GRE Verbal Articles, Videos, Infographics & More

Mar 2023

How To Learn GRE Vocabulary Quickly and Effectively

By now you know that GRE preparation, for almost everyone, involves studying vocabulary words. Half of the questions on the GRE verbal reasoning sections are vocabulary-based. You will have to select from an answer choice set of vocabulary words to appropriately fill in the blank/blanks in a sentence. It’s hard to get these questions right without knowing the vocabulary. Unless you are an edacious reader with a prodigious vocabulary, you’ll most likely need to learn a few hundred words.

GRE Vocabulary Preparation Lists

How can you complete such a rebarbative task efficiently? Well, there are myriad GRE vocabulary lists out there for you to study, but I recommend making your own flashcards.

As you practice reading comprehension, both from official GRE practice materials and from other good sources like peer-review journals and college textbooks in the sciences and humanities, make a flashcard for every word you encounter and don’t know.

Don’t worry about sciency words that would only ever be used in one context, like phototransduction. You want nouns, adjectives, and verbs that have broad applicability. Even when you come across an unknown word in the course of working or reading for pleasure, jot it down somewhere (digitally or physically) and make a flashcard later.

Once you get into this habit, you’ll be amazed how often you encounter unknown words in everyday life. Most of us just filter these words out or circumvent them by using context clues to get the gist of what was said. A useful skill – but in this case a deleterious one.

Make a Flashcard for Each Unknown Word

And of course, make a flashcard for every unknown word you encounter in any vocabulary-based GRE practice question.

The very act of making these flashcards will reinforce your memory of the words’ definitions, but as you keep shuffling your deck and studying it over time, your retention will multiply.

It’s important to do this regularly. Build it into your daily routine, and take advantage of odd moments. Waiting for the bus/subway/train? Don’t scroll TikTok – study vocabulary words. Go over some definitions mentally while you brush your teeth. See how many flashcards you can get through while your chicken florentine is in the microwave.

Connect Words that are Synonyms or Antonyms

Another reinforcing practice is to connect words in your flashcard deck that are synonyms or antonyms. You don’t have to group them together for study, but if you’re reviewing a word and realize that it has a synonym or antonym relationship to another word in your deck, see if you can list any other synonyms or antonyms in your deck.

This way your individual “definition knowledge bits” can become mutually reinforcing. And as you know, the two correct answer choices on any sentence equivalence question are synonyms, or at least words that can function synonymously in the given context. You’ll be surprised how often sentence equivalence questions feature synonym pairs you identified in your study deck.

If you get into these vocabulary-building habits, you’ll find that they serve you long after you’ve trounced the GRE. A robust vocabulary makes you a more effective communicator, a clearer thinker, and an all-around cooler person – as long as you don’t flaunt it too much.

To supplement your vocabulary-building efforts, it’s important to have a thorough understanding of the structure and content of the GRE verbal reasoning section. The section includes two types of questions: reading comprehension, sentence equivalence, and text completion. Understanding the different question types and their respective formats can help you approach each question with confidence and efficiency.

If you are interested in speaking with one of our GRE tutors, you can sign-up for a complimentary, 30-minute, consultation call. You can also learn more from our past clients who were able to achieve their cumulative 325+ score with us!

Contributor: Elijah Mize (Apex GRE Instructor)

GRE: Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence

Feb 2023

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GRE, Sentence Equivalence, Text Completion, Verbal
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GRE: Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence

Vocabulary-based questions on the GRE verbal reasoning section are of two kinds: text completion and sentence equivalence. Both types are about filling in blanks in sentences with the right words based on context, but the answer choice formats are different. In this article, we’ll observe the similarities and differences between the two types of vocabulary questions and provide you with guidelines for working out each type.

Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence: Similarities and Differences

GRE Text completion (TC)

Text completion (TC) questions can have one, two, or three blanks, with each blank being filled by one correct word. Single-blank TC questions have five words to choose from. Double-blank and triple-blank TC questions have three choices for each blank. Here are some examples, with correct answers to follow:

GRE Text Completion Problem

In the midst of so many evasive comments, this forthright statement, whatever its intrinsic merit, plainly stands out as .

(A) paradigm

(B) a misnomer

(C) a profundity

(D) an inaccuracy

(E) an anomaly

The correct answer is E, an anomaly. The “forthright statement” is anomalous among “so many evasive comments.”

GRE Text Completion Problem

The activists’ energetic work in the service of both women’s suffrage and the temperance movement in the late nineteenth century (i) the assertion that the two movements were (ii) .

Blank (i) Blank (ii)

(A) undermines (D) diffuse

(B) supports (E) inimical

(C) underscores (F) predominant

The correct answers are A, undermines, and E, inimical. Inimical is a less common word meaning “at odds” or “opposed.” It has the same root as the word “enemy.” Even if you don’t know this word, you must choose it because the other blank (ii) choices D, diffuse, and F, predominant, can’t work.

GRE Text Completion Problem

Wills argues that certain malarial parasites are especially (i) because they have more recently entered humans than other species and therefore have had (ii) time to evolve toward (iii) . Yet there is no reliable evidence that the most harmful Plasmodium species has been in humans for a shorter time than less harmful species.

Blank (i) Blank (ii) Blank (iii)

(A) populous (D) ample (G) virulence

(B) malignant (E) insufficient (H) benignity

(C) threatened (F) adequate (I) variability

The correct answers are B, malignant, E, insufficient, and H, benignity. This question is all about the relationship between the passage of time and the harmfulness of the malarial parasites. The second sentence of the prompt makes it clear that Wills expects the most recently-entered parasites to be the most harmful and the least recently-entered parasites to be the least harmful.

To put it in terms of the answer choices, the parasites, according to Wills, become less malignant and more benign as time goes by. Therefore, since we are talking about the parasites that have “more recently entered humans,” they have had insufficient time to evolve from malignancy to benignity, and the answer combination of B, E, and H makes sense

GRE Sentence Equivalence

These questions have only one blank, but you must choose two words that would appropriately and similarly fill in the blank from among a group of six. You’re looking for the two words that, when substituted for the blank, produce sentences of similar meaning (hence the name “sentence equivalence”). There may be more than one potential synonym pair among the six answer choices, but only one synonym pair will work contextually.

Here’s an example:

GRE Sentence Equivalence Problem

A misconception held by novice writers is that sentence structure mirrors thought: the more convoluted the structure, the more the ideas.

(A) complicated

(B) engaged

(C) essential

(D) fanciful

(E) inconsequential

(F) involved

This question is fairly straightforward; we are trying to match the meaning of the keyword “convoluted” in the sentence. The correct answers are A, complicated, and F, involved.

Notice that this is a less common meaning for the word “involved.” If you ignore the context and just try to find a synonym pair, you might land on B, engaged, and F, involved. Normally these words would have similar meanings. But “involved” has another meaning that works for the blank in this sentence, while “engaged” does not.

GRE Sentence Equivalence Problem

Here’s one more sentence equivalence problem for practice:

Newspapers report that the former executive has been trying to keep a low profile since his exit from the company.

(A) celebrated

(B) mysterious

(C) long-awaited

(D) fortuitous

(E) indecorous

(F) unseemly

Why is this former executive trying to keep a low profile? A case could be made for any of the answer choices, but there is only one real synonym pair: indecorous and unseemly (E and F). Even if you don’t know these words, you can arrive at the correct answer by noting the lack of a proper synonym pair in any of the more common words functioning as answer choices A through D.

For sentence equivalence questions, you have to maintain a flexible approach. Some questions will rely more on context clues, and others will rely more on recognizing synonym pairs.

If words like indecorous and unseemly are tripping you up on vocabulary-based questions, come back for our next article on how to efficiently learn GRE vocabulary words.

If you are interested in speaking with one of our GRE private tutors, you can sign-up for a complimentary, 30-minute free consultation call. You can also learn more from our past clients who were able to achieve their cumulative 325+ score with us!

Contributor: Elijah Mize (Apex GRE Instructor)

Feb 2023

Master the GRE Reading Comprehension Section

Reading comprehension accounts for half of the questions on the GRE verbal reasoning section. To do well on these questions, you need a framework for understanding the purpose and structure of the passages.

Some passages are very short – really more accurately termed “prompts” than “passages” – and present isolated scenarios followed by a single question about the scenario. For those familiar with the GMAT verbal reasoning section, these are roughly equivalent to critical reasoning questions. But these account for only 4 of the 20 scored reading comprehension questions on a GRE.

The remaining 16 questions are attached to longer passages, and you must accurately comprehend these passages at the “wide angle” level in order to answer most of their questions correctly.

Reading comprehension: understanding the purpose and structure of the passages

The “wide angle” level means that you understand what the passage is doing, or what the author is trying to do in the passage. To understand the author’s purpose, always think in terms of what the author would like you, the reader, (1) to know/understand, (2) to believe/agree with, or (3) to do. Passages of this third variety – the kind that call for action – are rare on the GRE. Even so, you should understand the existence of the category. Let’s call these degrees of purpose. A passage may exhibit more than one of these three degrees of purpose. But any passage – especially one short enough to be a GRE reading comprehension passage – will conform mainly to one of the three.

This is your starting point for understanding not only the passage’s main idea or purpose, but also how the various references and details contribute to achieving the purpose. In other words, this is your key to correctly answering almost every reading comprehension question on the GRE.

However, you need something more. In order to clearly and accurately express the author’s purpose as a useful key to the passage, you need the Levels of Engagement paradigm.

Levels of engagement

The best way to explain this paradigm is to define each of the three levels of engagement:

Level 1: The author/passage interacts directly with the topic.

Level 2: The author/passage interacts with another treatment of the topic, presenting it, critiquing it, or commending it.

Level 3: The author/passage interacts with the scholarly conversation on the topic, perhaps taking a side but mainly presenting the record of discovery or opinion.

To help clarify these three levels, let’s practice with some examples:

Practice Problem 1

Passage: In a plausible but speculative scenario, oceanographer Douglas Martinson suggests that temperature increase caused by global warming would not significantly affect the stability of the Antarctic environment, where sea ice forms on the periphery of the continent in the autumn and winter and mostly disappears in the summer. True, less sea ice would form in the winter because global warming would cause temperatures to rise. However, Martinson argues, the effect of a warmer atmosphere may be offset as follows. The formation of sea ice causes the concentration of salt in surface waters to increase; less sea ice would mean a smaller increase in the concentration of salt. Less salty surface waters would be less dense and therefore less likely to sink and stir up deep water. The deep water, with all its stored heat, would rise to the surface at a slower rate. Thus, although the winter sea-ice cover might decrease, the surface waters would remain cold enough so that the decrease would not be excessive.

Is this a first-level, second-level, or third-level passage? It is quite clearly a second-level passage. Right off the bat, the passage mentions Douglas Martinson’s suggestion and deems it “plausible but speculative.” This is mainly a presentation of Martinson’s theory, but the author does offer his assessment of the theory. So this passage occupies the second level of engagement and the second degree of purpose.

Purpose statement: The author wants me, the reader, to agree that Martinson’s theory regarding global warming and the antarctic environment’s stability is plausible but speculative.

Let’s try another one:

Practice Problem 2

Passage: Scientists formerly believed that the rocky planets – Earth, Mercury, Venus, and Mars – were created by the rapid gravitational collapse of a dust cloud, a deflation giving rise to a dense orb. That view was challenged in the 1960s, when studies of Moon craters revealed that these craters were caused by the impact of objects that were in great abundance about 4.5 billion years ago but whose number appeared to have quickly decreased shortly thereafter. This observation rejuvenated Otto Schmidt’s 1944 theory of accretion. According to this theory, cosmic dust gradually lumped into ever-larger conglomerates: particulates, gravel, small and then larger balls, planetesimals (tiny planets), and, ultimately, planets. As the planetesimals became larger, their numbers decreased. Consequently, the number of collisions between planetesimals decreased.(Separate Paragraphs)

First-level, second-level, or third-level? This is a textbook example of a third-level passage. It is tracing the history of scientific discoveries and scientific opinion regarding the formation of the rocky planets. Third-level passages generally have a first-degree (knowing/understanding) rather than a second-degree (believing/agreeing) purpose.

Purpose statement: The author wants me, the reader, to understand why 1960s observations of moon craters swayed scientific opinion about the formation of the rocky planets away from the then-popular deflation theory and towards Otto Schmidt’s 1944 accretion theory.

This is probably more specific about the science than you really need to get, but it is good practice to write such detailed statements in your preparation.

Now that you’ve seen some good examples of second-level and third-level passages, let’s try reading and classifying two passages at once!

Practice Problem 3

Passage: Was Felix Mendelssohn(1809-1847) a great composer? On its face, the question seems absurd. One of the most gifted prodigies in the history of music, he produced his first masterpiece at sixteen. From then on, he was recognized as an artist of preternatural abilities, not only as a composer but also as a pianist and conductor. But Mendelssohn’s enduring popularity has often been at odds – sometimes quite sharply – with his critical standing. Despite general acknowledgement of his genius, there has been a noticeable reluctance to rank him with, say, Schumann or Brahms. As Haggin put it, Mendelssohn, as a composer, was a “minor master . . . working on a small scale of emotion and texture.”

Historians credit repeated locust invasions in the nineteenth century with reshaping United States agriculture west of the Mississippi River. Admonished by government entomologists, farmers began to diversify. Wheat had come to nearly monopolize the region, but it was particularly vulnerable to the locusts. In 1873, just before the locusts’ most withering offensive, nearly two-thirds of Minnesota farmland was producing wheat; by the invasions’ last year, that fraction had dropped to less than one-sixth. Farmers learned that peas and beans were far less vulnerable to the insects, and corn was a more robust grain than wheat. In addition to planting alternative crops, many farmers turned to dairy and beef production. Although pastures were often damaged by the locusts, these lands were almost always left in better shape than the crops were.

Make your decisions before reading on. Although both passages mention some other view (Haggin’s view in the Mendelssohn passage and historians’ view in the locusts passage), neither passage is second-level! The Mendelssohn passage is third level. Here’s the key line: “there has been a noticeable reluctance to rank [Mendelssohn] with, say, Schumann or Brahms.” The author is presenting the scholarly verdict on Mendelssohn; Haggin is merely an example provided for this verdict. Notice that the author does not weigh in himself or react to Haggin or the prevailing view. If you were given a question about the purpose of this passage and you chose an answer choice saying either “Mendelssohn was a great composer” or “Mendelssohn was not a great composer,” you would be wrong. The correct answer must mention the scholars who hold the view on Mendelssohn.

Purpose statement: The author wants me, the reader, to know that scholars are generally reluctant to rank Mendelssohn among the greatest composers.

How about the second passage? Again, it might be mistaken for a second-level passage, but it is actually first-level. The author mentions “historians” but gives no opinion on whether these historians are right or wrong to credit locusts as they do. Instead, the passage just starts telling us the history. It seems that the historians were right to give credit to the locusts, but that’s not the point of the passage. It’s about events themselves.

Purpose statement: The author wants me, the reader, to understand how locust invasions in the nineteenth century reshaped United States agriculture west of the Mississippi.

Sometimes when writing a purpose statement, you simply copy a key line that functions more or less as the passage’s thesis, framing it in terms of the author’s purpose.

Now you’re ready to “plot” GRE reading comprehension passages in terms of degrees of purpose and levels of engagement, creating the key to correctly answering every kind of RC question.

If you are interested in speaking with one of our GRE private tutors, you can sign-up for a complimentary, 30-minute consultation call. You can also learn more from our past clients who were able to achieve their cumulative 325+ score with us!

Contributor: Elijah Mize (Apex GRE Instructor)

Jan 2023

Anatomy of the GRE Verbal Reasoning Section

Types of Questions on the GRE Verbal Reasoning Section

There are only three types of questions on the GRE verbal reasoning section: text completion, sentence equivalence, and reading comprehension.

Question Order on the GRE Verbal Reasoning Section

Let’s get right to it: there is a standard “flow” to every GRE verbal reasoning section:

Questions 1 – 6: Text Completion
Questions 7 – 11: Reading Comprehension
Questions 12 – 15: Sentence Equivalence
Questions 16 – 20: Reading Comprehension

The two types of vocabulary-based questions stay neatly separated, not jumbled, and the reading comprehension (RC) questions tend to come in equal blocks of 5. Rarely, the two “blocks” of RC questions are 4 questions and 6 questions, or 6 questions and 4 questions, respectively, shifting the numbering of the sentence equivalence questions accordingly.

Timing and Difficulty

The main benefit of knowing this flow is to help you make timing-related decisions. On each verbal reasoning section, you have just 30 minutes for 20 questions, for a brisk pace of 90 seconds per question. Some test-takers who studied their vocab flashcards like to fly through the vocabulary-based questions in order to know how to pace themselves on reading comprehension.

Test-takers who struggle with sentence equivalence (SE, which can be tricky) may prioritize everything else and then make quick decisions on the SE questions before time expires.

Another note: the text completion (TC) questions increase in difficulty and complexity from question 1 through question 6. Generally, expect questions 1 and 2 to be single blanks, questions 3 and 4 to be double blanks, and questions 5 and 6 to be triple blanks.

Since the difficulty of your second scored verbal reasoning section is determined by your performance on the first scored verbal section, a second section with more double and triple blanks is a sign that you did well on the first section.

Reading Comprehension Breakdown

Perhaps even more important than knowing the “flow” of the sections is knowing the breakdown of reading comprehension passages and questions. This is important for allocating your time wisely.

GRE reading comprehension passages may be accompanied by anywhere from 1 to 4 questions. The longer the passage, the more questions accompany it:

4q passage: about 400-450 words
3q passage: about 150-200 words
2q passage: about 125-150 words
1q passage: about 50-125 words

The ETS (Educational Testing Service, the administrators of the GRE) has an established pattern not only for how many passages of each length appear, but for the sections in which those passages appear.

Reading Comprehension Section Breakdown

Section 1:

4q passage
3q passage
1q passages (3)

Section 2:

3q passage
1q passage
2q passages (3)

The best news is that the majority of reading comprehension passages you will encounter on GRE verbal are very short. Even the 3q passages are capped at around 200 words; the biggest jump in length is from these 3q passages to the single 4q passage, which always comes in the first, medium-difficulty section.

More good news: you’ll never get stuck with a long 4q passage that is measurably more difficult than anyone else’s! The GRE doesn’t like to leave these things up to chance. They call it a standardized test for a reason.

Timing on Reading Comprehension

Let’s talk timing: 7 of the 10 RC passages on GRE verbal are less than 150 words and are accompanied by only one or two questions. There’s no reason to think of these passages as a big time drain. Comprehending and retaining such a short passage well enough to answer one or two questions about it is a fairly basic and easily-practiced skill, even though the passages may complicate the matter somewhat by being dense or technical. Bottom line: these passages are nothing to be afraid of.

In a way, the 3q passages provide the most “bang for your buck.” The passages are, on average, hardly longer than a 2q passage, so you get one question for every 50-70 words of passage read. These represent your best opportunity for knocking out a few questions in very little time, and there is one on each verbal section.

The 4q passage has the most potential for derailing your timing strategy. It can be intimidating because of its beefed-up length compared to all other RC passages. The most important thing is to avoid getting lost in the details. You don’t have to remember everything. After all, the passage isn’t going anywhere; if you get a question about a certain detail, you should be able to find that detail in a reasonable amount of time.

Instead of sweating every detail, focus on understanding the overall structure and purpose of the passage. This is the kind of comprehension that RC is built around. This “zoomed out” comprehension can even provide you with a mental map of the passage for finding the details when you need them.

In our next article, we’ll introduce the most powerful tool for understanding the big picture of reading comprehension passages on GRE verbal.

If you are looking for professional help to boost your GRE performance, you book your 30 minutes complimentary assessment session now! You can also learn more from our past clients who were able to achieve their cumulative 325+ score with us!

Contributor: Elijah Mize (Apex GRE Instructor)

May 2022

GRE Verbal Questions – Expert Tips On How To Solve Them

The Graduate Record Examinations, also known as the GRE, is a standardized exam done for the purpose to assess the test taker’s ability to think outside the box when it comes to analytical writing, mathematics, and vocabulary. The majority of GRE test takers are students looking into Business Schools and in some cases Law Schools and also students considering Master’s ( M.A., M.S., M.Ed.), MBA’s, or Doctorate (Ph.D., Ed.D.).

Now, what is the GRE made up of? The GRE consists of three main sections: Analytical Writing Assessment, Quantitative, and Verbal. All these sections sum up to a total score of a minimum of 260 and a maximum of 340. To break it up, each section of the GRE takes up a specific percentage out of the total score. Both the Verbal and the Quantitative Reasoning scorer lay on a 130-170 score scale, in 1-point increments. The Analytical Writing, however, lays on a 0-6 score scale, in half-point increments.

In today’s read, our main focus will be on the GRE’s Verbal Section and questions.

The GRE Verbal Section

The GRE Verbal section consists of around 20 questions that need to be completed within 30 minutes. This leaves you with approximately between one minute to four minutes per question, depending on the question type. The order in which the question types appear is as follows:

Text Completion
Reading Comprehension
Sentence Equivalence

1. GRE Verbal – Text Completion Questions

For these GRE Verbal questions, you are provided with a small passage made up of one to six sentences, with one to three blank spaces to fill in. It is asked of you to fill in the blank space with the most suitable option provided to you. When it comes to the forms in which these questions can come in, there are two distinctive forms. In that passage, you might have three blank spaces to fill in, and for that, there is a list of three options to choose from per blank space. You can also come across questions that have one blank space per passage. To fill it in, you are given a list of five options. In both cases, there is only one right answer.

Here, your ability to interpret and understand the full picture is tested. You are expected to fully comprehend what you are given so that you can put the missing pieces together and still get a harmonious passage.

Example

In parts of the Arctic, the land grades into the landfast ice so _______ that you can walk off the coast and not know you are over the hidden sea.

(A) permanently

(B) imperceptibly

(D) precariously

(E) relentlessly

Correct Answer: B

Apex’s Expert Tips

Before anything, take a step back and make sure that the whole passage’s idea makes sense to you. Do you feel like all the points are clear to you? Do you feel confident in completing the sentence? This is important because your answers are fully based on your understanding of the passage. If you missed the passage’s main purpose, chances are, you missed the points to its questions too.
While reading, in your own words, try to predict what might come next in the passage. Try to complete the text while reading and see if the harmony is still there. When you’re done with that, move on to the next step, and try to link your predictions for the text completion with the options given. If you could not find the exact same completion, choose the option with the closest concept. Trust your gut.

2. GRE Verbal – Reading Comprehension Questions

These types of questions come in three different forms, which are:

a. Select-in-Passage: This form of question requires your referral back to the given passage for the reason of direct extraction. That means you have to select a sentence directly from the given passage that best suits a certain description that you are asked to substitute.

b. Multiple-Choice Questions – Select One Answer: The classical and traditional multiple-choice questions you are used to with five answer options for you to choose from.

c. Multiple-Choice Questions – Select One or More Answers: This last form of Reading Comprehension questions gives you a list of three answer options, and you are asked to select all the answers that you think are correct and suitable. This means that your selected answers can be one, two, or even three.

All these questions are there to evaluate your ability to summarize, identify writers’ points of view, understand larger pieces of text, draw conclusions, and to be able to reason from given information.

Example

Questions 1 to 3 are based on this passage

Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of popular music in his compositions. Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies’ sound is distinctively his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass’s classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music. Yet this use of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of popular music. His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.

Select only one answer choice.

1. The passage addresses which of the following issues related to Glass’s use of popular elements in his classical compositions?

A. How it is regarded by listeners who prefer rock to the classics
B. How it has affected the commercial success of Glass’s music
C. Whether it has contributed to a revival of interest among other composers in using popular elements in their compositions
D. Whether it has had a detrimental effect on Glass’s reputation as a composer of classical music
E. Whether it has caused certain of Glass’s works to be derivative in quality

Consider each of the three choices separately and select all that apply.

2. The passage suggests that Glass’s work displays which of the following qualities?

A. A return to the use of popular music in classical compositions
B. An attempt to elevate rock music to an artistic status more closely approximating that of classical music
C. A long-standing tendency to incorporate elements from two apparently disparate musical styles

3. Select the sentence that distinguishes two ways of integrating rock and classical music.

Correct Answers:
1. E
2. A and C
3. The correct answer is the last sentence of the passage.

Apex’s Expert Tips

When answering, try to derive the answer from the basis of the information given. This means that no outside knowledge is needed nor accepted. Make sure that you try to find the answers from the provided information. You might feel like the presented views in the passage are the exact opposite of yours, and for that reason, go into the exam with an open mind and expect to encounter different points of view.
These types of questions revolve around different and variant topics like sciences, business, art and humanities, and/ or recent topics that can be academic or nonacademic. If by any chance you were unfamiliar with the material provided, don’t panic! All the questions asked can be answered nonetheless. Keep in mind, though, if you feel like the passage is too difficult for you, save it for last and move on to the next question.

3. GRE Verbal – Sentence Equivalence Questions

These types of questions can seem a little similar to the Sentence Equivalence questions. That being said, these two question types assess your ability to draw conclusions and test your capabilities to be able to complete passages while being given only partial information.

Sentence Equivalence Questions include a single sentence, accompanied by one blank to fill. You are asked to choose the best two options that would complete the sentence’s coherence and main point from a list of six options.

These types of questions examine your capability when it comes to conclusion making, and your ability to focus on the sentence’s meaning as a whole. They train you to look at the bigger picture but still keep an eye out for smaller details.

Example

It was her view that the country’s problems had been _______ by foreign technocrats, so that to ask for such assistance again would be counterproductive.

A. ameliorated
B. ascertained
C. diagnosed
D. exacerbated
E. overlooked
F. worsened

Correct Answers: D and F

Apex’s Expert Tips

Try your best to understand the main ideas mentioned in the sentences. However, here it is mostly important to understand the whole idea at hand, by making out bullet points that can summarize the whole idea provided. Through that, the right answer will become clearer.
Make sure that the pair of words you have selected makes sense and can still produce harmony and coherence in that sentence. Substitute both words in the sentence before making your final decision. Don’t rush.

To Conclude

All the information mentioned above might seem overwhelming and you might be getting ahead of yourself, but with practice and dedication, everything is possible. Stay grounded and get to know your strengths and weaknesses and get ready with your GRE preparation schedule accordingly. Do not miss any chance you get to learn and grow even more.

Here at ApexGMAT, we understand how this journey can get a little challenging and sometimes frustrating. That is why we stand by our students and support them each step of the way.

Do not miss the chance to talk to our instructors in a 30-minute complimentary call now!

Contirbutor: Lilas Al-Sammak

Feb 2022

How To Crack The GRE Verbal Reasoning Section?

If you are interested in attending graduate school, you are probably considering taking the GRE. This is a standardized exam that not only tests your knowledge and skills but also reveals your potential when applying to graduate schools. The GRE is divided into several sections: Quantitative, Verbal, and Analytical Writing. Many test-takers tend to focus on the Quantitative Section because quant skills are considered more difficult to develop than verbal skills. However, you should be careful not to overlook the benefits of spending enough time preparing for the Verbal Section of the exam. If you want to crack the GRE Verbal Reasoning section, here are some pro tips on how to do so.

What should you expect on the GRE Verbal Reasoning section?

Before we jump into the tips, let’s briefly go through the types of questions you should expect on this section. The Verbal section of the GRE has three questions types – Reading Comprehension, Text Completion, and Sentence Equivalence questions. These three sections are designed to evaluate your skills of analyzing written data and finding the essence of the given information. Showing prospective graduate schools that you can score high on the verbal section of the GRE exam proves that you can handle a challenge as tough as the graduate school workload. Since the GRE tests your English language and analytical reasoning skills, it is important that you can think outside of the box, interpret information and draw conclusions from any written material that you are given.

1. Work on improving your vocabulary constantly

If you want to ace the GRE Verbal Reasoning section, it is important to make constant efforts to improve your vocabulary. Sometimes, it may be overwhelming to see many unfamiliar words in a text. You may not know where to start. That is why you have to come up with a specific approach for learning new words. For example, while you are reading a book or an article, look out for new words in the text. Whenever you come across a new word, highlight it and write it down in a list. Then check its meaning in a dictionary that provides a border context of the meaning and use of this word. Top dictionaries for learning new words are the Oxford Learning Dictionary and the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

When you are finished with the list of new words you found in a text, start memorizing the first few words of this list for the first few days. You should progressively increase the number of words you aim to learn per week. Another interesting approach for learning vocabulary is to use flashcards or apps that in the form of a game will help you expand your vocabulary unconsciously.

2. Read English literature

The GRE Verbal section will test your ability to understand vocabulary in context. You should learn to focus your attention while reading on how certain words are used and how sentences are constructed. This exercise will help you gain a deeper understanding of how English grammar works. There’s no better way to understand and learn how to use new vocabulary. If English is not your first language, we suggest reading your favorite books in English. You have already read them once, so it would be easier for you to focus on the vocabulary and learn new words.

Another effective alternative is reading the news in English from newspaper articles or magazines. While reading, try to understand how a word has been used in a sentence. This can help you crack the Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence sections on the GRE exam. Once you know how a word can be used in the context of a sentence, you can analyze every paragraph easily and find the word that would be the best fit for it.

3. Regularly study for the Verbal Reasoning section while preparing for GRE

Studying regularly is very important if you want to crack the Verbal section. Preparing for this section is a long-term journey which takes more time than just a few days or weeks before the exam. Try improving your English language skills on a daily basis by expanding your vocabulary, reading more, and listening to English speech. Spend a sufficient amount of time on your GRE preparation and you’ll ace this exam!

To Review

Understanding the importance of regular and systematic studying for the GRE Verbal Reasoning section is the key to success that will help you deal with any verbal task on the exam day. Improving your vocabulary and developing your reading skills is crucial for scoring high on the GRE. Here at Apex, we know that this may be a challenging task. Hence, we are more than happy to support you on your GRE journey and assist you in every step of the process. You can sign-up for a 30-minute complimentary consultation call with one of our instructors who can help you crack any section of the GRE exam!

Contributor: Diana Materova

Feb 2022

Beginning GRE Prep: The Go-Getter’s Guide To GRE Prep

If you are looking for ways to excel in your career by embarking on a journey to graduate school, you are going to face the challenge of having to take the Graduate Record Examination, more commonly known as the GRE. Luckily, with the right preparation and guidance, every motivated candidate can obtain a score that satisfies their personal desires (and school requirements) and accomplish their academic goals. Throughout this article, we are going to provide you with the ultimate GRE go-getter’s guide.

1. Get acquainted with the GRE exam

The GRE is an essential part of one’s application to most graduate schools in the United States and Canada. It is a part of your application requirements together with your portfolio that includes your essays, letters of recommendation, interview, and resume. In addition, GRE exams are available for candidates in fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, literature, and psychology, depending on the preferences of students. For this reason, a strong performance on the GRE can be used to satisfy graduate school requirements, complement your portfolio, and make you stand out from the crowd.

This is a standardized exam that aims to measure the verbal, quantitative, and analytical skills of undergraduates regardless of their fields of study. Rather than being a question-by-question computer-adaptive exam, the GRE determines the difficulty of each section based on the candidate’s performance in the previous section. In short, it is a section-adaptive exam.

When it comes to scoring, GRE scores are valid for five years. Having this knowledge can help you manage your time properly when applying for graduate schools and may even trigger you to take the exam before you have started fulfilling other requirements of your application.

Sections

The general GRE test is about 3 hours and 45 minutes long. It consists of three main sections – Analytical Writing, Quantitative Reasoning, and Verbal Reasoning. The 60-minute Analytical Writing section is broken into an Argumentative Writing Task and an Issue Writing Task. The duration of each of the two Quantitative Reasoning tasks is 35 minutes, whereas the duration of each of the two Verbal Reasoning sections is 30 minutes. On the computer-adaptive version of the exam, there is also a 30-minute experimental section.

The test includes a 1-minute break after each section and a 10-minute break after the third section.

Unlike the GMAT, the format of the GRE allows the examined person to freely move back and forth between the questions of each section, leave unanswered questions for later, and mark them for review.

2. Choose a way to prepare

We live in a digital age and have an infinite amount of resources at our disposal. If we want to take up a hobby, acquire a new skill, or prepare for an exam, we can do it all online by ourselves.

When it comes to the GRE, the situation is similar. Having so many resources at your disposal can seem overwhelming when beginning GRE prep. Here at Apex we know how useful it will be to you to have access to a GRE go-getter’s guide that can break each step of your preparation down to smaller tasks.

Firstly, you can choose to prepare by self-studying. This decision can be made for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it is cost-efficient. A candidate will have access to online resources such as practice tests and articles. However, one should be aware that these are very limited. Another reason why you might choose to self-prep is that you will be able to work at your own pace.

There is also the possibility of hiring a specialized GRE tutor. Although costly, GRE Private tutoring is an option that is reasonable because your GRE needs will be met by a person who knows how the exam works and how you can prepare for it without wasting your time. If you’re interested, we have written a more detailed guide on what type of preparation is best for you.

3. Plan your GRE preparation

Every GRE journey begins with determining one’s goals. This includes choosing a program to apply to, doing research on the minimum score the respective school requires of candidates, and finally, beginning GRE preparation.

Here comes the time when it would be best for you to take a free GRE practice test. Make sure to take one without any preparation. By doing this baseline assessment, you will get to know where you currently stand, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and how far you will need to go to achieve your goals. You will also use this result to track your progress.

Then it is time to begin studying. Take your time to work on each section separately. First, you need to analyze the results from the practice test you took, see where you made mistakes, and make note of inefficient solution pathways. Only then you can focus on the Quant section and on the Verbal section. Don’t forget to review what you’ve learned once again. Then, we suggest working on the Analytical Writing Section towards the end of your prep.

Final Thoughts

All in all, in this go-getter’s guide, we looked at the main steps one should consider when beginning GRE prep. The latter includes learning more about the nature of the exam, choosing a model of preparation that will suit your needs, and coming up with a GRE study plan. If you are interested in individualized private tutoring, we offer complimentary 30-minute consultation calls with one of our top-scoring instructors!

Contributor: Reneta Georgieva

Jan 2022

GRE Verbal Section – All You Need To Know

The business world is dominated by numbers, charts, and graphs. Thus, most business school hopefuls understandably focus on developing their analytical thinking and math skills when preparing for the GRE exam. But it’s a mistake to neglect the GRE verbal section. Effective GRE test prep requires a balanced, well-rounded approach.

Here’s what you need to know about the GRE verbal reasoning section.

What is the GRE verbal section and what does it test for?

The verbal section of GRE primarily evaluates the test taker’s overall command of standard written English, their ability to analyze and evaluate arguments, and critical reading skills. As such, the verbal section is made up of three types of problems: reading comprehension, text correction, and sentence equivalence.

The 3 sections have a total of 36 questions, with a time limit of 65 minutes. This leaves, on average, 1 minute and 50 seconds per question.

How Is GRE Verbal Section Scored?

The verbal section of GRE, like the quantitative section, is evaluated on a scale of 130 to 170 in one point increments. A 162 on Verbal and a 166 on Quant is considered an excellent score – it is a 90th percentile score that will be competitive for most graduate programs.

“What are GRE percentiles?” you may ask. Basically, the GRE ranks test takers by percentile. The percentile system uses GRE scores from the previous three years to calculate how applicants performed compared to their peers. For example, if an applicant scores in the 80th percentile, it means he or she performed better than 80% of test takers over the last three years.

Although the GRE scaled scores don’t change over time, the percentiles do. Graduate schools assess both the scaled and percentile scores to get an adequate understanding of the applicant’s strengths and weaknesses.

Language on the GRE Verbal Section

The language on the verbal section is more sophisticated and academic than what is used in everyday vocabulary. If you aren’t accustomed to reading formal English, your verbal prep might require some extra time and energy.

It will be easier to identify errors, main points, and bias statements once you’ve trained your ear to formal English. Practice reading formal texts efficiently and effectively, and avoid vernacular texts. Instead, choose sources that are known for using elevated writing styles, such as The New Yorker or The New York Times.

GRE Reading Comprehension

The reading comprehension subsection of GRE evaluates not only the candidate’s understanding of words and statements, but more importantly, the underlying logic behind them.
In this subsection, you’ll find passages of texts followed by several questions about the text’s details and implications. Some passages draw from various disciplines, such as the physical, biological, or social sciences, while others refer to business-related fields.

Here are some tips to make the process less tedious and more efficient:

Read the whole passage without taking too much time to memorize details
Analyze the logical structure of the passage
Ask yourself:

What’s the main argument?
What does the author state explicitly? What is implied?
How would you describe the author’s tone and attitude?

Keep an eye out for opinionated words–for example, “clearly,” “obviously,” or “apparently”–these words hint at the author’s attitudes, and they’ll help you suss out the main point.

GRE Text Completion

Text Completion is another subsection of GRE consisting of questions designed to test candidates’ abilities to build coherent and meaningful sentences. What test-takers should do is to read short passages that miss crucial words in them. Then, based on the remaining information, they need to choose the word or short phrase that would best fit the blank and thus, construct clear and logical texts.

Here are a few tips to nail the GRE Text Completion subsection:

Don’t focus only on the sentence with the blank space, read through the whole passage to learn the context.
Don’t waste too much time on the first blank – if you can’t think of anything at the moment, continue filling the rest and then come back to it.
Keep an eye on words like although, therefore, as they are connective words setting the direction of the passages.

GRE Sentence Equivalence

Similarly, the sentence equivalence subsection of the GRE aims at assessing a candidate’s ability to formulate a meaningful “whole” by choosing the proper way to fill in the blank spaces. Test-takers will have to complete a sentence by choosing two of the six answer options to fit one blank. The two words must be synonyms and lead to the constructing of a sentence with, more or less, the same meaning. No credit is provided for partially correct answers.

Here are some tips to consider while doing the GRE sentence equivalence subsection:

First and foremost, you need to equip yourself with rich vocabulary, as you need to identify perfect synonyms.
As there may be more than one set of synonyms among the answers, make sure that the words chosen by you are appropriate for filling in the blank.
After you’ve made your choice, make sure to read the sentence again in order to ensure it is grammatically and logically coherent.

Conclusion

Taking the GRE quantitative section into account, there are a number of score combinations that will lead to the same overall score, which leaves plenty of room to maneuver. However, given the rise in GRE quantitative scores in recent years, total scores and percentile rankings have shifted. This gives candidates an opportunity to boost their overall scores by mastering the verbal section of the GRE.

Contributor: Bilhen Sali

Dec 2021

GRE Percentiles – Understanding Your GRE Score

ETS, the official makers of the GRE, compile and publish statistics on the GRE. We have reviewed the statistics and organized them for you to peruse below. If you are in the middle of studying for your GRE exam and are looking for expert help, our professional tutors at Apex GRE are available anywhere in the world. You can set up a 30-minute, complimentary consultation call with one of our instructors if you are considering a private GRE tutor.

The following data has been collected by ETS between July 1st, 2017, and June 30th, 2020.

When applying to graduate school, the GRE is often an inevitability. Most top-tier business schools require students to take the exam. While many programs claim that they do not have a GRE minimum for admissions, it is important to aim for a score that lands you in a top percentile. Achieving a top score may not guarantee admission, however, it will offer you a better shot at getting into the school of your dreams.

GRE Quant & Verbal Reasoning Percentiles

Below is a chart of recent GRE percentiles (Collected between 2017-2020). When looking at potential graduate programs, take a look at previous admissions statistics.

Knowing the average GRE score of previously admitted students can give you a baseline to aim for. Striving for the average, means you have a better likelihood of getting a score above or around this. Giving you a higher chance at admissions.

Interpreting the GRE percentiles requires knowing how the GRE is scored. The total score comprises the Verbal and Quantitative sections plus a third analytical writing portion. These scores show the admissions committee your higher-order reasoning skills. These scores are able to predict a student’s success in graduate school.

The scores range from 130-170, with the analytical writing portion being scored from 0-6. When comparing your score to other test-takers, it is important to look at percentile rankings. When reading a percentile ranking chart, find your score on the chart.

Let us assume you scored 156 on the verbal portion. This lands you in the 72nd percentile. Meaning your score is higher than 72% of test-takers. Those scoring a 170, for example, are in the 99th percentile. This means that they achieved a score higher than 99% of all test takers. Important to remember is that percentile rankings change each year. This is because as more and more students take the exam, the total scores achieved change, and your percentile ranking changes with it.

Contributor: Dana Coggio

Nov 2021

How To GRE Verbal Like An Expert

If you are interested in attending graduate school, it may be mandatory to take the GRE. This standardized exam tests your capabilities as a student and lets prospective schools know how well you may function during your graduate studies. The GRE is split up into numerous sections: Quantitative, Verbal, and Analytical Writing. Often, test takers tend to spend the most time on the Quantitative Section, as proficient quant skills are more difficult to establish than verbal skills. However, it is important not to overlook the benefit of studying for the verbal section of the GRE exam. In order to Verbal Like an Expert, you need to fully understand the sections, question types, and layout of the GRE Verbal section.

GRE Verbal Section

The Verbal section of the GRE has three questions types. These include:

- Reading Comprehension
- Text Completion
- Sentence Equivalence

These three sections have been meticulously designed to measure your ability to analyze and break down written data while synthesizing the information garnered from the passages/sentences/paragraphs. The aspects of the GRE verbal sections are meant to imitate the types of verbal work often confronted in graduate-level work. Showing prospective graduate schools that you are proficient in the verbal portion of the GRE shows admissions committees that you can handle the difficult and strenuous nature of the graduate school workload. This includes thinking ‘outside the box’ while drawing conclusions and interpreting information from the given material.

Reading Comprehension

During graduate school students are confronted with words and phrases not common in the English vocabulary. From reading scholarly works to writing academic essays many pages in length, being able to use archaic and uncommon words in the correct way is essential to doing well not only on the GRE but also in graduate school and the professional world.

The structure of the reading comprehension section contains around 10 different passages varying in length and topic. Including passages ranging from a paragraph in length to numerous sections. The content of these written passages encompass topics ranging from biology to humanities. The verbal comprehension tests your ability to:

- Understand and interpret words, sentences, paragraphs, and passages
- Summarize texts and differentiate their main points
- Drawing conclusions, reasoning, and inferring missing information
- Analyze the assumptions and perspectives from authors
- Interpret strengths and weaknesses of an argument
- Consider various explanation

These skills are tested through a number of questions based on the passages. The majority of these questions are multiple-choice questions. At times the questions are asked in a format where you are required to select multiple correct answers out of a list of potential answers or where you have to select a particular sentence from a given passage.

Text Completion

As the title suggests, in the text completion section test takers are asked to complete a portion of a sentence or passage with the correct word. This assesses your ability to create a coherent sentence using uncommon words or phrases. The question structure of this section uses a passage template of one to five sentences each composed of one to three blanks. Per each blank, test takers have five different answer choices to choose from.

When answering text completion sentences remember that credit is given per each blank. These blanks are scored independently of each other meaning an answer given in the first section of the passage does not affect the answer of the last portion. Tips for completing the text completion section include:

- Answer the blanks as a complete set as opposed to answering each blank individually
- Make sure to pay attention to the grammar and style of the passage when deciding on your selection.

Sentence Equivalence

On the sentence equivalency section test takers should be able to properly draw conclusions from given information. The structure of the section includes a sentence with a single blank and six potential answers where you need to select two proper answers. Test takers need to be able to discern the correct choice so that they formulate a sentence that is coherent and complete. When completing a sentence equivalence question be sure to read the sentence all the way through. Fill in the blank with a word that you believe fits best, basing the second answer off of the first answer choice you have chosen. Often, the GRE has question pairs as part of the potential answer in an effort to throw the test taker off. Once you have selected the potential answers, be sure to read through the sentence one last time to be sure the words fit properly.

To Conclude

Excelling on the verbal reasoning portion of the GRE may appear as less of a challenge than the Quant portion of the exam. However, it is vital to do your due diligence when studying for the GRE. The Verbal Section is important for all future graduate students. Applicants must be able to show admissions committees that they can interpret the works of scholars and draw unique conclusions. This is especially true for anyone hoping to enter into the social science and humanity fields. We offer help with future GRE test takers at any point of their studying timeline. To learn more about how we can help you excel on the GRE and obtain admission to a top graduate program, visit us at our website.

Contributor: Dana Coggio