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GMAT Focus Verbal: A Complete Guide to RC and Critical Reasoning

GMAT Focus dropped Sentence Correction. Verbal is now all about reading and reasoning. Here is how to prepare.

Abhishek Leela Pandey13 October 20262 min read
On this page
  1. The format
  2. Reading Comprehension
  3. Critical Reasoning
  4. How to prepare

The format

  • GMAT Focus Edition has three sections of 45 minutes each: Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Data Insights.
  • Verbal Reasoning has 23 questions in 45 minutes: about two minutes per question.
  • Only two question types remain: Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. Sentence Correction was removed.
  • Total scores range from 205 to 805.

Reading Comprehension

Passages come from business, science and social science, usually 200 to 350 words, with three or four questions each. Questions test main idea, inference, the purpose of a detail, and how the passage is organised.

Critical Reasoning

Each question is a short argument followed by a task: strengthen it, weaken it, find its assumption, resolve a paradox, or identify the role of a bolded statement. The skill is finding the gap between the evidence and the conclusion.

How to prepare

  • Read one dense argumentative essay a day and state its conclusion and key assumption.
  • Learn the CR question types until you recognise each in seconds.
  • Use the GMAT room on GRADFLIX: pick GMAT in the header and every essay ends with five-option GMAT-style RC and CR questions.

Frequently asked questions

Is Sentence Correction in GMAT Focus?

No. GMAT Focus Verbal has only Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning.

How many Verbal questions are in GMAT Focus?

23 questions in 45 minutes.

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