GMAT和托福都同是出国类考试，但是两者在考察目的和考察形式上都有显著差异。

首先，GMAT考察的是考生的逻辑思维，重点是要梳理文章的论证思路。而托福考察的是考生的语言能力，包括对单词句子和文章的理解。

其次，GMAT阅读在考试中一共有四篇文章，文章篇幅较短，每篇文章3-4个题。一般长文章只有四百多单词，而短文章只有两百多单词，时间需要控制在半小时以内。托福阅读有三篇文章，每篇文章有12题左右，篇幅在1000词左右，时常大概在1小时左右。

看到这同学们可能从篇幅和题量上认为GMAT阅读相对简单，但正如前文所说，GMAT考察的是逻辑思维，所以同学们经常会出现能读懂文章但不会做题的情况。且GMAT阅读里有很多长难句，这也造成了理解上的困难。所以GMAT阅读不容小觑。

我们可以从题型上思考两者考察目的上的不同。GMAT阅读主要是主旨题（考察全文论证的逻辑线），推理题（基于原文的信息进行推理）和细节题（一般考察同义替换）。可见GMAT阅读并非只是考察文中陈述的信息。而托福阅读有细节题，词义辨析题和少量推理题，所以托福阅读更看重读懂文章。

结合例子思考，我们先来看一段托福阅读。

Perhaps the most obvious way artistic creation reflects how people live is by mirroring the environment — the materials and technologies available to a culture. Stone, wood, tree bark, clay, and sand are generally available materials. In addition, depending on the locality, other resources may be accessible: shells, horns, gold, copper, and silver. The different uses to which societies put these materials are of interest to anthropologists who may ask, for example, why people choose to use clay and not copper when both items are available. Although there are no conclusive answers yet, the way in which a society views its environment is sometimes apparent in its choice and use of artistic materials. The use of certain metals, for example, may be reserved for ceremonial objects of special importance. Or the belief in the supernatural powers of a stone or tree may cause a sculptor to be sensitive to that material.

我们仔细读这段话会发现它的句子没有很复杂的结构，读起来比较容易。生单词很少，就算有生单词也是可以推测出意思，比如anthropologists应是指一群人，科学家之类的。句子的重点和层次比较清晰。而这一段的题包括细节题和词义辨析题。

According to the passage , gold, copper, and silver are

 (A) more difficult to handle than wood and tree bark

 (B) of their stable social conditions

 (C) of the unique stylistic features of their art

 (D) available only in specific locations

这道题问的关于gold, copper, and silver，那么文中提到基于地理位置，也可以使用这些资源（depending on the locality, other resources may be accessible），所以它们只能在特定的地点找到。A中more difficult没有比较，文中是说能获得它们，B中stable没有提到，C中unique太绝对，只有D选项符合。

由此可见我们对选项的判断比较直接，不需要太多的思考，基本上是对文章的同义替换。同样，另一道题考察conclusive的近义词，也可以联系上下文理解，上文anthropologists提出问题，下文说尽管没有____的答案，但方式很清晰。所以这个单词的意思应该是没有确切的，清楚的答案。如果填没有模糊的答案，但方式很清晰，这显然逻辑上不对。所以对应选项里面的definitive。

我们再来看一段GMAT阅读。

After evidence was obtained in the 1920s that the universe is expanding, it became reasonable to ask: Will the universe continue to expand indefinitely, or is there enough mass in it for the mutual attraction of its constituents to bring this expansion to a halt? It can be calculated that the critical density of matter needed to brake the expansion and ‘close’ the universe is equivalent to three hydrogen atoms per cubic meter. But the density of the observable universe—luminous matter in the form of galaxies—comes to only a fraction of this. If the expansion of the universe is to stop, there must be enough invisible matter in the universe to exceed the luminous matter in density by a factor of roughly 70.

通过阅读会发现里面有很多生单词，对我们理解文章造成了较大的困难，而且句子与句子之间的关系比较紧凑，有大量的逻辑词，比如It can be calculated that，But，If，可以发现文章的逻辑关系主要由这些逻辑词串联起来。所以我们在读文章的时候通过逻辑词理清逻辑关系非常重要。总的来说这一段主要是提出问题，提出解决方法，方法的不足以及提出行的方法。我们再来看一道题

It can be inferred from information presented in the passage that if the density of the universe were equivalent to significantly less than three hydrogen atoms per cubic meter, which of the following would be true as a consequence?

A. Luminosity would be a true indicator of mass.

B. Different regions in spiral galaxies would rotate at the same velocity.

C. The universe would continue to expand indefinitely.

D. The density of the invisible matter in the universe would have to be more than 70 times the density of the luminous matter.

E. More of the invisible matter in spiral galaxies would have to be located in their nuclei than in their outer regions.

读题就可以发现，题干和选项就很长，这也增加了阅读的难度。通过梳理题干可知道，这道题问如果density不够会发生什么，而文中提到这样的density是为了解决首句的问题，而现在density不够，当然就是问题解决不了，所以应该要选C。我们可以看出选项的判断需要在原文的基础上进行推测，并非直接得来。

所以GMAT和托福阅读在难度和考察重点上都有很大不同，同学们需要有针对性的备考，做到有的放矢，才能考出理想的成绩。