GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice: Difficult Passages

The correct answer is D.

This is a Main Idea question type (“primary focus”). What was the overall message of the passage? McGinty has a theory about communication and power; the passage was all about introducing and explaining McGinty’s theory. The answer choice that best fits is (D).

For the analysis below, let’s pretend the test-taker chose incorrect answer (B). 

1. Did I know WHAT they were trying to test?

Questions: Was I able to categorize this question? Did I comprehend all the words, vocab, concepts, and answer choices?

I knew that this was a main idea question because they ask about the “primary focus.” Main idea correct answers are usually fairly “middle of the road”: they can’t go into too much detail but they also can’t go beyond what the passage actually says.

2. How well did I HANDLE what they were trying to test?

Questions: How was my approach? Did I have the skills to follow through? Did I make any careless mistakes? If so, WHY did I make each mistake? How could I have made an educated guess? Do I understand the traps built into the question, including wrong answers?

The passage does talk about McGinty’s proposed theory in positive terms at times (for example, she “argues persuasively,” according to the passage), but the passage never discusses any disadvantages. It just talks about what McGinty’s theory is and how that compares and contrasts with other existing theories. And that’s pretty much what answer D says, but I wasn’t paying that much attention to answer D by the time I read it, because I already thought B was the right answer.

So, how can I avoid making that mistake next time? First, I have to make sure that I haven’t locked myself into an earlier answer so much that I don’t really read the remaining answers. I should have thought of B as “this might be it” rather than “I already found the right answer.”

Next, I need to make sure that I’m paying attention to every word in the answer. I liked B originally because it talked about a proposed approach, which is similar to a theory or hypothesis, and because I felt that the author did like McGinty’s theory and discussed its advantages. I glossed right over the word disadvantages, but I do know that every word has to be supported. There’s no support in the passage to justify the word disadvantages.

Answer D, on the other hand, is so vague… but that’s precisely what makes it work. The passage does present a new model (McGinty’s model) and it is a model of business communication. Done. 

3. How well did I or could I RECOGNIZE what was going on?

Questions: Did I make a connection to previous experience? Can I make any connections now, while I’m analyzing the problem? HOW will I recognize similar problems in the future? 

I didn’t have any problem recognizing that this was a main idea question, but I did forget that any details in an answer choice MUST be justified by the passage, or I have to cross that choice off. I knew that already…how am I going to remember that for next time?

I’m going to go through the wrong answers and articulate exactly why each one is wrong. In A, the word “effectiveness” goes too far; the author presents McGinty’s theory but never shows how effective it is. In B, the word “disadvantages” isn’t justified by the passage; similarly, the word “controversial” in answer C isn’t supported by the passage either. There isn’t any major conflict or controversy in the passage. Wow, all three of those answer choices can be eliminated because just one word is “off” or not supported by the passage.

I can see how E would be really tricky because of the “two types of language” part. It was all about the two types of language! But the major differences between the two types? That’s a detail of McGinty’s overall theory, but that’s not the overall theory, or main point, of the passage, nor is it even the main point of McGinty’s theory. Her main theory is that people can use both types of language in order to develop “true power.” So this info was in the passage, but it was detail, not the main idea. I want to watch out for that type of trap in future; that’s tricky.

In my notes, I’m going to write “main idea = middle of the road” and “must justify each word” as my two main takeaways here. I’m also going to note that, when they ask for main idea, I have to watch out for traps that are too detailed / too in the weeds. Because the justify issue was the biggest problem for me, when I do more RC passages later this week, I’m going to keep a note out that just says “Justify!” in big letters to remind myself to do that when examining the answers.

The correct answer is C.

This is a Specific Detail problem, signaled by the words “according to the passage” and the fact that it’s asking you to find a specific detail in the passage. Ask yourself where McGinty talked about power determinants and ineffective communication. 

She talked about this in the first paragraph. (Also, paragraph two was about center language; paragraph three was about edge language. McGinty argues both of those are effective. Since this question asks about ineffective communication, the answer probably isn’t in one of those paragraphs.)

Paragraph one says:

“McGinty does not dispute the importance of factors such as expertise and ability in determining stature, but argues persuasively that these power determinants amount to little in a person unable to communicate effectively.”

In other words, expertise and ability can be important, but if you are ineffective at communication, then expertise and ability won’t do much for you. Scan the answers. Expertise, answer (C), is the correct answer. (Ability isn’t in the answer choices.)

For the question analysis, pretend that the test-taker chose incorrect answer (D).

1. Did I know WHAT they were trying to test?

Questions: Was I able to categorize this question? Did I comprehend all the words, vocab, concepts, and answer choices? Do I know what I’m supposed to do for questions of this type?

I knew that this was a specific detail question because the question stem says “According to the passage.” For these, I’m supposed to go back into the passage to find a certain sentence (or sentences) in order to answer the question.

2. How well did I HANDLE what they were trying to test?

Questions: How was my approach? Did I have the skills to follow through? Did I make any careless mistakes? If so, WHY did I make each mistake? How could I have made an educated guess? Do I understand the traps built into the question, including wrong answers?

I picked D; the correct answer is C. I had no idea why until I read the explanation: I was looking at the wrong place in the passage.

When I read the question, I really didn’t know where to look. I remembered reading “power determinants” in the passage but didn’t know where. I felt that “language from the center” was the more powerful type, and the question stem said something about power, so I started skimming paragraph 2, which talks about language from the center. I noticed that the paragraph lists a bunch of characteristics of someone using language from the center, including an “air of impersonality,” so I picked that one.

I didn’t notice, though, that at that point the passage says nothing about ineffective communication, which is what the question asks about. Paragraphs 2 and 3 are both about what McGinty says is effective. I wasn’t looking in the right place.

The correct answer was actually in the first paragraph, and the key words were “power determinants.” Also, the fact that paragraphs 2 and 3 talk about the center and edge language should have tipped me off; McGinty argues that both of those types of language are effective, not ineffective.

I knew that I had seen the phrase “power determinants” somewhere in the passage, and I should’ve scanned until I found it.

3. How well did I or could I RECOGNIZE what was going on?

Questions: Did I make a connection to previous experience? Can I make any connections now, while I’m analyzing the problem? HOW will I recognize similar problems in the future? 

I did recognize that this was a specific detail question. My real problem was not finding the right place in the passage. And I’ve actually made this kind of mistake before; I get impatient and just go for the first thing that sort of seems like what the question says. I need to make myself focus on the precise wording of the question.

In particular, I knew I had seen “power determinants” somewhere in the passage but I didn’t actually try to go find it again! Next time, when there’s a keyword like that, I have to make myself find it. It’s okay if that takes a little extra time; the reward is actually getting to the right answer.

Also, I’m just noticing that answer B is tempting. If I had gone to the right location in the first place, I would’ve narrowed it down to B and C; both words are in the sentence. Why is it C and not B? Oh, I see. The two factors in question are expertise and ability; stature is mentioned only as what you can gain if you do have those factors. But expertise and ability are the actual “power determinants.”