GMAT verbal

GMAT Verbal part consists of three different sections, and in each one you have to demonstrate your ability to:

• Read and comprehend special texts and passages,
• Evaluate and reason arguments,
• Correct the mistakes in the English sentences.

Reading Comprehension

In the part which is called Reading Comprehension it will be given a short passage (approximately 350 words long). In the text different topics can be various, for example, you have to read the material from the biological or physical sciences, economics, business, finance, management and others business-related areas.

This part of the exam may include texts from different areas that you should be generally familiar with. However, any specific knowledge of the topic isn’t required. All the questions are based on the facts which are implied or stated in the passage.

In Reading Comprehension you should show your ability to read, analyze and completely understand the information.

This section of the test evaluates your abilities to:

• Understand statements and sentences in the given passages,
• Analyze the logical connections between basic concepts in the text,
• Draw the conclusions from statements and facts given in the text,
• Comprehend quantitative concepts which are presented in the passage.

Critical Reasoning

Critical Reasoning tasks test your skills to make evaluative arguments and formulate the plan of action. Tasks can be based on the material from a great variety of sources, but you don’t need to have any specific knowledge of these themes.

This section is checking your skills in three areas:

1. The construction of argument. You should recognize the structure of a certain argument; make the conclusion; explain parallels between different arguments or hypotheses, etc.
2. The evaluation of argument. These tasks ask you to analyze an argument, find possible errors.
3. The action plan evaluation and formulation.  In these tasks you have to recognize the relative effectiveness and appropriateness of different types of action.

Sentence Correction

The third part of the section is called Sentence Correction, where you have to choose one correct variant among five answers to correctly complete the sentence.

This part tests two main aspects of the language skills:

• Correction of expressions. You should determine a variant which is structurally and grammatically correct.
• The ability to find the most effective sentence. You should make sure that the sentence expresses an idea very concise and clear, also it satisfies all the requirements of grammar. You have to recognize if the words are used accurate and suitable for the context.

Brian Galvin shows you the most common mistake test takers make when solving Sentence Correction questions and explains the surefire steps to take to avoid falling into this trap:

In the Internet you can find a lot of online tests that can show your level of grammar and demonstrate your strong and weak sides in these skills. Anyway, if you want to have good results, you should work hard, take GMAT classes, study official GMAT books, because GMAT isn’t so easy.