Reading strategies for Comprehension in GMAT
In the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), paragraphs in the passage will often have "structural signposts" near the beginning that signal how the paragraph fits into the structure of the passage. Some of these signal that the paragraph is going to continue the line of thought expressed in the preceding paragraph, while other words signal that the paragraph is going to express a different point of view.
Speed is important, but not at the expense of reading carefully. You will consume too much time on Reading Comprehension if you feel compelled to re-read a passage you just finished reading moments ago. Read carefully the first time, to avoid this.
Work to improve your vocabulary. Reading Comprehension passages typically include technical or complex language that you can ignore. However, if you struggle with other more common words, your reading speed will suffer. Get into the habit of looking up the meanings of words you don't know.
Read well-written material, as often as possible. You should become a voracious reader. Read classic literature from Virginia Wolff, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Vladimir Nabokov, Franz Kafka, and works of contemporary novelists like Don DeLillo, Doris Lessing, Chinua Achebe, and Toni Morrison.
Read poorly written material, as often as you can stand it. The GMAT often includes convoluted and poorly written passages. It is not an accident. The test-makers want to uncover your ability to navigate through shoddy writing and still comprehend the important points of the passage. Overly dense science and technology pieces are good practice too. Verbose, stilted essays are even better.
