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Getting into Graduate School...Question Type Descriptions (*Information provided by Kaplan Test Prep) Introduction to the GRE || Computer Adaptive Testing || GRE Registration

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Question Type Descriptions Verbal || Quantitative || Analytical Verbal Section: 30 questions in 30 minutes Antonym Questions Antonym questions usually make up a little more than a quarter of the questions on the Verbal section of the GRE. As such, they make up the largest portion of your verbal score. Antonyms mainly test your vocabulary. They present you with a single capatilized word, followed by five answer choice, each consisting of a word or short phrase. Your task is to find the answer choice that's opposite in meaning to the original word. Analogy Questions Analogy questions make up about a quarter of the questions on the Verbal section of the GRE.Analogies test your vocabulary and your understanding of word relationships. You will see a pair of words in capital letters. We call these the "stem words." There will also be five answer choices, each consisting of another word pair. Your task is to identify the word pair in the answer choices that is related in the same way as the word pair in the stem. Since you are looking for the answer choice that has the same relationship as the words in the stem, you need to find the relationship between these words before looking at the answer choices. It helps to "build a bridge"--to devise a sentence or phrase that defines one word in terms of the other. Sentence Completion Questions Sentence Completions usually account for about a quarter of the questions on the verbal section. Sentence Completions test your ability to follow the logic of a sentence. You are given a sentence with one or two words missing. Your job is to pick the answer choice with the word, or words, that best fill the blank(s). Although many Sentence Completion sentences are based on "factoids" on various subjects, you don't need any outside knowledge to answer these questions--in fact, bringing outside content knowledge to bear on these questions will probably only cause problems for you. All the information you'll need to answer a question will be right there in the sentence itself. Begin each question by reading through the sentence strategically, that is, trying to see where the sentence is heading. As you read, be on the lookout for "structural roadsigns"--words like "and", "since", "thus", "because", "although" and "nevertheless". These words, and others like them, will help you figure out the logic of the sentence. Words like "and" and "since" signal that one part of the sentence supports, elaborates on, or is consistent with another part. Words like "but" or "although" signal that one part of the sentence will contradict or qualify another part--they serve to sort of redirect the sentence in another direction. Reading Comprehension Questions The Verbal section will contain 2 or 3 Reading Comprehension passages, each approximately 200-300 words and followed by 2 to 4 questions. Reading Comprehension will account for about a quarter of your verbal score. The passages are written in difficult, often technical prose, and are adapted from books and journals in the broad areas of business, the social sciences, the natural sciences, and humanities. Reading Comprehension questions are designed to see whether you can get the gist of the prose--its underlying purpose and principal ideas--quickly and accurately. back to top Quantitative (Math) Section: 28 questions in 45 minutes Quantitative Comparison Questions There are about 14 Quantitative Comparison, or QC, questions on the quantitative section of the GRE, so they account for a half of your quantitative score. The math tested on Data Sufficiency questions is the same as that tested on Problem Solving questions: junior high school level arithmetic, algebra and geometry. QCs don't ask you to solve for a particular value. Instead they ask you to compare two quantities and try to determine which, if either, is larger. Because of their unusual format, QCs seem daunting at first, but once you become familiar with the format, you'll actually find them easier and faster to do than Problem Solving. Each QC will show you two mathematical expressions--one in Column A and one in Column B. Sometimes additional information will be provided and it will be centered right above the two quantities. The basic directions for QCs will always be the same and the answer choice options do not change between questions. Problem Solving Questions Problem Solving questions are the classic math problems you will find on many standardized tests. Problem Solving questions consist of a question followed by 5 answer choices, one of which is correct. They make up half of the Quantitative section of the GRE. The math tested by the GRE mainly consists of junior high school level arithmetic, algebra and geometry. A number of the GRE problem solving questions will come in sets associated with a graph or graphs. back to top Analytical (Logic) Section: 35 questions in 60 minutes Logical Reasoning Questions Logical Reasoning tests your ability to evaluate the merits of an argument or opinion. You'll see 8 to 10 Logical Reasoning questions in your Analytical section, each based on a short argument. Most commonly, you'll be tested on your ability to strengthen or weaken a given argument or to identify an author's major assumption. Success in Logical Reasoning hinges on developing a systematic approach to analyzing the logic of arguments. Logic Games Questions Here are a few points to bear in mind as you tackle Logic Games questions: The opening paragraph of each Logic Game describes the situation and the cast of characters. Always think through the situation before you draw anything! Most games ask you to arrange the characters in a sequence, place them in different groups, or match up their characteristics. Each game comes with indented rules. These rules (usually 3-6 in number) limit the behavior of the characters to make your task easier. Be careful, though, a single mistake here can make the entire game impossible! The directions never change, so learn them before you take the test. back to top Find course options in your area: Select a Program -High School- AP ISEE Middle ISEE Upper NYC Science High PSAT SSAT Lower SSAT Upper State Testing -College- ACT PSAT SAT I SAT II Math IC SAT II Math IIC SAT II Writing -Graduate- GRE General - Math GRE General - Verbal GRE General Test -Psychology- GRE Psychology -Law- LSAT-Law -Business- CPA GMAT-Business -Pre-Med- MCAT-Pre-Med Organic Chemistry Physics Pre-Med Verbal -Dental- DAT-Dental NBDE Organic Chemistry -Nursing- CGFNS NCLEX NCLEX Int'l -Medical Licensing- COMLEX CSA USMLE Step 1 USMLE Step 2 USMLE Step 3 -International- English TOEFL TOEIC -Educators- Educator Programs -Pharmacy- NAPLEX Organic Chemistry PCAT -Allied Health- GRE General - Math GRE General - Verbal GRE General Test OAT Enter Zip or Postal Code: *Test names and other trademarks are the property of the respective trademark holders. 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