Paper-based GRE® revised General Test

Paper-based GRE® revised General Test

The GRE® revised General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking
and analytical writing skills—skills that have beendeveloped over a long period of time and are not
related to a specifi c fi eld of study, but are importantfor all. The GRE revised General Test features
question types that refl ect the kind of thinking youwill do and the skills you need to succeed in graduateand business school.This publication provides a comprehensive overview of each measure of the test to help you get
ready for test day. It is designed to help you:
• understand what is being tested
• gain familiarity with the various question types
• review test-taking strategies
• become familiar with the calculator that will be
distributed on test day
• review scored Analytical Writing essay responses
and reader commentary
• understand scoring
• practice taking the test
If you are planning to take the computer-based

GRE revised General Test, please visit
www.ets.org/gre/prepare for test preparation
materials for the computer-based test.
For test takers with disabilities or health-related
needs, visit www.ets.org/gre/disabilities for test
preparation materials.
Test Structure
The paper-based GRE revised General Test contains two Analytical Writing sections, two Verbal Reasoning sections and two Quantitative Reasoning sections.Total testing time is approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes. The directions at the beginning of each section specify the total number of questions in the section and the time allowed for the section. The Analytical Writing sections are always presented fi rst.Typical Paper-based GRE revised General Test Measure Number of Questions Time
Analytical Writing
(2 sections)

Section 1 Analyze an Issue

Unlike the previous paper-based GRE General Test and the GRE Subject Tests, which use separate
answer sheets, the paper-based GRE revised GeneralTest is self-contained: you will enter all responses for the Analytical Writing tasks and the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning questions in the
test book itself. Also, you are allowed to use a basic hand-held calculator on the Quantitative Reasoning
sections. The calculator will be provided to you at the test site; you may not use your own calculator. Information about using the calculator to help you answer questions appears on page 32.
Preparing for the GRE revised

General Test
Preparation for the test will depend on the amount of time you have available and your personal preferences
for how to prepare. At a minimum, before you take the paper-based GRE revised General Test, you
should know what to expect from the test, including the administrative procedures, types of questions and
directions, number of questions and amount of time for each section.The administrative procedures include registration and appointment scheduling, date, time, test center location, cost, score-reporting procedures and availability of special testing arrangements. You can fi nd out about the administrative procedures for the
revised General Test in the GRE Information and Registration Bulletin. Information is also available
online at www.ets.org/gre/general or by contacting ETS at 1-609-771-7670 or 1-866-473-4373 (toll free
for test takers in the U.S., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada).
Before taking the practice revised General Test, it is important to become familiar with the content
of each of the measures. In this publication, you will fi nd information specifi c to each measure of the test.
You can use this information to understand the type

of material on which you will be tested and the question types within each measure. Determine which
strategies work best for you. Remember—you can do very well on the test without answering every question
in each section correctly.
Test-taking Strategies
Analytical Writing Measure
Everyone—even the most practiced and confi dent of writers—should spend some time preparing for the
Analytical Writing measure before arriving at the test center. It is important to understand the skills
measured and how the tasks are scored. It is also useful to review the scoring guides, sample topics, scored
sample essay responses and reader commentary for each task. The tasks in the Analytical Writing measure
relate to a broad range of subjects—from the fi ne arts and humanities to the social and physical sciences—
but no task requires specifi c content knowledge. In fact, each task has been tested by actual GRE test
takers to ensure that it possesses several important characteristics, including the following:
• GRE test takers, regardless of their fi eld of study or special interests, understood the task and
could easily respond to it.
• The task elicited the kinds of complex thinking and persuasive writing that university faculty
consider important for success in graduate school. • The responses were varied in content and in the
way the writers developed their ideas.To help you prepare for the Analytical Writing measure,
the GRE Program has published the entire pool of tasks from which your test tasks will be selected.
You might fi nd it helpful to review the Issue and Argument pools. You can view the published pools at
www.ets.org/gre/awtopics.
Before taking the Analytical Writing measure, review the strategies, sample topics, essay responses
and reader commentary for each task contained in this document. Also review the scoring guides for
each task. This will give you a deeper understanding of how readers evaluate essays and the elements they
are looking for in an essay. In the paper-based revised General Test, the topics
in the Analytical Writing measure will be presented in the test book, and you will handwrite your essay
responses in the test book in the space provided.

Section 2 Analyze an Argument
30 minutes
per section
Verbal Reasoning
(2 sections)
25 questions per section 35 minutes
per section
Quantitative
Reasoning
(2 sections)
25 questions per section 40 minutes
per section