The GRE® general test comprises an analytical writing section, one
verbal ability section and one quantitative ability section. Besides these,
there could be an additional experimental section which may be either a verbal
or a quantitative section. Sometimes, ETS may also give an identifiable
research section.
Analytical Writing Section
In this section, a candidate has to respond to two types of essays:
(i) Issue task
(ii) ArgumentTask
One Issue essay has to be typed in 45 minutes. As of now ETS gives two issue
topics and a candidate has to type out his response to one of these two topics.
In an Issue Essay a topic of general intellectual interest is given and a
candidate has to respond by expressing his opinion on the given issue and back
it up with valid reasons.
Sample Issue topic :- The application of sciences has proved to be more
often a curse than a boon, and it is a threat to a good standard of living.
Besides this, one Argument essay has to be typed in 30 minutes. ETS gives only
one argument topic and the candidate has no choice for this type of essay. In
an Argument essay, a candidate will examine the logical soundness of an
argument and critique it.
Sample Argument topic:-The chairman of the Baleroti car manufacturing
company asserted the following in his memo.
"An analysis of our past performance reveals that we did not fare as well as
our competitors because we have stuck to outdated designs. However, the
encouraging news is that many people across the country would be getting
driving licenses very soon and we should be able to increase our market share
by selling to these people. Hence, we should stop manufacturing our
old-fashioned cars and focus on manufacturing trendy cars. To add teeth to our
marketing effort we should now switchover to the Juvenile Ad agency, which
successfully marketed a leading cola."
Please note that the ISSUE and the ARGUMENT topics given here as sample topics
are not an exact replica of what ETS stipulates in its pool of topics. However,
these sample topics are on the lines of ETS topics. For the actual ETS pool of
topics please refer to the ETS website.
Verbal Section
Number of Questions = 30
Time allowed = 30 minutes
Question Types
No. of questions
Sentence Completion
5-7 questions
Analogies
6-8 questions
Reading Comprehension
6-10 questions
Antonyms
8-10 questions
All the questions are standard, multiple- choice questions with 5 choices.
Quantitative Section
Number of Questions = 28
Time allowed = 45 minutes
Question Types
No. of questions
Quantitative Comparison
13-15 questions
Problem Solving
8-10 questions
Data Interpretation
4-6 questions
Elementary knowledge of arithmetic, algebra and geometry is required to answer
the questions. Almost all the questions can be answered by application of high
school level concepts.
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