What should you retain from a first read?
GMAC distinguishes main ideas, supporting information, inferences, and logical structure. Our mapping method summarizes each paragraph’s role: state an expectation, introduce an observation, then limit a conclusion. It is not a word-for-word translation.
You do not need to memorize every number. Remember what each one does and where it appears. A word such as however signals a connection, but only the context tells you what it contrasts. Your map helps you find evidence; it does not replace targeted rereading to answer a question.
Read the passage before the questions
Passage — Upsilar. Some urban planners expect longer library opening hours to attract mainly people who are unable to visit during the working day. To test this expectation, a city kept four branch libraries open two hours later on weekdays for three months. Evening attendance increased, but surveys showed that many evening visitors had previously used the same branches in the afternoon.
The finding does not mean that the extension had no value. Visitors who moved their trips to the evening reported finding seats more easily, and afternoon crowding declined. However, total weekly visits increased only slightly. The city therefore could not attribute the much larger rise in evening attendance entirely to newly reached users.
Before expanding the policy to every branch, the planners proposed measuring both the number of distinct visitors and changes in the timing of their visits. They also wanted to compare branches near workplaces with those in residential areas. The pilot had revealed a benefit in the distribution of demand, but it had not established that the same schedule would attract substantial numbers of additional users everywhere.
What evidence supports each answer?
The three questions concern the same passage. The answer choices do not require outside knowledge about libraries.
The passage primarily argues that the pilot:
Choose an answer.
The solution, step by step
C.
The method in action
- The second paragraph acknowledges a benefit, and the third calls for additional measurements. C covers both points.
- A claims that no new users were attracted, which the pilot does not establish: a small increase in visits does not directly measure the number of distinct visitors. B invents a ranking of value. D reverses the final caution. E dismisses surveys even though the passage uses their findings.
According to the passage, one reported benefit of the extended hours was that:
Choose an answer.
The solution, step by step
A.
The method in action
- The second paragraph directly states that visitors who shifted their visits found seats more easily.
- B extends the finding to every branch; C was not measured; D turns a decrease in crowding into its disappearance; and E claims surveys became unnecessary, which the passage does not establish; it instead calls for additional measurements.
The planners would most likely agree that a rise in evening attendance alone:
Choose an answer.
The solution, step by step
D.
The method in action
- Evening visits may come from new users or from people shifting their visits to another time. The passage distinguishes these mechanisms and proposes counting distinct visitors.
- A and B erase this distinction; C assumes an unobserved decline; E rules out a comparison the passage explicitly calls for. D adds no outside cause.
The pitfall
Words from the passage do not automatically make an answer correct
An answer choice can reuse “evening attendance” and “additional users” while claiming an equivalence the passage rejects. Check the relationship between the words, quantifiers, and degree of certainty. “May,” “many,” “slightly,” and “everywhere” change the scope.
Do not add outside knowledge, either: library funding could explain other choices, but no costs are given here. An inference must be supported by the passage, not merely plausible in the real world.
How can you tell whether your reading method is improving?
For each question, point to the sentence or relationship that decides it. Then explain a plausible distractor using a precise term: generalization, reversal, missing information, or excessive certainty. If you answered correctly but cannot do this, keep the question in your review.
Your final map can be three lines: expectation and pilot; a benefit in how demand was distributed without a large increase in total visits; more measurements before expansion. A map this short remains faithful to the reasoning and leaves details where you can find them.
Key takeaways
- Map the role of each paragraph.
- Support details and inferences with the passage.
- Check the scope of the wording, even in a familiar answer choice.