How to ace the Reading Comprehension and Sentence Equivalence sections on the verbal section of the GRE
The Verbal section of the GRE has two main categories—Reading Comprehension and Sentence Equivalence—and offers five questions for each category.
The Reading Comprehension questions test your ability to understand written passages and answer related questions.
While the Sentence Equivalence questions assess your understanding of how words and phrases are used in context by testing your ability to determine whether two given sentences mean the same thing or not.
In order to do well in these sections, you’ll need to prepare yourself with some specific strategies and tactics.
Get Familiar with Strategy
The first step is to get familiar with the types of questions that will be asked on the Reading Comprehension and Sentence Equivalence sections.
These are usually multiple-choice questions with five answer choices.
There will be one correct answer and four incorrect answers.
The incorrect answers will usually be very close to the correct answer, so it is important to read each question carefully and eliminate any obviously wrong answers before moving on.
Once you’ve done this, scan through the remaining choices for a few seconds to see if anything stands out.
If not, use the process of elimination to pick an answer and move on!
Know What You are Looking For
The key to success on these types of questions is knowing what you are looking for.
For reading comprehension questions, you want to be able to identify the main idea, find supporting details, and make inferences.
For sentence equivalence questions, you want to be able to find two sentences that have the same meaning.
Keep in mind that some words might mean different things depending on the context, so it’s important to consider the overall context before selecting an answer choice.
You should also think about whether a detail is necessary to convey the point of a passage.
Make sure that you understand how each answer choice reflects a particular piece of information from the passage or text.
Finally, don’t choose a response just because it sounds good–you need to know why it’s correct!
Learn About the Test
The Reading Comprehension and Sentence Equivalence sections on the verbal section of the GRE are designed to test your ability to read and understand complex texts.
In order to do well in these sections, you need to be able to identify the main ideas, make inferences, and draw conclusions.
You also need to be able to find relationships between words and concepts.
Here are some tips to help you ace these sections:
- Read the passage carefully. Don’t just skim it. Take time to look at the text closely and notice details like punctuation marks or italics that may indicate meaning. These details can sometimes have an effect on what the author is trying to say.
- Make sure you understand what each paragraph is about before moving on to the next one- don’t jump around too much!
- Figure out which questions you know how to answer first and then work your way through them more slowly as time allows. It’s better to get a few questions right than to leave some blank because you ran out of time.
- Be careful not to waste time thinking about answers that seem right but aren’t actually in the passage. If you’re not sure about something, skip it for now and come back later if there’s enough time left in the test for review.
Take Practice Tests and Track Your Progress
The best way to improve your performance on the Reading Comprehension and Sentence Equivalence sections of the GRE is to take practice tests and track your progress.
Doing this will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and focus your studying on the areas where you need the most improvement.
Additionally, taking practice tests under timed conditions will help you get used to working under pressure, which is important because the actual test will be timed.
As you’re doing your practice, also make sure that you’re reviewing any questions that you got wrong so that they don’t show up again in another practice test.
Study Vocabulary Systematically
A great way to build your vocabulary is to study words in groups of related words.
For example, you could learn all the words that have to do with food or all the words that have to do with sports.
Not only will this help you remember the words better, but you’ll also be able to see how they’re used in context, which will come in handy when you’re taking the test.
Once you get a group of words down, move on to another group.
Review old vocabulary: Even if you know a word, it’s always good to review it every once in a while, because there’s no guarantee that it will stay forever ingrained in your brain.
Practice reading comprehension: The best way to prepare for the reading comprehension questions is by reading!
And by reading we don’t mean just whatever comes across your path-read something relevant for your field!
Focus On Main Ideas
The Reading Comprehension and Sentence Equivalence sections on the GRE can be daunting, but there are some strategies you can use to make them more manageable.
First, focus on understanding the main idea of each passage or question.
Second, make sure you understand every word in each sentence; if you don’t know a word, look it up.
Third, read the questions carefully and underline keywords that will help you find the answer in the passage.
Fourth, eliminate answers that are clearly wrong. If three out of four answers seem plausible, pick the one that seems most likely based on what you have learned from reading the passage.
Fifth, cross out incorrect choices as you go to keep track of what’s left.
Sixth, review your work after completing all the questions for a particular passage before moving on to another one so that you do not waste time rechecking your work for something you may have already answered correctly!
Look Out for Trigger Words
The first step is to be on the lookout for trigger words. These are words that signal that a question is coming up.
For example, most important, except, and in order to. If you see one of these trigger words, start paying attention!
It’s likely there will be a question coming up soon.
If you can’t answer the question, move on. You’ll have time to come back later if needed.
It’s important not to spend too much time dwelling on questions when there are others unanswered yet – this will save time and keep your head clear for more difficult questions down the line.
Pay attention to those who ask rhetorical questions – it’s just like asking someone, have you stopped beating your wife?
Of course, they’re not going to stop, but the point is that it’s irrelevant what they do or don’t do because it has nothing to do with the question at hand.
Finally, don’t forget about sentence equivalences. As many people know, these two types of questions are often linked together so try solving them together as well.
Learn How the Questions are Organized
The Reading Comprehension section is made up of three or four passages, each followed by a set of questions.
The questions will test your ability to understand what you’ve read, as well as your ability to draw inferences from the text. The first passage contains one paragraph.
The second passage has two paragraphs, but the third has just one paragraph that’s much longer than the others.
The last passage only has one question at the end!
Many times, not all sentences in a paragraph are relevant to answering the question asked about that paragraph, so be sure to pay attention when reading through them.
Make sure you don’t skip any questions without looking at them because some of those questions may be easier for you than others.
If there’s a word or phrase in the passage that you don’t know, look it up right away and make a note of it – this way, if it comes up again, later on, you’ll know what it means!
Use Context Clues to Define Words
The first step is to be able to understand the text. To do this, you need to be able to read quickly and effectively.
One way to do this is by using context clues. Context clues are pieces of information within the text that can help you define unknown words.
There are four types of context clues: synonym, antonym, example, and explanation.
For example, if a sentence says The lake was blue, then blue would likely be defined as having a color like that of the clear sky.
If a sentence said The sun was shining, then it would likely mean shining brightly.
Start reading faster by practicing with reading passages in books or online articles.
When you come across unfamiliar words in the passage, look at context clues (synonyms, examples) to determine what they mean.
Make sure to try to work out unfamiliar words before looking them up in the dictionary.
If you still don’t know what a word means after using context clues, try looking it up for yourself or ask someone who knows about the topic at hand.
Read actively: think about what your understanding of the passage means and how this relates back to your life experience.
Lastly, remember that comprehension is more than just knowing what’s happening; you have to think critically about everything going on in order for comprehension to take place!
Practice Critical Reading Passages
In order to do well in the Reading Comprehension and Sentence Equivalence sections, you need to be able to read critically.
This means understanding the author’s argument and being able to pick out the main points.
To practice this skill, find some critical reading passages online and try to answer the questions that follow.
Some websites provide a passage followed by six or seven multiple-choice questions with five possible answers each.
Others provide a passage followed by one question with four possible answers. One website provides a passage followed by two questions with four possible answers each.
You should keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers here; instead, you are trying to show your skills in picking out key details from a text.
Don’t feel discouraged if you get them all wrong the first time! Keep practicing until you can confidently choose an answer for every question.
If you have trouble understanding a passage, go back and reread it. Don’t skim through it thinking I’ll just guess. Skimming is not the same as reading critically!
You may not know what word in a sentence is crucial to understanding the meaning of a sentence, but skimming will allow you to grasp the gist of what’s going on and hopefully figure out what word is crucial later when answering questions about it.
Prepping For RC
When it comes to the Reading Comprehension section, practice makes perfect.
The more you read, the better you’ll become at understanding complex passages.
In addition to reading a variety of books and articles, try taking practice tests under timed conditions.
This will help you learn how to pace yourself when answering questions.
For instance, if there are three questions in a row that ask about vocabulary words in an unfamiliar passage, then take the time to make flashcards for those words before moving on.
For sentence equivalence questions, don’t guess unless you have absolutely no idea what the answer is!
Instead of guessing, use the process of elimination or your best word-for-word knowledge of synonyms and antonyms.
The 3 Best Resources for RC Practice
- The Power Score RC Bible
- The Official Guide to the GRE
- Kaplan’s New GRE Verbal Workbook
The best way to practice these two types of questions is by reading as much as possible from high-quality sources such as books, magazines, newspapers, etc.
That being said, you can also find a lot of RC passages online for free with an internet search (such as this one).
If you don’t have time or energy to read lots of texts right now, make sure you at least read through your vocabulary flashcards regularly so that words come more easily when they appear in a passage.