What to Expect on the GMAT Verbal Section

Based on the title “Verbal section,” you might expect this portion of the exam to measure your oral commu- nication skills or your ability to express yourself effectively in writing. But that is not quite what the Verbal section is about. It is designed to measure three rather different groups of skills. The questions on the GMAT Verbal section can be divided into the following categories: ■ reading comprehension questions that test your ability to read and understand sophisticated written texts ■ critical reasoning questions that test your reasoning skills and ability to evaluate arguments ■ sentence correction questions that test your knowledge of standard written English and the elements of effective writing The 41 multiple-choice questions in the Verbal section are divided evenly among these three types. Each category contains approximately 13 — 14 questions, and you will have 75 minutes to complete this portion of the test. CHAPTER What to Expect on the GMAT Verbal Section The GMAT ® Verbal section actually covers a rather varied and com- plex set of knowledge and skills. In this chapter, you will learn all about the Verbal section, including what types of questions it includes and what kinds of skills it measures. 4 63  Reading Comprehension Questions You have probably taken many tests with reading comprehension questions in your academic career, and you probably have a good idea what to expect from this portion of the Verbal section. You will be given between three and five reading passages of 150 to 350 words each. You will then be asked a series of multiple-choice questions about each passage. Each question will have five answer choices; you must choose the best answer. Types of Passages The reading comprehension passages on the GMAT exam are usually academic in nature. They may cover any topic from the physical or life sciences, social sciences, humanities, or business, but you do not need to be familiar with the topic to be able to answer the questions. The questions test what you understand and can logically infer from the information in the text, not what you may already know about the topic. The writing in these passages is serious and sophisticated. You can expect college-level material of the sort you might see in graduate school. Most passages will contain between four and seven paragraphs and are about 150 to 350 words long. You will typically be asked three to five questions about each passage. The passages on the GMAT exam are either informative or argumentative. An informative passage might, for example, explain Einstein’s theory of relativity, evaluate its impact on science and society, or dis- cuss how current findings in physics are forcing a revision of Einstein’s theory. An argumentative passage, on the other hand, might argue that Einstein’s theory of relativity is the most important scientific discovery of the twentieth century; that the theory of relativity dramatically altered humans’ understanding of themselves, their place in the universe, and their relationships to each other; or that a revision of the theory of relativity will encourage more research in the existence of other dimensions. Some passages are both informative and argumentative. For example, a passage may explain the theory of relativity in the first three paragraphs and argue in the last three that it is the most important scientific discovery of the twentieth century. Types of Questions The GMAT Verbal section has essentially four types of reading comprehension questions: ■ Basic comprehension questions test your ability to understand the words and ideas expressed in the passage. You may be asked about the main idea of the text or the best way to paraphrase a definition or key concept discussed in the passage. Questions 1 and 2 from the pretest are examples of basic compre- hension questions. ■ Analysis questions test your ability to see the structure of a passage and the relationship between the ideas in the passage. You may be asked to identify the main idea, to distinguish between main and sup- porting ideas, to identify the strongest support, or to identify the organizational pattern of the text. You may also be asked about the effect of the organization or other techniques or the relationship between ideas discussed in the text. Question 3 from the pretest is an example of an analysis question. ■ Inference questions test your ability to draw logical conclusions based upon the facts and ideas expressed in the passage. You may be asked how the author might feel about a related subject, for – WHAT TO EXPECT ON THE GMAT VERBAL SECTION – 64 example, or why the author includes certain passages or uses certain techniques in the text. Questions 4 and 5 from the pretest are examples of inference questions. ■ Quantitative interpretation questions test your ability to understand quantitative concepts expressed in textual (as opposed to graphic) form and interpret the numerical data to draw conclusions about the text. For example, you may be asked which prediction about the subject is most logical based on the quantitative information in the passage or to use that information to determine which aspect or feature of the subject has a particular characteristic (e.g., “Which experiment resulted in the most dramatic change for participants?”). Question 6 from the pretest is a quantitative interpretation question; it asks how the idea expressed in the text might be represented in quantitative form.  Critical Reasoning Questions Although many standardized test questions indirectly test critical thinking skills, the kind of critical reason- ing questions you will find on the GMAT exam may be new to you. As you saw on the pretest, each critical reasoning question presents you with a short argument followed by a question stem and five multiple-choice options. The exam contains approximately 13 — 14 critical reasoning questions. If the pretest was your first experience with this type of question, do not worry. By the end of this section, critical reasoning questions and the skills you will need to answer these questions correctly should be very familiar to you. Types of Passages Critical reasoning questions, like reading comprehension questions, are based upon reading passages about a wide range of topics, but they have a few important differences. For one thing, the critical-reasoning pas- sages are much shorter — only one or two paragraphs — and each passage only has one question. More impor- tantly, each passage presents an argument (or at least part of an argument). Some of these arguments will be logical and well reasoned; others will be built upon faulty logic or invalid assumptions. As with the reading comprehension passages, you do not need to know anything about the topic discussed in the passage in order to answer the question correctly. In fact, sometimes your knowledge of the topic can interfere with making the correct choice. It may lead you to choose an answer that is not supported by the information in the passage. Types of Questions To measure your critical thinking skills, the GMAT exam presents you with three types of critical reasoning questions: ■ Structure questions test your ability to recognize basic argument structure. For example, you may be asked to identify the conclusion, premises, or underlying assumptions of an argument. Questions 9 and 11 from the pretest are structure questions. – WHAT TO EXPECT ON THE GMAT VERBAL SECTION – 65 Common Question Stems Because critical reasoning questions may be new to you, their format might take some getting used to. The fol- lowing is a sampling of the kind of stems you might see on critical reasoning questions: • All of the following are valid objections to the argument EXCEPT • The statements, if true, best support which of the following assertions? • If the information in the statement is true, which of the following must also be true? • If the information in the statement is true, all of the following statements must also be true EXCEPT • The argument is based upon all of the following assumptions EXCEPT • All of the following conclusions can reasonably be drawn from the argument EXCEPT • Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument? • Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument? 66 ■ Evaluation questions test your ability to measure the effectiveness of an argument and recognize com- mon errors in reasoning. You might be asked to identify factors that would strengthen or weaken the argument, for example, or which aspect of the argument rests on faulty logic. Questions 7, 10, 12, and 13 from the pretest are evaluation questions. The majority of critical reasoning questions on the GMAT exam will probably fall into this category. ■ Extension questions test your ability to determine effective and appropriate plans of action. You may be asked to evaluate the effectiveness and appropriateness of a proposed plan of action or to identify what assumptions underlie a particular proposal. Question 8 from the pretest is an extension question.  Sentence Correction Questions Sentence correction questions should return you to more familiar ground, as you are likely to have seen ques- tions of this sort on previous standardized tests. This last group of 13 — 14 questions presents you with sentences that sound like they have been excerpted from newspaper or magazine articles, academic journals, or nonfiction books or textbooks. In other words, the sentences will likely be serious and complex. Once again, the passages can be about any topic, but you do not need to know anything about the topic to answer the ques- tion correctly. For each question, part or all of the sentence is underlined. You must determine which of the five multiple-choice answers is the most correct and effective way to express the idea in the underlined portion of the sentence. Types of Questions Sentence-correction questions are designed to measure two related but distinct aspects of effective writing: grammar and style. These questions test your ability to identify and correct errors in standard written Eng- lish and your understanding of what makes effective writing on the sentence level only. In contrast, the AWA tests your ability to write effectively on three levels: the essay level, the paragraph level, and the sentence level. Although the AWA requires you to actually write your own essay, in this section, you do not have to write your own sentences. You do not need to identify errors in mechanics, including spelling, capitalization, or punc- tuation, except as punctuation affects sentence boundaries and clarity. For example, you will not find sentences with misspelled words, improper capitalization, or misused hyphens or apostrophes, but you will find sen- tences that use a comma when a period should be used or sentences that misuse semicolons — punctuation issues that deal with establishing the right relationship between clauses and answers. ■ Grammar questions test your knowledge of the rules and conventions of standard written English, including correct sentence structure, idioms, and parallel structure. You will need to determine whether sentences have errors such as run-ons or fragments, inconsistent verb tense, or unparallel structure. You will not need to identify errors in mechanics, including punctuation, spelling, or capitalization. These skills are not tested on the GMAT exam. ■ Style questions test your ability to identify sentences that are clear, precise, and concise. You will see many versions of sentences that are wordy, redundant, vague, awkward, and/or ambiguous. You will need to determine which version expresses the idea with the most clarity, precision, and concision. These three types of questions will be presented in random order throughout the exam. Thus, your GMAT exam may begin with three or four questions based on a reading comprehension passage, then a sen- tence correction question, then two critical reasoning questions followed by another sentence correction ques- tion and reading comprehension passage. – WHAT TO EXPECT ON THE GMAT VERBAL SECTION – 67 . questions, and you will have 75 minutes to complete this portion of the test. CHAPTER What to Expect on the GMAT Verbal Section The GMAT ® Verbal section. quite what the Verbal section is about. It is designed to measure three rather different groups of skills. The questions on the GMAT Verbal section can