The test format changed dramatically. Students were faced with a longer test and a different scoring system than they were use to. Now, there are 2 full verbal sections and 2 full math sections for each test.

The verbal sections do not include antonyms and analogies and focus more on critical reasoning skills. Reading comprehension and sentence completion take up the bulk of the section, and so students will need to be comfortable with these skills on test day.

The math section did not change as much as the verbal, however there were some changes. Students are now faced with more data analysis questions, higher levels of algebra, and a multiple-choice format in which more than one answer choice can be correct.

In addition, students have access to a simple calculator to simplify their mathematical computations.

Despite all of these changes, 2011 saw the highest number of test-takers ever. There were more than 700,000 test taken in 2011. This was a 10% increase over 2010 for the US.

Test-takers also should be aware that foreign students are also taking the GRE. 2011 saw a 28% increase in the number of tests taken in China, and a whopping 43% increase in the number of tests taken in India. What this means is that the global reach of the GRE is expanding. There are more foreign students competing for graduate schools in the US, making competition for those spots that much more intense.

The test is also available in over 160 countries, meaning that the vast majority of test takers have a testing site somewhat near them.

About 3000 institutions, including 800 business schools, now accept the GRE scores. In fact 80% of the top 100 MBA programs in the US accept the GRE. Thus, it is becoming a more ubiquitous and more widely-accepted test with each passing year.

The new scores are calculated on a scale of 130-170 for the math and for verbal. This is a change from the old 200-800 scale in the hopes that performance of test takers close together would be reflected in smaller point values. For example, a score of 140 is very close to 142, whereas on the old scale, that difference of 2 points could be reflected by 20 points. Thus, the scoring system is being promoted as a better way to compare the qualifications of applicants for graduate school.

The analytical writing scoring scale remains the same with on a score of 0 to 6 in half point increments. Not all graduate schools consider the analytical writing section, so make sure you inquire about the particular program you are interested in.

Beginning in July 2012, students will have a new option regarding the sending of their scores. With the ScoreSelect option, GRE test takers can decide which test scores to send to the institutions they designate, so they can send the scores they feel reflect their personal best.

On test day, when viewing their scores at the test center, they can send their scores from their current
test administration or they can send their scores from ALL administrations in the last five years. They can decide which option to use for each of their four FREE score reports. After test day, they can send Additional Score Reports for a fee. They can send their scores from their most recent test administration, send their scores from all administrations in the last five years, or send their scores from one or many test administrations in the last five years.

This is a major change.

What this means is that students can finally SELECT THEIR BEST SCORE and send it to their prospective schools. In other words, a student can take the GRE multiple times (once per 30 days, up to the maximum of 5 times per year) and then pick the score they would like to send to their school.

This should be a big confidence booster for test-takers. No longer will your prospective program necessarily see all of your scores from the last 5 years. With the ScoreSelect option, you will get to pick!

And this of course means that it is twice as important to get your highest score possible, as everyone else will be able to pick their scores as well. You need to set aside a good number of months to prepare yourself for the test, and to take it multiple times.

Moving through 2012 and beyond, make sure you are prepared for the GRE.

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One way to do this is to pay attention to the behavior of larger or smaller values. This means that the given columns may look very similar, but differ by a very minute aspect and your task will be to find out what that ultimately means as to which column is greater. Lets look at an example.

Notice these two columns are very similar. The only difference between them is the number in the denominator. While on the left we have 2 in the denominator, on the right we have something slightly larger 2.01. Now, if you saw this problem on test day, remember our tip: compare rather than calculate. It would be silly and time consuming to try to square the quantity in column B, but we know it is very similar to column A. If we have a slightly larger denominator, is the entire number slightly larger or slightly smaller?

Slightly smaller. Thus in column B we have a slightly smaller number being squared than column A. Thus Column B would end up being smaller when squared. So column A will always be bigger. Thus our answer is A.

This question required you to think about the behavior of numbers– what happens when a number is slightly bigger or smaller than a comparable value. Many quantitative comparisons test this, and that is why it is good to get in the habit of comparing rather than calculating.

In addition to paying attention to slight differences in the columns, it is helpful to simplify the columns as much as possible so that they look alike. This means that you use your arithmetic and algebra skills much like any other math problem, and consolidate the columns until you can compare them.

Lets say we have this as our quantitative comparison problem:

Now, initially it looks like the values would depend on what x and y are, so we would be tempted to choose D. But, if we simplify each column we may discover that we can compare them more accurately.

On the left hand side, if we remember our associative property rules, we know that we can simply drop the parentheses here and combine like terms. 3x and 5x gives us 8x, and we have a minus 5y.

On the right hand side, we need to be more careful with our parentheses, making sure to distribute the negative to each term of the parentheses. Thus we have 10x-7y-2x+2y. Combining like terms give us 8x minus 5 y.

So, lo and behold, they are exactly the same expression. Thus they are equal and our answer is C.

So you see that even if we can’t compare the columns initially, we can work with them until we can compare them. And of course, you will need to utilize your algebra and arithmetic skills here.

Another way to be able to compare the columns quickly and easily is to do the same thing to both columns. Many times, the columns cannot be directly compared unless you perform a mathematical operation on them to make them look similar.

Take this quantitative comparison question for example:

Now, to some viewers this may look daunting. For others, it may look simple. The key thing is to remember the tip of doing the same thing to both columns. Both columns have a radical: the cube root as their form. Thus, if we raised both columns to the third power, the cubed root radical would simply disappear, and our comparison would be much more simplified. So, lets do that. Cubing both sides, I am left with what was underneath the cube root sign.

We can then see that Column B is the product of two terms: the first term 3x, and the second term y squared minus 1. Perhaps we could get the same form in Column A? Let’s see how we do it:

Indeed, if we factor out an x from column A, we are left with x times y squared minus 1. This is very close to column B. Since they both have y squared minus 1, we can divide by them. Thus we have x for column A and 3x for column B. Now this is a much easier problem to handle!

At this point we do not want to divide by x because we need to consider the possible values of x. If x is negative, then column A would be larger, but if x is positive, column B is larger. Thus our answer is still D: not enough information to determine the relationship. This answer was much easier to arrive at once we simplified the problem. We did the same thing to both columns and factored until the columns were much more easily compared.

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Now, this problem is not hard algebraically if you want to do it that way, but plugging in numbers will definitely be simpler and is especially helpful if you don’t have a clue how to set up this problem.

So, we only have one variable in this problem: f, so lets pick a value that we could use for the length of the string. An easy value would be 10 or 100, but here is an important step. If we look at the answer choices, we can see that if we are going to test them, we need a nice number divisible by 4 if we wanted to work more quickly on choices B and E. So it would be good to pick a number like 40. (If you don’t see this initially, it’s fine… The technique will work if you choose any number, but it is helpful if you look ahead.)

So, lets say this string is 40 feet long. If we cut it according to the problem, we will have one piece at 10 feet and the other at 30 feet. Now, the question asks what is the length of the longer piece. Well, with the number that we picked, the longer piece is 30?

All we have to do now is plug in our chosen value of 40 for f into the answer choices and see which one produces 30.

In choice A, we get 80. That’s not 30, so it’s out. In choice B we get 10. So that’s out. Choice C we get 78, no good. Choice D we get 120, way to high. So hopefully its going to work out for E! Indeed it does… We get 30 for choice E. This matches our scenario so it is the answer. The length of the longest side is 30.

What’s good about this strategy is that you don’t have to spend time trying to come up with an algebraic equation to express the problem. All you have to do is pick a workable number and plug in. From there it’s just arithmetic to match your prediction. So, remember this tip for test day. When you see variables in the answer choices, try to plug in a workable number.

To see this problem simultaneously animated and explained, sign-in to our GRE Course!

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So this time, lets examine a longer passage. Before we look at the passage, we want to glance at the first question. “The author reports which of the following about drinks made from cocoa beans” We don’t need to read the answer choices, but now we know we want to be on the lookout for cocoa beans. This looks like a detail question, as it involves specific information from the passage.

In order to see what the author is doing across the entire passage, we need to make a note of what he is doing in each paragraph. So what could we say is the main point of the 1st paragraph?

Well, very simply, it introduces the three main worldwide favorite non-alcoholic beverages, with tea, coffee, and cocoa beans at the top. It looks like tea and coffee are normally neck and neck at the top, but coffee has the edge in international commerce. (If it helps, you can practice jotting down on scratch paper what is going on in each paragraph. In the interests of time, though,  it is best to learn to do it in your head for test day.) So with these two short notes before us we can easily recall what the first paragraph is about.

Lets keep reading on to the second paragraph… This second paragraph is about coffee. The main point of it seems to be coffee’s universal appeal, everyone drinks it from the “most fashionable” to the “most hardworking.” There definitely seems to be a positive tone to this paragraph as the author touts the drink as having a place in the “rational diet of all civilized people on the earth.” This is quite a far-reaching positive statement, so we can rest assured the author has a positive attitude towards coffee. (Our short hand notes about this paragraph would just say P2 coffee= universal appeal, everyone drinks it, and the tone is +.) Notice too, that this idea turned out to be the first sentence of the paragraph. Often times the main point of the paragraph will reside in the first 1 or 2 sentences of that paragraph.

Moving on to the third paragraph, the main point seems to be the opposition to coffee. The author lists how coffee has endured prejudices and superstitions, as well as political and fiscal restrictions, but nevertheless “triumphantly moved on” past these oppositions. So the main point here is just the opposition to coffee and that it overcame. (Thus, our shorthand notes would be something like: “opposition to coffee which is religious, political, medical, yet it is triumphant.”) Notice that the author’s attitude towards coffee in this paragraph is a pronounced positive. Talking about a bean as being triumphant certainly exhibits an affirmative sentiment!

Notice then, we followed not only the content of the passage, but also what the author was doing. In the first paragraph, there is an intro to the world’s favorite beverages. In the second, the author discusses coffee’s universal appeal. And in the final paragraph, the author discusses coffee’s triumph over opposition. Over the course of the passage, the author demonstrates his affirmation of coffee, whereas in the beginning, he only seemed to be neutral.

So, we have just read the passage critically, there is one more thing for us to do, and that is to record the author’s intention or purpose. What is he doing with what he says, or what is the purpose of the passage as a whole?

Using the notes we’ve gathered, we can see that the author writes “To affirm (+) coffee a world favorite beverage, universal in appeal, and triumphant in its popularity”  (The “+” sign just signifies that the tone is positive.)

With practice you will be able to do this process in your mind, and you will be able to see the general layout of a passage without getting bogged down by the details. It may be helpful to write your notes down in the beginning, though, just as you get the hang of it. Armed with this analysis, then, we can turn to the questions.

Our first question asks about cocoa beans.

Do you remember where we saw cocoa beans?

Back in the first paragraph was the only place the author mentioned them. He says cocoa beans are a distant third in the favorite beverage category. He really doesn’t mention anything else. So we would predict something like cocoa beans were “behind coffee and tea”, or “in the list of favorite beverages”, something like that.

Looking at the answer choices, do we see one that matches our prediction? Yes, choice C- “They are not quite on the same level as coffee and tea.”

Choice A is wrong because it goes directly against what is stated in the passage.

Choice B is wrong because the author does not say anything with regards to it being pleasurable.

Choice D won’t work because it is obviously wrong. The author does not make a single negative comment in the entire passage.

Choice E tests a detail from the first paragraph. We are told all three drinks enjoy world-wide consumption, so this answer is wrong.

So, as you see, predicting an answer choice led us rather quickly to the answer, and was very simple to do once we’ve read the passage critically.

Sign-in to our GRE Course to see this passage up close with animated explanations and much, much more!

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This is the basic set up you will see on Test Day. On the left hand side of the screen you will see the passage, with about every 5th line numbered. And on the right you will see the question. Now, don’t read this passage just yet we just want to cover the setup as it appears on the GRE.

Very often you will have a scrolling feature on the right hand side of the passage box so that you can scroll up and down to see the entirety of the passage. This passage is short, so it doesn’t need a scroller. Because the GRE is a computer-based test, we are only able to see one question at a time, and once we have confirmed our answer to a question, there is no way to go back and change it. Thus, we must carefully consider the question we have at hand and not be in a rush.

Now, before we answer this particular question, lets consider the key steps to answering these questions effectively…

Step 1: Read the question first, so you know what you are looking for. This is an important step because it orients us to find relevant information in the passage. It is the case that we will have to read the passage as a whole, but since a question is right there on the screen and you know you’ll have to answer it, it is best to read it first to know what you are looking for. Simply read the question stem to get a feel for it.

Try not to look at the answer choices as all but one of them will be inaccurate or incomplete. We do not want our minds to be clogged up with wrong answers.

So, if we return to our passage, our first step is to look at the question, and we read “The main purpose of this passage is to _________.” As we will talk about in a few moments, this is a tip off to a global question, which means we want to keep in mind the passage as a whole and not a certain sentence or detail within the passage. So now we can read the passage knowing that we are interested in the whole passage and to discover the author’s intention rather than focusing on a detail or unfamiliar vocab word.

After we have taken a look at the question, the Step 2 is to read the passage CRITICALLY. The kind of reading we need to do on these questions is different from the kind of reading we may be use to. Instead of reading for information, we want to carefully consider why the author is writing and what he is doing with what he is saying.

If we were to read the newspaper with our morning coffee, for example, chances are we are reading passively. We are simply perusing the text for information, not critically examining it.  By contrast, on GRE Reading comprehension questions, we cannot simply read passively and without questioning, we must read analytically and ask lots of questions.

For example:

1. What is the author’s main point in this paragraph? We should always be able to restate the main point of a paragraph in a few words.
2. How does this main idea relate to other ideas in the passage? We want to be aware of the ordering and movement of the passage.
3. What transitional words show development in the author’s writing? We want to be aware of the structure of the passage.
4. What is the author’s tone? Is the author generally positive, generally negative or generally neutral?

For the passage as a whole, we want to identify very distinctly the subject matter, the aspect or scope of the subject matter, and the intention of the author.

Lets walk through our original passage to see how this works.

Wheat has been cultivated from time immemorial. At first it was roughly crushed and consumed in the form of a thick soup, or in cakes baked on an ordinary hearth. Many centuries before the Christian era, the Egyptians were acquainted with the means of making fermented or leavened bread; afterwards this practice spread into Greece, and it is found in esteem at Rome in the 2nd century B.C. From Rome the new method was introduced among the Gauls, and today, it is found to exist almost the same as it was practiced at that period, with the exception, of course, of the considerable improvements introduced in the baking and grinding.

Now, what is the main point of this passage? Well, as a general overview, it talks about how wheat was prepared at first, then how the Egyptians used it, then how the Greeks and Romans used it, and then how it is used today. This looks like a chronology, or a history of on the preparation of wheat.

So, we know the scope of the passage is a history on the preparation of wheat. (Notice how we simply took into account the paragraph as a whole to come up with this. We were not tied to one sentence or detail.)

Next, we want to ask ourselves, “What was the intention of the author? Why did the author write this? In other words, what was the author DOING with this history on the preparation of wheat?”

It is helpful to think it terms of tone: positive(+), negative(-), or neutral(=). If the tone is positive, we would say the author is praising, promoting, or encouraging. If the tone is negative, the author would be undermining, criticizing, or disparaging. If the tone is neutral, the author would be describing, explaining, or reporting. Which is the author doing here?

The is simply reporting (=) or describing (=). There is little indication that he is overtly positive or negative. Thus, we have a good summary of this paragraph. The author is reporting a brief history on the preparation of wheat. This is a delightful summary of the passage, and will serve us well when we get to the questions.

Note that we are not interested in minor details. If a question later on asks us about what the Egyptians did to wheat specifically, we would know where to look, but as we read through, we are not concerned with such details.

Always, always, always determine the intention or purpose of the author while you read the passage. It is the best way to read critically and will help you immensely on the questions.

The third step in reading comprehension is to read the question and predict the answer based WITHOUT looking at the answer choices. You will base your answer on your critical analysis of the passage and your discerning of its structure. Thus you will be in a good position to predict. Also, you do not want to fill your head with a bunch of wrong answer choices without a filter. Use the critical reading you did previously to sift through untenable answers.

Finally, read each answer choice and test them against your prediction. Again, the directions are to choose the best answer, so you need to make sure you look at every answer choice before confirming it and moving on.

Fortunately, we already have our prediction on hand from our critical reading: to describe the history of the preparation of wheat. Thus, this should be an easy question. Which answer choice matches our prediction?

The correct answer is Choice D: chart some of the history of wheat as a food.

Notice that none of the other answer choices fit the purpose of the passage as a whole, and some are way off. Choice C for example, has a negative tone exhibited by the word “undermine” but we knew that the passage did not have a negative tone to it. Choice B indicates a positive with the word “credit”, so we can eliminate it as well. Choices A and E are outside the scope of the passage.

So you see how easily the best answer choice pops out at us if we have critically analyzed the passage first. Use this strategy as you are practicing, and answering the reading comprehension questions won’t be nearly as intimidating!

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Lets say we had this question:

First the context clues. We have a “rusted swing-set” and a “worn-down sandbox” that SUDDENLY appears as _________ . Suddenly is a structural clue indicating contrast. In other words, while initially the swingset and sandbox looked worn down, suddenly they appeared as… we would expect something positive in the blank.

Now, looking at the answer choices, lets see if there is a positive sounding word. A says tarnished, which is definitely a negative word meaning dirtied or marred. So eliminate A. Choice B has immaculate, if you’re not sure what it means, keep it. But you might know that it has a positive connotation. Choice C says mundane… this is a neutral to negative word meaning ordinary or commonplace, so that can’t be the answer. Eliminate C. Choice D says sullied. If you’ve never heard this word before, keep it. And choice E says formidable, like in the phrase “formidable opponent.” This is definitely not a positive word as it means threatening or menacing. Eliminate E.

So just going by the words charge we can eliminate the majority of the answer choices! Now we are in a much better position to get this question right. Let’s say you were down to B and D but you really didn’t know the meanings of the words….Which word do you think has a positive connotation “immaculate” or “sullied”?

Immaculate does. Immaculate means perfectly clean or spotless… this fits our sentence very well as it contrasts with the worn down playground equipment. So choice B is our answer.

Sullied might remind you of the phrase “sullied his sheets” or “sullied his pants” , or it might call to mind the verb “soil” which means to make dirty. Sullied means dirtied or defiled. It has a definite negative connotation so it cannot be our answer.

So, keep this tip in mind if you are having trouble predicting or just want to eliminate answer choices– use word charge to help you.

To see this and other sentence completion questions fully explained with visual animations, sign-in to our GRE Course!

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The graders of your essay are not looking for any one particular way to arrange your thoughts in writing. There are any number of templates you can use, and any number of ways you might clearly and logically express yourself. The template offered here is simply one version of what you can use. It is simple, straightforward, and easy to remember.

In paragraph 1, you want to restate the argument in your own words– This demonstrates that you understand the prompt– and you want to outline your points of critique. In other words, list the assumptions that the author fails to delineate which make his argument weak. This will be the outline of your critique and will show the reader where you are going.

So, for our original prompt, we would say something like this for our first paragraph. We restate the argument:

“The author makes the claim that the citizens of Lakota should utilize both heating fans and central heating systems to save money on electricity.”

Then, we state that the author has made assumptions that undermine his argument, and we list them:

“First, he assumes that the sample population from the study is representative of Lakota as a whole. Second, he assumes that heating is the biggest factor in electricity usage. Finally, he assumes that employing these heating appliances would save an appreciable amount of money.”

These are exactly the assumptions we identified a previously in our analysis.

This is an excellent example of an opening paragraph because it demonstrates that we have understood the argument and it outlines the points of critique that our essay will discuss.

After we have composed our first paragraph, we want to develop in the next few paragraphs the various points of critique we just named. To do this, we want to use concrete, relevant counterexamples. This is just a simple way of supporting your critique with specific scenarios that call into question the assumptions the author has made.

If you will recall, one of the assumptions we pointed out in the argument was that the sample population from the study is representative of all of Lakota. In other words, the author assumes that what is the case for the sample population can be generalized to cover all of Lakota.

So, in developing our 2nd paragraph, we want to think of counterexamples, or scenarios which would question the assumption. In what scenarios might the sample population cited in the study not be representative of Lakota?

Well, for one, Lakota may have a diverse geographical layout. There may be people living in the mountains and people living on the beach. There may be people living on the sunny side of a hill or within a shaded forest. The study does not indicate where the sample population was taken from, so it may not have been a cross-section of geographical climates.

Also, people in the study may have lived in older, less efficient houses which would cause them to need these heating appliances more than the average citizen of Lakota. If the rest of Lakota rarely uses heaters in the first place, why should the recommendation be applied to everyone?

Lastly, the study in the original prompt mentioned “families” as the subjects of study. We are not told what this amounts to. Presumably, it excludes singles, and perhaps assisted living facilities or non-family communal homes. Thus, it cannot be applied to all of Lakota because it is probable that whole demographical categories were left out.

So these are three counter examples which question an assumption made in the prompt. We simply put this information into paragraph form for our second paragraph. And at the end of the paragraph, we restate the fact that we are calling into question the central assumption about the validity of the sample population. You don’t need to have 3 counterexamples as we did in this paragraph, but it is important to have at least 1 or 2 for each assumption you call into question.

So, essentially, you repeat the process of critiquing the assumptions by use of counterexamples in paragraphs 2-4. Simply address the assumptions one at a time and you will have PLENTY to write about. Remember, this essay is only 30 minutes long, so you need to address the assumptions simply, directly, and forcefully.

In your final paragraph, which you should get to only if you have sufficiently addressed the assumptions in the previous paragraphs, you simply restate the argument, recap your points of critique, and briefly mention the strengtheners you identified in your analysis step. This shows the reader that you really entered into the meat and potatoes of the argument and have considered it fully.

In conclusion, the author unjustifiably assumes that the sample population from the study is representative of Lakota as a whole, that heating is the biggest factor in electricity usage, and that employing these heating appliances would save an appreciable amount of money. This argument would have been strengthened if the author would have provided data showing the study to be generally representative of Lakota, and showing heating to be the biggest electricity usage. He might also have strengthened his argument by showing that his recommendation has been implemented and proven effective on a small scale for a notable reduction of electricity costs. Without these, however, we can remain unconvinced at the author’s recommendation.

So in the step by step process, we are almost finished. Once we have analyzed the argument, and we have organized the essay according to a template, the only thing left to do is to write and then proofread our essay. Don’t skip this last step, as the graders are looking for a good, polished essay. We want to leave a couple minutes at the end so we can fix any careless errors or grammar mistakes.

Lets review a pacing guide we can use to completing these steps in proper fashion.

As we have stated before, on the Argument Essay, you only have 30 minutes. Remember though, the graders are looking for the specific demonstration that you can understand an argument, take it apart, and critique it. That is why first of all you want to spend at least 8 minutes analyzing the argument and identifying its major features. This is the most crucial step in the process as it will dictate what you will write.

Then, spend 20 minutes writing according to your template.

Then, leave the last 2 minutes to proofread what you have written and make sure that paragraphs are properly divided, that you have written in complete sentences, and that you have fixed any typos.

The 30 minutes goes by very fast, especially since you will be writing this essay right on top of having written a 45 minute essay in the previous section.

The biggest thing to remember in the argument essay is to identify and critique the assumptions! This is simply the key to the entire essay. Getting a decent score on the essay is relatively straightforward if you do this, but is next to impossible if you don’t. Make sure you take time to practice on the prompts listed on the gre.org webite. Train yourself to analyzing the arguments until you can identify conclusion, evidence, and assumptions quickly and easily. It is a simple skill but one that is crucial for your success on this essay.

And also, keep in mind that you will always be undermining and criticizing the argument, not agreeing with it or endorsing it. You know you are going wrong on this essay if you think the argument is well-written and sound.

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For example, we previously discussed the topic pertaining to matters of health, and the issue presented was whether human health was a matter of the individual or of society as a whole. If this is our issue, we could take the position of YES human health is a matter of society as a whole and not just individual. Or NO, human health is not a matter of society but only of the individual. Or, human health is a matter of BOTH individual well being, and society as a whole. Or, in some cases human health is a matter of the individual, and in some cases society as a whole.

Again, it does not matter what position you take as long as your position is stated clearly, supported logically, and expressed properly. You could take any one of the positions we just delineated.

But, because the graders are looking for you to take a definite position and provide relevant support, our advice is to pick one side and argue it. Even though you theoretically can take both sides of an issue, it is best to take one side because of the specific criteria the graders are looking for. Pick the side you will argue based on the examples that come to mind.

If you are having trouble taking a position, consider making a short hand chart with all your examples in it (Sign-in to our GRE Course to view the chart!). In our example, we have two basic positions, saying that health is a matter of individual health only and saying health is a matter of society too. On the individual health side, maybe we could think of the fact that nursing homes are concerned with helping individuals in their final living days, and so it is recognized that individual well being is paramount.

Perhaps that is the only example we could come up with, though. We don’t want to spend all our time here. We only want to spend about 5-6 minutes coming up with good examples to support our side. If these were all we could come up with, we would definitely want to pick the side with the most support we could generate. By the way, we want to aim at having at least 3 good examples for the position we are going to argue.

Since we have three examples for one side, we should argue that well being is a matter of society, and not just the individual. We do this because it is an expressed position for which we know we have an ample supply of support. Perhaps now we are able to write clearly what our position is.

We wrote:

Upon reflection, it becomes obvious that the health of a society must be considered as a whole, and not merely as individuals, because individual well being is most often connected with other people.

We demonstrated our understanding of the prompt and clearly stated our position… Now we outline the support we will develop in the rest of our essay.

A mother must be healthy so her child can be healthy, a troubled neighbor affects an entire neighborhood, and an independent rich man does not necessarily help the plight of the poor. In these cases, it quite apparent that human beings are interconnected, and that no concept of “human health” could be complete apart from considering “society as a whole”, or more precisesly, the relations between humans.

Again, just to reiterate a few things about these sentences. First, a position is clearly taken. Remember that our prompt was regarding individual human health or society as a whole. In the first sentence, a position is clearly taken. You could think of this as our thesis statement.

Second, we listed our main points of support for our position in the second sentence. This gives the reader an introduction not only to our position, but also to the points we will develop in the following paragraphs. It is these two components that will help your organization. If you combine this with the restatement of the prompt we did previously, we have a robust introductory paragraph.

So you see, the essay almost writes itself if you follow these steps!

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On Text completions, instead of having a single list of answer choices, you will see independent columns of choices, and there will be three options per blank. Your task will be to click on one correct answer from each column, mixing and matching until you have a combination that makes the best sense within the sentence. Again, you must pick a choice from each column, not a row.

There is no partial credit on this question: in order to get the points for this question, you must fill in every blank of the sentence correctly.

The keys to doing well on these question are simply to think about the structure of the sentence, predict blanks, and read your selections back into the sentence to make sure they make sense.

Lets say we have this sentence:

Following the logic from sentence completions, let’s try to predict the first blank. According to the sentence, Babe Ruth had a spectacular baseball career, and all the sportswriters are talking about him, so probably we are talking about the height of his career. Is there a word in the column for blank 1 that means height?

Lets look at the three words. (It would be easy if they just included the word “height” as one of the three words, but this is the GRE exam!) If you don’t know the meaning of any of the three choices, just leave your prediction as “height” and try to predict the other blanks.

So when he was at the height of his career, sportswriters universally did …what? Well they probably praised him. Theres no indication of any reason why they wouldn’t praise him for this spectacular career, so we would look for a word like praised for the second blank. Lauded fits perfectly as it means praised. Lambasted and decried both have a negative connotation, and mean to denounce or criticize.

So, they praised the man as what not only to the sport but to American culture in general? Well, probably they praised him for being a benefit or blessing to the sport. So for blank three, we want to choose a word that means blessing or something positive. Boon means blessing. Handicap means a hindrance, and bane means a plague, curse, or cause of distress, which obviously doesn’t fit.

So, we are in a good position now… except that first blank. We need a word that means height or pinnacle of his career.

Perhaps you already knew, but zenith is the correct answer there. Zenith is something’s high point. Nadir, on the other hand, is the lowest point, and perigee refers to the lowest point of an orbiting body.

So lets read our answer choices back into the sentence and make sure they make sense.

When Babe Ruth was at the zenith of his spectacular baseball career, sportswriters universally lauded the man as a boon not only to the sport, but to American culture in general. This fits nicely.

So, the process for Text Completions is roughly the same as it is for sentence completions. You will just have to click on one answer per column.

To review the general process for sentence completions, sign-in to our GRE Course! You’ll be glad you did!

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Many citizens of Lakota are experiencing rising costs of electricity. A recent study of household electric costs in Lakota found that families who heated their houses with free-standing heating fans alone spent more on electricity than did families using central heating systems alone for heating. However, those households that reported using both heating fans and heating systems spent less on electricity than those households that used either heating fans or heating systems alone. Thus, the citizens of Lakota should follow the study’s recommendation and use both heating fans and central heating systems in order to save money on electricity.

First, we always want to identify the conclusion. What is it that the author wants us to believe or what course of action is he recommending? It should be fairly obvious. His conclusion comes at the end of the paragraph: “Thus the citizens of Lakota should follow the study’s recommendation and use both heating fans and central heating systems in order to save money on electricity.” A word like “Thus” or “Therefore” nearly always indicates a conclusion. And the verb “should” nearly always indicates a conclusion, as it indicates something that the author wants us to believe or do. So be on the lookout for word cues if you are having trouble identifying the conclusion.

Now, what evidence does the author use to support his conclusion? Basically, the remainder of the paragraph. He states that many citizens of Lakota are experiencing rising costs of electricity, and then he cites the study indicating that those who heated their houses with free-standing heating fans alone spent more on electricity than those who used central heating systems. And those that used both spent less than those who used one or the other. So this is the evidence he uses for his argument.

Now what are the things the author assumes to be true?

For one, he assumes that the sample population in the study is representative of all of Lakota. The study may have been sampled from only one subset of the population in one geographical area, and thus may not be representative of the whole. The study may have sampled an older part of town, in which the population owned old, inefficient heating fans, which would affect their ability to heat a home. Furthermore, the study looked at “families” household electric costs. We are not told what constitutes a “family” and whether or not it includes single citizens of Lakota.

Second, the author assumes that heating is the biggest factor in electricity usage. What about electricity used for refrigeration and lighting of homes? He gives no data to suppose that heating costs would trump other electricity costs and therefore be a high priority for Lakota citizens. Furthermore, what if heating is only needed 2 months out of the year? The author does not give an indication as to how often the citizens of Lakota need to have their homes heated.

Third, the author assumes, even if heating were the highest electricity cost, that using both heating fans and central heating systems would save an appreciable amount of money. Perhaps the problem lies elsewhere– like in the insulation in the citizens homes. Heating of a house is affected by poor or inconsistent insulation. Perhaps proper insulation would save more money on electricity than using both either heating apparatuses, and would cost less to purchase. The author does not seem to take into account other ways for reducing heat-related electricity costs.

We could also mention the fact that the evidence offered gives no indication as to the position and placement of the free standing heating fans. An improper placement of these fans (like pointing them towards a window) might lead to inefficient heating, while proper placement of the fans would encourage more efficient heating, and thus, lower costs. Similar things could be said with regard to variables such as home-wide fenestration and the electrical conductivity of the heating appliances.The author overlooks possibilities like these in his recommendation to the citizens of Lakota.

Now, these are just a few of the assumptions in this argument. We could probably identify more, but these are some of the things that the author of this argument assumed to be true in order for his argument to be sound.

Identifying assumptions is the most important skill to learn for this GRE question type.

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