Planning on studying abroad? You’ve probably already begun your prep. So far in this series, we’ve covered AWA, IR, and Quant. In today’s article, we’re going to cover Verbal Reasoning. Now Verbal, along with Quant, is very important to GMAT as these two determine your GMAT score. In fact, Verbal in GMAT is supposed to be very difficult, which is why so much emphasis is put on this section. So, let’s proceed to understand what Verbal exactly is, what is being tested, and how you can prepare for this section.
What is being tested?
Your ability to read, understand and evaluate a given piece of text is being tested. Expect to find a high level of vocabulary and rules of grammar. Your command over English is essential to studying abroad, and this section makes sure that candidates have at least a decent command.
Time Duration
You have 65 minutes for the Quant section. You have 36 questions in all, meaning you have a little under 2 minutes per question.
Types of Questions
There are 2 types of questions in this section
Reading Comprehension (Questions based on a given passage)
Critical Reasoning (Derive conclusion/select a correct statement based on a given text)
Sentence Correction (Identify the incorrect part)
Both question types focus on your English Proficiency and overall understanding of grammar and syntax. However, both test different abilities.
How to Crack
Understand that you have less than 2 minutes per question. Ideally, you should be able to perform within this time limit, giving the mocks and practice tests you take before the actual GMAT. Here are a few things you should keep in mind while practicing Verbal for GMAT.
Reading Comprehension:
Read as much as possible, be it newspapers, books, novels, essays, online practice paragraphs, etc. The more you get a hang of reading, the faster and more accurately you’ll be able to read through the given passage.
Make sure you understand the passage. A minute extra in reading will save you time while thinking. If you read through the passage too quickly, you might miss out on something, forcing you to reread the passage, thereby wasting time.
Focus on accuracy as opposed to speed. While speed is essential, your understanding is vital to your scoring. This is a section where you shouldn’t rush.
Critical Reasoning:
Identify all parts of the argument. It will help you find logical conclusions better.
Make notes when practicing this section. Usually, just running through your errors will help you remember certain rules of grammar.
Sometimes, two options might seem very similar. Make sure you’ve understood both logically.
Understand that this part of Verbal tests your reasoning and analytical abilities with the context of English grammar. While you are focusing on correct grammar, make sure you aren’t ignoring logic. This is the tricky bit in Critical Reasoning, and a fine balance between logic and grammar is essential to crack this question type.
Try to find the answer without looking at the options. If you understand the question and are confident about your grammar and vocabulary, you will be able to identify the answer without any doubt. Do this especially during your preparation as it will help you improve your speed, as well as your grammar skills.
Sentence Correction:
This is probably the trickiest question type for some, partially because you have to correct a given statement. Make sure you’ve practiced this question type ample number of times.
Read as much as possible. Pay close attention to how sentences are structured and understand why it is so. Grammar and syntax are most important in this question type, more so than the others in Verbal. The more you read, the more you will get used to sentence structures and will be able to quickly identify errors.
Read the entire sentence carefully. It is possible that when isolated, the phrase is incorrect, but in the context of the entire sentence, it is correct.
As with Critical Reasoning, practice without looking at the given options. If you are able to crack these questions without options, you will improve your speed and grammar skills, which will benefit you greatly during the actual exam.