GMAT Reading Comprehension: How to Answer Stated Idea Questions
GMAT Reading Comprehension can be daunting for many non-native English speakers who are often worried about vocabulary. The good news is getting every word exactly right isn’t what the GMAT is really testing. What matters more is your ability to follow the structure of the passage, identify key ideas, and understand the author’s purpose. In this guide, I’ll show you how to confidently approach two important Stated Idea question types.
Stated Idea questions ask you what the passage says directly, not what the passage implies. This distinction is important because it helps prevent overthinking. It’s important to recognize the different ways these questions are worded will help you know what to look for. Think of the following as your cheat sheet for recognizing the question type and adjusting your strategy accordingly.
Type 1: Identify Details from the Passage
These are the most straightforward. The question stem will ask you to find what is directly stated about a specific topic in the passage.
Common question stems include:
• "According to the passage..."
• "The author/passage states that..."
• "The author/passage mentions..."
I teach students to identify the question’s topic (names, dates, specific words) and locate the relevant sentence in the passage. As you match the question’s topic to the passage, look for synonyms of the word you’re targeting.
Example: Identify-the-Details
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Passage excerpt: Although human effort is required to produce goods for the consumer market, effort is also invested in making capital goods (tools, machines, etc.), which are used to facilitate the production of consumer goods. In modern economies about one-third of the total output of consumer goods is attributable to the use of capital goods. Approximately two-thirds of the income derived from this total output is paid out to workers as wages and salaries, the remaining third serving as compensation to the owners of the capital goods. Moreover, part of this remaining third is received by workers who are shareholders, pension beneficiaries, and the like. The labor theory of value systematically disregards the productive contribution of capital goods—a failing for which Locke must bear part of the blame. (Note: The full passage is longer; only the relevant portion is shown here.) |
Question: According to the author of the passage, which of the following is true of the distribution of the income derived from the total output of consumer goods in a modern economy? (A) Workers receive a share of this income that is significantly smaller than the value of their labor as a contribution to total output. (B) Owners of capital goods receive a share of this income that is significantly greater than the contribution to total output attributable to the use of capital goods. (C) Owners of capital goods receive a share of this income that is no greater than the proportion of total output attributable to the use of capital goods. (D) Owners of capital goods are not fully compensated for their investment because they pay out most of their share of this income to workers as wages and benefits. (E) Workers receive a share of this income that is greater than the value of their labor because the labor theory of value overestimates their contribution to total output. |
Step 1: Notice that the question is a perfect example of a detail-identification question. The question is asking you to target:
Question’s Topic: “…the distribution of the income derived from the total output of consumer goods in a modern economy?”
Step 2: Scan the passage for a phrase that closely matches the question’s topic. Keep an open mind and be willing to look for synonyms in the passage as well. You can scan the passage quickly and should be able to find a sentence that closely matches the keywords (bolded phrase) from the question.
Relevant Sentence: “Approximately two-thirds of the income derived from this total output is paid out to workers as wages and salaries, the remaining third serving as compensation to the owners of the capital goods.”
Step 3: Once you match the phrase “income derived from the total output” – read the entire sentence and focus on matching meaning — not just identical words. The correct answer is often paraphrased, not copied word for word.
The passage states two-thirds of the income derived from this total output goes to workers and the remaining one-third goes to the owners.
Correct Answer: (C) A paraphrase of the above, specifically the owners: the owners receive 1/3 of the income derived from total output, …
Type 2: Purpose of a Sentence or Phrase
Some stated idea questions on the GMAT ask why the author included something. These questions test your understanding of how a specific sentence or phrase functions within the passage. Importantly, these questions are not asking you to interpret or make inferences – the correct answer will be supported directly by the passage.
Common question stems include:
“The author of the passage mentions X primarily to…”
“The purpose of the statement ‘_____’ is to…”
What the GMAT is really asking is “why is this phrase there / how does this phrase fit in with the surrounding sentences?” To answer the question, look for the rhetorical function of that sentence. Here are some common examples you will find:
Introducing a contrast or opposing view: “However, critics of this theory argue that…”
Providing a specific example: “A well-known case of this is…”
Defining a term or clarifying a concept: “In this context, autonomy means…”
Offering supporting evidence or explanation: “This result supports the idea that…”
Highlighting a consequence or implication: “As a result, the policy was revised…”
Setting up a problem or complication: “Yet this assumption fails to explain…”
Example: Purpose in Context
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Passage excerpt: Determining whether a given population of animals constitutes a distinct species can be difficult because no single accepted definition of the term exists. One approach, called the biological species concept, bases the definition on reproductive compatibility. According to this view, a species is a group of animals that can mate with one another to produce fertile offspring but cannot mate successfully with members of a different group. Yet this idea can be too restrictive. First, mating between groups labeled as different species (hybridization), as often occurs in the canine family, is quite common in nature. Second, sometimes the differences between two populations might not prevent them from interbreeding, even though they are dissimilar in traits unrelated to reproduction; some biologists question whether such disparate groups should be considered a single species. A third problem with the biological species concept is that investigators cannot always determine whether two groups that live in different places are capable of interbreeding. (Note: The full passage is longer; only the relevant portion is shown here.) |
Question: The author of the passage mentions “groups that live in different places” most probably in order to (A) point out a theoretical inconsistency in the biological species concept (B) offer evidence in support of the biological species concept (C) identify an obstacle to the application of the biological species concept (D) note an instance in which phenotype classification is customarily used (E) describe an alternative to the biological species concept |
Step 1: Recognize what the question is asking and paraphrase the question in your mind: the question wants to know why the author of the passage mentions “groups that live in different places.”
Step 2: Match “groups that live in different places” with the last sentence in the passage:
“A third problem with the biological species concept is that investigators cannot always determine whether two groups that live in different places are capable of interbreeding.”
Step 3: Ask yourself: What is this sentence doing?
To identify the function of the sentence, I teach my students to read for grammatical structure as well: Subject Verb Object. In this case, the verb “is” can be read as “equals.” For example,
A third problem with the biological species concept = groups that live in different places
Correct Answer (C): This choice paraphrases the above – describing the problem in applying the concept.
In other purpose questions, you may need to read a sentence or two before and after in order to understand the purpose of a phrase.
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Passage excerpt: What is most surprising about tamarin territories is their size. Titi monkeys routinely live within territories of 6 to 8 hectares, and night monkeys seldom defend more than 10 hectares, but tamarin groups routinely occupy areas of 30 to 120 hectares. Contrast this with the 1 to 2 hectares needed by the common North American gray squirrel, a nonterritorial mammal of about the same size. A group of tamarins uses about as much space as a troop of brown capuchins, though the latter weighs 15 times as much. Thus, in addition to being rare, tamarins require an amount of space that seems completely out of proportion to their size. (Note: The full passage is longer; only the relevant portion is shown here.) |
Question: The author mentions the spatial requirements of the gray squirrel in order to A. explain why they are so common B. demonstrate the consequences of their nonterritoriality C. emphasize the unusual territorial requirements of the tamarin D. provide an example of a major difference between squirrels and monkeys E. provide an example of an animal with requirements similar to those of the tamarin |
Step 1: In this question, the keywords to look for in the passage are “spatial requirements of the gray squirrel.” Remember, you should be looking for paraphrases or synonyms of the question’s wording.
Step 2: Locate “gray squirrel” in the third sentence of the paragraph.
“Contrast this with the 1 to 2 hectares needed by the common North American gray squirrel, a nonterritorial mammal of about the same size.”
Step 3: Read for meaning and function of the entire sentence and try not to make any inferences. Notice the words “contrast” at the start and “a nonterritorial mammal” towards the end.
The author is trying to contrast the nonterritorial aspect of the gray squirrel with something. If you want to know what that something is, read on – where you will learn tamarins require an amount of space that is out of proportion to their size. Let’s go back to the question: why does the author mention gray squirrels? The answer is (C) to emphasize the unusual territorial requirements of the tamarin.
Understanding the purpose of a sentence or phrase is less about knowing difficult vocabulary and more about recognizing how ideas are organized. Even if vocabulary slows you down, look for structural clues: contrasts, emphasis, examples, and definitions. At MBA KEY, we recommend doing drills to work on specific question types such as these. With targeted practice, you’ll learn to anticipate the function of each sentence as you read, making this question type one of the most approachable parts of GMAT Reading Comprehension.
Ready to boost your GMAT Critical Reasoning score? Learn more in our article Master GMAT Critical Reasoning with Logic-Driven, Quantitative Strategies.