Chapter 1
Foundational Reading Comprehension Strategies
Course: Gre
Subject: Gre Verbal Reasoning
Chapter: Critical Analysis And Argumentation
Introduction: Becoming a Reading Detective
Sometimes, the most important information in a passage is not written directly on the page. It's hidden between the lines, waiting for you to discover it. Like a detective assembling clues at a crime scene, a skilled reader pieces together evidence from the text to reach a conclusion that the author implies but never states outright.
This process is called drawing conclusions. It is a higher-level reading skill that requires you to combine textual evidence with your own reasoning and background knowledge. This lesson will teach you how to draw logical conclusions from passages and, just as importantly, how to avoid the common pitfall of jumping to conclusions.
What Does It Mean to Draw Conclusions?
Drawing conclusions means combining ideas from a passage to understand a point that was not directly stated. It is the process of "reading between the lines" to arrive at a logical inference based on evidence. When you draw a conclusion, you are acting as a detective, gathering clues from the text and using your own reasoning to solve the puzzle of what the author is implying.