changes will take place in GRE

The following changes will take place in 2011:
1. More questions on reading comprehension will be added.
2. Analogies and antonyms will be removed from the test.
3. The scoring range for each section will be 130-170, with score increments of one point instead of 200-800 (with score increments of 10 points).
4. GRE test takers will be allowed to use calculators issued by ETS.
5. Unlike the current scenario where the test taker can not skip any question, the new format allow test takers to skip questions and come back to them later and review answers before submitting an entire section.
6. More questions on data analysis will be added.

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A summary of the sections:

SECTION	NUMBER OF QUESTIONS	ALLOTTED TIME
Analytical Writing (One section with two separately timed tasks)	One “Analyze an Issue” task and one “Analyze an Argument” task	30 minutes per task
Verbal Reasoning (Two sections)	Approximately 20 questions per section	30 minutes per section
Quantitative Reasoning (Two sections)	Approximately 20 questions per section	35 minutes per section
Unscored†	Varies	Varies
Research††	Varies	Varies

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ETS has also changed the look and feel of its software.
Here are the changes that give you a better test experience:

• New preview and review capabilities within a section
• New “mark and review” feature to tag questions, so you can skip and return later
• New ability to change/edit answers within a section
• New on-screen calculator for the Quantitative Reasoning section
• New questions that better reflect the skills you’ll need for graduate and business school
• New answer formats, including tasks such as numeric entry and highlighting a sentence in a passage to answer a question
• Less reliance on vocabulary out of context, more emphasis on reading — and no antonyms or analogies

GRE reading comprehension

The GRE reading comprehension questions will test your ability to analyze a given passage. You will have to read the passage carefully to grasp the actual meaning that is intended to be conveyed through the passage. This can be achieved by studying the GRE reading comprehension passage from all perspectives. You will have to identify all ideas that have been presented in the GRE reading comprehension passage either explicitly or implicitly. You should be familiar with the process of segregating the conclusions from the arguments that have been presented in the GRE reading comprehension passage. This would be essential for answering the questions that follow the given passage.

The questions that follow the GRE reading comprehension passage will be based on the given passage in a number of different ways. The question asked may be related to the central theme of the passage or it may be related to the content of the passage as a whole. The question that is asked might be tricky in the sense that it could be related to an underlying meaning that is being suggested by the contents of the passage. You may also be presented with questions that are related to the logic and line of reasoning being followed by the writer of the GRE reading comprehension passage.

The content of the GRE reading comprehension passages may be based on any area of study. However, the questions that follow the passage are based on the information given in the passage and it is not necessary that you should possess any additional knowledge of the concerned subject. The GRE reading comprehension questions are followed by answer choices and you have to choose the most appropriate answer option. Study all the answer options carefully before making your choice.

You should not be overawed by the information given above. GRE reading comprehension questions are not all that difficult. You will be able to answer them correctly within the laid down time frame if you are familiar with the strategies for attempting such questions. This familiarity can come only with sustained practice over a period of time. Include a number of practice GRE reading comprehension questions in your GRE prep schedule and you will be comfortable while taking the test on the final day.