sonya muthaliathe graduate record examination general test is the computerbased examination taken by students who want to pursue nonmanagement postgraduation educational options in the united states of america and various other countries students based on their gre general test scores and other admission criteria can pursue various options in the social sciences arts and humanities and masters in engineering currently the gre general test is a 2400mark exam which is being modified with effect from october 1 2002 into a 1600mark exam with changes in the tested sections marks and pattern the examination however continues to remain in the computerbased formatthe revised gre general test format will comprise verbal quantitative and analytical writing sections while the verbal and quantitative sections will remain unchanged the analytical writing section will be identical to the standalone test known as the writing assessment first introduced in october 1999 the current analytical section however will no longer be part of the gre general test detailed below are the three sections which make up the revised gre general test formatverbal this is a 30minute section containing 30 multiplechoice questions based on the fundamentals that students have acquired during their education process this section tests the ability to analyse and evaluate written material and assimilate information obtained from the same it attempts to make an analysis of relationships among component parts of sentences as well as recognise relationships between words and conceptsquantitative a 45minute section containing 28 multiplechoice questions this section tests for conceptual clarity in the following concepts of arithmetic algebra geometry and data analysis quantitative reasoning ability to solve problems in a quantitative settinganalytical writing this is the new 75minute section comprising two analytical writing tasks this section tests the student for clear and effective articulation of complex ideas to examine claims and accompanying evidence to substantiate ideas or theories and the ability to use supporting ideas with relevant reasons and examples the section further checks if the student is able to sustain a wellfocused and coherent discussion while controlling the elements of standard written englishas mentioned earlier the analytical writing section comprises two analytical writing tasks detailed below a 45minute present your perspective on an issue task this task gives an opinion on an issue of general interest and asks the test taker to address the issue from any perspective that he she wants to along with relevant reasons and examples to support your views a 30minute analyse an argument task it requires the test taker to critique an argument by discussing how well reasoned he she finds it the testtaker is asked to consider the logical soundness of the argument rather than to agree or disagree with the position it presentsto summarise the revised format of the gre general test given below is a tabular representation of the current format versus the revised onescoring the scoring of