Archive for the ‘ GMAT Verbal Prep ’ Category

General GMAT Test-Taking Suggestions from Official Guide 12th Edition

The following are general suggestions to help you perform your best on the test.

1. Use your time wisely.

Although the GMAT test stresses accuracy more than speed, it is important to use your time wisely. On average, you will have about 1¾ minutes for each verbal question and about two minutes for each quantitative question. Once you start the test, an onscreen clock will continuously count the time you have left. You can hide this display if you want, but it is a good idea to check the clock periodically to monitor your progress. Th e clock will automatically alert you when five minutes remain in the allotted time for the section you are working on.

2. Answer practice questions ahead of time.

After you become generally familiar with all question types, use the sample questions in this book to prepare for the actual test. It may be useful to time yourself as you answer the practice questions to get an idea of how long you will have for each question during the actual GMAT test as well as to determine whether you are answering quickly enough to complete the test in the time allotted.

3. Read all test directions carefully.

Th e directions explain exactly what is required to answer each question type. If you read hastily, you may miss important instructions and lower your scores. To review directions during the test, click on the Help icon. But be aware that the time you spend reviewing directions will count against the time allotted for that section of the test.

4. Read each question carefully and thoroughly.

Before you answer a multiple-choice question, determine exactly what is being asked, then eliminate the wrong answers and select the best choice. Never skim a question or the possible answers; skimming may cause you to miss important information or nuances.

5. Do not spend too much time on any one question.

If you do not know the correct answer, or if the question is too time-consuming, try to eliminate choices you know are wrong, select the best of the remaining answer choices, and move on to the next question. Try not to worry about the impact on your score—guessing may lower your score, but not finishing the section will lower your score more.

Bear in mind that if you do not finish a section in the allotted time, you will still receive a score.

6. Confirm your answers ONLY when you are ready to move on.

Once you have selected your answer to a multiplechoice question, you will be asked to confirm it.

Once you confirm your response, you cannot go back and change it. You may not skip questions, because the computer selects each question on the basis of your responses to preceding questions.

7. Plan your essay answers before you begin to write.

Th e best way to approach the two writing tasks that comprise the Analytical Writing Assessment is to read the directions carefully, take a few minutes to think about the question, and plan a response before you begin writing. Take care to organize your ideas and develop them fully, but leave time to reread your response and make any revisions that you think would improve it.

10 Tips for GMAT Verbal Section Sentence Correction Questions

Sentence correction questions make up approximately 14 of the 41 questions in the GMAT verbal section. They present a usually knotty sentence with all or a portion underlined. The answer choices present five versions of the underlined portion and your task is to select the best. Note that the first answer choice always repeats the underlined portion of the original Written English. This is not entirely true. You’ll need a strong grasp of proper style and a taste for clarity in writing to do well. Here’s a list of useful GMAT tips that apply specifically to Sentence Correction questions (Verbal section):

  1. Familiarize yourself with the GMAT verbal section, specifically the sentence completion questions. This can be accomplished through specialized books, courses or tutoring.
  2. Don’t bother to read answer choice (A). It simply repeats the underlined part of the sentence.
  3. Do not worry about spelling or capitalization errors.  The test writers do not test for these 2 errors.
  4. Eliminate any answer choice that distorts the intended meaning of the sentence.
  5. Test-takers have a natural tendency to hyper-correct — to find fault with the original version (the first answer choice). Keep in mind that, on average, in 1 out of 5 Sentence Correction questions the original version (the first answer choice) is the best among the five choices.
  6. Some answer choices might contain internal grammatical errors (they’re grammatically improper, even apart from the sentence). Eliminate them right away to narrow down the viable choices.
  7. You’ll always encounter a second-best answer choice as well. Resolve close judgment calls in favor of the version that most effectively and concisely expresses the intended meaning of the sentence.
  8. Just because an answer choice is a bit wordy or awkward, don’t assume it’s a wrong choice. If it contains no grammatical errors, while each of the other choices do, then it’s nevertheless the best of the five choices.
  9. Just because an answer choice is grammatically correct, don’t assume it’s the best choice. It might be a bit wordy or awkward; or it might contain a redundancy; or it might employ the passive voice. Another choice might be better overall.
  10. Trust your ear. If an answer choice sounds awkward in the context of a sentence, don’t bother to analyze it — eliminate it and move on.

Introduction To GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions

Reading Comprehension questions appear in the Verbal section of GMAT exam and they are meant to test your understanding of the implications, meanings, and structures presented in the passages. Each passage has up to 350 words and is followed by 2~4 questions. Because the GMAT is now a computer adaptive test, you will only see 1 question at a time. The passage, however, will remain on your computer screen.

There are 3 types of topics addressed in the the passages and each type of passage calls for a slightly different optimum test-taking strategy

  1. Science topics. These passages deal with topics including astronomy, biology and medicine.
  2. Social science topics. Typically, these passages deal with topics such as history, politics, and geography.
  3. Business topics.

Business school students are likely unfamiliar with science passages but actually they are very factual and straightforward. Hence, they will likely provide the easiest reading comprehension questions you will encounter on the GMAT exam. You are not likely to see any inference questions drawing on a science passage. You are much more likely to see several factual questions that can be answered directly from the passage.

Generally there are 4 types of question a GMAT test taker can encounter. The 4 types are:

  1. Main idea questions (primary purporse). For example:

    The primary purpose of the passage is to

  2. Inference questions. For example

    It can be inferred from the passage that both Tulving and Clayton would agree with which of the following statements?

  3. Details interpretation questions. Sample question:

    According to the passage, the WIDC believed that the proposed legislation resembled earlier legislation concerning women’s labor in that it

  4. Structure questions. Sample question:
  5. The function of the first sentence of second paragraph is