Tips and Strategies for the Verbal Section

If you need to reread a reading comprehension passage in order to answer the questions about it correctly, do so.. Take some extra time to make sure you answer these questions correctly.

The following section offers specific tips and strategies to use on the Verbal section during the exam Prac-tice these strategies as you complete the pracPrac-tice exercises in the next chapter

Remember that the different types of questions will be interspersed throughout the Verbal section For example, you may start with a set of reading comprehension questions based on a passage, then have a sen-tence correction question, then have two critical reasoning questions, and then have another reading com-prehension passage Try not to let this distract you Be prepared to shift gears frequently throughout the exam

To help you focus on each type of question, jot a few notes about key things to remember for each type of question on a piece of scrap paper

It is important to keep moving, but at the same time, don’t sacrifice too much for the sake of speed If you need to reread a reading comprehension passage in order to answer the questions about it correctly, do

so The extra minute you spend rereading will increase your chance of answering those questions correctly and, therefore, of setting the level of difficulty of your exam at a higher level Even if you answer fewer ques-tions in the end, the quesques-tions that you did answer correctly will carry more weight

C H A P T E R

Tips and Strategies for the Verbal

Section

8

The First Five Questions

Remember that on this CAT your answers to the first five questions in each category will largely determine the level of difficulty of your exam Take some extra time to make sure you answer these questions correctly

 R e a d i n g C o m p r e h e n s i o n Q u e s t i o n s

Smart Approach

Remember that active reading is your best strategy for comprehension On the exam, read each passage three times:

1 First, preview Scan the passage quickly to get a general sense of the argument and context This

should take less than a minute Use your finger to guide you down the screen so your eyes keep mov-ing Do not slip into reading mode if a word or sentence catches your attention Keep skimmmov-ing

2 Second, read carefully and actively Use your scratch paper to take notes about main ideas,

connec-tions within the text, key terms, and support As you read, try to outline the passage

3 Third, review the passage Scan it again to get a better sense of the whole: the whole argument and the

overall organization of the text This review will also help you better understand key ideas and terms

You can preview the question stem if you like, but don’t try to memorize it More important, don’t waste time reading the question options before you read the passage Four of the five are incorrect, and the distracters

may actually confuse you as you read

Other Tips

■ Most questions will be about key ideas and issues in a passage, not about minor details Don’t focus on trying to remember specific facts or details as you read If you outline the passage as you read, you

should know where to find specific details if you happen to get such a question

■ Remember that your notes are for your use only They don’t have to be neat, and they don’t have to make sense to anyone else except you Use whatever shorthand or note-taking method you feel com-fortable with

■ Read all options carefully Several of the options may state information that is true based on the

pas-sage, but those statements may not answer the question or may not be the best answer to the question.

Beware of distracters that are true statements drawn from other parts of the text Because they look familiar, they may seem like the correct answer, but they may not provide the best answer to the

question

■ Base your answers only on the information provided in the passage Don’t answer based upon your own

reactions, ideas, or knowledge

■ Refer to the passage as often as you need to; reread sections or the entire passage if you have to It is better to take the time to understand a passage so you can answer the questions correctly than to just guess so you can move on to the next passage or question Remember, the more correct answers you provide at the beginning of the test, the higher the level the CAT will establish for you and the better your potential for a higher score

■ Context clues can help you determine the meaning of unfamiliar words At a minimum, try to deter-mine whether the unfamiliar word is something positive or negative

■ In a long text, the main idea (if stated) is often located in the first paragraph Within one paragraph, the main idea (if stated in a topic sentence) is often the first sentence in that paragraph

■ Remember that the main idea must be general enough to encompass (hold together) all of the ideas in

the passage

■ Remember to distinguish between facts (things known to be true) and opinions (things believed to

be true)

■ Use key words and the structure of the passage to locate specific facts and details

■ Remember that a writer’s purpose drives every decision a writer makes, including how to organize the text The overall organizing principle of a passage will reflect the writer’s purpose

■ Watch for transitions that suggest the organizational pattern and show the relationships between ideas

■ Make sure your inferences are logical and based only on the evidence in the text If you cannot point to

evidence in the text itself, your inference may not be valid

■ Look carefully at word choice for clues to the writer’s feelings

 C r i t i c a l R e a s o n i n g Q u e s t i o n s

Smart Approach

Critical reasoning passages are short, but you need to read the passages very carefully to answer the questions correctly:

1 First, skim through each passage Then reread the passage at a slow, careful pace.

2 Read the question stem This will tell you what sort of argument you are dealing with For example,

say the stem asks “Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the previous passage?” You know you do not need to spend any time searching the passage for the conclusion of the argument Rather, the question is asking you to pick the best conclusion offered through inference

Use Scrap Paper

Use as much scrap paper as you need for notes, outlines, and calculations—whatever you need to do to help you determine the correct answer If you run out of scrap paper, you can always ask for more

Educated Guessing

If you need to guess, make sure it’s an educated guess You should be able to eliminate at least one or two answer choices

3 Use the question stem as your guide to identify the elements of the argument For example, if the stem

asks about a flaw in the argument, search for a fallacy; if the stem asks about assumptions upon which the argument is based, try to identify in your mind what assumption(s) would make the argument

valid It helps to do this before reading the answer choices because the wording of the choices can be

confusing This way, you will know what you are looking for when you read the options

4 Read each answer choice carefully Which one seems to best provide you with the correct answer?

Other Tips

■ Remember that an argument must have a premise and a conclusion, but the premise or conclusion may

be unstated

■ If the premise is missing, ask yourself if any assumptions must be true in order for the argument to be valid Find the missing link between premise and conclusion

■ Remember that a premise for one conclusion can be the conclusion of another argument.

■ Conclusions must be based on the evidence in the passage If an answer choice does not have relevant evidence, it cannot be the correct answer

■ Do not let your opinion on the matter influence your answer selection Stick to the statements and

claims in the argument that has been presented.

■ Pay extra attention to the question stem Make sure you are looking for the right kind of answer

Remember, many questions will ask you for the exception

■ You do not need to name the fallacy—you just need to be able to recognize that something is wrong with the argument Do not worry about classifying the flaw; just identify the problem with the argu-ment’s logic

■ Remember that qualifiers strengthen arguments by limiting their scope For example, stating that “most

students would benefit from more individualized instruction” is a more accurate (and therefore

stronger) statement than “all students would benefit from more individualized instruction.”

■ Keep in mind the four characteristics of good evidence: sufficient, relevant, unbiased, and logical

■ Whenever an argument makes a comparison, check to see if it is an apples-to-oranges comparison

■ Whenever an argument asks you to reject a claim, check to see if it is an ad hominem argument (reject-ing a claim because of who makes the claim, not because of the merits of the claim).

■ Watch for arguments that bring in irrelevant issues (red herrings) Premises must be directly related to their conclusions to be logical

■ Whenever a passage offers an explanation, make sure it is a good one: testable, noncircular, precise, reli-able, relevant, consistent with established theories, and convincing

■ Whenever you are presented with a causal argument, check for the fallacies of causal reasoning: post hoc, reversing causation, ignoring a common cause, and assuming a common cause.

 S e n t e n c e C o r r e c t i o n Q u e s t i o n s

Smart Approach

With sentence correction questions, it can be time consuming to read each answer choice to determine which one is best Use the following steps instead:

1 Reread the original version carefully and listen to the sentence in your head Make sure you hear how it

sounds; this will often help you identify the error Even if you do not know the grammar rule or can-not name the grammatical or stylistic problem, you can often tell if something is wrong

2 Identify the error(s) that is made in that sentence Is it grammatical or stylistic?

3 Quickly scan the other versions to rule out sentences that make the same mistake.

4 Of the versions that remain, which one most effectively corrects the sentence?

5 Make sure the versions that correct the original error do not insert additional errors.

Seven-Step Checklist

1 Check sentence basics Locate the subject(s) and verb(s) Is the sentence complete? Are verbs properly

formed? Are sentence elements in the proper order (subject, verb, indirect object, and object)?

2 Check for agreement Do the subject(s) and verb(s) agree? Do pronouns agree with their antecedents?

3 Check for consistency Are verbs consistent in tense? Is pronoun use consistent?

4 Check for structure Are items parallel? Are modifiers as close as possible to what they modify?

5 Check for clarity Are words precise? Are ideas direct (expressed in the active voice, with subject first

and then verb)?

6 Check for concision Are unnecessary words crowding the sentence? Is anything repeated

unnecessarily?

7 Check for style Are idioms used correctly? Does anything else just sound wrong?

Other Tips

■ Remember, don’t worry about vocabulary or mechanics (spelling, punctuation, and capitalization)

These kinds of errors are not tested on the exam If you think that a sentence has one of these errors,

ignore it and look for another mistake in the sentence

■ Don’t bother reading choice a on sentence correction questions It repeats the original version, giving

you a correct as is choice.

■ Remember that some of the original sentences will be correct as is If you read the sentence and it

sounds correct, a might be the right answer If you suspect this is the case, quickly scan choices b through e to see if any other version expresses the idea more effectively.

– T I P S A N D S T R AT E G I E S F O R T H E V E R B A L S E C T I O N –

■ Focus only on the underlined portion because that’s where the error lies Don’t get caught up trying to understand the whole sentence, especially if it is long, if only a portion of that sentence is underlined

■ Be wary of long versions The longer versions are often (but not always) ineffective; they may be redun-dant, wordy, or poorly constructed

■ Look for words that signal relationships and make connections: subordinating conjunctions, coordi-nating conjunctions, and conjunctive adverbs These words help describe the relationship between ideas and determine sentence boundaries and punctuation

■ Incorrect idioms are among the most common errors on the GMAT exam Be sure not to skip over

small words such as prepositions (to, for, in, of ) as you read Prepositions are particularly important

in idioms, and if you read too quickly, you might not pick up an idiomatic error

– T I P S A N D S T R AT E G I E S F O R T H E V E R B A L S E C T I O N –

Verbs are the heart of a sentence They express the action or state of being of the subject and indicate what

the subject is doing, thinking, or feeling:

She yelled out the window (action)

I am happy to be here (state of being)

We feel very lucky to be alive (state of being)

I should ask Winston what he thinks (action)

Verbs have five basic forms: infinitive, present tense, present participle, past tense, and past participle

These five forms are used with other helping verbs to form other verb tenses, including the future, conditional,

and subjunctive mood (see pages 150—151)

■ Infinitive base: the base form of the verb plus the word to.

to go to be to dream to admire

C H A P T E R

Verb Forms

9

To indicate tenses of regular verbs (when the action of the verb did occur, is occurring, or will occur), use the base form of the verb and add the appropriate tense endings

■ Present tense: the verb form that expresses what is happening now.

I am sorry you do not play tennis.

Jessica enjoys yoga every morning.

The present tense of regular verbs is formed as follows:

SINGULAR PLURAL

first person (I/we) base form (believe) base form (believe)

second person (you) base form (believe) base form (believe)

third person (he/she/it, they) base form  -s/-es (believes) base form (believe)

she believes/he believes they believe

■ Present participle: the verb form that describes what is happening now It ends in -ing and is

accompa-nied by a helping verb, such as is.

Jessica is doing a difficult yoga pose.

The leaves are falling from the trees.

NOTE: Words that end in -ing don’t always function as verbs Sometimes they act as nouns called

gerunds They can also function as adjectives called participial phrases.

Present participle (verb): He is loading the boxes into the car.

Gerund (noun): This parking area is for loading only.

Participial phrase (adjective): The loading dock is littered with paper.

You will learn more about gerunds later in this section

■ Past tense: the verb form that expresses what happened in the past.

It snowed yesterday in the mountains.

I felt better after I stretched and did some deep breathing.

■ Past participle: the verb form that describes an action that happened in the past and is used with a

helping verb, such as has, have, or had.

It has not snowed all winter.

I have waited as long as I can.

– V E R B F O R M S –

 R e g u l a r Ve r b s

Most English verbs are regular—they follow a standard set of rules for forming the present participle, past tense, and past participle:

■ The present participle is formed by adding -ing.

■ The past and past participle are formed by adding -ed.

■ If the verb ends with the letter e, just add d.

■ If the verb ends with the letter y, for the past tense, change the y to an i and add -ed.

Here are some examples:

PRESENT PRESENT PARTICIPLE PAST PAST PARTICIPLE

A handful of English verbs have the same present, past, and past participle form Here is a partial list

of those verbs and two examples:

SAME PRESENT, PAST, AND PAST PARTICIPLE FORM

Present: I read the newspaper every morning.

Past: I read the newspaper yesterday morning.

Past participle: I have read the newspaper every morning since 1992.

Present: Please set the table for dinner.

Past: He set the table for dinner.

Past participle: He had already set the table for dinner.

– V E R B F O R M S –

 I r r e g u l a r Ve r b s

About 150 English verbs are irregular They don’t follow the standard rules for changing tense These

irreg-ular verbs can be divided into three categories:

■ irregular verbs with the same past and past participle forms

■ irregular verbs with three distinct forms

■ irregular verbs with the same present and past participle forms

The following table lists the most common irregular verbs

SAME PAST AND PAST PARTICIPLE FORMS

PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE

– V E R B F O R M S –