Does mastering 3500 words ensure a GRE score of 320 or more? Part 1

Does the thought of cramming 3500 words for the Verbal section in GRE words give you nightmares?

With experience, we understand that learning and retaining words is a stumbling block that students encounter before taking up their GRE. It’s not because of their inability to learn words. It’s because they haven’t found the right technique to enjoy the process of learning words.

What if we say that you can learn all the 3500 words easily? Can such assertion be true? Does that guarantee a 320+ in GRE?

I bet some of these questions would obsess you day and night, if you are planning to prepare or are preparing for your GRE.
Let’s understand in detail.

Why is Vocabulary so important?

Being familiar with GRE words is fundamental to analyze, interpret, extrapolate, and read faster. These are the few skills needed to score high in GRE. Few other crucial skills include Analytical reasoning and reading ability.
The important learning that you should take from this is, none of these skills can be mastered without a strong vocabulary.
Now, let’s understand the other skills that is needed, one by one.

• Reading Ability

About 50% of the questions in the Verbal section require you to comprehend with clarity so that you are prepared to answer tricky questions. To score well in the reading comprehension section, you need to be at ease with reading and understanding topics like humanities, science, technology and economics—you must especially train yourself to read topics that you don’t like.

• Interpreting and Extrapolating

Some ideas will be explicitly stated in a passage, while some will be hidden. You need to interpret the ideas in the passage, understand what is explicitly stated, and extrapolate things which are not directly discussed in the passage. Differentiating between ideas which are stated and those that are not stated in the passage plays a key role in answering tough questions.

•  Analytical Reasoning

Analytical reasoning skill is also one of the most vital prerequisites to cracking the Verbal section. You should be able to conceptualize, analyze, and articulate ideas quickly and with clarity. Reasoning choices out, perusing all the given options, and deducing the right answer are important in obtaining a high score in Verbal.

Download the step-by-step guide to get a complete solution to your Vocab problems

Learn words so that you never forget them

Here is an example. Do you know the meaning and usage of this word?

EGREGIOUS

No?

When you suddenly bump against a new word, in all probability, the word gets on your nerves and your system crashes.

Now take a look at this paragraph to understand the context in which the word is used.

“Write long enough and you will eventually pass all of life’s basic grammar tests. While you may not be able to quote the rules and semantics of the English language, you undoubtedly don’t commit egregious and dopey errors in your sentences and paragraphs. It is still not clear, right? It should, however, be slightly easier now since the context in which the word appears is familiar to you.”

Important skills needed for a high verbal score

The answer is your Reading and GRE Vocabulary skills. Under this broad category come the reasoning and analytical skills, the ability to understand complex sentences, and familiarity with words and their applications. If you just focus on these aspects, you will not find the Verbal section as difficult as it is said to be.

And let’s not forget the word, egregious. Egregious sounds like massive errors from the passage. But, what’s the exact meaning? Look at the picture that stands as an example to the word.

GRE Word- Egregious

Are you now close to understanding the meaning of the word?

Egregious means shocking. Taking photos of a sinking man instead of rescuing him is a shocking thing to do; it is extremely bad. This meaning, the example, and the image will help you remember the word for some time to come.

Do not postpone learning words. As and when you see a new word, stop to learn every aspect of the particular word.

What should you do?

Connect your actual experiences with the GRE words. That would build a curiosity around the word and would help you choose the word from your memory with ease.

Use WordBot

This word learning tool has helped many students to score well in their Verbal Section. This smart interface engages with every type of learner. Visual mnemonics, audio pronunciation, and root words to help you master 3500 GRE words from a single platform.

Comment below if you have any doubts regarding the first part. Solve tricky questions and understand the right process of learning GRE words in part 2.

Go to part 2…