Study Abroad: Tips and tricks to ace GRE Verbal Reasoning section

According to the data provided by ETS, GRE test takers in India have increased from 56,782 in 2012-13 to 114,647 test takers in 2021-22, which was a 63 per cent increase from the year before (70,136 in 2020-21).

The GRE test is an objective assessment of skills that helps the admissions committee get a holistic picture of an applicant’s strengths by providing information about the test taker’s reasoning, analytical writing skills, and critical thinking. The test structure of the GRE exam comprises analytical reasoning, verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and a research section.

Overview of the Verbal Reasoning section

The verbal reasoning section of the test is meant to gauge a student’s capacity to analyse connections between sentence components, evaluate written content, synthesise information, and identify linkages between words and concepts. The section comprises three types of questions: reading comprehension, text completion, and sentence equivalence.

The Verbal Reasoning section has a total of 40 questions, and you have 60 minutes to answer them. Each segment contains 20 questions that must be solved in 30 minutes. There are 10–13 questions that are relevant to each of the 5-7 reading passages of varying length.

Let’s delve a little deeper to understand the GRE Verbal Reasoning syllabus.

GRE Verbal Reasoning syllabus

GRE Verbal Reasoning syllabus comprises three questions:

Reading comprehension

The reading comprehension questions on the GRE test are designed to assess an individual’s abilities to read and comprehend the different kinds of prose encountered in graduate school. The various skills include your capacity to comprehend the meaning of each sentence and word, recognise and separate the main themes from the supporting details, understand the meaning of paragraphs and longer texts, and so forth.

As a result, the reading comprehension component demands that the student go beyond merely understanding texts and words passively and encourages active participation, such as asking questions and reflecting on the relationship of the particular texts to other texts and information.

In the reading comprehension section, there are mainly the following types of questions:       

— Multiple choice questions with five options and only one correct answer
— Multiple choice questions with three options where you need to select all the correct answers
— Select the correct sentence within the passage which matches the given description
— Find out the connection between the highlighted sentence and the given options.

Text completion

The mark of an adept reader is that they go beyond the skill of mere absorption of information and constantly focus on interpretation and evaluation, and reasoning of the information provided to create a picture of the whole. The text completion segment of the verbal reasoning section assesses this ability of the test taker by deliberately omitting crucial words from short texts and asking you to employ the available information in the text as a basis for selecting words or short phrases to fill in the blanks to create a coherent and meaningful whole.

There are three types of questions asked in this section:

— Single blanked questions contain 5 answer choices
— Double-blanked questions contain 3 answer choices
— Triple-blanked questions contain 3 answer choices

Sentence equivalence

The sentence equivalence section, just like the text completion section, tests an individual’s ability to conclude how a passage should be completed based on partial information. However, the sentence equivalence section focuses largely on the meaning of the completed whole. These questions consist of a single sentence presented with just one blank. It requires you to select two of the answer choices out of the six that result in a complete and coherent sentence, and the two sentences mean the same thing. It is important to remember that you are not given any credit for partially correct answers.

Important points to remember

— It is important to develop the habit of reading English-language newspapers and publications, and engage in paraphrasing exercises.

— The best way to memorise vocabulary is to bring the important words into use in your day-to-day life.

— Aspirants should learn new words and phrases every day. It is also important to learn synonymss for every new word.

— Always remember that time management is the key. To do so, it is important to solve easy and known questions first.

— Read the passage thoroughly, and don’t skip any part. However, do not read the passage again and again. This will confuse you.

— If one or more answers are correct in a question, remember to mark all possible answers. Do not leave any questions blank, as there is no negative marking.

— After solving official GRE verbal reasoning practice questions, review your mistakes and work on them.

(The writer is the founder and CEO of iSchoolConnect)