The verbal portion of the test consists of three types of questions： Reading

　　Comprehension， Arguments， and Sentence Correction. They are designed to test your ability to reason using the written word. There is roughly the same number of each type of question， for a total of 41 questions.

　　READING COMPREHENSION

　　FORMAT¹

　　The GMAT reading comprehension section passages are about 200 to 400 words long. The subject matter of a passage can be almost anything， but the most common themes are politics， history， culture， science， and business.

　　READING METHODS

　　Some books recommend speed-reading the passages. This is a mistake. Speed reading is designed for ordinary， nontechnical material. Because this material

　　is filled with “fluff，” you can skim over the nonessential parts and still get the gist——and often more——of the passage. However， GMAT passages are dense². Some are actual quoted articles. Most often， however， they are based on articles that have been condensed to about one-third their original length.

　　During this process no essential information is lost， just the “fluff” is cut. This is why speed reading will not work here——the passages contain too much information. You should， however， read somewhat faster than you normally do， but not to the point that your comprehension suffers. You will have to experiment to find your optimum pace.

　　Many books recommend reading the questions before the passage. But there are two big problems with this method. First， some of the questions are a paragraph long， and reading a question twice can use up precious time. Second， there are up to seven questions per passage， and psychologists have shown that we can hold in our minds a maximum of about three thoughts at any one time （some of us have trouble simply remembering phone numbers）。 After reading all seven questions， the student will turn to the passage with his mind clouded by half-remembered thoughts. This will at best waste his time and distract him. More likely it will turn the passagesintosa disjointed mass of information.

　　However， one technique that you may find helpful is to preview the passage by reading the first sentence of each paragraph. Generally， the topic of a paragraph is contained in the first sentence. Reading the first sentence of each paragraph will give an overview³ of the passage. The topic sentences act in essence as a summary of the passage. Furthermore， since each passage is only three or four paragraphs long， previewing the topic sentences will not use up an inordinate⁴ amount of time.

　　The passages presented depend on how well you are performing on the test. However， unlike other parts of the test， the questions presented do not depend on your performance. The longer passages will require you to scroll⁵ through the passage.

　　THE SIX QUESTIONS

　　The key to performing well on the passages is not the particular reading technique you use （so long as it‘s neither speed reading nor pre-reading the questions）。 Rather the key is to become completely familiar with the question types——there are only six——so that you can anticipate the questions that might be asked as you read the passage and answer those that are asked more quickly and efficiently⁶. As you become familiar with the six question types， you will gain an intuitive sense for the places from which questions are likely to be drawn⁷. This will give you the same advantage as that claimed by the “pre-reading-the-questions” technique， without the confusion and waste of time. Note， thesgroupsin which the questions are asked roughly corresponds to thesgroupsin which the main issues are presented in the passage. Early questions should correspond to information given early in the passage， and so on.

The following passage and accompanying questions illustrate⁸ the six question types.

　　There are two major systems of criminal procedure in the modern world——the a dversarial and the inquisitorial. The former is associated with common law tradition and the latter with civil law tradition. Both systems were historically preceded by the system of private vengeance⁹ in which the victim of a crime fashioned his own remedy and administered it privately¹⁰， either personally or through an agent. The vengeance system was a system of self-help， the essence of which was captured in the slogan “an eye for an eye， a tooth for a tooth.” The modern adversarial system is only one historical step removed from the private vengeance system and still retains some of its characteristic features. Thus， for example， even though the right to institute criminal action has now been extended to all members of society and even though the police department has taken over the pretrial investigative functions on behalf of the prosecution¹¹， the adversarial system still leaves the defendant¹² to conduct his own pretrial investigation¹³. The trial is still viewed as a duel¹⁴ between two adversaries¹⁵， refereed¹⁶ by a judge who， at the beginning of the trial has no knowledge of the investigative background of the case. In the final analysis the adversarial system of criminal procedure symbolizes¹⁷ and regularizes the punitive¹⁸ combat.

　　By contrast， the inquisitorial system begins historicallyswheresthe adversarial system stopped its development. It is two historical steps removed fromthe system of private vengeance. Therefore， from the standpoint of legal anthropology¹⁹， it is historically superior to the adversarial system. Under the inquisitorial system the public investigator²⁰ has the duty to investigate not just on behalf of the prosecutor²¹ but also on behalf of the defendant. Additionally， the public prosecutor has the duty to present to the court not only evidence that may lead to the conviction of the defendant but also evidence that may lead to his exoneration²². This system mandates²³ that both parties permit full pretrial discovery of the evidence in their possession. Finally， in an effort to make the trial less like a duel between two adversaries， the inquisitorial system mandates that the judge take an active part in the conduct of the trial， with a role that is both directive and protective.

　　Fact-finding is at the heart of the inquisitorial system. This system operates on the philosophical²⁴ premise²⁵ that in a criminal case the crucial factor is not the legal rule but the facts of the case and that the goal of the entire procedure is to experimentally recreate for the court the commission of the alleged²⁶ crime.

　　MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS

　　The main idea is usually stated in the last——occasionally the first——sentence of the first paragraph. If it‘s not there， it will probably be the last sentence of the entire passage.

　　Because main idea questions are relatively²⁷ easy， the GMAT writers try to obscure the correct answer by surrounding it with close answer-choices （“detractors”） that either overstate or understate the author‘s main point. Answer-choices that stress specifics tend to understate the main idea； choices that go beyond the scope of the passage tend to overstate the main idea.

　　The answer to a main idea question will summarize the author‘s argument， yet be neither too specific nor too broad.

　　Example： （Refer to the first passage.）

　　The primary purpose of the passage is to

　　（A） explain why the inquisitorial system is the best system of criminal justice

　　（B） explain how the adversarial and the inquisitorial systems of criminal ju stice both evolved from the system of private vengeance

　　（C） show how the adversarial and inquisitorial systems of criminal justice can both complement²⁸ and hinder each other‘s development

　　（D） show how the adversarial and inquisitorial systems of criminal justice are being combinedsintosa new and better system

　　（E） analyze²⁹ two systems of criminal justice and deduce which one is better

　　The answer to a main idea question will summarize the passage without going beyond it. （A） violates these criteria³⁰ by overstating the scope of the passage. The comparison in the passage is between two specific systems， not between all systems. （A） would be a good answer if “best” were replaced with “better.” Beware of extreme words. （B） violates the criteria by understating the scope of the passage. Although the evolution of both the adversarial and the inquisitorial systems is discussed in the passage， it is done to show why one is superior to the other. As to （C） and （D）， both can be quickly dismissed since neither is mentioned in the passage. Finally， the passage does two things： it presents two systems of criminal justice and shows why one is better than the other. （E） aptly summarizes this， so it is the best answer.