Verbal review
61 flashcards covering Verbal review for the GMAT Verbal section.
Verbal review for the GMAT focuses on sharpening your language skills, including reading comprehension, critical reasoning, and grammar. It's about understanding complex texts, analyzing arguments, and correcting sentences to communicate ideas clearly. These skills are essential for business school success, as they test your ability to process information quickly and think logically—key traits for future managers and leaders.
On the GMAT, the Verbal section features three main question types: Reading Comprehension, which asks you to interpret passages; Critical Reasoning, where you evaluate arguments; and Sentence Correction, which tests grammar and style. Common traps include misreading details, falling for plausible but incorrect answers, or overlooking subtle logical flaws. Focus on building vocabulary, practicing timed questions, and recognizing answer patterns to improve accuracy and speed.
A concrete tip: Read actively by summarizing passages in your own words.
Terms (61)
- 01
Main Idea in Reading Comprehension
The main idea is the central point or primary message of a passage, often found in the first or last paragraph, and it encompasses the author's overall argument or purpose.
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Supporting Details
Supporting details are specific facts, examples, or evidence in a passage that back up the main idea and help develop the author's argument.
- 03
Inference
An inference is a logical conclusion drawn from the information in a passage, requiring the reader to read between the lines without direct statements.
- 04
Author's Purpose
The author's purpose is the reason for writing the passage, such as to inform, persuade, entertain, or analyze, and it can often be inferred from the tone and content.
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Tone of a Passage
Tone refers to the author's attitude toward the subject, conveyed through word choice and phrasing, and can be positive, negative, neutral, or sarcastic.
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Passage Structure
Passage structure is the organization of a text, including introduction, body, and conclusion, which helps in understanding how ideas are presented and connected.
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Primary Purpose Question
A primary purpose question asks for the overall goal of the passage, such as to describe a phenomenon or argue a point, and requires identifying the main objective.
- 08
Vocabulary in Context
Vocabulary in context involves determining the meaning of a word based on its surrounding sentences, rather than relying on prior knowledge of the word.
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Inference Question Type
Inference question type requires deducing information not explicitly stated, based on clues in the text, and is common in reading comprehension to test critical thinking.
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Author's Perspective
The author's perspective is the viewpoint or bias held by the writer, which can influence the presentation of facts and arguments in the passage.
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Argument in Critical Reasoning
An argument in critical reasoning is a set of statements where one (the conclusion) is supported by others (premises), and evaluating it involves checking logic and assumptions.
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Assumption in an Argument
An assumption is an unstated premise that the argument relies on for its conclusion to be valid, and identifying it helps in strengthening or weakening the argument.
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Strengthen the Argument
To strengthen the argument means to provide evidence or reasoning that supports the conclusion, often by confirming an assumption or adding relevant data.
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Weaken the Argument
To weaken the argument involves introducing evidence or counterexamples that undermine the conclusion or reveal flaws in the reasoning.
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Flaw in the Argument
A flaw in the argument is a logical error, such as hasty generalization or circular reasoning, that makes the conclusion unreliable.
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Evaluate the Argument
To evaluate the argument requires assessing its validity by considering what additional information would confirm or refute the conclusion.
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Boldface Question
A boldface question in critical reasoning identifies the roles of specific statements in the argument, such as whether they are premises, conclusions, or counterpremises.
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Premise
A premise is a statement that provides evidence or reasons to support the conclusion in an argument, forming the foundation of the logical structure.
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Conclusion
The conclusion is the main claim or result that the argument aims to prove, typically following from the premises.
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Counterexample
A counterexample is an instance that disproves a general claim in an argument, often used to weaken broad statements.
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Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-verb agreement means that the verb must match the subject in number (singular or plural), ensuring grammatical correctness in sentences.
- 22
Pronoun Agreement
Pronoun agreement requires that a pronoun matches its antecedent in number, gender, and person to avoid ambiguity and maintain clear reference.
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Modifier Placement
Modifier placement involves positioning descriptive words or phrases correctly next to the word they modify to prevent confusion or unintended meanings.
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Parallelism
Parallelism is the use of similar grammatical structures for elements in a list or series, making sentences clearer and more balanced.
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Idioms in Sentence Correction
Idioms are fixed expressions in English that must be used correctly, as in 'different from' versus 'different than', to adhere to standard usage.
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Verb Tense
Verb tense indicates the time of an action and must be consistent unless the sentence logically requires a shift, ensuring the timeline is clear.
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Comparison Structures
Comparison structures, like 'as...as' or 'more than', must be used correctly to draw parallels between items without grammatical errors.
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Logical Predication
Logical predication ensures that the relationship between the subject and predicate makes sense and is clearly expressed without ambiguity.
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Dangling Modifier
A dangling modifier is a phrase that doesn't clearly modify any word in the sentence, leading to confusion, and should be rephrased for clarity.
- 30
Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive mood is used for hypothetical situations, wishes, or demands, such as 'if I were' instead of 'if I was', to convey uncertainty.
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Strategy for Eliminating Answers
A strategy for eliminating answers involves ruling out choices that are irrelevant, extreme, or contradict the passage to increase accuracy in multiple-choice questions.
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Common Trap: Scope Shift
A common trap in critical reasoning is scope shift, where the answer choice addresses a different issue than the argument, leading to incorrect selections.
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Reading for Detail
Reading for detail means focusing on specific information in a passage to answer questions accurately, without getting distracted by the overall narrative.
- 34
Necessary vs. Sufficient Conditions
Necessary conditions must be true for something to happen, while sufficient conditions guarantee it, and confusing them is a frequent error in arguments.
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Cause and Effect in Arguments
Cause and effect in arguments links events where one leads to another, but errors occur if correlation is mistaken for causation.
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Passive Voice
Passive voice constructs sentences where the subject is acted upon, like 'The ball was thrown,' and should be used judiciously for variety and clarity.
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Redundancy in Sentences
Redundancy in sentences involves repeating ideas unnecessarily, which can make writing wordy and should be avoided for conciseness.
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Analogy in Passages
An analogy in passages compares two similar things to explain a concept, helping readers understand complex ideas through familiar examples.
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Evidence in Critical Reasoning
Evidence in critical reasoning is the factual support for claims, and questions often test whether it adequately backs the conclusion.
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Idiom: Between vs. Among
The idiom 'between' is used for two items, while 'among' is for three or more, and using them correctly prevents common grammatical mistakes.
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Worked Example: Identifying Main Idea
In a passage about climate change, the main idea might be that human activities are the primary cause, as stated in the opening thesis.
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Common Trap: Absolute Language
A common trap is using absolute language like 'always' or 'never' in arguments, which can be weakened by exceptions or counterexamples.
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Parallelism in Lists
Parallelism in lists requires each item to have the same grammatical form, such as all nouns or all verbs, for balanced sentence structure.
- 44
Inference from Tone
Inference from tone involves deducing the author's feelings, like skepticism, from word choices that indicate doubt or criticism.
- 45
Assumption Question Type
An assumption question type asks for the unstated belief that must be true for the argument to hold, requiring careful analysis of gaps.
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Verb Form Consistency
Verb form consistency means maintaining the same tense and mood throughout a sentence or related clauses to avoid confusion.
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Passage Summary
A passage summary is a concise restatement of the key points, useful for answering questions that require overall understanding.
- 48
Flawed Analogy
A flawed analogy is a comparison in an argument that doesn't hold because the items compared are not truly similar, weakening the logic.
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Strategy for Boldface Questions
A strategy for boldface questions is to map the argument's structure first, then determine the role of each bolded statement.
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Misplaced Modifier Example
A misplaced modifier like 'Running quickly, the finish line approached' incorrectly suggests the line is running, so it should be rephrased.
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Strengthen with New Evidence
Strengthening an argument with new evidence involves adding data that directly supports an assumption, making the conclusion more solid.
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Idiom: Fewer vs. Less
The idiom 'fewer' is used for countable nouns, like 'fewer apples,' while 'less' is for uncountable, like 'less water,' to ensure precise language.
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Reading Comprehension Question Stem
A reading comprehension question stem, such as 'The author mentions X primarily to,' guides the reader to find the purpose of specific details.
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Circular Reasoning
Circular reasoning is a flaw where the conclusion is restated as a premise, like 'This is true because it is,' making the argument invalid.
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Subordination in Sentences
Subordination in sentences uses words like 'although' to connect ideas of unequal importance, creating complex and logical structures.
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Evaluate Question Approach
An evaluate question approach involves thinking about what evidence would test the argument's key assumption, such as potential counterpoints.
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Pronoun Ambiguity
Pronoun ambiguity occurs when it's unclear what a pronoun refers to, like 'John told Tom his plan,' and should be clarified for precision.
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Analogous Reasoning
Analogous reasoning draws parallels between situations to support an argument, but it must be relevant to avoid logical errors.
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Common Trap: Overgeneralization
Overgeneralization is a trap where an argument applies a rule too broadly without evidence, making it vulnerable to exceptions.
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Gerund vs. Infinitive
A gerund ends in -ing and acts as a noun, while an infinitive is 'to' plus a verb, and choosing correctly maintains sentence flow.
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Inference Chain
An inference chain is a series of logical steps derived from a passage, building from one deduction to another for deeper understanding.