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Some GRE Reading Comprehension passages, especially longer ones, present many details. For instance, a passage may discuss two different authors and various details of their approaches to writing. Or a passage might discuss the ins and outs of how a particular natural phenomenon arises. In reading such passages, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details of what is discussed.

The issue is that fully understanding and keeping straight all those details takes time, and the questions about the passage likely won’t ask about all those details. Furthermore, you can always go back to the passage to find details you need for answering questions. So, if you spend time seeking to fully process all the details of a passage, you’ll unnecessarily use up some of the precious time you have to complete the Verbal section.

Accordingly, a time-saving move to make when reading a detail-heavy RC passage is to focus on understanding what the passage says overall, rather than seek to fully process every detail. That’s not to say that you should skim the passage or use a gimmicky strategy such as reading only the first sentence of each paragraph. You do need to comprehend what the passage says. The point is that you can save time by not attempting to fully process or memorize every detail when you first read a passage.

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep