GMAT · Section guide 3 · 5 min read
GMAT Verbal Reasoning: Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning
What the GMAT Focus Verbal Reasoning section tests: 23 questions in 45 minutes, Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning only, with no Sentence Correction.
What the section looks like
Verbal Reasoning has 23 questions in 45 minutes, just under two minutes per question on average. There are two question types:
- Reading Comprehension (RC): a passage followed by several questions.
- Critical Reasoning (CR): a short argument followed by a single question.
Sentence Correction is gone. The Focus Edition does not test grammar, so the Verbal section is now entirely about reading and reasoning. Every question has five answer choices, and the section is computer adaptive.
Reading Comprehension
RC passages discuss topics in business, the social sciences, the physical sciences and the humanities. You do not need any knowledge of the subject; all the information you need is in the passage. Each passage comes with several questions, which appear one at a time while the passage stays on screen.
Common RC question types
| Type | What it asks |
|---|---|
| Main idea | The primary purpose or central point of the passage |
| Supporting detail | What the passage states about a particular point |
| Inference | What the passage implies, without stating it directly |
| Function | Why the author includes a particular example or paragraph |
| Application | Which situation is most similar to one described |
| Tone or attitude | How the author regards an idea or view |
How to read a passage
- Read for structure, not detail. After each paragraph, note in a few words what it does: "describes old theory", "gives evidence against it", "proposes alternative".
- Find the author's view. Many passages present more than one viewpoint. Track which view belongs to whom, and whether the author agrees.
- Go back for details. When a question asks about a specific point, return to the passage and read the relevant lines. Do not answer from memory.
Watch for: answer choices that use words from the passage but change their meaning, choices that go further than the text, and choices that are true in general but not stated or implied here.
Critical Reasoning
A CR question presents a short argument, often a paragraph or less, followed by a question about its reasoning. The skill being tested is analyzing arguments: what they claim, what they rely on, and what would make them stronger or weaker.
Breaking down an argument
Most arguments have three parts:
- a conclusion: the main claim;
- premises: the evidence offered;
- an assumption: an unstated idea that must be true for the premises to support the conclusion.
Finding the gap between premises and conclusion is the key to most CR questions.
Common CR question types
| Type | Your task |
|---|---|
| Strengthen | Choose the fact that makes the conclusion more likely |
| Weaken | Choose the fact that makes the conclusion less likely |
| Assumption | Identify what the argument takes for granted |
| Evaluate | Choose the question whose answer would best help judge the argument |
| Inference | Choose what must be true based on the statements |
| Explain a discrepancy | Resolve two facts that seem to conflict |
| Role in argument | Identify what part a statement plays in the reasoning |
| Flaw | Describe what is wrong with the reasoning |
An example of our own. Sales at a bakery rose after it began offering free coffee with every pastry. The owner concludes that the free coffee caused the increase. The argument assumes nothing else changed at the same time. A choice saying that a competing bakery nearby closed that same month would weaken the argument, because it offers another explanation for the rise.
How to approach a CR question
- Read the question stem first, so you know what job you are doing.
- Read the argument and identify the conclusion.
- Find the gap, the assumption linking evidence to claim.
- Predict the kind of answer you need, then check the choices.
Common traps in Verbal
- Out of scope: a choice about a topic the argument or passage does not address.
- Too extreme: "always", "never" or "all" where the text is more limited.
- Opposite: a choice that would strengthen when the question asks to weaken.
- Half right: a choice correct in its first half that goes wrong in its second.
Exam tip: in RC, the first question on a passage takes longest because you are reading the passage. Later questions on the same passage should be quicker, so do not panic if the first one runs over your average.
How to practice
Read analytical writing regularly, such as long-form journalism, academic summaries and business reporting, and after each piece write one line on the author's main point and one on the evidence used. For CR, practice naming the conclusion and the assumption of every argument before looking at the choices. Review every mistake by asking why the right answer is right and why your choice is wrong.
Check yourself
- How many questions are in Verbal, and what two question types does it contain?
- Which question type was removed from Verbal in the Focus Edition?
- What are the three parts of most Critical Reasoning arguments?
- In Reading Comprehension, why should you go back to the passage for detail questions?
Find practice material and the rest of this series on the GMAT hub.