Vibrant Publishers - Verbal Insights on the GRE General Test

Verbal Insights on the revised GREGeneral Test

Elaborate Strategies for mastering every questiontype appearing on the Verbal section

3 full length Verbal Practice tests as per the GREGuidelines

Dozens of Practice questions to familiarize you withevery type of question

Answer key and detailed explanation included forevery question.

Test Prep Series

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Table ofContents

8. Practice Test 3

9. Answer Key

10. Explanatory Answers

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The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) GeneralTest is required for admission to most graduate programs. The mostcompetitive programs tend to require comparatively higher scores.This book is designed to prepare students for the GRE General Test.The GRE revised General Test was renamed in 2016 and is now knownas the GRE General Test, but content and scoring of the test remainthe same. Note that some graduate programs require applicants totake specialized GRE Subject Tests which will not be covered inthis book. Before preparing to take the GRE, please review theadmissions criteria for the programs that you are interested inapplying to so that you know whether you need to take subject testsin addition to the GRE General Test. To learn more about subjecttests, visit the Subject Tests section at ets.org.

The GRE General Test is not designed to measureyour knowledge of specific fields. It does not measure your abilityto be successful in your career or even in school. It does,however, give a reasonably accurate indication of your capabilitiesin certain key areas for graduate level work, such as your abilityto understand complex written material, your understanding of basicmathematics, your ability to interpret data, and your capacity forreasoning and critical thinking. By using this book to prepare forthe GRE General Test, you will not only improve your chances ofscoring well on the test, you will also help to prepare yourselffor graduate level study.

Whether you are taking the paper or computerversion of the GRE General Test, the format of the test will beessentially the same. The test consists of three main components:Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning.The total time for the test will be between 3 hours 30 minutes and3 hours 45 minutes, depending on the version you are taking.

The first section of the test is always theAnalytical Writing component which is broken into two sections. Inthe first, you will be asked to write an argumentative essay thattakes a position on an issue of general interest. In the second,you will be asked to analyze an argument for logical validity andsoundness. You will be given 30 minutes for each section.

The remainder of the test will be split betweensections devoted to Verbal Reasoning and sections devoted toQuantitative Reasoning. There will be two sections devoted toVerbal Reasoning, and another two devoted to QuantitativeReasoning. You will be given between 30-40 minutes to complete eachsection, and each section will contain approximately 20 questions.At any point during the test, you may be given an unscored sectionon either Verbal or Quantitative Reasoning; since this section willnot be identified, it is important that you try your best at alltimes. Also, it is possible that you will be asked to complete aresearch section that will allow ETS to test the efficacy of newquestions. If you are given a research section, it will appear atthe end of your General Test. Unscored and research sections mayvary in number of questions and time allotted.

The following will briefly introduce the threemain components of the GRE General Test.

The first section of the GRE General Test is theAnalytical Writing assessment. This component of the GRE isdesigned to test your ability to use basic logic and criticalreasoning to make and assess arguments. The Analytical Writingassessment is broken into two assignments, each of which must becompleted within 30 minutes. In the first assignment, you will beasked to develop a position on an issue of general interest. Youwill be given an issue and a prompt with some specific instructionson how to approach the assigned issue. You will be expected to takea position on the issue and then write a clear, persuasive andlogically sound essay defending your position in correct English.You will be assessed based on your ability to effectively defendyour positions with supporting evidence and valid reasoning, yourskill in organizing your thoughts, and your command of English. Inthe second assignment, you will be presented with a passage inwhich the author sketches an argument for their position on anissue. Here, you will be expected to write an essay that criticallyevaluates their argument in terms of the evidence they use and thelogical validity of their reasoning. You will be assessed based onyour ability to parse the authors argument and effectively pointout the strengths and weaknesses of their reasoning using goodorganization and correct English.

The Analytical Writing assessment tests yourability to:

a) Coherently develop complex ideas

b) Write in a focused, organized manner

c) Identify relevant evidence and use it tosupport your claims

d) Critically evaluate another persons argumentfor clarity and effectiveness

e) Command the elements of standard writtenEnglish

The Verbal Reasoning portion of the GRE assessesyour reading comprehension, your ability to draw inferences to fillin missing information, and your vocabulary. You will be given twosections on Verbal Reasoning, each consisting of approximately20-25 questions and lasting 30-35 minutes. Verbal Reasoningquestions on the GRE General Test are mostly multiple choice, andwill be drawn from the following three types: ReadingComprehension, Text Completion, and Sentence Equivalence. ReadingComprehension questions will ask you to read a short passageseveral paragraphs long, and then answer questions about thepassage. Text Completion questions will have a short passage with1-3 blanks which you will need to fill in by choosing the best ofseveral multiple choice options. The Sentence Equivalence sectionwill ask you to fill in the blank in a passage using the two wordsthat will complete the sentence in such a way that the meaning willbe as similar as possible.