![\"Manhattan](\"\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2017\/01\/1-25-17-blog-2.png\")
<\/span><\/p>\nDid you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free? We\u2019re not kidding! <\/i><\/b>Check out our upcoming courses here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n A lot of people think that GRE Verbal questions can have more than one right answer. The GRE itself doesn\u2019t do anything to dispel this myth, since Verbal questions often include wording like <\/span>which of the following is best supported? <\/span><\/i>or <\/span>with which statement would the author most likely agree?<\/span><\/i>. These questions make it sound as if you\u2019re supposed to read five pretty good answers and pick the best one, even if the other ones are okay, too. However, <\/span>this mindset will hurt you on test day. <\/b><\/p>\n To understand why, suppose that you\u2019re trying to write a Text Completion problem. To be good enough for the GRE, the problem has to help you tell the difference between stronger test-takers and weaker test-takers. People with strong vocabulary, reading, and reasoning skills should get the problem right; everyone else should get it wrong. <\/span><\/p>\n If you just took any sentence and removed a random word, the problem you created might look like this one: <\/span><\/p>\n For eons, _______ was considered not only polite, but virtuous.<\/span><\/p>\n probity<\/em> Since there are no context clues, <\/span>everyone would be equally likely to get this one right<\/b>. Your problem would be testing how lucky the test-takers were, not the strength of their Verbal skills. So, what happens if we add some context?<\/span><\/p>\n For eons, ________ was considered not only polite, but virtuous; now, it is often perceived as unfashionable, and is typically not expected of guests.<\/span><\/p>\n probity<\/em> Even though it includes more clues, <\/span>this problem is just as bad, and could never appear on the GRE.<\/b> You might suspect that the clues in the sentence point you towards <\/span>punctuality<\/span><\/i>, which refers to being on time: <\/span>unfashionable<\/span><\/i> calls to mind the saying \u201cfashionably late,\u201d and many people don\u2019t expect their guests to be on time! However, this problem still isn\u2019t testing vocabulary, reading, and reasoning. It\u2019s testing your knowledge of sayings and your knowledge of human behavior. You couldn\u2019t find the right answer using <\/span>only<\/span><\/i> vocabulary, reading, and the information in the sentence. That\u2019s why you\u2019d never see this one on the test.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s tough to write a problem that <\/span>only <\/span><\/i>uses vocabulary, reading, and reasoning skills. Here\u2019s how the test writers do it: <\/span>they put the answer somewhere in the problem itself.<\/b> \u00a0Sometimes it\u2019s obvious, and sometimes it\u2019s very well hidden and takes a lot of thinking to piece together. But if it wasn\u2019t in there, then they\u2019d really be testing your world knowledge, not your understanding of the sentence or the passage! <\/span><\/p>\n For eons, ______ was considered not only polite, but virtuous; now, fashionable behavior lauds laxity and tardiness and arriving at a function an hour late is considered appropriate.<\/span><\/p>\n probity<\/em> To get this one right, you only need two things: how to read the sentence correctly and how to define the tough vocabulary words. Those aren\u2019t trivial skills \u2013 but, critically, they\u2019re the skills that the GRE cares about. You can <\/span>prove<\/span><\/i> that <\/span>punctuality<\/span><\/i> is correct, by using only the definitions of words and the information in the sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n Not every official GRE problem is perfect, but the problems are tested extensively before they\u2019re counted towards your score. Every official GRE Verbal problem you see will include all the information you need to find the right answer, right there in the text. Because of this, there will only be one right answer: it\u2019s the only one that you can prove correct by using only the information you\u2019re given. <\/span><\/p>\n First, keep it in mind when you study. If you get down to two answer choices, but pick the wrong one, don\u2019t tell yourself that you picked a \u2018good, but not as good\u2019 answer. That\u2019s a cop-out! Consider whether you actually <\/span>proved<\/span><\/i> the answer you picked, and whether you really used only the clues in the problem \u2013 is it possible that you introduced some outside ideas into your reasoning, or that you picked something that seemed <\/span>reasonable<\/span><\/i>, but wasn\u2019t actually supported by the text? Work hard to explain to yourself why right answers are right and wrong answers are wrong \u2013 that sort of review will help you on test day. <\/span><\/p>\n Second, keep it in mind on test day. Unless you\u2019re guessing (which is fine), only pick an answer if you can find the specific proof for it. Don\u2019t just pick something that\u2019s <\/span>good enough<\/span><\/i>, or that <\/span>seems right<\/span><\/i>! If you can\u2019t find any proof, make a guess and move on from the question, or look harder at the other answer choices you may have dismissed. If you convince yourself that every GRE Verbal problem has an objective right answer \u2013 just like every Quant problem \u2013 you\u2019re already halfway to finding it. ?<\/span><\/p>\n Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We\u2019re not kidding. <\/i><\/b>Check out our upcoming courses here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Chelsey Cooley<\/a> \u00a0 Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free? We\u2019re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here. A lot of people think that GRE Verbal questions can have more than one right answer. The GRE itself doesn\u2019t do anything to dispel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,474284,921840,6,7,733445,22,12,13],"tags":[188,384],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-9893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-challenge-problems","category-current-studiers","category-gre-prep-2","category-gre-strategies","category-how-to-study","category-study-tips-2","category-sentence-equivalence","category-verbal","category-vocabulary","tag-gre-verbal","tag-text-completion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9893"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9909,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9893\/revisions\/9909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9893"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=9893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\nparsimoniousness<\/em>
\nprodigality<\/em>
\npunctuality<\/em>
\npanache<\/em><\/p>\n
\nparsimoniousness<\/em>
\nprodigality<\/em>
\npunctuality<\/em>
\npanache<\/em><\/p>\n
\nparsimoniousness<\/em>
\nprodigality<\/em>
\npunctuality<\/em>
\npanache<\/em><\/p>\nHow do you use this knowledge to get more Verbal questions right?<\/b><\/h4>\n
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\n![\"Chelsey](\"\/\/cdn2.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/11\/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg\" "\\"Chelsey")
<\/a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.<\/strong>\u00a0Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master\u2019s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170\/170 on the GRE.\u00a0Check out Chelsey\u2019s upcoming GRE prep offerings here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"