The buzz is intensifying, more so around the World Wide Web, as the stipulated period for the commencement of new GRE pattern approaches. This is the last month, that is June 2011, in which the GRE candidates can take the exam in the older and perhaps a more familiar pattern, full of analogies, synonyms and antonyms. The new GRE version will not feature random word meaning related questions, and will focus entirely on contextual problem solving.

Here is a quick round up of what’s new in the new GRE revised General Test:

• Lots of reading comprehension and contextual testing

Reading comprehension passages will easily make 80 percent of your GRE verbal section, but these questions can range from a single passage to multiple passages, depending upon which, the number of questions will vary from one to six. The kind of questions will be choosing the right answer choice in the context of the passage.

The twist in the tale is: There will be questions may have multiple rights answers and no, you don’t need to grope about looking for all the answers. The questions which may carry multiple right answers will be explicitly specified to be so!

Moreover, there will be questions that will ask you to highlight the text in the passage that is similar in meaning to the description given in the question. This means the GRE test will be more interactive rather than passive, as the older version was. You have access to greater amount of information to put your knowledge to work.

• Sentence Completion

This section is interesting as well. You have a nice paragraph with three to four blanks and three options for each blank. You simply have to complete each blank in the passage with the right word from the options given for respective blanks. As simple as that!

If there is only blank to fill, then five option choice are given.

• Sentence Equivalence Questions

This section is the easiest of all and is not even half as intimidating as it sounds. You are given a simple sentence with a single blank. Out of the six option choices, there are two answer choices that fill in the blank so that the two sentences, when completed are alike in meaning. This is you can say a more interactive way to test your knowledge of synonyms. For example, prevaricate and tergiversate are almost similar when they mean “to evade”

We have put together short GRE verbal reasoning exercises for you on the new GRE pattern, so that you can test your preparation level. As for the preparation tips, then you need to be know all the GRE words now also. Just because analogies have been done away with doesn’t mean that ETS will go easier on vocabulary. For all you know, it has become trickier, what with so many homonyms and homophones you have now to deal with. A single word can mean different things under different contexts and new GRE is all about contextual testing!

Another thing do is to read as extensively as you can. Spare an hour a day towards reading newspaper, journal articles and any literary material. Mark the tough words or unfamiliar words, try to guess the contextual meaning and also look up the real meaning from the dictionary to test how close you have been. If you are off the mark, then it is crucial that you start honing your reading skills and vocabulary ASAP!