Mastering the Verbal
Long Term Preparation
Broaden your reading and read
deeply (The Atlantic Monthly, The
New Yorker, etc.)
Look up new words that challenge
you and practice using them.
Work on weakness areas weekly
Practice your answers using a guide
book
Approaches and Strategies
All questions count the same. Answer
easy questions first.
Make educated guesses.
Skip questions that you really can’t
answer
Limit your time on any one question.
Keep track of time.
Use your test booklet as scratch
paper.
Critical Reading
Sentence Completion (19 questions)
Tests vocabulary and understanding of
sentence structure.
Passage-based reading (48
questions)
Tests comprehension of what is stated in
or implied by the passage.
Timing
Spend 30-40 seconds on a shorter
question.
70-75 seconds on a longer question.
90 seconds on reading a passage.
Practice and time yourself, see if you
finish early enough.
Question 1
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Though ostensibly a put down in its good
natured ribbing, the average “Celebrity
Roast” turns out to be a more of a
_______ in reality.
Critique
Masquerade
Eulogy
Debacle
Calamity
When should I guess?
Student A has no idea.
Student B notices a latin root, eu-like
in euphemism is positive
Student C notices that the word
should be the opposite of a put down,
therefore a eulogy. Eulogy is given at
a funeral in praise.
Question 2
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Martha’s Vineyard, once a sleepy
vacation spot for ______ visitors, has
now become a _______ mecca for
hordes of sun-worshipping tourists.
Myriad-quiet
Impoverished-weary
Discriminating-bustling
Impetuous-depressing
Curious-pensive
Practice 1-9
Use the context of the sentence, what
do you know?
Use logic to look for opposite
relationships and eliminate wrong
answers.
Don’t answer if you have no context.
Reading Comprehension
Draw Generalizations from Main
Ideas
Draw Inferences
Spot Details from the Text
Understand the Author’s Role
Understand Language in Action
Look Beyond the Passage to Predict
Outcomes
Get the Big Picture
Look for the Main Idea
What is the author doing? Describing?
Telling a Story? Why?
Look closely at the words the author uses,
do they have something in common? Do
they share a common feeling (tone)?
If you understand 1 and 2, look deeper,
why might a writer do something like this.
Let’s Analyze the 1st Passage
List notice up here:
The Writing Section
A Crash Course in Grammar
Make these words plural: tax, lady, ray,
roof, knife
Make these words plural possessive:
book, box, lady, sheep
(Does the plural end in s? Then s’.
Does it have no s ending, then ‘s?)
Verbs
Know your tense
Make sure sentences match
Ed-matches ed at both parts of the
sentence, and so on.
The airplane circled the airport and
then heads toward Atlanta.
Correct
Subjects and Objects
I versus me
I is a subject
Me is an object
I am the one responsible for him.
He is the one responsible for me.
Modifiers
Good versus well (well is an adverb)
Students do well in school.
Avoid double negatives
Keep things next to what they modify
Jill walked her new dog with her
miniskirt on.
Joining Words
Unless is a subordinate conjunction
Without is a preposition
Unless dad’s check comes through, I
will have to wait for an X-box.
Without good directions, traveling is
difficult.
Commas
Ending sentences correctly
To separate items in a series
When more than one adjectives preceded
a noun
Words or phrases that interrupt a sentence
Appositive phrases
Quotations
Joining sentences with coordinating
conjunctions
Capitalizing
First word of a complete sentence
The comments of each new speaker
in a conversation
Each first letter in the new line of a
poem
Proper Nouns and Adjectives
The first letter of the first word in a
salutation
Confused words
Complement-compliment
Principle-principal
Accept-except
Then-than
Your-You’re
It’s-Its
Essay
I. Strong Narrative Lead Into Thesis
II. Explain Example 1
Topic Sentence
Restrict the Topic
Give a Concrete Example
Conclude
III. Repeat with Example 2
IV. Strong Conclusion