The verbal reasoning section of the GRE is intended to measure your competency with the English language. You must be able to analyze sentences and sentence structure, as well as comprehend complex passages. The test contains two verbal reasoning sections, timed 30 minutes each and alternates with the quantitative reasoning section.
There are three question types in this section: text completion, sentence equivalence and reading comprehension. Unlike the quantitative reasoning section, the question types will not be spread out through the test. It will begin with text completion, followed by reading comprehension, sentence equivalence and one or two more reading comprehension. Go to ETS Verbal Reasoning or ETS Overview for more information about each question type and practice questions for each.
Now, here are 6 specific tips for the verbal reasoning section:
1. Don’t just memorize vocab words.
While this is an important part of doing well on the GRE verbal reasoning, you need to be able to understand the words in context. With this being said, a good first step is to practice flashcards to get an idea of how much vocabulary you know. You can use 500 Essential GRE Words from Manhattan Prep as a starting point. However, you can access these flashcards online for free if you purchase the Manhattan Prep 5lb Book of Practice Problems, which is linked in the first article of this series. After you get a good base knowledge of some common vocabulary on the exam, be sure to try and put these words to use. You can do this by attempting to use them in day-to-day conversation, or you can try using the words in a sentence while you are studying the definition. No matter how you choose to do this, it is vital for your success on the exam that you go beyond simply memorizing definition. The GRE wants to make sure you know how to apply your knowledge!
2. Read books and articles to help you prepare.
One of the most difficult parts of the verbal reasoning section of the GRE is understanding the complex passages well enough to answer the questions. A good way to get prepared is to read articles or classic novels. This forces you to try and understand complicated writing, and it will also help with learning new vocabulary words. Try and find something that interests you, so it is not a chore. For example, try The New Yorker, New York Times or The Economist. Your school library will usually have subscriptions to hundreds of online journals as well, so you can find something that best fits your interests and career goals. This may seem like tedious work, but continued exposure to difficult passages will make a huge difference in your abilities by the time test day arrives.
3. Use context clues.
If you are having trouble figuring out which words fit in the blanks, pay attention to the tone of the sentence. Look at the example below. You can tell from the context of the sentence that the first word needs to have a positive tone and the second word needs to have a negative tone. You can rule out temperance, which means “restraint,” easily, but deciding between notoriety and eminence is a little trickier. However, since there is nothing negative implied about Caravaggio’s success, you can determine that eminence is a better fit because it implies fame without the negative connotation associated with notoriety. It is this ability to read between the lines that the GRE is trying to measure. Be sure to practice this skill in order to hone it before test day!
Question: Vain and prone to violence, Caravaggio could not handle success: the more his (i)__________ as an artist increased, the more (ii)__________ his life became.
Blank (i) Blank (ii)
temperance providential
tumultuous eminence
notoriety dispassionate
4. Read questions carefully!
This test wants to evaluate more than just your ability to memorize vocabulary words and read at a college level. It wants to make sure that you possess the critical thinking skills that college is supposed to teach. With this being said, most of the questions will not be straightforward, and there will be answer choices that make sense but are not correct. Be sure to read the questions and sentences fully. Even with the time crunch, it is important to take your time and read the questions carefully. Don’t lose points for being in a hurry and misreading a question!
5. Only rely on evidence presented in the passages.
The GRE especially loves reading comprehension questions that are tricky. Many of the answer choices may seem logically sound and related to the material. However, do not choose anything that is not explicitly mentioned in the passage. Just because the answer choice makes sense doesn’t mean that it is the correct answer. In many cases, the correct answer to the question may only be addressed in a few words of the passage, so always be sure to find some sort of concrete evidence before choosing the answer. Do not pick answers that require making assumptions! Picking out these small details is a difficult skill to master, so be sure to get plenty of practice with real practice problems. You can use the material linked in my previous articles about the GRE, or you can purchase a book just for verbal reasoning here: Verbal Reasoning Practice Book. Just be sure to pay attention to the kinds of answers that are correct and get plenty of practice. Soon, it will become much easier to identify the right choice, but you must put in the work!
6. Take your time when studying!
This is good advice for every section of the GRE, but especially for the verbal reasoning section. Taking the GRE requires you to know a lot of material, so you might be tempted to rush through as many flashcards and articles as possible without really taking the time to absorb the material. While you may feel good about how much material you went through, this is not the best way to learn. When you are reading, take your time and think about the articles. Look up words you don’t know, and think about the implications of the information. When going through the flashcards, pause to really consider what the word means. Write a complex sentence with it. This active approach to learning will be the most beneficial thing you can do while studying for the verbal reasoning section.
Check back tomorrow for tips on acing the Analytical Writing section!
Sources:
https://ironline.american.edu/cracking-the-gre-verbal-reasoning-2/
https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/verbal_reasoning/
https://www.prepscholar.com/gre/blog/gre-verbal-reasoning-tips/
https://magoosh.com/gre/2013/thinking-like-the-test-makers/
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