The official guide to the GRE revised general test

The Official Guide to the GRE® revised General Test

The book you’re holding is a one-of-a-kind resource: the only GRE guide created by

the ETS team that produces the actual exam. This book is uniquely suited to help you

do your best on this challenging test.

Here’s what you’ll find inside:

b Official information on the GRE revised General Test. Get the facts about

the revised test format you’ll encounter starting in August 2011—straight

from ETS.

b ETS’s own test-taking strategies. Learn valuable hints and tips that can

help you get your best score.

b Authentic GRE questions in the revised test format. Practice with real test

questions created by the test-makers.

b Real full-length GRE practice test. Sharpen your skills with an actual test in

the revised format.

b POWERPREP II software on CD-ROM: Experience an actual computer-based

GRE revised General Test.

Welcome to

About ETS

At nonprofit ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide

by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educa￾tional institutions, and government agencies by providing customized solutions for

teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary, and

post-secondary education, as well as conducting education research, analysis, and

policy studies. Founded in 1947, ETS develops, administers, and scores more than

50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® tests

and The Praxis Series™ assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000

locations worldwide. For more information, visit www.ets.org

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IMPORTANT

ETS makes available free test preparation materials for individuals planning to take

a GRE test. POWERPREP II software is available for individuals planning to take

the computer-based GRE revised General Test, and the Practice Book for the Paper-based

GRE revised General Test is available for individuals planning to take the paper-based test.

The information about how to prepare for the revised General Test, test-taking strategies,

question strategies, etc., that is included in the free test preparation is also included in

this Guide. The Guide also provides you with additional sets of practice questions and

an additional full-length practice test with explanatory materials.

For more information about the GRE revised General Test, free

GRE test preparation materials, and other GRE products and services,

please visit the GRE website at

www.ets.org/gre

Inquiries concerning the practice test questions in this book

should be sent to the GRE testing program at

[email protected]

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The OFFICIAL GUIDE to the

revised General Test

INSIDE LOOK AT THE TEST CHANGES

EFFECTIVE AUGUST 1, 2011

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GRE®

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Contents

How to Use This Book / CD Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i

1 Introducing the GRE® revised General Test 1

What Are the Main Features of the Revised Test? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Structure of the Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Preparing for the Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Test-taking Strategies for the Computer-based Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Test-taking Strategies for the Paper-based Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Understanding GRE Scoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 GRE® Analytical Writing 11

Overview of the Analytical Writing Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Preparing for the Analytical Writing Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

General Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Analyze an Issue Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Analyze an Argument Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

GRE Scoring Guide: Analyze an Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

GRE Scoring Guide: Analyze an Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Score Level Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

3 GRE® Verbal Reasoning 43

Overview of the Verbal Reasoning Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Verbal Reasoning Question Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

4 GRE® Verbal Reasoning

Practice Questions 143

SET 1. Discrete Questions: Easy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

SET 2. Discrete Questions: Medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

SET 3. Discrete Questions: Hard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

SET 4. Data Interpretation Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Answer Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Answers and Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Practice Questions 53

SET 1. Discrete Questions: Easy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

SET 2. Reading Comprehension Questions: Easy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

SET 3. Discrete Questions: Medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

SET 4. Reading Comprehension Questions: Medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

SET 5. Discrete Questions: Hard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

SET 6. Reading Comprehension Questions: Hard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Answer Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Answers and Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

5 GRE® Quantitative Reasoning 107

Overview of the Quantitative Reasoning Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Quantitative Reasoning Question Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Using the Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Mathematics Conventions for the Quantitative Reasoning Measure

of the GRE revised General Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

6 GRE® Quantitative Reasoning

7 GRE® Math Review 207

1. Arithmetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

2. Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

3. Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

4. Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

8 Authentic GRE® Practice Test 303

Section 1: Analytical Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Section 2: Analytical Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Section 3: Verbal Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Section 4: Verbal Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Section 5: Quantitative Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Section 6: Quantitative Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Evaluating Your Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Score Conversion Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Percentile Ranks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Analytical Writing Sample Responses and Reader Commentaries . . . . . . . . 355

Section 1: Analyze an Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .355

Section 2: Analyze an Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .362

Answers and Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Section 3: Verbal Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Section 4: Verbal Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Section 5: Quantitative Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Section 6: Quantitative Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

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This book/CD package provides a large amount of important information about the

GRE revised General Test, the kinds of questions it includes, and the knowledge and

skills that it measures. The book and CD-ROM will help you:

b Familiarize yourself with the test format and the test question types

b Identify the test-taking skills you most need to focus on

b Review the math topics you need to know for the test

b Check your progress with Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning

practice questions

b Practice your test-taking skills using actual GRE tests

The following six-step program has been designed to help you make the best use of this

book and CD-ROM.

STEP 1 Learn About the GRE revised General Test Format

Chapter 1 of this book provides official information about the structure of the GRE

revised General Test. Read this chapter to learn about the different test sections, the

number of questions in each section, and the section time limits. You’ll also find

valuable test-taking strategies from ETS and important information about how the test

is scored.

STEP 2 Study the Different GRE Question Types

Chapters 2, 3, and 5 of this book describe the types of questions you’ll encounter in

the three sections of the GRE revised General Test. Chapter 2 describes the Analytical

Writing section, which requires you to write essays in response to prompts that you

will be given. Chapter 3 describes the Verbal Reasoning question types. Chapter 5

describes the Quantitative Reasoning question types. In each case, you will learn what

the questions are designed to measure, and you will get tips for answering each ques￾tion type. You will also see samples of each question type, with helpful explanations.

STEP 3 Practice Answering GRE Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning

Questions

Chapters 4 and 6 offer sets of practice Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning

questions in the format of the GRE revised General Test. The question sets are

arranged in order of increasing difficulty, from easy through medium to hard. Answer

the questions in each set, then read through the explanations to see which test topics

you found most challenging. Look for patterns. Did specific question formats give you

trouble? When did you need to guess at the answer? Use your results to identify your

weaknesses and to sharpen your test-taking skills.

How to Use This

Book/CD Package

STEP 4 Use the Test Preview Tool on the CD-ROM

The Test Preview Tool includes a sample of each of the question types formatted as they

would be on the actual computer-based test. The Tool also contains the Help screens,

the Review screen, the word-processing software for the Analytical Writing section, and

the on-screen calculator, so that you can become familiar with all of the features of the

computer-based GRE revised General Test.

STEP 5 Review GRE Math Topics

Chapter 7 provides a review of math topics tested in the GRE revised General Test

Quantitative Reasoning sections. You do not necessarily need to tackle every topic in

the review, or to work through the review in the order in which it is presented. Skip

around if you like, but remember to focus on the topics that you know give you trouble.

Each section of the review ends with practice problems that you can use to see how

well you have mastered the material. If you get a problem wrong, go back into the

review section and re-read the corresponding instructional text.

STEP 6 Take the Practice Tests

Once you have completed your review, get ready for the real exam by taking the

authentic GRE Practice Tests in Chapter 8 of this book and on the CD-ROM. When you

take each test, try to simulate actual testing conditions. If you are taking the test in

Chapter 8, sit in a quiet space, time yourself, and work through as much of the test as

time allows. If you are taking the test on the CD-ROM, each test section will be timed

for you. You’ll gain experience with the test format, and you’ll learn to pace yourself so

that you can earn your highest score in the time allowed.

Please Note: for users of the CD-ROM

If you need screen magnification or selectable colors to take the computer-based GRE

revised General Test, you can download a special version of ZoomText software from

the GRE website at www.ets.org/gre/powerprep2.

What Are the Main Features of the Revised Test?

The GRE® revised General Test is composed of revised Analytical Writing, Verbal

Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning measures. Each of the measures has

been revised to better focus on skills that are necessary for success in graduate

school.

b The Analytical Writing measure asks you to provide more focused re sponses to

questions, to more accurately demonstrate your skill in directly responding to

the task presented.

b The Verbal Reasoning measure places a greater emphasis on higher cognitive

skills, as a truer, deeper assessment of your ability to understand what you read

and how to apply your reasoning skills.

b The Quantitative Reasoning measure tests the same basic mathematical con￾cepts, but includes more data analysis and more real-life scenarios, to better

gauge your skills.

The revised General Test delivers a friendlier, more flexible test-taking experience.

Now you will be able to edit or change your answers, and skip questions, all within a

section, and more— giving you the freedom to use your own personal test-taking

strategies. In addition, a calculator is available on the Quantitative Reasoning measure

to reduce the emphasis on computation.

The GRE revised General Test is offered on computer throughout the year on a

continuous basis in the United States, Canada, and other regions of the world. Paper￾based administrations are offered in areas of the world where computer-based testing

is not available.

For the most up-to-date information about the GRE revised General Test, visit the

GRE website at www.ets.org/gre.

Introducing the GRE®

revised General Test

g Learn how the test has been been revised

g Review basic information on the structure of the

test, test preparation, and scoring

Your goals

for this

chapter

1

1

Structure of the Test

Computer-Based revised General Test

The computer-based GRE® revised General Test contains six sections:

b an Analytical Writing section with two tasks, which always comes first in

the test

b two Verbal Reasoning sections

b two Quantitative Reasoning sections

b one unscored section, typically a Verbal Reasoning or Quantitative Reason ing

section, that may appear at any point in the test

Questions in the unscored section are being tried out either for possible use in

future tests or to ensure that scores on new editions of the test are comparable to

scores on earlier editions.

An identified research section may be included in place of the unscored section.

The research section will always appear at the end of the test. Questions in this section

are included for the purpose of ETS research and will not count toward your score.

The Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and unidentified/unscored sections

may appear in any order; therefore, you should treat each section as if it counts toward

your score.

The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures are section-level adap￾tive. The computer selects the second section of a measure based on your performance

on the first.

The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures allow you to preview

other questions within the specific section on which you’re working, review questions

you’ve already answered, and change your answers.

Typical Computer-Based revised General Test

Total testing time is 3 hours and 45 minutes, including the unscored section. The direc￾tions at the beginning of each Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning section

specify the total number of questions in the section and the time allowed for the sec￾tion. For the Analytical Writing section, the timing for each task is shown when the

task is presented.

Section Number of Questions Time

Analytical Writing 2 separately timed writing 30 min. per task

(1 section) tasks

Verbal Reasoning Approximately 20 questions 30 min. per section

(2 sections) per section

Quantitative Reasoning Approximately 20 questions 35 min. per section

(2 sections) per section

Unscored* Approximately 20 questions 30–35 min. per section

Research ** Varies Varies

*An unidentified unscored section that does not count toward a score may be included and may

appear in any order.

**An identified research section that is not scored may be included, and it will always be at the

end of the test.

2

Introducing the GRE revised General Test