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Background Info: I was good at Quant, but weak at Verbal, as is case with a lot of
test takers. So I devoted a lot of time to improve my Verbal skills.
Contrary to popular belief, my gmat experience proved that one can improve one's
verbal skills, even RC skills, significantly in a relatively short time through proper
approach and prep strategy. Guys, Believe me, at the beginning of my prep, my RC,
CR and SC skills were in the 50% s or in the 20s out of 51 scale. At the end, they
were in 45-47 s or in 95 % (my actual verbal score is the proof)
Guys, I am so sorry for the delay. I was very busy and could not update my post.
Reading Comprehension
I would like to mention this section first, because it is the most important and the
most influential on your overall verbal score. During the actual test, a RC mistake
much more weighs than a SC or CR mistake and decreases the score significantly.
However, a lot of guys neglect this section during their prep.(This can be proved
from the very passiveness of the RC section on the forum) Many believe that RC
skills can not be improved in a short time. But this is not necessarily true. My case
totally proves this.
General Strategy
(I have learned this strategy from different test experiences and found very useful)
Do NOT skim and scan. You are being tested for your understanding and
comprehension of the text, not for your ability to pick details out of paragraphs
without really knowing what the full story is. Questions like "what do you think that
author would most agree with" can NOT be answered without REALLY
understanding what the story is about. With time pressure it will be very tempting
to rush to the questions and think you'll read the relevant passage when they ask
about it, but I believe this is exactly the trap you want to keep out of.
What I do is I read the first paragraph twice, maybe three times, because it often
sets the tone (which you'll be asked about) very quickly. Summarize the first
passage -- out loud but quietly -- in very simple laymen terms, if necessary in your
own language, as if you're explaining it to a child. The GMAT tests your ability to
filter the wordy mumbo-jumbo, awkward sentence constructions, and understand
in Sesame Street terms what is being said.
If you come across an important paragraph that gives a new side to a story, read it
and make absolutely sure you understand what is being said. Read it twice. Read it
three times if necessary. Your body will scream no because that clock is ticking, but
if you understand the text well, the questions will mostly be a walk in the park. If
you don't, you'll be spending a lot of time trying to get the pieces of the puzzle to
fit, and doing what you should have done in the first place -- trying to understand
the text.
Do not try to bluff (deceptive technique) your way through the questions by
scanning text fragments for clues or words that correspond to an answer item.
Those answers are often traps( mean tricky), and the real answers are often
hidden in overly simplistic or overly complicated answers that, if you're bluffing,
look like unlikely answers, but, only if you really understand the gist of the story,
you can recognize as being correct.
Timing, of course, is still key here. Practice a text and its questions in e.g. OG11 and
time how long you took on average for each question. If it's more than 1 3/4
minute per question, you need more practice. But first and foremost, make sure
you understand the text. Do not skip to the questions if you don't understand the
text, you will be punished for that.
Sources:
1) The best RC prep source I have ever had (even far better than OG) : LSAT sets(or
tests) and Kaplan's explanations to them ( around 30 sets, each with 4 passages).
Why:
1. -Long and tough passages in a variety of topics. Very useful for time
management.
- A lot of inference and other question types (the role of a detail or a
sentence; tone Q, s; author agree, disagree Qs) which are being tested more
frequently in Gmat.
-Awesome explanations which will teach you how to approach each
question type.
-Very good passage paraphrasing at the beginning of each passage (very
helpful for self-paraphrasing building skills)
If you have sufficient time, start with Lsat RC passages( do not get
discouraged if your accuracy rate is low, keep practicing). At the beginning,
work to improve accuracy and comprehension of the passage. After you
increase your accuracy rate, deal with time. Keep in mind that the quality,
not the quantity, is what matters the most in Gmatland.
Stop after each paragraph of the passage and recap its key points. That way
you're less likely to forget them.
When you run across a "primary purpose" question, always ask yourself
whether the author's purpose is descriptive or argumentative. Then do a
"verb scan" to eliminate those choices that are inconsistent with the
author's purpose. Usually, you'll be able to get rid of at least two or three
wrong choices this way, which will make your job of finding the correct
answer that much easier.
When you can pinpoint(identify with great accuracy )the exact part or � of
a passage where an answer is to be found, always skim or reread it before
browsing among the choices. You'll get distracted and misled less often.
Base your answers on a review of the text, not on your memory of the text.
Memories are faulty and can lead to wrong answers.
Always seek passage support for Inference and Detail questions. Never rely
solely on your memory
Remember, when dealing with a question about the role of a detail, it's
important to understand the context in which that detail appears. So instead
of focusing on the micro issue of the detail itself, start with the macro issue
of: Where is the author at that point in his argument?
Note: Use the clues! Skim the passage for words used in the question stem
key words) that hint at where the right answer is to be found.
Your first step with a Reading Comp. question that asks about a portion of
the passage should be to ask: Where in the passage is this to be found? Next,
go back to the text and reread what's relevant. Finally, prephrase an
answer.
When the test maker blatantly points you to a particular �, it's a gift horse
you don't want to look in the mouth. Don't dally! Get back to it, skim it
quickly for its essentials, and then proceed confidently to the choices.
When you believe that you've found the correct answer, by all means look at
the other four, but not with respect. Check them quickly and boldly, making
sure that they're as bad as they need to be. If any choice doesn't strike you
as awful, analyze further: Maybe it's right. In sum, then, be thorough, but
don't agonize over the other choices once you think you've found the right
one.
Passage’s organization Question:
Questions that ask you to sum up the Main Purpose in a few abstract words
may be more difficult than questions whose choices are lengthy. In
situations like this one, you have much less to work with! One useful
approach may be to ask: What would the passage have to look like if each
choice were correct? Remember, only one will match up to the passage you
actually get.
Keep holding the answer choices to the same high standard: For every given
question, exactly one choice has been set up by the testmaker as correct,
and exactly four are demonstrably faulty. As a rule, don't compare the
choices to each other; instead, compare each choice to the text, looking for
the one and only one that the testmaker has deemed CORRECT.
CRITICAL REASONING [/b]
General Strategy:
Those who have little time can choose and study chapters of question types
at which they are weak.
Resources:
1) Power score LR Bible ( if necessary)
Note: Powerscore LR Bible and Powerscore Gmat CR Bible are almost the
same.
1)As mentioned above, LSAT sets and Kaplan's explanations to them.(I
personally highly recommend them)
2) OG CR sections (both OG-10 and OG-11(the latter has a very good
explanations))
3) 1000CR
These sources more than suffice to master your CR skills and ace the GMAT
CRs.
OTHER SOURCES:
PowerPrep tests: very good for practice. But note that OG-10 has many
overlapping qs with Powerprep. So take these tests before practicing OGs.
Gmatprep tests: the best practice tests so far. They have a rich Quant
database but limited Verbal database. Practice on these tests as much as
possible.
Manhattan online tests: they are said to very good. I personally did not
practice them.
You'll find a time when you're getting questions right but are taking too
much time. Certainly, with enough time I'll answer EVERY question correctly!
In fact, I have found that the true challenge of the GMAT is not *whether*
you can solve a particular problem, but *how quickly* you can do it. You will
need to train yourself to see through wordy and concept-stacked GMAT
questions quicker and quicker as you progress. Learning to apply the theory
is one thing, getting it internalized so well that you can apply it without
thinking (like tying your shoe laces) is another.
Secondly, when you have read through and have interpreted the question
stem, it is tempting to rush to doing a calculation, but know that you usually
have enough time for only ONE calculation approach. If you screw up,
decide to re-read the question, and then find out you actually need to
calculate something slightly different, you will probably already have blown
your 2 minute average for the question. Train yourself for the mindset that
you get ONE shot at answering each question, so make sure your question
interpretation is right the first time.
Timing is one of the most difficult things to get right, and it is one of the
most important things for a good score. If you blow the average of two
minutes, you won't have time to think about the next question, which on the
test means your getting the answer wrong. Screwing up your timing on the
GMAT will without a doubt destroy your score.
Also, very important, you need to start to develop a feel for when your two
minutes for a question are up without constantly looking at the clock. Learn
to make a choice at that point. If you're confident you'll be able to answer
the question correctly with one more minute, and you've been doing ok on
timing so far, by all means, go for it. If you're still struggling with finding the
right approach, if you're stuck, or if you don't have the faintest idea on how
to do the question, guess and move on.
GRE is not inherently hard and just requires a planned and dedicated effort.
The test is very balanced and is not geared to favour anyone with specific
demographics or with specific abilities.
Low proficiency in English will not necessarily preclude you from cracking
the GRE verbal. Similarly the fact that you may be from a non-mathematical
background will not prevent you from getting a perfect score in the quant
part.
Take my case: I am not a native speaker of English and even with careless
mistakes still managed to get a 45 in Verbal.On the flip side, I am from a tech
background and fancy myself at quant, yet I fell short of getting a 51 in a
quant.