Читать книгу GRE 2022 For Dummies with Online Practice - Ron Woldoff - Страница 12

Standardized tests tend to bring on the chills. Telling someone you have to take the SAT, ACT, or GRE usually elicits the same facial expression as saying that you need to have your wisdom teeth pulled. However, breaking the GRE down into its component parts makes it more manageable and less threatening.

Table 1-1 provides a quick overview of what’s on the exam. The essays are always first, but the multiple-choice sections may be in any order.

TABLE 1-1 GRE Breakdown by Section (Computer-Based)

Section	Number of Questions	Time Allotted
Analyze an Issue	1 essay	30 minutes
Analyze an Argument	1 essay	30 minutes
Verbal Section	20 questions	30 minutes
Math (Quantitative) Section	20 questions	35 minutes
Verbal Section	20 questions	30 minutes
Math (Quantitative) Section	20 questions	35 minutes
Discreetly Unscored Math or Verbal Section (may be earlier in the exam)	20 questions	30 or 35 minutes

At close to four hours, the GRE challenges your stamina as much as your ability to answer the questions. No matter how solid your math and verbal skills are, you must maintain the focus needed to do well for the whole time, which isn’t easy on a challenging task such as this. You can build your test-taking stamina by practicing in four-hour stretches and taking multiple timed practice tests.

The GRE includes one unscored Math or Verbal section in addition to the scored sections. So you actually have three Math or three Verbal sections, with one of those sections unscored. This unscored section neither helps nor hurts your score. The GRE may indicate that the section is unscored, but usually it doesn’t, so be sure to work all the sections to the best of your ability.

The GRE allows you to skip questions and return to them later, as long as you’re still in the section. When you reach the end of a section, the GRE displays a review screen that indicates any unanswered questions. If you have time remaining in the section, return to these questions and answer them as well as you can. This feature is nice because you can knock out all the easy questions before spending time on the hard ones. (See Chapter 2 for tips on managing your time during the exam.)

So what types of questions are there and how many of these can you expect on the GRE? Check out Table 1-2 for the answers.

TABLE 1-2 GRE Breakdown by Question Type

Type of Question	Approximate Number of Questions
Per Math Section (20 questions each)
Multiple-choice with exactly one correct answer	6
Multiple-choice with one or more correct answers	2
Fill-in-the-blank with the correct answer	2
Data Interpretation (based on graphs)	3
Quantitative Comparisons	7
Per Verbal Section (20 questions each)
Text Completion	6
Sentence Equivalence	4
Argument Analysis	2
Reading Comprehension	8

Note that these question types are mixed throughout their sections, so you may encounter them in any order. Sometimes the software groups similar questions at the beginning or the end. For example, if you’re halfway through a Verbal section and haven’t seen a Text Completion question, you will.