceyouaregoingagainstthenatureofyourbrain.It
takesatleasttwoweeksforyoutofullytakecontrolofyour
brain.Butmeanwhile,youcanuseonetacticthatworksreally
well.
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Youshouldmanuallymurmuramonotonoussound,slightly
aloud,sothatyourbraincannomoreuseyourinnervoiceto
vocalizetext.Thebraincannotdomorethanonetaskatatime.
So,ifyougiveyourbrainsomethingelsetofollow,itcannot
deployitsvocalizingpower.Trydoingthisasyoureadanytext
material:MakeamonotonoussoundsuchasMmmmmmor
Eeeeeeeeeoranyotherrepetitivesoundthroughoutthetime
youreadthetext.Atfirstitseemsratherdifficulttounderstand
whatyouarereading,butwithinafewdays,youwillseethat
youarenotonlyunderstandingwhatyouread,butyouhave
alsoincreasedyourreadingspeed.
Youcanusethistechniqueintheexamtoo,butmakesureyou
arenotmakingthosesoundsloudenoughtodisturbothers.
Else,youwillhavetofacetheproctorsanger.
3. Ignore Useless Words

Wait,what?TheGREhasuselesswordstoo?Notexactly.But
everysentenceinEnglishhasabout40%uselesswords.Useless
inthesense,thereisnopointinusingthatwordinthe
sentence,andonecaneasilyunderstandthemeaningofthe
sentenceevenifyouremovethewordsentirely.Wordslike
articles(A,an,the),tenseslikeis,areetc.,arenotexactlyvital
tounderstandasentence,inthecontextofaGREpassage.
Theyareonlyusedasornamentstomakethesentencesound
grammaticallycorrect.
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Now,thereisnopointinreadingalltheseauxiliarywords,and
since40%ofthepassageconsistofsuchwords,youwillbe
savingatleast40%ofthetime.Letusseeanexample,soyou
willunderstanditevenbetter.ThisexcerptisabouttheGRE,
takenfromWikipedia:
TheGraduateRecordExaminations(GRE)isastandardized
testthatisanadmissionsrequirementformostgraduate
schoolsintheUnitedStates.Createdandadministeredby
EducationalTestingService(ETS)in1949,theexamaimsto
measureverbalreasoning,quantitativereasoning,analytical
writing,andcriticalthinkingskillsthathavebeenacquired
overalongperiodoftimeandthatarenotrelatedtoany
specificfieldofstudy.TheGREGeneralTestisofferedasa
computerbasedexamadministeredatPrometrictesting
centers.
Nowtheaboveparagraphtakesabout2025secondsforthe
averagereadertofinish.Andthereareseveralunnecessary
wordsinthere.Thetestmakerspurposefullyincludethem,so
theycanwasteyourvaluabletime.But,weareevensmarter.
Weomitallthoseuselesswordsfromtheparagraph,and
rephraseitas:
GREadmissionsrequirementgraduateschoolsUS.Created
byETS1949measureverbalreasoning,quantitative
reasoning,analyticalwriting,andcriticalthinkingskills.GRE
offeredascomputerbasedexamatPrometriccenters.
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Theabovesentencetakeslessthan10secondstoreadand
understand.Doyouseethedifference?Thisshowshowmuch
timeyoucansaveifyouomitunnecessarywordsfromthe
passage.Nowitiseasytodoitwhenyouomititmanually.But
intheexam,youcannotsimpledeletethosewords.Thewords
willbethere,andyouhavetoomittheminyourmind.This
isnteasy,butitcanbedonewithpractice,andittakesacouple
ofweeksatleastforanaveragereadertoreadasentence,and
naturallyomittheauxiliarywords.
4. Avoid Rereading
Thisisoneoftheblundersstudentsmakewhilereading
passagesonReadingComprehension.Theyreadaparticular
sentence,butattheendofit,theyarenttooconfidenttomove
on.So,whatdotheydo?Theygobackandreaditagaintoget
moreclarity.Now,thisisokayifyoudoitonce,maybetwice.
Butonceyoubegintodothis,youkeeponstoppingandgoing
backtoreadthingsagainandagain.Thiswasteslotsoftime,
withoutyouactuallynoticingit.Youthinkitisokaybecause
youareunderstanditproperly,butinreality,itisntokayatall.
Thissituationarisesmainlyduetolackofconfidence.Ifyouare
confidentaboutyourself,youwillbecontentwithasingle
reading,andwillnotthinkofrereadingstuffyouhavejustread.
Also,itmightbebecauseyouaresupertensed,thatyoutotally
forgotwhatyoureadafewsecondsago.Bothsituationsare
quitedangerous,andyoushouldtryyourbesttoavoidthem.
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Howcanyoudothat?Well,toparaphraseYOLO,the
quintessentialjuvenileacronymofthetwentyfirstcentury,
rememberYORO,orYouOnlyReadOnce.Thatshowyoudo
it.Makeitapointtonotrereadanysentence.Ifyouthinka
particularsentencehaslotsofterminologyinitanditis
impossibletounderstanditinonego,tryreducingyour
readingspeedonlyforthatonesentence.But,neverevergo
back.
Thismakesyouconsciousaboutyourreading,andyouwill
readeverywordwith100%concentration.Hence,youwont
havetowastetimegoingback.But,evenafterallthisyouthink
youwillhavetogoback,doitwhenarelevantquestionspops
upafterthepassage.Ifthereisnotevenonequestionrelatedto
thatsentence,whybotherreadingitagain?So,ifyouseea
questiontowhichyouarenotsureoftheanswer,thenyoucan
gobackandreadthatpartagain.
5. Train Hard
Wheneveryouhavefreetime,practicereadingsomeofthe
hardestpassagesthereare.Trysearchingonlineforadvanced
scientificresearchpapers,orgotothelibraryandreadbooks
aboutscience,sociology,philosophy,etc.Anddontreadthem
forknowledgeorforpleasure.Readthemtoimproveyour
readingspeed.Readingtoughsubjectmattersandarticleswith
greatspeedimprovesyourcomprehensionskills,andcognitive
abilities.Ifyouareabletounderstandcomplextheorieseven
whenyoureadatagreatspeed,itmeansthatyouwilldoa
greatjobontheactualtest.
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Justliketheothertechniqueswehavediscussed,thisisntvery
easy,butyoucandoitwithlotsofpractice.Yourbrainslowly
getshardwiredtounderstandingcomplexwordsandsentences
evenwhenyoureadfast.Thishelpsyoualot,becauseone:in
thetest,youwontfindpassagesthathard,whichmakesthings
eveneasierforyou,andtwo:youwillbereadytoreadand
understandanypassageyouaregiven,irrespectiveofthetopic.
6. Never Read Modifiers

Mostmodifiersarebelievedtobeusefulphrasesthatgivemore
informationaboutthesubject,inasentence.ButontheGRE,
thismoreinformationisnotrequiredmuch,andontopofthat,
readingmoreinformationmeanstakingmoretimetofinishthe
passage.Whichisexactlywhatwearetryingtoavoidhere.
Takealookatthisexample:
AdolfHitler,whoiswidelyregardedasasymbolofviolence
andkilling,isactuallyalovingfathertohischildren.
Thephrasewhoiswidelyregardedasasymbolofviolenceand
killingisamodifierhere.Itgivesmoreinformationaboutthe
subject,whichisAdolfHitlerinthiscase.Nowthereisnoneed
toreadthismodifier,sinceitgivesnonewinformationtous.
EveryoneknowsthatHitleriswidelyregardedasasymbolof
violenceandkilling.Andsincethisisjustadditional
information,theGREwillnotaskyouaquestiononit.And
hence,thereisnopointinreadingit.Bysimplyskippingitoff,
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youaresavingyourselfafewsecondsoftime.Andthesentence
AdolfHitlerisactuallyalovingfathertohischildrenmakes
perfectsense,andyoucanmoveontothenextsentence.
AtypicalReadingComprehensionpassageontheGREhas
abouttwoorthreemodifiers,andifyoumakeitapointtoskip
themall,youaredoingyourselfafavor.Andifatall,inahighly
unlikelysituation,youseeaquestionaboutthatextra
informationinthemodifier,youcanalwaysgobackandread
it.
7. Make A Visual Movie

Youmusthaveheardthatmostpeoplearevisuallearners.
Whatthismeansis,mostofuslearnthingsbyeitherseeing
them,orvisualizingthemhappen.Andvisualizingthingswhile
readingisntnewtouseither.Rememberthescenesyourmind
createswheneveryoureadanovel?Beitacrimescene,a
romanticdialogue,oranextraterrestrialinvasion,wetendto
createlittlemoviesinsideourheadsaswereadthestoriesfrom
books.
Thisisagreattalentthatwehumanshave,andyouwillhaveto
tapintothisresourceifyouwanttounderstandpassages
thoroughly.Makesmallvisualmoviesinsideyourheadasyou
startreadingthepassage.Everypassagehasaheroanda
villain.Ithasascenario,andasmallplot.Usetheseattributes,
weavetogetheranicevisualstory,andplayitinsideyourbrain
whilereadingtextfromthescreen.Thisisagreatwayof
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rememberingthings,andyouwillcertainlynothavetocome
backtoreadagain,sincetheimagesarealreadystoredinyour
braininasequence.
So,assoonasyouseeaquestion,youranswerwillcometoyou
intheformofavividscenefromthemovieyoucreated,and
youcanansweritwithease.Thisagain,comeswithpractice,so
useyourfreetimeeffectively,andimplementtheseneatlittle
tricksathome.
8. Use a Pointing Device

Anotherfantasticwaytoimproveyourreadingspeedbyleaps
andbounds,isbyusingapointingdevice.Anythingfromyour
indexfingertoapencilcanworkasapointingdevice.Sincethe
textisonthescreen,andthescreenisatadistancefromyour
eyes,itcanbedifficulttofixyoureyesonthewordsforalong
time.Thisiswhyyoushouldusethepenciloryourfingerasa
pointingdevice.Thisdevicetellsyoureyesthattheyshouldbe
followingwhereveritgoes,andthefasteryoumovethedevice,
thefasteryoureyeswillscanthroughthewords.Andthe
processwediscussedunderChunkReadingcomesintoplay.
Researchshowsthatpeoplewhouseapencilorapenasa
pointingdevicewhilereading,tendtoimprovetheirreading
speedsbycloseto50%,andstillunderstandtheentirestuff.
Thisisbecause,youreyeswillfollowthepencil,andyourbrain
willonlyfocusonthewordsthatthepencilgoesthrough,andit
doesntbotherabouttherestoftheworld.Thisincreases
concentrationlevels,alongwithreadingspeed.Trythis
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techniquethenexttimeyoureadsomething.Ourprimary
schoolteacherswerentwrongafterallwhentheyaskedusto
dothesame.
9. Vertical Reading
Thisisprobablythehardestofallspeedreadingtechniques.As
thenamesuggests,youshouldbereadingtextvertically.Which
means,notwordbyword,butlinebylineatatime.Your
eyeballshouldmovedownwards,insteadofsideways.Itis
similartochunkreading,buthere,thechunkisanentirelineof
text.Thisisquiteanuphilltaskforabeginner,andonlythe
fastestreadersintheworldcandoit,butyoushouldtryandget
asclosetoitaspossible.
Agoodwaytostartis,byreadingnewspapersandmagazines.
Inparticular,newspapershavenarrowcolumnsoftext,and
eachlinehasaround57words.Thisisquiteaneasytaskfora
beginner,andyoushouldtargetreadinganewsitemvertically
downwards.Magazinesaresimilartonewspapers,andifyou
cantryandgetscientificmagazines,thatdbegreat.
Remember,thismightseemnexttoimpossibleinthe
beginning,butyouareonlytryingtogetbetter.Youmaynotbe
abletoreadlongsentencesinonesecond,butevenifyoucan
readoneshortsentencepersecond,youwillskyrocketyour
readingspeed.
10. Track Your WPM

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WPMisWordsPerMinute.Wheneveryouarereading
anythingfromanewsarticletoafictionnovelalwayshave
thetimerwithyou.Almostallsmartphoneshaveastopwatch
applicationpreinstalled,andyoushouldputthattogooduse.
Startthetimer,andthenstartreading.Attheendof5minutes,
checkhowmanywordsyoucouldreadperminute.Or,youcan
useonlinetoolstotrackyourWPMcount.
Spreeder(http://www.spreeder.com)isanawesomeresource
whenitcomestokeepingtrackofyourWPM.Youcancopy
pastethetextyouwanttoread,setthereadingspeed,andalso
howmanywordsinachunkyouwouldwanttoread.Itisan
idealtoolforGREaspirantswhoarelookingtodestroyReading
Comprehension.Youshoulddefinitelycheckitout.
TheaveragereadersWPMisaround250,butadvanced
readerscangoupto1000.But,sinceyouarentplanningtobe
theworldsfastestreader,youshouldideallysetatargetof500
WPM.ThismeansyoucanreadtheaverageReading
Comprehensionpassageinabout4060seconds!Imaginethe
cushionyouwillhaveifyoucanfinishoffreadingand
understandingapassagewithin60seconds.Normally,you
shouldsetasideatleast56minutesperpassage(including
readingandansweringquestions.)Soifyoucanfinishreading
in1minute,youwillhave45minutestoanswer35questions,
whichwillbeacakewalk,seriously.
11. Use Blocking Devices
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Wheneveryouseealongpassage,yougetaminorheartattack.
Youkeepthinkingthatifyoucannotanswerallthequestionsat
theendofthepassage,itisgoingtobeacompletewasteof
time.Thisworrycreepsinatthelastmoment,andspoilsyour
mood.Thishashappenedquiteoftenwithourstudents,andwe
givethemasimplesolution.Concentrateonlyonthesentence
youarecurrentlyreading,andusesomethingtoblockoffthe
remainingtext.Itcanbeanything:yourpalm,orthescratch
paperyouhave,oranything.
Justtrytoblockthetextandmakesureyoucanseeonlyone
lineoftextatatime.Thiswillgiveyouafeelingofthereisonly
onemorelinetogo,andyouwillfinishofftheentirepassage
soonerthanyouthink.
Conclusion
So,thatsaboutit.Wehavecometoanendofthisepicjourney
calledtheDestructionofReadingComprehension.Wehave
discussedabout38invaluablestrategiesthatyoucoulduseto
improvenotonlyyourreadingspeed,butalsoyourscoreson
thereadingcomprehensionsection.
Thisisbyfarthemostcomprehensiveguideintheworld,to
helpyouacetheReadingComprehensionsectionintheGRE.If
youthinkthisisveryhelpful,orifyoureallylovedit,shareit
withyourfriendsrightnow!Ourgoalistohelpasmany
studentsaswecan.Sowhatareyouwaitingfor?Gosharethe
livingdaylightsoutofthisguide!
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Wealmostforgot!Ifyouthinkyouwouldliketosavethisguide
forfutureperusal,beourguest!Downloadthisentire
guideasPDF,andtakeitwithyou.
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The Ultimate Guide to

Whats the Reading Comprehension section

8 Types of Questions you

1. Main Idea Questions

2. Tone of the Author Questions

3. Specific Fact Questions

7. Negative or Exception Questions

8. Contextual/Definition of a term or word

7 Trap Answers to Avoid on

There is only one right

2. Answer choices that make use of

3. Answer choices in which facts are

4. Answer choices that ask you to make

5. Answer choices that include outrageous,

6. Answer choices that are true, but assume

7. Answer choices that cannot be backed by

The 5 Step Process to

1. Read the first paragraph and the first and

2. Make notes as you read

3. Identify Key Words and Signal Words

4. Recap With a Visual Movie

5. Start Answering The Questions

26 Tips and Strategies to

1. Start Reading Today

2. Read Before You Sleep

4. Practice In a Timed Setting

There is only one mantra to

5. Ace Sentence Equivalence

6. Use Error Logs

7. Join GRE Forums and Groups

8. How to Skim the Right Way?

10. Look For Keywords

11. Read Aggressively

12. The Rotten Tomato Technique

13. Pause and Play

14. Dont Read Too Fast

15. Identify Signaling Words

16. Focus is Key

17. Practice Active Reading

18. Unhear That Song Already

19.Rephrase the Original Question

20. Check the Number of Questions First

21. Be Careful With Multiple Select

22. Embrace the Passage

Embrace the passage as if it

23. The Tone of the Author Is Never

24. Pay Utmost Attention to Tough Reading

25. Make Notes Intelligently

26. The Best Time Saving Strategy

The higher your reading

2. Dont Vocalize the Text

3. Ignore Useless Words

6. Never Read Modifiers

7. Make A Visual Movie

8. Use a Pointing Device

10. Track Your WPM

11. Use Blocking Devices

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