{"id":9312,"date":"2019-08-26T09:44:47","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T09:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/?p=9312"},"modified":"2019-08-30T16:39:43","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T16:39:43","slug":"the-gre-verbal-golden-rule-no-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/blog\/the-gre-verbal-golden-rule-no-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"GRE Verbal Tips: No Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ManhattanDid you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE\u00a0courses absolutely free? We\u2019re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

There is a very simple rule that I try hard to instill in all of my students. This tip will serve you well on all parts of the GRE verbal section. It will help you in that most dire of text completion<\/strong><\/a> conundrums\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the two words that both seem to make the sentence make sense. It will help you in sentence equivalence<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0when there are two oh-so-tempting pairs of answers, and you just can\u2019t seem to judge between them. And most importantly, it will help you in reading comprehension<\/strong><\/a>, particularly in identifying the traps the test makers have so diabolically hidden for you. My GRE verbal golden rule:<\/p>\n

NO STORIES.<\/h4>\n

It amazes me the lengths we go to as test takers to help the test makers trick us. Seriously, the work we put in on test day convincing ourselves that wrong answers are right, and talking ourselves out of points, is simply amazing; it\u2019s the reason the test makers can keep using the same tricks year after year. They have no need to be inventive: we do the hard work for them! This is particularly true for my more naturally creative students. Writing your application essays? Compiling your portfolio? Going on an interview? By all means, fan that brilliant creative spark into a roaring inferno of innovation! But on test day? NO STORIES.<\/p>\n

So, how do we stop aiding and abetting the test makers? Well, let\u2019s talk about how this rule helps us stay out of traps. Not all of them, mind you, but some of the most tempting and troublesome.<\/p>\n

Out of scope<\/strong><\/p>\n

Enemy number one, and one of the most common trap answer types, is an answer choice that diverges drastically from what the passage was actually about. These trip students up most often when they are faced with a passage they don\u2019t entirely understand. In the moment, the fear and confusion set in, your mind recoils from the horror of the unknown, and in a mad fit of test-taking self-destruction, you latch on to the only answer that seems as confusing as the passage itself. You have to learn to resist that panic<\/em>. If your passage was about systems of economic control in feudal Japan, don\u2019t trust an answer choice about modern Tokyo. I know, I know. You can find a million ways to justify it, you could probably write me a brilliant and thoroughly researched essay linking the two. But on test day? We only have what\u2019s in the passage. If you\u2019re telling yourself a long, elaborate story about how the two are connected, STOP. The answer is wrong. NO STORIES.<\/p>\n

Too broad<\/strong><\/p>\n

These overly-generalized answer choices are another GRE favorite, the standardized testing equivalent of having one bad samosa and swearing off Indian food forever. The test-makers are going to give you a passage all about the Hawaiian Islands and then, BAM, throw an answer choice at you that references all the islands everywhere in the entire world. Your brain turns against you, making connections that weren\u2019t in the passage, and you find yourself thinking, \u201cwell, since it was true of these islands, maybe it really IS true of all of them? I\u2019ll bet if I try hard enough, I can find a reason this works!\u201d Whose side are you even on here? Stop helping the test makers by justifying answers. NO STORIES. If the passage was about the Hawaiian Islands, guess what the answer should be about? That\u2019s right: The Hawaiian Islands. If an answer choice starts to bring in new ideas or information not yet discussed, get rid of it; it\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

Reversals<\/strong><\/p>\n

This may be the most extreme example of the three, as in order to sell yourself on these traps, you have to tell yourself a story so convincing that you talk yourself into an answer that is exactly opposite of what you were looking for in the first place. Now, commonly, students will pick a reversal because they misread the sentence and carelessly skipped over a vital \u201cbut\u201d or \u201chowever\u201d. Sometimes though, it\u2019s a case of that clever, clever brain of yours concocting a story so elaborate that you can actually make the weakest answer choice the strongest, like the Sophists of ancient Greece. For the last time, seriously, NO STORIES.<\/p>\n

So, how do we overcome this natural inclination that exists in all of our brains to turn against us?<\/p>\n

Practice.<\/p>\n

Restrict\u00a0yourself to the information in the passage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Right answer choices will be supported not by some clever trick of our own minds, but by some text on the page or screen. This seems simple enough, but is really quite difficult, and you can\u2019t simply will yourself into a new way of thinking. So practice it! If you\u2019re working from the book, highlight or underline exactly how you know your answer was correct. If you\u2019re working electronically, practice putting your finger on the actual text that tells you your answer is the correct one. Now, I am not saying this is necessarily something you should be doing on test day (in fact, some test centers have weird rules about touching the screen, so be wary!). But practice this when you\u2019re doing problem sets, and teach your brain how to approach these reading comprehension problems in a very focused way. The test-makers won\u2019t thank you for it, but your scores will.\u00a0\ud83d\udcdd<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want to test this out? Go try these problems from Chapter 5 of the 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems<\/a>:<\/p>\n