Tips to Prepare for GRE Verbal Exam

GRE Verbal Section preparation is as important as other sections of this standardized test. The GRE Verbal Reasoning portion tests students' language and reading skills. To get a high score in this section, you need to follow the GRE verbal preparation tips suggested by your teacher or mentor. Also, you need to have a set of required books for preparation.

Is it possible to score 170 in GRE Verbal section exam? Yes, it is! Many meritorious students have achieved this score in the GRE Exam. So, what effective tips did they follow to prepare for the GRE Verbal section? Honestly, many students struggle in the verbal section of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

The Verbal Reasoning section of the GRE Exam is as important as the mathematics section. It needs focused attention to improve vocabulary, which is an important part of the verbal section. The purpose of the GRE Verbal Reasoning section to assess the candidate's comprehension of written material. In this article, we are going to talk about how to prepare for GRE verbal section including vocabulary and other subsections of this exam

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Top 5 GRE Verbal Preparation Tips

Getting full marks in a verbal section can increase the chances of
Here are 5 preparation tips for GRE verbal section.

1. Build on your vocabulary
2. Read extensively 
3. Time management
4. Learn to recognize signal words
5. Practice practice practice

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Let us now understand the GRE verbal preparation tips in detail. 

• Build on Your Vocabulary: Candidates are required to build their vocabulary. New words can be learnt through simple memorization and vocab-in-context methods. Simple memorization would be using tools such as flashcards and involve learning about words on a random basis, vocab-in-context would be about learning new words in context to a passage. Building your vocabulary would be of immense help to ace the sentence equivalence and text completion segments of the GRE Verbal section of the test. 
• Read Extensively: Well, now that we have taken care of the sentence equivalence and text completion segments of the GRE Verbal section of the test. Let us look at the final segment of the GRE Verbal section - Reading Comprehension. To ace the reading comprehension section, candidates are required to read as much as they can. And mind you, we are not talking about quantity. But quantity along with quality. Candidates should refrain from reading just about anything. They should understand that the GRE exam would follow a certain language and style which would be familiar to articles from the New Yorker, Scientific American, The Atlantic, and The Economist, to name a few. Hence, candidates should read content written across such publications as this would help them with the GRE verbal preparation plan.
• Time Management: A lot of times, candidates spend way too much time on difficult questions or questions they would not know and then they have to rush to complete the paper. Hence, candidates should understand that all these sections are timed and they are going to have to complete the GRE Verbal Section before the timer goes off. Hence it is important to understand that they should tackle all the questions they do know and then come back to the tough ones. There is no point in wasting time and then hurrying to complete the paper towards the end.
• Learn to Recognize Signal Words: As candidates develop reading habits and build their vocabulary, they will start spotting 'signal words.' These are words that provide you with more information than what meets the eye. It can tell you about the flavour of the text or give you details that would help you answer questions that accompany your comprehension. Hence it is important to spot such words and make the most use of them while preparing for the GRE verbal reasoning section.
• Practice More: Well I am cannot overstate the importance of solving GRE practice papers as part of the GRE verbal preparation plan. Candidates should understand that the GRE verbal section would include more than simply providing the right answers. The GRE test would require the candidate to have patience and a very calm and composed mind throughout the exam to be able to perform his best. Hence it is important that the candidate, practices as many GRE verbal questions as possible to prepare himself for the GRE exam day.

GRE Verbal Preparation Study Material

Candidates can check out the GRE verbal preparation material provided below for the benefit of candidates wanting to score 160+ in the GRE Verbal Section and as part of the GRE preparation strategy. Candidates can also check out the GRE preparation page and GRE practice pages for expert inputs on the best ways to practice for the GRE verbal reasoning section.  

How to Prepare for GRE Vocabulary?

As I have mentioned earlier, that building your vocabulary is paramount in acing the GRE Verbal section of the GRE test. New words can be learnt through simple memorization and vocab-in-context methods. Simple memorization would be using tools such as flashcards and involve learning about words on a random basis, vocab-in-context would be about learning new words in context to a passage. Building your vocabulary would be of immense help to ace the sentence equivalence and text completion segments of the GRE Verbal section of the test. 

Candidates should note that learning a word is not enough. They would be required to use the word in their everyday lives to be able to get total benefit of the exercise, or else you are bound to forget what you learnt today, in a couple of days. Hence, if a candidate is planning on learning 10 new words a day, five in the morning and five at night, he should make every effort to incorporate the same into his everyday living to benefit from the exercise.

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GRE Verbal Preparation - Sample Paper

GRE Verbal Sample Paper: For the benefit of our readers, we have also collated a set of GRE question papers with answer keys that are based on past year's GRE exam papers for the benefit of our readers. The following GRE Verbal exam question paper has been sourced from various authentic websites and ETS - the conducting body of the GRE 2022. 

GRE Verbal Reasoning - Exam Pattern 

The verbal reasoning section of the GRE contains questions of three types:

1. Sentence Equivalence
2. Text Completion
3. Reading Comprehension

Each verbal section will consist of twenty questions. Half of the section will consist of text completion and sentence equivalence questions; the other half will consist of reading comprehension questions.

The test will always begin with six Text Completion, which increases according to difficulty. Next, will be a reading passage or two, which could either be a long passage or two medium passages. In between the reading, passages will be four Sentence Equivalence questions

Text Completion

Text Completion questions test this ability by omitting crucial words from short passages and asking the test taker to use the remaining information in the passage as a basis for selecting words or short phrases to fill the blanks and create a coherent, meaningful whole.

Text Completion Sample Question 1 (Sourced from ETS)

1. It is refreshing to read a book about our planet by an author who does not allow facts to be (i)__________ by politics: well aware of the political disputes about the effects of human activities on climate and biodiversity, this author does not permit them to (ii)__________ his comprehensive description of what we know about our biosphere. He emphasizes the enormous gaps in our knowledge, the sparseness of our observations, and the (iii)__________, calling attention to the many aspects of planetary evolution that must be better understood before we can accurately diagnose the condition of our planet.

   Sample Question 1 Answers.

   Blank (i)	Blank (ii)	Blank (iii)
   (A) overshadowed	(D) enhance	(G) plausibility of our hypotheses
   (B) invalidated	(E) obscure	(H) certainty of our entitlement
   (C) illuminated	(F) underscore	(I) superficiality of our theories

   Explanation

   The overall tone of the passage is clearly complimentary. To understand what the author of the book is being complimented on, it is useful to focus on the second blank. Here, we must determine what word would indicate something that the author is praised for not permitting. The only answer choice that fits the case is "obscure," since enhancing and underscoring are generally good things to do, not things one should refrain from doing. Choosing "obscure" clarifies the choice for the first blank; the only choice that fits well with "obscure" is "overshadowed." Notice that trying to fill the first blank before filling the second blank is hard — each choice has at least some initial plausibility. Since the third blank requires a phrase that matches "enormous gaps" and "sparseness of our observations," the best choice is "superficiality of our theories."

   Thus, the correct answer is Choice A (overshadowed), Choice E (obscure) and Choice I (superficiality of our theories).

   Text Completion Sample Question 2 (Sourced from ETS)

2. Vain and prone to violence, Caravaggio could not handle success: the more his (i)__________ as an artist increased, the more (ii)__________ his life became.

   Sample Question 3 Answers.

   Blank (i)	Blank (ii)
   (A) temperance	(D) tumultuous
   (B) notoriety	(E) providential
   (C) eminence	(F) dispassionate

   Explanation

   In this sentence, what follows the colon must explain or spell out what precedes it. So, roughly, what the second part must say is that as Caravaggio became more successful, his life got more out of control. When one looks for words to fill the blanks, it becomes clear that "tumultuous" is the best fit for the second blank, since neither of the other choices suggests being out of control. And for the first blank, the best choice is "eminence," since to increase in eminence is a consequence of becoming more successful. It is true that Caravaggio might also increase in notoriety, but an increase in notoriety as an artist is not as clear a sign of success as an increase in eminence.

   Thus, the correct answer is Choice C (eminence) and Choice D (tumultuous).

Sentence Equivalence

The Sentence Equivalence questions include a single sentence, one blank, and six possible answer choices. The blanks in Sentence Equivalence questions have two correct answers. Do not look in the answer choices for two words that are alike. This can be deceiving for two reasons. Firstly, although the words might be alike in meaning, they may not fit logically into the sentence. Secondly, the correct words may not have the same meaning. All that matters is that the resulting sentences are identical in meaning.

Sentence Equivalence Sample Question 1 (sourced from ETS)

Although it does contain some pioneering ideas, one would hardly characterize the work as __________.

• Orthodox
• Eccentric
• Original
• Trifling
• Conventional
• Innovative

Explanation

The word "Although" is a crucial signpost here. The work contains some pioneering ideas, but apparently, it is not overall a pioneering work. Thus the two words that could fill the blank appropriately are "original" and "innovative." Note that "orthodox" and "conventional" are two words that are very similar in meaning, but neither one completes the sentence sensibly.

Thus, the correct answer is Choice C (original) and Choice F (innovative).

Sentence Equivalence Sample Question 2 (sourced from ETS)

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

1. Ameliorated
2. Ascertained
3. Diagnosed
4. Exacerbated
5. Overlooked
6. Worsened

Explanation: The sentence relates a piece of reasoning, as indicated by the presence of "so that": asking for the assistance of foreign technocrats would be counterproductive because of the effects such technocrats have had already. This means that the technocrats must have bad effects; i.e., they must have "exacerbated" or "worsened" the country's problems.

Thus, the correct answer is Choice D (exacerbated) and Choice F (worsened).

Also, Read

• GRE Registration
• Section-wise Preparation Tips for GRE

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