QMP Verbal Guide
Improvement is possible. There are specific techniques, tricks, and patterns you can use to beat ETS at their own game. It's not just about techniques though, the way you study for the GRE verbal section will be much different from how you study the quantitative reasoning section.
QMP Verbal Guide
A precision focus process - improvement for those who aren't English majors
How the QMP Verbal Guide is different
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: GRE Verbal Reasoning Overview
The GRE Verbal Reasoning section includes Text Completion, Sentence Equivalence, Reading Comprehension, and Critical Reading, each requiring distinct strategies to analyze vocabulary, logic, and passage comprehension effectively.
Chapter 2: GRE Verbal Reasoning Study Materials
Use only ETS resources for GRE verbal practice, such as the Official GRE Super Power Pack and POWERPREP tests, for realistic and reliable preparation.
Chapter 3: GRE Verbal Reasoning Study Plans
Effective GRE verbal prep includes daily question practice, vocabulary study, reading complex texts, weekly group discussions, and periodic full-length practice tests.
Chapter 4: How to do a Verbal Study Session
Set aside 30 minutes for 20 GRE verbal questions, focusing on accuracy over speed. Track results, avoid marking books, and practice using authentic resources.
Chapter 5: Verbal Mistake Review
Effective GRE verbal practice focuses on quality over quantity. Use a mistake journal to analyze errors, identify patterns, and refine strategies for consistent improvement.
Chapter 6: Building GRE Vocabulary
Master GRE vocabulary with the substitute word method and spaced repetition. Use vivid images to connect substitute words to definitions and reinforce learning with optimized flashcard reviews.
Chapter 7: Daily Reading
Daily reading of advanced literature, academic journals, or opinion pieces develops critical reading and reasoning abilities, essential for excelling in the GRE Verbal section.
Chapter 8: Using a Study Buddy/Group
Deepen your understanding by articulating explanations for challenging verbal questions weekly. Share and critique insights with study groups to enhance critical thinking and mastery.
Chapter 9: Doing Practice Tests
Take full-length GRE practice tests under realistic conditions weekly. Track scores to build stamina, assess progress, and ensure readiness for test day.
Chapter 10: How to Guess AND Skip
Skip questions if stuck for 30 seconds or on weaker question types. Always guess, mark skipped questions, and revisit them if aiming for a top score.
Chapter 11: Text Completion Overview
Text completion questions test vocabulary and contextual understanding. Mastering single and multiple-blank sentences is crucial, as no partial credit is awarded for incomplete answers.
Chapter 12: Text Completion Strategy
Master text completion with these steps: grasp the main idea, identify key text, spot connecting words, tackle easier blanks first, and verify answers by rereading.
Chapter 13: Text Completion Questions Without Key Text
Dependent blanks require understanding their relationship—whether they share the same valence (positive/negative) or contrast. Identifying this connection is key to answering correctly.
Chapter 14: Sentence Equivalence Overview
Sentence equivalence questions test vocabulary and contextual understanding. Select two words that create similar meanings, as partial credit isn’t awarded for one correct choice.
Chapter 15: Sentence Equivalence Strategy
Answer sentence equivalence questions by identifying the main idea, key text, connecting words, and applying the equivalence test to ensure selected words create similar meanings.
Chapter 16: Reading Comprehension Overview
Reading comprehension questions test your ability to understand directly stated facts and ideas. Passages vary in type and subject, requiring no specialized knowledge, and focus on comprehension, not inference.
Chapter 17: Reading Comprehension Strategy
Approach reading comprehension questions systematically: read the passage, analyze the question, locate relevant text, reread the question, identify key text, and carefully evaluate each answer choice.
Chapter 18: Types of Passages
Passages are informational (facts), discussion (contrasting viewpoints), or theory/issue (debating theories with tentative support). Recognizing structure and key shifts aids comprehension.
Chapter 19: Types of Sentences/Paragraphs + An Exercise
Recognizing sentence and paragraph functions—such as presenting facts, opinions, or critiques—clarifies passage structure, enhancing comprehension even with challenging content. Practice labeling for deeper analysis.
Chapter 20: Tips for Reading Passages
Enhance passage comprehension by focusing on the gist, analyzing beginnings and ends, tracking shifts with connecting words, and maintaining a reading pace that suits your strengths.
Chapter 21: Answering Questions Tips
Answer effectively by breaking questions into parts, reading full paragraphs when needed, tracking keywords, avoiding premature eliminations, and reviewing passages and answers iteratively.
Chapter 22: Right Answer Characteristics
Correct answers are often vague, use unfamiliar wording, are provable from the text, or generalize/summarize specific details. Recognizing these traits can guide your selection.
Chapter 23: Wrong Answer Characteristics
Wrong answers often include verbatim wording, speculative logic, excessive specificity, partial correctness, or incorrect singular/plural usage. Cross-check carefully to avoid falling for these traps.
Chapter 24: Main Idea Questions
Simplify passages by explaining their main idea in simple language. Pay attention to the last sentences of paragraphs and passages for concise summaries and key insights.
Chapter 25: Primary Purpose Questions
Primary purpose questions focus on why the author wrote the passage, unlike main idea questions, which address the author’s beliefs. Analyze the passage as a whole and avoid misleading details.
Chapter 26: Detail Questions
Detail questions focus on specific text rather than the passage as a whole. Identify keywords in the question to locate relevant text, then verify details for accurate answers.
Chapter 27: Non-Referenced Questions
Non-referenced questions lack line references but often include keywords to guide you to the correct passage section. Identifying the right area ensures clarity and accuracy.
Chapter 28: Critical Reading Overview
Critical reading questions require drawing inferences and evaluating new information. They include function, paradox, strengthen/weaken an argument, and assumption questions, focusing on logic rather than direct text evidence.
Chapter 29: Function Questions
Function questions focus on what a sentence does in context, not just what it says. Use keywords like "role" or "serves to," and analyze the sentence within its broader passage context.
Chapter 30: Paradox Questions
Paradox questions present contradictory facts, asking you to resolve them with new information. Identify the paradox clearly, using keywords like "reconcile" or "logical," to guide your reasoning.
31: Strengthen an Argument
Strengthen argument questions ask you to identify answers supporting the argument or eliminating alternatives. Avoid irrelevant choices, and test answers by inverting premises to evaluate their impact.
32: Weaken an Argument
Weaken argument questions involve undermining arguments by introducing alternative explanations or discrediting evidence. Avoid irrelevant or strengthening answers, and test options by inverting premises to evaluate their impact.
33: Assumption Questions
Assumption questions ask for the unstated premise needed to support the conclusion. Identify the conclusion, evidence, and choose the option that ensures logical consistency.