GRE Verbal reasoning tests your high-level reading and language skills. Of course every section needs cultivated skills, but  verbal reasoning has substantial role that can either boost your record or slide you down.

Already feeling vexed with verbal reasoning? Let’s have a comprehensive overview of everything you need to know to get a good score.

An overview of verbal section

The GRE verbal section assesses your ability to understand written content, synthesize information, and gauge your grasp of the relationships between words and concepts. Within this context, you will encounter vocabulary questions that require selecting the fitting word for a given sentence, as well as reading comprehension questions that involve dissecting concrete ideas and interpreting the significant nuances within intricate passages. This verbal section encompasses a 40-question test divided into two 20-question subsections. Scores range from 130 to 170, with increments of one point.

Verbal reasoning question types

This section contains three type of questions

1. Reading comprehension
2. Text completion
3. Sentence equivalence

Reading comprehension

This section evaluates your aptitude for reading prose and condensing it while employing your understanding of words and phrases. It also assesses your ability to deduce missing information and derive conclusions from given data. The test encompasses around 10 passages, varying in length from a single paragraph to multiple paragraphs. The passages cover everyday topics and material typically found in academic and non-academic books and periodicals. The number of questions per passage ranges from 1 to 6. These questions mainly follow the standard multiple-choice format, where you choose a single accurate answer. However, there are also questions where you need to select multiple correct answers, along with another type requiring you to pick a specific sentence from the passage.

Text completion

An adept intellect doesn’t merely absorb the information conveyed in the content; it also engages in analysis, weaving together the pieces to form a comprehensive understanding and adjusting it as new insights emerge. This section requires you to fill in the gaps within the passage with the most appropriate words, constructing a coherent and meaningful narrative. In instances with a single blank, you are presented with five word options. For passages with two or three omitted words, each gap provides three potential answer choices.

A quick tip for dealing with text completion:-

To begin with, determine the tone conveyed by the passage and select words that align with it. It’s important to note that you don’t have to fill in the first blank initially; sometimes, another blank might be simpler to complete first. After making your selections, read through the passage to ensure it embodies the intended tone.

Sentence equivalence

Sentence equivalence is similar to text completion, and tests the understanding of vocabulary in the text. The section consists of one sentence with a blank and six choices to fill it up. You need to pick two words from a selection of six and produce two respective complete sentences of equivalent meaning.

Tips for sentence completion:-

While the words seem like containing same meaning but you can narrow down your choices by eliminating those you think doesn’t fit for the equivalent. The test makers usually put multiple synonyms deliberately to vex you, so do not assume that you have made right choice on picking up synonyms. Once you have made the selection of the choices, make sure that both screens produce logical and stylistically coherent meaning.

How to study for GRE verbal reasoning?

There are few skills that you need to cultivate for the GRE verbal that might help to boost your score.

1. Enrich your vocabulary :-  As you may realize, selecting suitable options for the blanks can be quite challenging if you’re not acquainted with the words. Flashcards prove to be an effective method for memorizing words, and there are numerous online resources available for this purpose. However, truly learning a word involves comprehending its usage within a sentence. Mastery of a word isn’t complete until you can apply it appropriately. To solidify your understanding, consider crafting sentences using your vocabulary words to ensure you grasp their contextual usage. This approach greatly enhances the likelihood of retaining the words in your long-term memory.
2. Expand your reading habits:-  Reading does not only apply to the quantity but you should read what topics similar to what you have to deal with on the GRE. You can read articles on newspapers that will provide you a diverse range of topics like in The Atlantic, New York Times, The Hindu. And prepare an abstract of what you have grasped to make sure that you understand it.
3. Work with a pace:- Spinning your head on the difficult question and burning minutes on struggling between option B and  C, is a general complexity everyone face. To work on the pacing, you can do GRE practice tests that will help you get a handle on any timing issues.
4. Identify signal words :- Signal words convey crucial contextual information regarding the passage. They serve to reveal whether the content is leaning towards a positive or negative connotation. Typically functioning as transitions, these words provide insight into whether previously introduced information will be reinforced, challenged, clarified, and the like. Examples include terms like ‘however’, ‘although’, and ‘instead’. Pay close attention to the direction these words are guiding you towards. Over time, consistent practice will sharpen your ability to discern their underlying purpose.

Engaging in reading and writing activities for a brief period of 1 to 2 months might not significantly impact your performance on the test. However, it’s important to consistently cultivate strong writing skills and a rich vocabulary. Implementing the strategies mentioned above in your daily routine can greatly enhance your preparation. Otherwise, attempting to recall and apply a vast amount of knowledge within a short timeframe can feel overwhelming. Incorporating online practice papers while maintaining a steady pace, acquainting yourself with new words to enhance your vocabulary, and tracking your progress are beneficial steps. Maintaining a positive and composed mindset is crucial when tackling intricate questions that often demand more time. Ultimately, by adhering to effective preparation techniques, excelling in GRE Verbal is attainable. Every small effort you make in your test preparation journey can yield significant results.

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GRE, that is , Graduate Record Examination, is a computer or paper based standardised test to apply for masters and doctoral degree programs in various universities in the United States. It is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and through verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking and analytical writing skills, GRE sets a common eligibility criteria for the applicants of different educational and cultural background to applying for an advanced degree.
Apart from this general test of GRE, there is also a GRE subject test that evaluates candidate’s ability over particular subject and is required for getting admission in specialised courses, for instance, Mathematics, Literature , Physics, Psychology, Biology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry.

The GRE test is basically formed of three measures:

A. Analytical writing skills, that is, is to deal and support with any argument  accompanying evidence and discussion over certain ideas which requires a focused analysis of the given task.
 
B.Verbal reasoning skills, it reflects how one understands the content, captures the written material and compose the information from it. It requires the grasp of meaning and the analogy of words and concepts.

C. Quantitative reasoning skill is the practice of  dealing with mathematical concepts of algebra, geometry, arithmetic, data analysis. It  measures the  ability to analyse the problem and solving it through mathematical models.

The test is been taken in two ways
1. The COMPUTER-delivered:-
The criteria consists of six sections and the first section, always, is analytical writing task following by five sections coinciding two verbal reasoning sections,two quantitative reasoning sections and an experimental section. The examined person is given about 3 hours and 45 minutes for the entire testing procedure including a 1 minute break after each section and a 10 minutes break after the third section. The applicant is allowed to deal with the questions in any pattern within each section and can mark the question to review.

2. The PAPER-delivered:-
The format of paper based test is mostly similar to the computer based test except that it doesn’t include any experimental section.

PREPARATION for the GRE test-
ETS provides the resources for the preparation of GRE test through a preparation software, Power prep, that contains two practice tests of remote questions that gives an insight over the structure and scores of the actual GRE test . In addition, it supplies the review material as well for further practice. ETS is the only source of their retired material, denying any allowance to other companies.
University textbooks, GRE preparation books and online resources are much available if not interested in the online practice courses.

SCORES :-
• An analytical writing score reported on a 0-6 score scale, in half point increments.
•A verbal reasoning score reported on a 130 to 170 score scale, in 1-point increments.
•Scores:- A quantitative reasoning score reported on a 130 to 170 score scale, in 1-point increments.
               

Many factors affect the graduate school application and GRE score is just one aspect of the calculation of one’s profile. The undergraduate GPA, letters of recommendation (LoR), research, and personal essays will all contribute to the student’s acceptance into the desired universities.

Validity and Attempts to rise-
Despair is a natural tendency over the first failed attempt and  after months of labour and investing such load of expenses over it is dejection. But the spark of hope rises when one gets to know of the flexibility of attempts GRE allows . Technically there is no limitation for applying for the test but a gap of 21 days between consecutive tests is must with maximum of 5 attempts in a year.
And once the score report is in favour of the students, it’s validity consoles one’s heart for 5 years from the day score reports are published.

Talking about expenses, one needs to know that it’s not only GRE test fees but other expenditures as well that matters a lot and depends on  student to student.
It costs $195 for the registration of GRE. And this registration fee, initially varied for different countries but now is fixed for every student across the world by ETS. And it is just the initial stage of  spending, for after getting the score record of the test, one has to apply for their desired universities. ETS allows to send the score record to four universities for free and if the student decides to apply for more, it costs them 27 bucks per University. With this scale of expense, student need to shortlist the universities with great care.

Why GRE is a big deal?
After completing the graduation course, students plan to acquire a prestigious foreign degree through GRE .And an impressive GRE score, brightens the student’s profile with the exposure to international institutions. It reflects student’s analytical and reasoning skills related to the subject.

•A good GRE score paves the way of getting scholarships that makes the admission easier. Some universities mark GRE not for admission but for the selection of scholarship and fellowship candidates.

•A good GRE score helps to lift up the profile if the student has a week undergraduate GPA or little work experience.

• Different sections of GRE are taken into consideration for different programs. If the application of for maths or statistics program, the score of  Quantitative section are more effective than Verbal section. Similarly ,verbal and analytical section are considered more importantly when applied to English graduate program.

 So prepare yourself for this opportunity and give yourself some extra stars. *For further and detailed information regarding the GRE test, it’s official website https://www.ets.org/gre would be a great help.

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