7/29/2019 GMAT Verbal Hand Out

1/2

GMAT Verbal Reasoning & Essay Sec t ionsSponsored by The Center for Teaching and Learning at UIS

Last Edited 7/8/2008 Page 1 of 2

Most of the information presented here cam from the free website: http://www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT

VerbalOverview 41multiplechoicequestions

Comprehension

Critical

Reasoning

SentenceCorrection

Maximumof75minutes

TheVerbalsectionoftheGMATmeasuresyourabilityto:

o Readandcomprehendwrittenmaterial

o Evaluatearguments

o WriteinstandardEnglish

ThreetypesofmultiplechoicequestionsareusedintheVerbalsectionoftheGMAT:

o ReadingComprehension Passagesupto350words

Topicscontainmaterialfromthesocialsciences,physicalorbiologicalsciences,

marketing,economics,

and

human

resource

management

Specificknowledgeofthematerialisnotrequired

Interpretive,applied,andinferentialquestionsfollowthepassages

Evaluates:

ComprehensionoftermsandtheEnglishlanguage

Comprehensionofthelogicalrelationshipspresentinarguments

Abilitytoconcludebaseduponfactsandstatementsinthereadingpassages

Abilitytointerpretandconcludebaseduponnumericaldata

o CriticalReasoning Testsreasoningskillsinconstructingandevaluatingarguments

Specificknowledge

of

the

material

is

not

required

Evaluates:

Abilitytoreasoninthreeareas:

Argumentconstruction

Argumentevaluation

Formulatingandevaluatingaplanofaction

o SentenceCorrection Improveincorrectorineffectiveexpressions

Choosewhichofthefivechoicesbestexpressesanideaorrelationship

Befamiliarwiththestylisticconventionsandgrammaticalrulesofstandardwritten

English Evaluates:

Abilitytocorrectsentencessotheyaregrammaticallyandstructurallysound

Allgrammarrulesapply

Abilitytoclearlyandconciselyexpressanideaorrelationship

Includesabilitytousedenotativemeaningsofterms

AnalyticalWritingOverview

7/29/2019 GMAT Verbal Hand Out

2/2

GMAT Verbal Reasoning & Essay Sec t ionsSponsored by The Center for Teaching and Learning at UIS

Last Edited 7/8/2008 Page 2 of 2

Most of the information presented here cam from the free website: http://www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT

AnalysisofanIssue

AnalysisofanArgument

Twoseparatewritingsamples

30

minutes

to

complete

each

one

Specificknowledgeoftheessaytopicisnotrequired

Abilitytowriteanalyticallyisassessed

o AnalysisofanIssue Analyzetheissuepresented

Considervariousperspectives

Userelevantreasonsorexamplesdrawnfromyourexperience,observations,orreading

todevelopyourownpositionontheissue.

Evaluates:

Yourabilitytoexplorethecomplexitiesofanandtakeapositionthatisinformed

byyourunderstanding

o AnalysisofanArgumento Analyzethereasoningforanargumentandwriteacritiqueofthatargument

o Youarenotpresentingyourownviewsonthesubject

o Considerthefollowingwhendevelopingyouressay:

Whatassumptionsinformtheargument?

Whatalternativesweakentheconclusion?

Whatevidencecanstrengthenorrefutetheargument?

o Evaluates

Yourabilitytoformulateaconstructivecritiqueofaspecificargumentbasedon

aspecific

reasoning

StudySuggestions Readaboutthetestformat

DownloadTestPrep

Practicewritingessayswithsampletopics

PurchaseTheOfficialGuideforGMATReview11thEdition Spendatleast4weeksstudying

TestTakingStrategies Readalldirectionsthoroughly

Readallquestionsthoroughly Eliminatewronganswersandselectbestchoice

Confirmanswerswhenyouarecertainandwanttomovetothenextquestion

Paceyourself