{"id":13448,"date":"2026-09-25T11:07:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T11:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grockit.com\/gmat\/?p=135"},"modified":"2026-09-25T16:09:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T16:09:25","slug":"gmat-reading-comprehension-tips-cat-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/gmat\/gmat-reading-comprehension-tips-cat-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"GMAT Reading Comprehension Tips: CAT Strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The GMAT Reading Comprehension section is delivered as a CAT, or a Computer-Adaptive Test. This requires GMAT strategies you may be unfamiliar with. On some sections, the computer can be less of an assistance and more of a hindrance. Often, the\u00a0older you are, the more likely it is that you spent your childhood, teen years, and even adulthood learning how to read in a paper-based world. Standardized testing, especially reading comprehension, is very different on a paper-based test than it is on a CAT.<\/p>\n<p>Years of paper-based reading trains many test-takers\u00a0to take notes on the passage itself, underlining significant sections of the passage and putting notes in the margins near the relevant text. On a CAT, you don\u2019t have the luxury of marking up the text. Learning to read actively\u2013even without the benefit of marking up the text\u2013is key to improving your reading comp score.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few ways to do that:<br \/><div  class='avia-icon-list-container   avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><ul class='avia-icon-list avia-icon-list-left av-iconlist-big avia_animate_when_almost_visible avia-iconlist-animate'><li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue841' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Outline the passage paragraph by paragraph as you read<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>You will have scratch paper on the GMAT, and you should plan to take advantage of it. Jotting even just a few words to summarize each paragraph can help you get a handle on the passage and sharpen your focus.<\/p>\n<p>An example might look like this:<\/p>\n<p><em>Para<\/em><em>. 1\u2014intro, historical background<\/em><br \/><em>Para<\/em><em>. 2\u2014traditional interpretation<\/em><br \/><em>Para<\/em><em>. 3\u2014problems with trad. interp., and new interp.<\/em><br \/><em>Para<\/em><em>. 4\u2014conclusion<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Taking notes like this as you read forces you to synthesize the text and read more efficiently.\u00a0 Get into the habit now; use a notebook to annotate practice passages, even if you\u2019re practicing on paper.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li><li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue808' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Keep track of proper nouns, dates, and other key words and phrases<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>Often, a question will refer back to a specific detail without giving you a line reference, and hunting for that detail in the passage can cost you precious time.\u00a0 Expedite the process by keeping track of the kinds of details that are common subjects of questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Examples of this would be references to individuals or groups of people, places, theories, ect.; dates or time periods, particularly if chronology is important to the passage\u2019s meaning; and key ideas that are addressed in detail only in one part of the passage.\u00a0 Since you can\u2019t indicate those things by underlining them or putting a star or other mark in the margin nearby, instead write a couple of words with a line reference to tell you where to find what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li><li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue84c' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Go to CAMP<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>CAMP\u2014or Central Point, Approach, Map, and Perspective\u2014issues are commonly addressed in questions.\u00a0 Central Point is the main idea of the passage; often this will be summarized in one sentence, and you can indicate that sentence in your notes with a line reference.\u00a0 Approach is how the author is writing the passage: is it a recommendation, a historical account, a rebuttal of a different idea, or something else entirely?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There are lots of possibilities here, but remember that each detail in the passage will in some way serve the author\u2019s primary motivation in writing the passage; nailing the author\u2019s approach can help you answer questions that ask you about the purpose of a specific statement or the passage as a whole.\u00a0 Map is that paragraph outline that we talked about in number 1 above.\u00a0 And Perspective is a one-word summary of the author\u2019s tone: is it positive, negative, neutral, or something else?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Boil the tone down to a single word, and you\u2019ll be prepared if it is the subject of a question, which it often is.\u00a0 By taking a few quick notes on the CAMP issues before you tackle the question, you\u2019ll be able to focus on finding correct answers that align with your CAMP notes, instead of being tempted by distracting wrong answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A sample CAMP note set might look like this:<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>C:<\/strong> lines 4\u20147<\/em><br \/><em><strong>A:<\/strong> Rebuttal of traditional theory<\/em><br \/><em><strong>M:<\/strong> <\/em><br \/><em>Para.1\u2014intro, historical background<\/em><br \/><em>Para<\/em><em>. 2\u2014traditional interpretation<\/em><br \/><em>Para<\/em><em>. 3\u2014problems with trad. interp., and new interp.<\/em><br \/><em>Para<\/em><em>. 4\u2014conclusion<\/em><br \/><em><strong>P:<\/strong> Critical<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><br \/>Reading on a CAT can require some adaptation of your usual approach, but with practice, it\u2019s absolutely a surmountable challenge.\u00a0 Start early, be consistent with taking CAMP notes on scratch paper during your practice, and remember that active reading is the key to success on the GMAT.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2>Top 10 Tips for GMAT Reading Comprehension<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3>1. Treat everything you read as a chance to practice.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p> You can practice Reading Comprehension while going about your daily life. State the main purpose of that article your friend retweeted! Summarize each main idea of the email your boss just sent you! Sure, it\u2019s weird, but a little weirdness is okay when you\u2019re preparing for the GMAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>2. Develop a reading habit (or maintain the one you have). <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of playing Candy Crush before you fall asleep, read a few pages of that book you\u2019ve been meaning to get to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>3. Build up your background knowledge. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>GMAT Reading Comprehension isn\u2019t supposed to test background knowledge. Everything you need to answer a question is right there in the passage. However, a little familiarity with a topic goes a long way. Somebody who reads the science news every day will be better at skimming a biology passage than someone who doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>4. Train your focus. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Reading Comprehension is by far the longest type of GMAT question. A GMAT Reading Comprehension passage requires that you pay full attention for at least 2-3 minutes, not to mention the time you spend answering the questions. If you choose to take the Verbal section after the Quant section, you\u2019ll already be somewhat fatigued when you see your first GMAT Reading Comprehension question. You don\u2019t want to drift off mid-passage on test day. As you practice Reading Comp, try to catch yourself drifting off and redirect your attention back to the passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>5. Take \u201cbad\u201d notes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In college or in a business meeting, if you take notes, your goal is to remember what you just heard. In those areas of life, \u201cgood\u201d notes are ones that still make sense when you look at them later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your GMAT notes should <strong>not<\/strong> be good notes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On GMAT Reading Comprehension, the passage stays on the screen the entire time you\u2019re answering questions. After you answer the last question for that passage, nobody will ever ask you about it again. Creating notes that help you remember the text is a waste of your time and brainpower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, \u201ccollege\u201d or \u201cmeeting\u201d notes tend to summarize, not synthesize. If you\u2019re listening to a biology lecture, these might be good notes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Hypothalamus<ul><li>Includes 2 nerve clusters \u2013 SCNs<\/li><li>Believed to control circadian rhythms<\/li><li>Control blood pressure, body temp, etc.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>4 genes outside of SCNs also control circ. rhythms<ul><li>SCN genes synchronized w\/ light cycles<\/li><li>Non-SCN genes synchronized with eating schedule &amp; temp. changes<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>But if you\u2019re taking the GMAT, these would be good notes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Old belief: SCNs controlled circadian rhythms<\/li><li>New belief: not JUST controlled in SCNs \u2013 other genes too<ul><li>Shown in experiments<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Scientists: both are related to circ. rhythms, but respond to diff. cues<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Both sets of notes come from the same passage (it\u2019s the one that goes with questions 409-411 in the 2018 Official Guide.) Look how different they are! The \u201ccollege\u201d notes focus on things and facts. The \u201cGMAT\u201d notes organize those facts into three big concepts: an old belief, a new belief, and the way they\u2019ve been reconciled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>6. Predict. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.jamesmlang.com\/p\/small-teaching.html\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning<\/em><\/a>, teacher James M. Lang shares a story about prediction and memory. During one college football season, he and two friends made a small weekly bet\u2014the losers bought the winner a beer\u2014on the outcomes of certain games. Lang found that this had a surprising side effect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOver the course of a college football season I might watch several dozen football games, most of which slide from my memory soon afterward. But the games that had featured into our previous prediction exercises stayed with me more firmly than those I had simply watched without having made any kind of guess as to the outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Predicting what\u2019s about to happen gives your brain something to latch onto. When a passage poses a question or introduces a new idea, take a moment to predict what direction it\u2019ll go in next. For instance, a passage that opens with \u201cscientists have long believed\u2026\u201d might go on to show how the scientists\u2019 belief was incorrect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It doesn\u2019t matter whether your prediction is right or wrong! What matters is the act of predicting, which gives your brain something to focus on as you read. Read this piece of a GMAT Reading Comprehension passage from GMATPrep, and give it a try:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Astronomers have hypothesized that a meteor stream should broaden with time as the dust particles\u2019 individual orbits are perturbed by planetary gravitational fields. A recent computer-modeling experiment tested this hypothesis by tracking the influence of planetary gravitation over a projected 5,000-year period on the positions of a group of hypothetical dust particles. In the model, the particles were randomly distributed throughout a computer simulation of the orbit of an actual meteor stream, the Geminid. The researcher found, as expected, that the computer-model stream broadened with time. Conventional theories, however, predicted that the distribution of particles would be increasingly dense toward the center of a meteor stream. Surprisingly, the computer-model meteor stream gradually came to resemble a thick-walled, hollow pipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>7. I already know that!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>GMAT Reading Comprehension passages are <strong>repetitive<\/strong>. A passage will introduce a major idea, then spend the next couple of sentences going on and on about that idea, without telling you anything new. If you\u2019re reading an actual article, there are plenty of reasons to keep paying attention! You might find the details interesting, for example. Or you might not believe what the article is saying and want to see the evidence for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the GMAT, none of those reasons apply. Once a passage tells you something, it\u2019s a fact, and you can go ahead and believe it. If the next couple of sentences just elaborate on the same fact, you can pretty much ignore them (unless a Detail question happens to ask about them). Save time by skimming whenever the passage repeats itself and slowing down when it tells you something different from what you\u2019ve read so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vocabulary clues will often signal that the passage is changing topics. When you see a word like \u201chowever\u201d or \u201cbut,\u201d tune back in and pay attention to what the passage is saying. Vocabulary clues can also be more subtle: for instance, if the passage starts by talking about a hypothesis, then start paying closer attention when you see the words \u201ctested\u201d or \u201cexperiment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>8. Main Idea questions are like essay prompts.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a neat trick that uses your existing knowledge to answer GMAT Main Idea questions. Imagine that the answer choices are different essay prompts, like you\u2019d see in a college class, and picture the passage as being an essay written by somebody in that class. Here\u2019s an example from <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mba.com\/exam-prep\" target=\"_blank\">MBA.com<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The passage is primarily concerned with evaluating:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(A) The importance of Florence Nightingale\u2019s innovations in the field of nursing<br>(B) Contrasting approaches to the writing of historical biography<br>(C) Contradictory accounts of Florence Nightingale\u2019s historical significance<br>(D) The quality of health care in nineteenth-century England<br>(E) The effect of the Crimean War on developments in the field of health care<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In your head, turn each of these answer choices into an essay prompt. Here\u2019s how you could do the first two:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(A) \u201cIn your essay, evaluate the importance of Florence Nightingale\u2019s innovations in the field of nursing.\u201d<br>(B) \u201cIn your essay, evaluate several contrasting approaches to the writing of historical biography.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, what\u2019s the right answer? It\u2019s the only answer where the passage, if it was written in response to this prompt, would get an A. If the passage seems \u201coff topic,\u201d then you haven\u2019t found the right answer to the Main Idea question!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The passage that this question goes with spends several paragraphs just discussing Florence Nightingale. If you wrote that essay in response to a prompt such as \u201cevaluate contrasting approaches to the writing of historical biography\u201d or \u201cevaluate the quality of health care in nineteenth-century England,\u201d you\u2019d be in trouble for leaving out key facts. So you know those can\u2019t be the right answer to the Main Idea question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>9. Boring is beautiful.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This tip works for GMAT Reading Comprehension Main Idea, Purpose, and Inference questions\u2014everything except Specific Detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you look at the answer choices for one of these questions, you might notice that some answers are \u201cstronger\u201d than others. That is, one answer choice will make a more powerful or absolute claim, while another answer choice will be wishy-washy and leave room for interpretation. Here\u2019s an example from <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mba.com\/exam-prep\" target=\"_blank\">MBA.com<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With which of the following generalizations regarding management structures would the author of the passage most likely agree?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(A) Hierarchical management structures are the most efficient management structures possible in a modern context.<br>(B) Hierarchical management structures cannot be successfully implemented without modern communications and transportations.<br>(C) Modern multinational firms with a relatively small volume of business transactions usually do not have hierarchically organized management structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is an Inference question, so our \u201cboring is beautiful\u201d principle applies. Let\u2019s analyze the three answer choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first two answer choices are much stronger claims than the third one. The first one says that a certain structure is the \u201cmost efficient structure possible.\u201d The second one claims that something \u201ccannot be successfully implemented.\u201d The third one, though, has a lot of wiggle room! It uses softening terms, such as \u201crelatively\u201d and \u201cusually.\u201d Unlike the first two answer choices, it doesn\u2019t say that something is \u201calways\u201d or \u201cnever\u201d true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without even reading the GMAT Reading Comprehension passage, the third answer choice is <em>much<\/em> more likely to be the right answer. You can\u2019t 100% rule out the first two, but if you\u2019re making a guess, or deciding between two answers, you should lean strongly towards the weaker claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>10. Read the entire question.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This tip is especially for Specific Detail questions. Make sure you read the specific question you\u2019re being asked! For instance, a question might say the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The passage states that modern multinationals are more successful than early chartered trading companies in which of the following ways?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without reading the answer choices, you can already tell that several of the wrong answers will be wrong in the same way. They\u2019ll be wrong because they make a statement about <em>early chartered trading companies<\/em>, rather than <em>modern multinationals<\/em>. You\u2019ll be able to find them in the passage, but the right answer will be the only one that appears in the passage, <em>and describes modern multinationals, specifically<\/em>. Make sure you double-check what the GMAT Reading Comprehension question is asking you <em>about<\/em>, rather than solely focusing on finding one of the answer choices in the passage!&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The GMAT Reading Comprehension section is delivered as a CAT, or a Computer-Adaptive Test. This requires GMAT strategies you may be unfamiliar with. On some sections, the computer can be less of an assistance and more of a hindrance. Often, the\u00a0older you are, the more likely it is that you spent your childhood, teen years, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[55],"tags":[515,84],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13448"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50230,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13448\/revisions\/50230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}