Strategies to tackle GMAT reading comprehension title questions are similar to handling GMAT main idea questions. But they are not entirely the same. The best strategies to follow are:
1) Don't get lost in the details
Skim through the details but pay special attention to the point that the author is trying to make. For science passages, understanding context would be more useful than noting down terminologies.
2) Summarize each paragraph
Summarize the central idea of each paragraph
3) Find the central theme
Find the central theme from the summaries of each paragraph.
4) Eliminate and select
It is very difficult to paraphrase the title of the passage. Don't waste time doing it. Go straight into the answer choices and analyze the title that suits the central idea of the passage. Eliminate the answer choice immediately (Use the process of elimination technique) if it is not in alignment with the central theme.
<Start of Passage - GMAT RC Title Question>
According to the Indian tiger census of 2011, the population of the tiger is at 1411. The population is not comparable to the previous census as the new findings are based on statistical methods while the earlier were formulated on pugmark counts. Since most Tigers traversed the same route, pugmark counts were not accurate. Statistical methods by definition make the count range-bound, with the lower limit of the tiger population at 1165 and the upper limit at 1657.
The decline in the forest area outside of the Tiger reserves due to urbanization, livestock need and excessive land resource utilization have made it unsustainable to maintain the quality and breadth of the forest. As a result, Tigers trespass villages and towns nearby for preys. This has led to a 225% increase in man-tiger conflicts resulting in law and order problems. Politicians are wary of taking any strict action against illegal settlers, as most of them are registered voters.
Legal and administrative steps are not enough to increase the tiger population. Educating villagers about the relation between the Tiger population and ecological balance should be the first step. Cases against illegal settlers would take years to reach any verdict. The government should instead provide alternative shelters far away from the tiger population. Although in the past five years, the government has equipped the anti-poaching team with weapons and communication devices, it is not enough. Poachers have developed comprehensive monsoon strategy that allowed them to increase poaching from May to July while remaining low during the rest of the year. The lack of training and a comprehensive anti-poaching strategy is a setback. In addition to protective measures, an environment to increase reproduction where highways are sanctioned only after evaluating the ecological nature of the land, reintroducing male and female tigers in various reserves, balancing land resource utilization with forestation, and monitoring each tiger are some of the steps that the Government should take.
<End of Passage - GMAT RC Title Question>
a) Tiger population census methods
b) Legal and administrative steps for Tiger conservation
c) Tiger population in India
d) Poaching – A major cause for Tiger deaths
Answer - GMAT Reading Comprehension Title
Paragraph 1: Tiger population census methods
Paragraph 2: Major cause for the decline in Tiger population
Paragraph 3: Other causes for the decline in Tiger population
Paragraph 4: Recommendations to improve tiger population
Central theme: The decline of Tiger population in India
Let us look at each answer choices:
a) Tiger population census methods
Only Paragraph 1 mentions Census methods. Eliminate
b) Legal and administrative steps for Tiger conservation
c) Tiger population in India
Close to the central theme – Keep it.
d) Poaching – A major cause for Tiger deaths
Although poaching is the major cause of Tiger deaths, it is not the central theme. Eliminate
e) Tiger Population Decline in India – reasons and recommendations
Close to the central theme – Keep it.
Answer E is the appropriate title.
