McGraw-Hill Education GRE 2019

Argument-Based Passages

In an argument-based passage, you will be given one paragraph and one associated

question. Though ETS groups these passages with other types of Reading

Comprehension passages, your approach toward these passages should differ from

the approach you take toward a typical Reading Comprehension passage. Usually,

the passage will present information and a claim drawn from that information.

Your task will be to identify information that most impacts the argument by

strengthening it, weakening it, providing an assumption, or resolving an apparent

discrepancy. Let’s take a look at a sample question and how to approach it:

Two software producers, DigiCom and EverDrop, recently launched new

word processors. The two word processors are comparably priced, and

each received highly favorable reviews during independent consumer tests.

Nonetheless, since DigiCom has spent more money than EverDrop on

advertising, sales of the DigiCom word processor will greatly exceed those of

the EverDrop word processor.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the author’s

prediction?

A DigiCom’s production team spent twice as many hours refining the

usability of its current word processor as it did refining the usability

of its previous word processor.

B Any large differences between the two word processors are obvious

only to users with specific experience in software engineering.

C News and media outlets have not extensively publicized the release of

DigiCom and EverDrop’s software.

D DigiCom’s advertising budget for the new word processor is greater

than its advertising budget for any of its other lines of software.

E EverDrop’s advertising team is well-known for perfectly tailoring the

company’s ads to its target demographic.

How to Tackle Questions on an Argument-Based Passage

First, read and categorize the question. The sample question is a “strengthen”

question. The correct answer should provide a fact that will support the author’s

argument.

Next, understand the situation in the passage. Think of the situation as a

summary of all the background facts presented in the passage. In this case, the

situation can be paraphrased as the following: two companies have released new

software that is about equally priced and that has generated positive reviews.

Next, identify the argument. The argument is an opinion drawn in the passage

based on certain evidence. The evidence used to support the opinion is called the

premise or premises, and the opinion the author draws is called the claim.

134 PART 2 ■ GRE ANALYTICAL WRITING AND VERBAL REASONING

02-GRE-Test-2018_107-172.indd 134 13/05/17 11:06 am