GRE Verbal

A comprehensive guide to mastering the verbal reasoning section of the GRE, including vocabulary, reading comprehension, and analytical writing.

Basic Concepts

Reading Comprehension

What Is Reading Comprehension?

This section tests your ability to understand, analyze, and interpret written passages. Passages range from humanities to science, and questions ask you to identify main ideas, inferences, and the author's purpose.

Key Skills

  • Skimming for main ideas
  • Reading for detail
  • Identifying tone and attitude
  • Making inferences

Approach

Read the passage actively, underline key points, and summarize paragraphs in your mind. Tackle questions by eliminating obviously wrong choices first.

Beyond the Test

Mastering reading comprehension helps you process complex information—useful for grad school, research, and everyday decision-making.

Examples

  • Quickly finding the thesis of a dense academic passage.

  • Identifying the author's attitude as skeptical in a science article.

In a Nutshell

Reading comprehension assesses your understanding and critical analysis of written content.