GRE Verbal Tips for Reading Comprehension, Text Completion, and Sentence Equivalence

GRE Verbal Tips for Reading Comprehension

There are around 6 to 10 GRE reading comprehension questions in the GRE verbal section. This is one of the important and toughest sections of the GRE verbal, and below are some of the GRE verbal tips to improve your reading comprehension:

• Concentrate on opening and closing paragraphs: Start by reading the first and last paragraphs in case you come across a long passage. According to GRE verbal tricks, skimming through the first and last paragraphs will help candidates get the overall idea of what the author is trying to say. Refer to the other paragraphs while solving the questions.
• Refer from context: GRE tips and tricks for verbal ask candidates to refer to the lines before and after the context as well. This will help them get a comprehensive idea of what the question asks for and figure out the tone of the author.
• Read unknown passages at last: GRE verbal tips suggest candidates always opt for easier passages at first. The GRE reading comprehension passages have different types like sciences, environment, art, technology, and more. If the candidate feels stuck with science or technology passages they are suggested to move on. The time allotted for every passage is the same, therefore, the best way to study for GRE verbal is working on easier passages first.
• Select answers that sound true: GRE reading comprehension passages can be very tricky sometimes. Candidates may come across passages whose meaning is difficult to understand. GRE verbal tips ask to choose the answer choice the sounds true in those cases.
• Don’t put outside knowledge into use: GRE reading comprehension only tests the knowledge based on the passage and questions. Don’t consider your personal opinions when answering especially in the case of opinion passages. Any biasedness may result in a wrong answer.
• Focus on the use of vocabulary: When answering vocabulary in context questions, GRE reading comprehension strategies ask candidates to focus on how the vocabulary is used in the passage. You may feel there is more than one answer choice but there is only one. Plugin the answer choices with the vocabulary to select the correct answer.

GRE Verbal Tips for Text Completion

There is a total of around 12 GRE text completion questions present in the GRE verbal section. Belo ware some of the GRE verbal tips to help the candidates:

• Figure out signal words/phrases: There are certain words in the GRE text completion questions that will help candidates find the overall intended meaning. For example, words like ‘although’, ‘however’ state there is mitigation. Whereas words like ‘furthermore, ‘moreover’, and ‘indeed’ state that there is more information to be received.
• Understand the positive/negative tone: According to GRE verbal tips, if the candidates can figure out if the answer will be positive or negative then they can eliminate the answer choices accordingly. If you can understand that the word required is positive you can strike out the negative word from the list.
• Put elimination method to use: GRE text completion tips suggest candidates proceed with the elimination process if they have to guess. Candidates can mix the elimination method and positivity/negativity method together.
• Read once after answering all questions: GRE verbal tips ask candidates to go through the passage after answering all the answers. This helps in understanding if all the blanks are filled with the right answers.
• Every blank holds the same point: GRE verbal tips ask candidates to not spend extra time over a specific blank. All the GRE text completion questions hold the same marks.

GRE Verbal Tips for Sentence Equivalence

There are a total of 8 GRE sentence equivalence questions in GRE verbal. Below are some of the GRE sentence equivalence tips:

• Creating own answers: GRE verbal tips ask candidates to come up with their own answers after reading the sentence. Once the candidate comes up with an answer that makes the sentence meaningful, it means they have successfully understood what will fill the blank.
• Simplifying Sentence: Candidates need to answer the questions very quickly in GRE sentence equivalence. To quickly answer the question, GRE verbal tips suggest removing the excess information.
• Elimination Method: GRE verbal tips ask candidates to begin by plugging in each answer choice to the blank. The ones they will find unsuitable are the ones to be eliminated.
• Understand the context of the sentence: Focus on words like ‘but’, ‘yet’, ‘although’, ‘while, ‘since’, ‘thus’, and more. According to GRE verbal tips, these words will help candidates know the context of the questions.
• Consider all the choices: GRE verbal tips ask test-takers to consider all the answer choices even if they are confident about one. This helps them in knowing if there is any more appropriate answer choice available.