After the Quantitative section, you will face the Verbal section, during which you are expected to answer 41 questions in 75 minutes (on average, slightly less than 2 minutes per question). The verbal questions will come in three different formats — Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension — and the three question types can be given in any order (though the questions associated with one Reading Comprehension passage will always be grouped together). In general, test-takers are typically offered 14 to 15 Sentence Correction questions, 13 to 14 Critical Reasoning questions, and 12 to 14 Reading Comprehension questions.
Verbal questions ask you to find the best answer among the given five answers (as opposed to the right answer, as in the Quantitative section); essentially, for verbal questions, the right answer is better than each of the other four. As such, process of elimination is crucial to a strong performance on the Verbal section. The correct answer may not be what you would have thought of on your own, but it will be better than the other four choices.
Sentence Correction questions require you to know certain grammar rules in advance of the exam; you must bring this knowledge into the exam with you, in the same way that you must memorize the formula for the area of a circle. By contrast, Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension questions do not require any outside knowledge; these questions can (and should) be answered from the information provided in the accompanying text, as well as your general reasoning and comprehension skills.
Sentence Correction questions test you on your knowledge of English grammar, including the topics listed in the below table. These questions also occasionally test the meaning of a sentence, as well as concision.
Subject-Verb Agreement |
Parallelism |
Pronouns |
Modifiers |
Verb Tense, Mood, and Voice |
Comparisons |
Idioms |
Connecting Words and Punctuation |
Quantity Expressions |
Sentence Correction questions begin with a single sentence, some portion of which is underlined (possibly the entire sentence). Answer choice (A) always repeats the underlined portion of the sentence with no changes; this answer is the equivalent of saying that there is no error in the original sentence. Answer choices (B) through (E) offer alterna- tives for the underlined portion; by choosing one of these, the test-taker is indicating that the original underlined portion contained an error. An example of a Sentence Correction question and solution appears below.
Problem:
The number of acres destroyed by wildfires, which have become an ongoing threat due to drought and booming population density, have increased dramatically over the past several years, prompting major concern among local politicians.
Solution:
The original sentence begins with the main subject “the number (of acres).” “The number” is singular, so the main verb should match. In the original sentence, however, the main verb is “have increased.” “The number have increased” is not an appropriate match; it should be “the number has increased.” Eliminate answer choice (A) (representing the original sentence), as well as answer choice (D), which repeats the error.
The original sentence contains a “wildfires, which have become...” construction, indicating that the words following “which” should refer to the main noun preceding the comma. The noun “wildfires” precedes the comma, and the verb “have become” follows “which.” “Wildfires” and “have become” are both appropriately plural, so this is an acceptable match. Answer choices (B) and (C), however, change this verb to “has become,” which is incorrect. Eliminate answer choices (B) and (C).
That leaves you with answer choice (E) as the only remaining choice. (E) correctly says that “wildfires... have become” and that “the number... has increased.”
Below is a table showing the main sentence components (based upon the wording of the original sentence):
“The number” | main subject |
“of acres” | prepositional phrase, modifying “number” |
“destroyed by wildfires” | noun modifier, modifying “acres” |
“which ... density” | noun modifier, modifying “wildfires” |
“have increased” | main verb |
“dramatically” | adverb, modifying main verb |
“over the past several years” | prepositional phrase, modifying “dramatically” |
“prompting ... politicians” | adverbial modifier, modifying preceding clause |
Critical Reasoning questions (also called arguments) present test-takers with a short paragraph of information. These arguments contain premises, information designed to support the argument’s conclusion. Premises may be data, facts, or other information, and may also include some claims or opinions. Most arguments — though not all — also contain a conclusion, the primary claim made by the author of the argument. In general, most premises and claims are designed to support the argument’s conclusion, though sometimes the information goes against the argument’s conclusion; when this occurs, the information is called a counter-premise.
Arguments also rest upon certain assumptions, which are not stated in the argument but which the author believes to be true. For instance, if Sue states that cats make the best pets, then Sue is also assuming (but not stating explicitly) that dogs do not make better pets than cats.
premise | facts or claims designed to support the author’s conclusion |
counter-premise | facts or claims that go against the author’s conclusion |
assumption | not stated in the argument; information the author must believe to be true in drawing a certain conclusion |
conclusion | the primary claim made in the argument |
Descriptions of the various Critical Reasoning question types are listed in the following two tables. The Major types are the most common types tested on the exam; the Major types table also includes an example of the kind of reasoning you are expected to use in order to answer that type of question correctly. The Minor types are not as commonly tested.
Major Critical Reasoning Question Types
Type | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
Find the Assumption | The author assumes certain things must be true in order to draw a certain conclusion; these things are assumptions. Note that the assumption does not need to be true in the real world; it merely needs to be something the author must believe in drawing the given conclusion. | Argument: Sue is less than six feet tall.
Therefore, she will not be chosen for the
basketball team. Author Assumes: one must be at least six feet tall in order to be chosen for the basketball team. |
Draw a Conclusion | This type will consist only of premises; your task is to find an answer choice that must be true according to some or all of those premises. | Argument: Sue is on the basketball team.
The tennis team competes during the same
season as the basketball team, and students
are only permitted to be on one team per
season. Conclusion: Sue is not on the tennis team. |
Strengthen the Conclusion | The correct answer will consist of a new piece of information that makes it at least somewhat more likely that the author’s conclusion is valid; the correct answer does not need to make the conclusion a certainty. | Argument: Sue was on the basketball team
last year. Therefore, she will make the team again this year. Strengthen: Because Sue has been practicing all summer, she is better now than she was last year. |
Weaken the Conclusion | The correct answer will consist of a new piece of information that makes is at least somewhat less likely that the author's conclusion is valid; the correct answer does not need to completely invalidate the conclusion. | Argument : Sue was on the basketball team
last year. Therefore, she will make the team
again this year. Weaken : Two new transfer students at Sue's school were the stars of last year's state championship-winning basketball team at their old school. |
Minor Critical Reasoning Question Types
Type | Description |
---|---|
Explain an Event or Discrepancy | The argument generally poses two premises that appear to contradict each other. The correct answer will provide a new piece of information that demonstrates that the two pieces of information are not actually contradictory. |
Analyze the Argument Structure | There is generally an argument / counterargument structure, and your task is to understand the role that some subset of the argument plays in the context of the overall argument. In some questions of this type, certain text is presented in bold-faced font, and the correct answer will explain how that text relates to the overall argument. In others, one person claims something and a second person responds; you are typically asked to find the answer that explains how the response relates to the original claim. |
Evaluate the Conclusion | These will have a classic argument set-up (premises and some kind of conclusion). Most of the time, the conclusion contains some kind of causal connection (X leads to Y). You are asked to identify information that would help to evaluate the validity of a given conclusion; that is, what information would you need to know in order to determine whether X really does lead to Y? |
Resolve a Problem | These arguments will tend to consist only of premises. The premises indicate some sort of problem and your task is to find the answer that counteracts or fixes the problem. |
Provide an Example | In these arguments, it is critical to identify (correctly!) the conclusion. The correct answer will provide a new example that directly illustrates that conclusion. |
Restate the Conclusion | In these arguments, it is once again critical to identify the conclusion correctly. The correct answer will restate, or paraphrase, the given conclusion. |
Mimic the Argument | These will have a classic argument set-up (premises and some kind of conclusion). The answer choices will represent five entirely new, full arguments. Your task is to under stand the line of reasoning used in the original argument and to pick the new argument that uses the same line of reasoning (though the details of the argument will be different). |
An example of a Critical Reasoning question and solution appears below.
Problem:
Inorganic pesticides remain active on the surfaces of fruits and vegetables for several days after spraying, while organic pesticides dissipate within a few hours after application, leaving the surface of the sprayed produce free of pesticide residue. When purchasing from a farm that uses inorganic pesticides, consumers must be careful to wash the produce thoroughly before eating in order to minimize the ingestion of toxins. Clearly, though, consumers can be assured that they are not ingesting pesticides when eating produce from farms that use only organic pesticides.
The argument above assumes that _________________.
Solution:
The conclusion of the argument is that consumers are not ingesting (or eating) pesticides when eating produce from farms that use only organic pesticides. The basis for that claim is the fact that organic pesticides dissipate (leave the surface) of produce within a few hours of spraying. In order for the author to believe that consumers are definitely not ingesting organic pesticides in this circumstance, the author must also assume that the organic pesticides are not present anywhere in the produce; the argument has established only that the organic pesticides are not present on the surface of the produce (after several hours).
Answer choice (A) states that careful washing can prevent the ingestion of toxins; the argument states only that washing can minimize the ingestion of toxins. The author is not assuming that such washing can prevent ingestion.
Answer choice (B) actually weakens the author’s position. If produce sprayed with organic pesticides reaches the consumer very quickly, then perhaps the pesticides have not yet dissipated from the surface of the produce. The author must be assuming the opposite: that the produce does not reach consumers until enough time has passed for the pesticides to dissipate completely.
Answer choice (C) may be true, but it is outside of the scope of the conclusion. The conclusion addresses farms that use only organic pesticides. Farms that use both are not included in this part of the discussion.
Answer choice (D) is the correct answer. If the organic pesticides can penetrate the skin of the produce, then consumers may still be ingesting pesticides despite the fact that the pesticides have dissipated from the surface of the produce. The author must, therefore, assume that organic pesticides will not penetrate the skin of the produce (because the author assumes that consumers will not ingest any pesticide as long as the pesticide was organic).
Answer choice (E) may be true, but it is outside of the scope of the conclusion. Cost is not a concern in the above argument; the presence or absence of pesticide toxins is the concern.
Reading Comprehension is a classic test-taking category. You’re presented with complicated and fairly dense paragraphs of information about some topic (often rather obscure). You’re asked to read and understand the information and then answer a series of questions about it. Passages tend to fall broadly into one of three categories: business (including history, trends, and theory), social science (including historical discussions of political or academic subjects), and physical science (including earth science, astronomy, psychology, and biology). As noted earlier, you do not need to know specific facts or information about any topics for the Reading Comprehension portion of the test beyond the text in the passage.
On the GMAT, passages can range from about 200 to about 450 words, presented in one to five paragraphs. Some of the structure will be familiar to you from writing classes that you took in school. For example, the first or second sentence of a paragraph often functions as a topic sentence, introducing the main idea to be discussed in that paragraph. On the other hand, because the passages are relatively short, they often do not contain a conclusion paragraph (which you were likely taught to include when learning to write in school).
When a passage appears on the left-hand side of the computer screen, your first task is to read and understand the passage. One question will appear, from the start, on the right-hand side of the screen; only after you have answered this first question will you be able to see the next question. The passage will remain on the left-hand side of the screen as you answer all of the associated questions. The test typically offers a total of three questions on shorter passages and four questions on longer passages.
Reading Comprehension passages are accompanied by several different kinds of questions.
Type | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
General: Main Idea | The overall point, or main idea, the author is trying to convey; typically able to be summarized in one sen- tence (two at most) | “What is the primary purpose of the passage?” |
General: Organization | The functional role of some part of the passage relative to the entire passage; e.g., why did the author include the third paragraph? | "What is the function of the third paragraph?" |
General: Tone (Minor Type) | A description of the author's voice or attitude, as conveyed by the words chosen for the passage. Some splits might be: positive or negative? balanced or biased? factual or opinionated? | "The tone of the passage is best described as ____?" |
Specific: Lookup | Your task is to locate one or more specific details in the passage in order to answer the question; you do not need to infer anything beyond what is already written. | "According to the passage, why are calico cats always female?" |
Specific: Inference | Your task is to locate one or more specific details in the passage and then make an inference: find an answer choice that must be true based upon those details. | "It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is true of calico cats?" |
Specific: Minor Types | Organization: You will be asked about the role of a
specific sentence or two as it relates to a paragraph. Tone: You will be asked about the tone in only one specific part of the passage. Strengthen or Weaken: You will be asked to strengthen or weaken an assertion made in the passage. |
Below is a one-paragraph excerpt from a full Reading Comprehension passage, followed by one question and solution.
Excerpt:
For years, scientists have been aware that bats emit slightly different frequencies in differing situations. Recent research has provided insight into how certain physical features help bats use this variability to differentiate among objects in their environments. Many species of bats have elaborate, intricately shaped flaps, or noseleaves, around their nostrils that are adorned with grooves and spikes. Three-dimensional computer simulations of these noseleaves revealed that furrows along the top of the noseleaves act as cavities that resonate strongly with certain frequencies of sound. As a result, the grooves cause different frequencies of sound to discharge in different directions. Lower frequency sounds are spread more vertically, while higher frequency sounds emit more horizontally. The complexity the noseleaves add to the bats’ ultrasound perception could help the bats perform difficult tasks, such as locating prey while avoiding obstacles.
Problem:
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion concerning the purpose of bats’ noseleaves?
Solution:
According to the passage, the noseleaves “could help the bats perform difficult tasks, such as locating prey while avoiding obstacles.” The noseleaves function by allowing bats to emit differing frequencies of sound in different directions. These sound waves “bounce off objects and surfaces and then return to the animals’ ears,” providing the bats with vital information about their surroundings. To weaken the conclusion about the purpose of noseleaves, you must demonstrate that the noseleaves do not necessarily help the bats to gather additional, “vital” information about their surroundings.
Answer choice (A) states that there is a discrepancy between the frequencies of noise that bats emit versus the fre- quencies of noise that they hear. If they cannot actually hear all of the frequencies that they are capable of emitting, then there isn’t as much value in being able to emit that broader range of frequencies, weakening the idea that this is the purpose of the noseleaves.
Answer choice (B) is out of scope; this paragraph concerns those bats who emit echolocation sounds via their noses.
Answer choice (C) is similarly out of scope, as it addresses dolphins rather than bats.
Answer choice (D) discusses a situation in which the bats would not need to use echolocation; this does not address the purpose of noseleaves.
Finally, the passage does not make any claims about the distance at which sound waves are emitted when using nose- leaves for echolocation, so answer choice (E) is also out of scope.
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