GRE Reading Comprehension

GRE Reading Comprehension Sample Questions

GRE Reading Comprehension Passage 1
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GRE Reading Comprehension Passage 2
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GRE Reading Comprehension Passage 3
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GRE Reading Comprehension Passage 4
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GRE Reading Comprehension Passage 5

GRE scores are a pre requisite for admissions to programs of graduate study offered by colleges in the US, Canada and some other countries. The GRE General test does not assess your knowledge in any particular area of study; rather it is a test of your verbal reasoning, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing skills. For the purpose of testing these skills, the GRE exam format is based on three sections. These are the Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and the Analytical Writing sections.

The Verbal Reasoning section of the GRE is a test of your abilities to analyze a given text by deriving information from it. Your skills related to understanding the structure of sentences and analyzing the relationships between the words contained therein are tested by this section of the GRE. This section of the GRE consists of questions based on analogies, antonyms, sentence completions and reading comprehension. You will generally be presented with three or more GRE reading comprehension passages in the Verbal Reasoning section.

The GRE reading comprehension questions will test your ability to analyze a given passage. You will have to read the passage carefully to grasp the actual meaning that is intended to be conveyed through the passage. This can be achieved by studying the GRE reading comprehension passage from all perspectives. You will have to identify all ideas that have been presented in the GRE reading comprehension passage either explicitly or implicitly. You should be familiar with the process of segregating the conclusions from the arguments that have been presented in the GRE reading comprehension passage. This would be essential for answering the questions that follow the given passage.

The questions that follow the GRE reading comprehension passage will be based on the given passage in a number of different ways. The question asked may be related to the central theme of the passage or it may be related to the content of the passage as a whole. The question that is asked might be tricky in the sense that it could be related to an underlying meaning that is being suggested by the contents of the passage. You may also be presented with questions that are related to the logic and line of reasoning being followed by the writer of the GRE reading comprehension passage.

The content of the GRE reading comprehension passages may be based on any area of study. However, the questions that follow the passage are based on the information given in the passage and it is not necessary that you should possess any additional knowledge of the concerned subject. The GRE reading comprehension questions are followed by answer choices and you have to choose the most appropriate answer option. Study all the answer options carefully before making your choice.

You should not be overawed by the information given above. GRE reading comprehension questions are not all that difficult. You will be able to answer them correctly within the laid down time frame if you are familiar with the strategies for attempting such questions. This familiarity can come only with sustained practice over a period of time. Include a number of practice GRE reading comprehension questions in your GRE prep schedule and you will be comfortable while taking the test on the final day.