Chris Lele

GMAT Reading: The New York Times

GMAT Reading Comprehension - image by Magoosh
Listen up – prepping for the GMAT doesn’t totally have to suck. You don’t need to memorize hundreds of grammatical rules only to remember a tenth of them when you are struggling through a 60-word Sentence Correction on the Spanish Inquisition.

Prepping for the GMAT means taking that part of the brain I call your “reading muscle” and giving it a workout. Much of this is done through practice questions. However, if you only stick to GMAT questions, your Reading Brain isn’t going to be nearly as “buffed” as if you do outside reading.

Of course the phrase “outside reading” may conjure up comic books for some, the People magazine fashion news for others, or an instruction manual for a rare few. By “outside reading,” I don’t mean a willy-nilly foray into all things text. The GMAT after all is English at it’s most Olympian –academic English meets formal English (an extremely dry meeting, mind you).

Don’t worry – I’m not saying you need to necessarily read academic journals. But for a mix of formal and academic (at least slightly) writing that isn’t dry, welcome to the New York Times. From Sports to Fashion, Movies to Dining, you can learn about the latest while your reading brain gets to do some bicep curls with the twisted syntactical structure and challenging vocabulary words. Hey, you want to develop an ear for English idioms? Read the Times.

Below is a sampling of five articles that make for good reading. I’ve steered clear of more of the frivolous topics (sorry fashion and sports!), and have chosen articles on topics that are slightly more academic: science, business, and books (Topics you are more likely to encounter on the GMAT).  But I promise – the articles do not suck, and your reading will definitely get a work out. You may even learn something new.

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1. Science

The science passages you’ll get on the GMAT are definitely more dense. Many of the topics – from black holes to genes – are all on the nytimes.com page. Here is a sample:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/science/space/cosmologists-try-to-explain-a-universe-springing-from-nothing.html?_r=1&ref=science

 

2. Business

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/business/web-sites-shine-light-on-petty-bribery-worldwide.html?ref=business

 

3. Movies

http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/movies/a-separation-directed-by-asghar-farhadi-review.html?src=me&ref=movies

 

4. (The much dreaded) Art

https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/critics-notebook-lessons-in-looking/?ref=arts

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Takeaway

Read a couple of NYTimes articles a day. This is really easy, especially if you have a smart phone. If you do plan on reading over 30 articles a day, you will have to get a monthly subscription. But don’t worry – it’s only $0.99 for the first 4 weeks.

For a more systematic use of nytimes.com articles check out Mike’s excellent study schedules!

 

Author

  • Chris Lele

    Chris Lele is the Principal Curriculum Manager (and vocabulary wizard) at Magoosh. Chris graduated from UCLA with a BA in Psychology and has 20 years of experience in the test prep industry. He’s been quoted as a subject expert in many publications, including US News, GMAC, and Business Because. In his time at Magoosh, Chris has taught countless students how to tackle the GRE, GMAT, SAT, ACT, MCAT (CARS), and LSAT exams with confidence. Some of his students have even gone on to get near-perfect scores. You can find Chris on YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook!

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