If you are starting your GRE preparation, then you need to
work on concepts and develop skills.
So, what are the skills?
Here are 3 essential skills ,which are required to ace the GRE
verbal
1. Writing a summary – rewording a paragraph in your own
words
2. Observing the structure of the passage
3. Identifying clue words.
These are 3 of the 10 major skills, you need to hone during
GRE preparation.
If you need any help in GRE preparation. Ping me.
My contact link is here:
LinkedIn profile : https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgeanand/
Facebook learning group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/semanticsgre
Now, let us understand each skill in detail.
Skill 1: Write a summary
This skill involves rewording the paragraph in your own
words.
While reading a paragraph, you need to observe
- the main points of the paragraph.
- an “opinion” or a “feeling” statement (for example: Author's
opinion)
A summary should be 1 or 2 lines long.
Lets take an example
Example 1
There are times when the night sky glows with bands of
color. The bands may begin as cloud shapes and then spread into a great arc
across the entire sky. They may fall in folds like a curtain drawn across the
heavens. The lights usually grow brighter, then suddenly dim. During this time
the sky glows with pale yellow, pink, green, violet, blue, and red. These
lights are called the Aurora Borealis. Some people call them the Northern
Lights. Scientists have been watching them for hundreds of years. They are not
quite sure what causes them. In ancient times people were afraid of the Lights.
They imagined that they saw fiery dragons in the sky. Some even concluded that
the heavens were on fire.
Summary:
The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, are bands of color
in the night sky. Ancient people thought that these lights were dragon on fire,
and even modern scientists are not sure what they are.
Note:
There are times when the night sky glows with bands of
color. The bands may begin as cloud shapes and then spread into a great arc across
the entire sky. They may fall in folds like a curtain drawn across the heavens.
The lights usually grow brighter, then suddenly dim. During this time the sky
glows with pale yellow, pink, green, violet, blue, and red. These lights are
called the Aurora Borealis. Some people call them the Northern
Lights.Scientists have been watching them for hundreds of years. They are not
quite sure what causes them. In ancient times people were afraid of the Lights.
They imagined that they saw fiery dragons in the sky. Some even concluded that
the heavens were on fire.
1. The lines in blue is factual information.
In GRE they rarely ask you questions based on factual information. So this part can be
ignored.
2. The line in red is the main idea.
The whole paragraph talks about Aurora Borealis. So main
idea can be “description of Auora Borealis”
Further
3. You can notice two opinion statements. These lines are
underlined.
Opinion 1: Scientists are not sure, what causes them
Opinion 2: Ancient people are afraid.
So the summary of this paragraph has two components: main idea+ opinions.
Some paragraphs may not have opinions.
Note*
In your preparatory phase, take notes. Write down the
summary of each paragraph. When you start taking computer adaptive tests, you
wont have time to jot down the summaries on paper. Instead, you will be able to
frame the summaries in your mind.(To reach this stage, you need to do extensive
practice though.)
Skill 2: Observe the structure of the passage
It is imperative you observe the structure/layout of the
passage.
You need to identify the link/relationships that connect the
lines in the paragraph.
For example a paragraph may follow this structure
Line 1: Conclusion (main point, author is trying to prove)
Line 2: Reason 1
Line 3: Reason 2
Line 4: Example
Or
Line 1: Claim ( a view without evidence)
Line 2: Counter conclusion (main point, author is trying to
prove)
Line 3: Reason 1 for the counter conclusion
Line 4: Example for the counter conclusion
So on and so forth
This skill(identifying the layout) is essential to ace the
critical reasoning and the reading comprehension section of the exam
Let us take an example and observe the layout
Read the passage and write the layout
Purebred cows native to Mongolia produce, on average, 400
liters of milk per year; if Mongolian cattle are crossbred with European
breeds, the crossbred cows can produce, on average, 2,700 liters per year. An
international agency plans to increase the profitability of Mongolia’s dairy
sector by encouraging widespread crossbreeding of native Mongolian cattle with
European breeds.
The layout of the passage is as follows:
Purebred cows native to Mongolia produce, on average, 400
liters of milk per year; if Mongolian cattle are crossbred with European
breeds, the crossbred cows can produce, on average, 2,700 liters per year. An
international agency plans to increase the profitability of Mongolia’s dairy
sector by encouraging widespread crossbreeding of native Mongolian cattle with
European breeds.
1. Underlined line in brown is the objective /conclusion
2. Line in red is the plan/ reason which leads to the
conclusion
3. Line is green is a hypothetical opinion
Note*
To tackle a Short passage(critical reasoning) question, you
need to identify the conclusion first.
So layout here is
Line 1: claim
Line 2: conclusion
Line 3: plan
Lets take a complex passage
Rain-soaked soil contains less oxygen than does drier soil.
The roots of melon plants perform less efficiently under the low-oxygen
conditions present in rain-soaked soil. When the efficiency of melon roots is
impaired, the roots do not supply sufficient amounts of the proper nutrients
for the plants to perform photosynthesis at their usual levels. It follows that
melon plants have a lower-than-usual rate of photosynthesis when their roots
are in rain-soaked soil. When the photosynthesis of the plants slows, sugar
stored in the fruits is drawn off to supply the plants with energy. Therefore,
ripe melons harvested after a prolonged period of heavy rain should be less
sweet than other ripe melons.
Now draw a layout
Check your answer
here
Can you see how the lines are inter-connected?
Line 1 leads to line 2… which leads to line 3…and so on.
The last line is the conclusion.
So focus on the layout of the paragraph
Skill 3: Identify clue words
There are clue words which are strategically placed in the
given paragraph. These words can help
you identify the relationships between lines.
Some of the clue words are
And,because,hence,thus,therefore, yet….
Lets take an example
I got fever because I
ate ice cream.
Here “because” indicates a cause and an effect.
I ate ice cream is the reason ..I got fever is the effect
Now lets take this question
A peculiar feature of the embryonic mammalian circulatory
system is that in the area of the heart the cells adhere to one another,
beating in unison yet adopting specialized orientations exclusive of one
another.
Here the clue word is
“yet”
“beating in unison” yet “ adopting specialized”
Here “yet” is used as
a conjunction . It means but or nevertheless.
In-spite of beating together the heart cells adopt different
orientations which are not related
These are 3 of the 10 major skills you need to hone while
preparing.
If you need any help in GRE preparation. Ping me.
Happy learning!.
