GRE Critical Reasoning: Sample Questions, Format, and Question Types PDF (Free Download) 

GRE Critical Reasoning: GRE’s Critical Reasoning Questions, often referred to as paragraph argument questions, are designed to gauge an individual’s cognitive prowess, aptitude, and analytical thinking skills. Students attempting GRE critical reasoning questions must exhibit different skills such as logical reasoning, deduction abilities, meticulous reading skills, and crisp thinking. 

The Critical Reasoning questions carry a ton of weight in the GRE, heavily influencing your overall score. Therefore, one must be familiar with such questions and know how to tackle them. That being said, read the complete article to learn more about GRE Critical Reasoning. 

GRE Critical Reasoning Format 

GRE Critical Reasoning Format:  Students intending to take the GRE can expect to find around at least one or two Critical Reasoning questions of the 27 Verbal Reasoning questions. Such questions come along with comprehension passages that you must read and come up with answers according to your analysis. GRE’s Critical Reasoning questions are designed to assess an individual’s ability to make and analyse arguments and plans. 

A critical reasoning question on the GRE typically begins with a brief passage, around 70 words or less. This passage serves as the basis for a question that tests your reading comprehension and reasoning skills. Refer to the following data to get an overview of the format of such questions. 

• The answer choices will either be presented in a 5-choice format, where only one answer is correct. 
• Answer choices can also be presented in a 3-choice format, where one, two, or all three choices could be correct. 
• In either case, your goal is to identify the answer choice that aligns most logically with the passage according to the question’s prompt.
• Some of the topics commonly asked in GRE’s critical reasoning questions include Business, Science, Government, and History. 

GRE Critical Reasoning Question Types

GRE Critical Reasoning Question Types: GRE Critical Reasoning Questions often pose a major challenge to test-takers, especially those who are taking the test for the first time. So much so that such questions have been deemed to be the most befuddling among the entire verbal section of the GRE. 

Students intending to attempt such questions must be well prepared and skilled to analyze arguments and handle answer choices that are meticulously worded to delude the test-takers. One way of tackling such questions is to keep abreast of the GRE critical reasoning question types. Being familiar with the GRE’s critical reasoning question types will help you get a solid idea of what to expect during the actual exam and how to tackle them. Have a look. 

• Identify the Assumption: Such questions require students to find the answer choice that states an assumption upon which the argument depends.
• Weaken the Argument: These questions require students to identify and select the answer choice that presents a fact that might weaken the argument or call into question the conclusion. 
• Strengthen the Argument: Such questions require students to identify and find answers that present a fact that would strengthen the argument or support the conclusion.
• Inference: These demand students to select responses that state a conclusion based on the facts offered in the passage.
• Resolve the Paradox: Such questions require students to choose answers that present a fact that would resolve or explain a situation that appears to be paradoxical. 
• Complete the Passage: These require students to select answers that best complete an uncompleted passage.
• Boldface: Questions of this type ask you to determine what roles parts of a passage play in an argument.  

Latest GRE Critical Reasoning Sample Questions (with Answers)- PDF FREE DOWNLOAD

GRE Critical Reasoning Questions PDF: Here are some sample questions that you can practice to ace your GRE Critical Reasoning questions. Download the free PDF from the link given below and practice the questions. Doing so will give you a solid understanding of the types of questions that can be asked, ensuring you are better equipped to tackle such questions on the day of the exam. Click on the link below to download the pdf for GRE critical reasoning sample questions (with answers) for free! 

5+ Tips To Ace GRE Critical Reasoning 

Here are some of the best tips for you to ace GRE critical reasoning questions. Refer to them to bolster your chances of securing better scores in the exam. 

• Students are advised to read the passage first. Grasping the passage is crucial for answering the question correctly. Without a solid understanding, the chance of getting it right is low. Conversely, a fully understood passage can make the best answer clear. Doing so can incrementally bolster your chances of securing better scores in the GRE’s critical reasoning questions. 
• Prioritizing the question stem can lead you to read with the question in mind, potentially causing you to miss important details you would have missed otherwise. However, you can perfectly understand an argument without ever seeing the question first. Recognizing the structure and reasoning of an argument doesn’t require knowing you’ll need to, for example, weaken it.
• You must be able to master the anatomy of an argument and identify its elements. Arguments are made up of facts that support the argument’s main point, underlying beliefs the argument relies on, and the main point the argument is trying to establish, supported by the evidence. This is the argument’s ultimate goal.
• Deciphering the key components of arguments within passages is a game-changer for your critical reasoning skills. Grasping the specific roles these elements play equips you to analyze how answer choices interact with the argument itself. For instance, imagine you’re tasked with finding an answer choice that strengthens the argument’s conclusion. This becomes a much simpler feat if you have a precise understanding of the conclusion itself. This targeted approach is far more effective than possessing a foggy notion of the argument’s general point.
• Understanding the question type allows you to focus on relevant parts of the passage and choose the answer that best aligns with the prompt.
• Students should ditch vague justifications and rely on solid logic for every step they take. This is because vague justifications can lead to inconsistent results in CR. Sometimes we might get lucky and feel good about our choices, but other times we’ll miss the mark and be confused about the ‘why’.
• On the other hand, using sound logical reasoning allows us to understand exactly why we’re eliminating wrong answers and picking the right ones. This consistent and logical approach translates to consistently correct answers in CR. So, the value of solid logic in backing up every move during CR questions becomes clear.
• Do not pre-think answers. Pre-thinking wastes time and can even lead us to trap answer choices.

Best Books For GRE Critical Reasoning in 2024 

Here are some of the best picks for GRE Critical Reasoning in 2024 that you can purchase to secure better scores on the test. Have a look. 

Name of the Book	Name of the Author/Publisher	Price	Purchase Link
GRE COMPLETE COURSE	Vibrant Publishers	INR 3,371	Click Here To Buy
OFFICIAL GRE VERBAL REASONING PRACTICE QUESTIONS	ETS	INR 749	Click Here To Buy
GRE Reading Comprehension: Detailed Solutions to 325 Questions	Vibrant Publishers	INR 599	Click Here To Buy
Wiley’s Verbal Ability and Reasoning	P.A Anand	INR 497	Click Here To Buy
GRE Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence Practice Questions	Vibrant Publishers	INR 599	Click Here To Buy

So that was all about GRE critical reasoning questions. Hope the blog has answered your queries regarding the topic. 

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