GMAT - Online MPA Entrance Class

GMAT
English

Reading Comprehension

Daw Hnin Mar Lar

B. Com (Hons) (MEUE)
M. Com (MEUE)
M. A (Economics) (IDEC, Hiroshima University, Japan)
Commerce Department
Meiktila University of Economics

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. 16 - 1

 Points to know: 1
2

▶ Reading comprehension questions begin with written passages up to 350 words

long.
▶ The passages discuss topics from the social sciences, humanities, the physical
or biological sciences, and such business-related fields as marketing,
economics, and human resource management.
▶ An average of about 1¾ minutes to answer each question.
▶ To skim the passages the first time through, or even to read the first question
before reading the passage.
▶ If you need to, you may go back to the passage and read any parts that are
relevant to answering the question.
▶ Specific portions of the passages may be highlighted in the related questions.

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3
Points to know:2
▶ The GMAT reading comprehension questions evaluate your ability to do the
following:

1. Understand words and statements.

2. Understand logical relationships between points and concepts.

3. Draw inferences from facts and statements.

4. Understand and follow the development of quantitative concepts as they

are presented in written material.

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4 Points to know: 3
• There are six kinds of reading comprehension questions, each of which tests a different
skill.
• Main idea main idea of the passage/ author’s primary purpose/ passage primarily concerned with
• Supporting ideas author suggest ( mentioned a word or a phrase or a sentence in question )
• Inferences can be inferred that/ implied that
• Applying information to a context outside the passage itself - the relationships between situations or
ideas presented by the author and other situations or ideas that might parallel those in the passage.
• Logical structure best title of the passage ( analyze and logic of passage )
• About the style and tone author most probably agree with? / attitude / tone / style/ feeling

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 Test-Taking Strategies
5

1. Do not expect to be completely familiar

2. Analyze each passage carefully
3. Focus on key words and phrases, and make every effort to avoid losing the
sense of what is discussed in the passage.
4. Read the questions carefully, making certain that you understand what is
asked.
5. Read all the choices carefully.
6. Select the choice that answers the question best in terms of the information
7. Remember that comprehension is the critical success factor

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 Tactics: Strategy
6

1. Read questions and then read passage

2. Learn major question types and technical terms
3. Main ideas depend on first and last lines of each paragraph
4. Don’t be too specific or too broad
5. Be careful to understand tone: Author is always diplomatic and political
6. Inferences are tough, see what passage implies and not what is states
7. Put yourself in author’s page: Author generally tells the story for a purpose.

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 Another Tactics: Strategy
7
1. Skimming
Heading – Subheading – First sentence – second sentence
2. Scanning
(i) Proper Nouns – Name, Country, City, Organization
(ii) Period or number – 1998, 20th Century, 6%,……..
(iii) Long vocabularies – ecoefficiency, modernization, ….
3. Grammar Words
(i) Comparison words – less/more …than, the same, …..
(ii) Amount/ Number – a few, some, every, 10%, many,…. Indecision, inability, unable,
(iii) Negative words – never, none, not, neither.. nor, ….. inefficient, hard to, difficult to

(iv) Frequency – always, sometimes, frequently, rarely, ….

(v) Probability – must, can, might, may,…….
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 1.

Line 1 An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid
decrease in the amount of life on earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the
Question diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. It occurs when the rate of extinction increases with
s 1-4
respect to the rate of speciation. Because the majority of diversity and biomass on Earth is
refer to
the
Line 5 microbial, and thus difficult to measure, recorded extinction events affect the easily observed,
passage. biologically complex component of the biosphere rather than the total diversity and abundance of
life.
Over 98% of documented species are now extinct, but extinction occurs at a very uneven
rate. Based on the fossil record, the background rate of extinctions on Earth is about two to five
Line 10 taxonomic families of marine invertebrates and vertebrates every million years. Marine fossils are
mostly used to measure extinction rates because of their superior fossil record and stratigraphic
range compared to land organism fossils.
Since life began on Earth, the five major mass extinctions have significantly exceeded the
background extinction rate for animal and plant species. The most recent, the Cretaceous-Paleocene
Line 15 extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago, was a large-scale mass
extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time. In the past 540 million
years, during each of these five major events, over 50% of animal and plant species died. Mass
extinctions
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. seem to be a Phanerozoic-era phenomenon, with extinction rates low16before -8 large
complex organisms arose.
1. It can be inferred from the passage that:

a) in an extinction event, there is a dramatic decrease in microbial life on earth.

b) over 90% of easily observed, biologically complex species become extinct during a biotic crisis.
c) the background extinction rate of animal and plant species is well below 50%.
d) marine fossils are easier to find and thus more useful to those studying mass extinction events.
e) new species do not emerge during a mass extinction event.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the Phanerozoic era was:

a) a time period that existed before 540 million years ago.

b) a time period during which few new species emerged.
c) a time period before the Cretaceous-Paleocene era.
d) a time period during which fewer than 50% of animal and plant species died.
e) a time period during which large, complex organisms existed.

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3. The primary purpose of the passage is to:

a) warn readers about the possible dangers of mass extinction events.

b ) discuss the causes of a particular scientific phenomenon.
c) present new evidence to support the theory of mass extinction events.
d) describe an important scientific and historical occurrence
e) suggest that mass extinctions are likely to continue in the future.

4. The author would most probably agree with which of the following statements?

a) The diversity of microbial life has changed dramatically during mass extinction events.
b) The Cretaceous-Paleocene extinction event was the most significant in the past 540 million years.
c) There were many mass extinction events prior to 540 million years ago.
d) Extinction rates have varied widely over the past 540 million years.
e) Mass extinctions are less likely now than in the past 540 million years.
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 2.

Questions 5-8
refer to the
passage.

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 5. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) contrast possible outcomes of a type of business investment

(B) suggest more careful evaluation of a type of business investment
(C) illustrate various ways in which a type of business investment could fail to enhance revenues
(D) trace the general problems of a company to a certain type of business investment
(E) criticize the way in which managers tend to analyze the costs and benefits of business
investments

6. According to the passage, investments in service are comparable to investments in production and
distribution in terms of the

(A) tangibility of the benefits that they tend to confer

(B) increased revenues that they ultimately produce
(C) basis on which they need to be weighed
(D) insufficient analysis that managers devote to them
(E) degree of competitive advantage that they are likely to provide

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 7. The passage suggests which of the following about service provided by the regional bank prior
to its investment in enhancing that service?

(A) It enabled the bank to retain customers at an acceptable rate

(B) It threatened to weaken the bank’s competitive position with respect to other regional
banks
(C) It had already been improved after having caused damage to the bank’s reputation in the
past.
(D) It was slightly superior to that of the bank’s regional competitors.
(E) It needed to be improved to attain parity with the service provided by competing banks.

8. The author uses the word “only” in line 20 most likely in order to

(A) highlight the oddity of the service improvement

(B) emphasize the relatively low value of the investment in service improvement
(C) distinguish the primary attribute of the service improvement from secondary attributes
(D) single out a certain merit of the service improvement from other merits
(E) point out the limited duration of the actual service improvement
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 3. Line 1 One recent example of industrial hyper growth has taken place in the
recycling industry, led by the rapid expansion of the recycled paper market. Though
Questions 9- many laws were enacted in the late 1980s to encourage (and in some cases require)
12 refer to the the collection of waste paper for recycling, there were not, at that time, companies
passage. Line 5 with sufficient capacity to recycle it all. Consequently the collected paper
accumulated in storage, usually at the expense of the recycling companies, thereby
adding to their overhead and squeezing their already thin profit margins.
Today a different situation exists. Fifty-seven new paper mills have been
built since 1991, and of these, at least twenty-nine use recycled fiber. This surge in
Line 10 capacity has resulted in a concurrent rise in profits. The price per Ton of waste paper
has quadrupled in the past year, as have the prices of corrugated cardboard and used
newsprint. Trash haulers have benefited from these conditions by combining their
trash hauling and recycling operations.
Recycling centers are connected both to the clients to whom they sell end
Line 15 products and to those from whom they collect refuse; thus, the company gets paid
twice for the same trash, once for hauling the waste and once for selling the usable
material. Industry profits have increased more than tenfold during this period. As the
industry has become more competitive, some haulers have chosen to rebate a portion
of this money to their clients in the hopes of ensuring their loyalty.
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 9. According to the passage, which of the following is a reason for the increase in
profits in the trash hauling business?
A. Money offered by haulers to preferred customers.
B. Foresight exhibited by the leaders of the industry.
C. Haulers' ability to sell both services and products.
D. Haulers' willingness to adapt technology to a changing industry.
E. Passage of stricter environmental legislation.

10. It can be inferred from the passage that the price of waste paper
A. will increase steadily over the next few years
B. will increase as more companies get involved in the industry
C. is closely related to the availability of trash haulers
D. is sometimes set by the weight of the product
E. is not as important to trash haulers as the price they charge for hauling waste

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11. The author of the passage would most likely agree with which of the following?
A. Competition between trash haulers and recyclers will prevent the recycled paper
industry from reaching its full economic potential.
B. Pressure from anti-environmental groups has increased pressure on the government to oppose
recycled paper initiatives.
C. The recycled paper industry may continue to grow at its present rate as long as the industry remains
profitable.
D. The profit-seeking of recyclers have overshadowed environmental concerns in the recycled paper
industry.
E. Government negligence prevented the recycled paper industry from becoming successful until the
early 1990’s.

12. According to the passage, all of the following are results of the increase in the number
of new mills using recycled finer except:
A. The price of waste paper has risen dramatically.
B. Trash haulers have been forced to compete with recyclers.
C. Profits at recycling centers have increased more than tenfold.
D. The price of corrugated cardboard has risen.
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E. Trash haulers are earning increased revenues.
 4.

Questions 13-
15 refer to the
passage.

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14

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 Answer Key
▶ 1. C
▶ 2. E
▶ 3. D
▶ 4. D
▶ 5. B
▶ 6. C
▶ 7. A
▶ 8. B
▶ 9. C
▶ 10. D
▶ 11. C
▶ 12.
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 Q&A

Thank You for your attention!

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