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GRE Reading Comprehension – Practice at least 1000 questions

New Revised GRE Experience shared by reader”P”.

Even i feel the same as Prakash.

Revised GRE Experience – Reading Comprehension was Horrible

I wrote GRE exam in Prometric center Hyderabad on August 5th.

Got 3 verbal sections, 2 Quantitative in the  following order

Essay1 – Essay2 – Verbal1 – 10 min break – Quants1 – Verbal2 – Quants2

Verbal and quants may be interchanged but this the format i.e., 3 sections before break and 3 after break.

New GRE Essays

At first both the essays were very easy to attempt.  Then comes the verbal section, where reading the comprehension kills most of the time.

New GRE Reading Comprehension

When we go through the questions in RC, they will be asking us to select a choice which will either support the message author wants to say or weakens the passage summary.

New GRE Verbal sections were too lengthy when it comes to the matter of comprehension.

A 60 lines comprehension (passage with 40% of the screen) with 4 questions in each of the 3 verbal section was the worst nightmare.

Takes a time of 5 to 7 minutes to read passage perfectly. But the problem is those questions will not be direct ones.

Other question asks to criticize author’s view. This takes time as they are not directly related to passage.(I mean we have to think and eliminate few choices 1 or 2 and decide the best among the left 2 or 3).

One asks to select a choice which weakens the summary of passage while other questions asks to select author’s review or criticism about the topic. Still have to think to answer, this kills time.

So this is how total 15-18 min were wasted in just 2 sets of comprehension (4 questions for each passage/set).

Remaining time was adjusted for all other questions.

One really feels exhausted after Essay 1, Essay2, Verbal 1.

I thought i will get a break (10 min). But to my surprise, i got quants section before break.

So, guys be prepared to handle the comprehension task. Practice at least 1000 questions with time limit.

I got 4th section before break. I was sure that i had to attempt 3 more after break so indicating the presence of unknown section. To my bad luck 🙁

After break, the 2 verbal sections made me so mad that, i thought as soon as i finish test, i will run out of center even without sending scores to 4 universities. But some how i finished everything and came out.

I sincerely advise all my friends to plan well in advance and prepare thoroughly even if you all are gems in verbal. You cant even your situation there with RC’s. They are like Dementors (Harry potter related 😛 )
I just prepared from Barron’s book, ETS GRE book which i feel are not enough to score more than 400. Could have solved 500 more questions. Thats why i say you to practice atleast 1000 questions.
Enroll for practice tests, test yourself in timed and untimed situations. Observe the difference and plan accordingly to cover the gap.

All the best. 🙂

Lessons Learned –

How to Tackle GRE Verbal Section – Practice, practice and practice.

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27 Comments

  1. Hi!
    I’m a Cameroonian French student and I want to prepare, then apply to the GRE. please i need informations to do this, while being in Cameroon.
    Thank you

  2. hello friends i am muthu. i completed msc in physics i like to move to any one us universities for phd. i came from state board school ( thamil nadu and sub was in tamil upto +2 )

    this is my barrier that the application fee. i want to know the universities which need only GRE score for selection procedures

    can you help how to sort out or find out such US universities

  3. Hi,I m preparing for GRE from last 2mnth but it was not so serious because in b/w that time I had my college exam nd projects.Now i hv started my preparation seriously I need some guidance of how to plan my study,now i hv adequate time.nd suggest some good book for math as I will probably give my exam in dec20.i m quite sacred please help me on it..

  4. Hi Hsb,

    this blog is helping me a lot as i m preparing for gre in US without any support…but HSB is giving me perfect guidance whenever i need… So I am feeling quite well after referring this blog… I am facing problem for RC practices, I went through New Barron’s & Official Guide for new gre…still I m not feeling confident n after reading other student’s experience, I dont think these 2 books r sufficient…Can u please suggest me from where I can get enough practice for RC & SC…??? I m really confused & dont know what to do next…

    1. Thanks a lot !!! Have your experience shared with your friends also ! May help others !
      All the Best !!! πŸ™‚

  5. Hi,

    Just got RC99 from aristotle, the book contains 99 RCs with 3 difficulty levels; easy, medium and hard. Although meant for GMAT, I find it quite helpful in revised GRE too.

  6. ETS considers Issue and arguments tasks as a single section i.e. Section 1. subsequent Verbal and Quants section are considered as a separate section. Also it is clearly mentioned by ETS that we will get a 10 min break after section 3. So u would always get 2 essays 1 verbal and 1 quants before the break.

  7. Hi there.
    Thank you very much for your precious information
    Just one ques. What GRE book or books do you recommend for RC section other than Barrons & ETS Official Guide?I really need to score high (550 or higher) on GRE so, based on yours and others who’ve shared their experiences, Ireally need to work on these RC sections
    Cheers

  8. Hi,i have a small doubt,we have to write this exam in computer or in answer booklet,i am planning 2013 fall.

  9. Hey dude, where did you prepare the RCs from ? Did you enrol for Princeton’s or Manhattan’s practice tests ?

    1. No, quant. I should have done that. I just prepared through Barron’s book and ets gre book. Best luck prepare well and more.

  10. Heyy P,

    Firstly congrats on ur attempt. Pls do elaborate on ur experience more, so we could throw more light on our prep for the exam…
    Thanks in Advance

    1. Thanx P,

      For ur quick retort and raphzodized way of explanation .All de best for ur future expedition πŸ™‚

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