Transcript Lecture Notes for Verbal Reasoning

GRE Test Preparation
Lesson 2
General Test Taking Strategies
General Test Taking Strategies
Establish a study schedule and consistently adhere to
it..
Plan on studying at least 1-2 hours per day.
The more time you devote to studying, the more confident
and prepared you’ll be on exam day.
Be very deliberate in structuring your study plan and stick
with it.
Make sure you’re well-focused when you study.
Strive to get the most out of your study sessions.
Consider partnering with someone else who’s taking the
exam.
General Test Taking Strategies
Take a full length verbal and analytical writing test at least
once a week on your own at home.
Try to simulate real test conditions as much as possible.
Always “debrief” yourself and reflect carefully on your
performance after every practice test.
Record and keep close track of all of your scores on practice
tests.
Thoroughly review the answers you missed and read the
answer explanations for the questions you answered
incorrectly.
Maintain a learning journal to help you improve.
Write out a narrative explaining where and why you’re having
difficulties with aspects of these sections of the test.
Write out a narrative offering your plans for strengthening and
improving your performance.
Research from the journal Science reveals students learn more if
they study something and then write out what they’ve learned
in an essay or narrative format.
General Test Taking Strategies
Get to know the test thoroughly before you take it.
Memorize test instructions so you don’t waste time reading
through them on test day.
Get comfortable with either the pencil-and-paper method or
the CBT method depending on which one you’ll be doing
for real.
Learn and internalize everything you need to know about
taking the test well before you do it for real.
Do NOT procrastinate! This is a recipe for disaster.
Work to get your timing consistent and perfected as you
complete any practice test.
General Test Taking Strategies
Some basic information regarding the GRE test.
Obviously this test is an important component to getting into
graduate programs.
The test is designed to assess certain skills connected to success
in a graduate program.
The test is NOT designed to test prior knowledge or cultural
literacy or any data/facts specific to any academic discipline.
Verbal Ability and Analytical Writing are the sections of the
test we’re concerned with
The verbal section is adaptive, which means for CBT, the
software selects questions based on prior performance on earlier
questions
The analytical writing section is NOT adaptive.
General Test Taking Strategies
Computer Based Testing
Advantage of immediate results and feedback.
Advantage of being able to take the test more frequently and
registering for the test closer to the date of the test.
Advantage of fewer test questions.
Disadvantage of not being able to skip around to answer
questions as you must answer them in the order they’re
presented.
Disadvantage for those uncomfortable with computers.
General Test Taking Strategies
Computer Based Testing Tips
Use your time wisely.
Check your progress occasionally, but don’t get distracted or
anxious.
Don’t spend too much time on any one question.
Your default is eliminating wrong answer choices and making an
educated guess if necessary.
Answer every question in each section.
Guessing is better than leaving a question unanswered.
General Test Taking Strategies
Computer Based Testing Tips
Make effective use of break periods.
Use the relaxation/meditation techniques we’ve discussed and
practiced.
Pay close attention to the first questions of each section.
These questions are more important than later questions
because they are crucial to fine-tuning your other questions
based on the adaptability of the test..
Use the “Answer Confirm” button carefully.
Avoid errors by making sure you’ve clicked on the appropriate
answer choice before confirming.
General Test Taking Strategies
Verbal Ability Section
Measures your ability to problem solve based on your
language usage abilities.
Antonyms emphasize your ability to transition from a word and
its meaning to its opposite.
Analogies test your ability to recognize comparable relationships
between two different word pairs.
Sentence completion measures how well you can determine
which words best complete a sentence in terms of style and
logic.
General Test Taking Strategies
Verbal Ability Section
Reading comprehension tests your ability to analyze a written
passage so be prepared to learn the following things:
Main idea, controlling idea or thesis statement.
Explicitly stated information.
Author’s implied ideas.
Applications of the author’s ideas to outside
scenarios.
Author’s reasoning and persuasive techniques.
Author’s tone (attitude toward the subject).
Four passages on the general test—two are longer with
7-8 questions; two are shorter with 3-4 questions.
Topics are taken from the social sciences, the
humanities, and physical and biological studies.
General Test Taking Strategies
Scoring of Verbal Ability Section
Raw scores are converted to scaled scores for full-length
practice tests.
We’ll focus on raw scores for our practice tests, so scores from
60-76 for both verbal sections (30-37 per each verbal section)
represent the top range of performance.
Always write down and keep track of your performance on
your practice test score worksheet and maintain your learning
journal to monitor your progress.
General Test Taking Strategies
Analytical Writing Section
Tests your ability to construct and analyze arguments.
One essay question asks you to address an issue from your
perspective.
Your job is to use reason and logic to make a compelling argument
for your position on the topic.
The other essay question wants you to evaluate and assess the
strength of someone else’s argument.
Your job is to examine the quality and soundness of the argument
based on the claims and supporting evidence, not agree or disagree
with the position.
General Test Taking Strategies
Scoring of the Analytical Writing Section
6-point scale (6 outstanding; 0 Illegible) scored by two trained
readers.
Emphasis is on critical thinking and analytical writing rather
than grammar and mechanics.
General Test Taking Strategies
General advice for the test.
Get a good night’s sleep the night before the test.
Wake up early (after at least seven hours of good sleep) and
engage in a short relaxation/meditation session.
Enjoy a healthy breakfast that’s not too “heavy.”
Dress comfortably.
Arrive early to the test center.
Make sure you have everything you need, especially your
Use the restroom before you begin the test.