Staying mentally engaged while reading — even when the topic is dense, unfamiliar, or seemingly boring — is one of the most overlooked skills in GRE reading comprehension. If you lose interest or let your attention drift, you are no longer actively tracking the structure or meaning of the passage. You’re not identifying important relationships between ideas. You’re not noticing contrasting viewpoints, cause-and-effect connections, or conclusions the author has drawn. And you’re certainly not building a map in your head of where key details are located within the passage.

So when it comes time to answer the questions, what happens? You find yourself re-reading. You spend valuable time scanning the passage, trying to figure out where that one detail was mentioned. You struggle to eliminate answer choices because you don’t really remember the author’s point of view. The questions feel harder than they need to be — not because of a lack of skill, but because you weren’t mentally locked in.

Engagement matters. And it’s not just common sense — it’s also supported by research. A 2020 study involving 306 students learning English as a foreign language showed that boredom during reading had a “significant but negative” effect on reading comprehension performance. The students who reported feeling bored while reading performed worse on reading comprehension assessments. That is not a surprise. What’s more interesting is what the study also found: when students used strategies to manage and reduce their boredom, their comprehension improved.

This tells us something important. Engagement is not just a personality trait or a fixed mindset — it can be actively cultivated.

So what can you do to stay engaged while reading GRE passages?

• Be curious on purpose. Treat the passage like a puzzle or a debate. Ask yourself: What is the author really trying to say? Why was this study or argument worth writing about? What’s the bigger point?
  
• Predict and paraphrase. After each paragraph, pause and briefly restate the main idea in your own words. This keeps your mind actively involved in the structure and flow of the passage.
  
• Highlight purpose, not facts. Focus on the function of each paragraph and sentence. Is the author giving background, raising a concern, citing an opposing viewpoint, or drawing a conclusion?
  
• Shift your attitude. Even if the topic seems dry — a history of grain distribution in early Mesopotamia, for example — remind yourself that mastering boring topics is part of the game. The GRE is not testing your interests. It’s testing your ability to read critically and stay engaged under pressure.
  
• Use active reading tools. Take brief notes or mentally tag parts of the passage as you go — things like "Author’s view," "Example," "Opposing argument," or "Main idea." These quick labels help maintain focus and reduce the need for re-reading later.

The takeaway: boredom is a signal, not a sentence. If you find yourself zoning out, it’s a cue to re-engage — not a reason to give up. The best readers on the GRE don’t always find every passage interesting. They simply treat reading as an active process. They show up with strategies, and as a result, they stay focused when others check out.

Reach out to me with any questions about your GRE prep. Happy studying!

Warmest regards,

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep