The Lower Level ISEE’s Verbal Reasoning section can make a lot of students nervous. Are you one of these students? Are you not sure what the section tests, how its questions are presented, or how you can study for it? This guide will provide all of this information and hopefully help you feel less nervous about taking the Lower Level ISEE’s Verbal Reasoning section.

The Lower Level ISEE is typically given to students in fourth and fifth grade. Their scores on the exam are used in their applications to certain independent schools. The Lower Level ISEE contains four different scored sections and an Essay. One of these scored sections is the Verbal Reasoning section, which tests students’ abilities to work with words by relating some words to other words and to sentences. All of the questions on the Lower Level ISEE’s Verbal Reasoning section are multiple-choice questions, and there are only two types of questions asked on this section: Synonym questions and Fill-in-the-Blank questions. Synonym questions present a word in all capital letters and ask students to pick out the answer choice whose meaning is closest to the meaning of the word in all capital letters. So, for instance, if one Synonym question’s prompt was “SPEEDY,” and its answer choices were “quick,” “slow,” smooth,” and “watery,” “quick” would be the correct answer, because “quick” is the answer choice whose meaning is closest to that of “speedy.” The other type of question found on the Lower Level ISEE’s Verbal Reasoning section is Fill-in-the-Blank. As you might be able to guess, these questions present a sentence that contains a blank, and ask you to pick out the answer choice that makes the most sense when used in the blank. For instance, if a Fill-in-the-Blank question’s sentence was “I nearly burned my tongue on the tea because it was so __________,” the correct answer would be something like “hot,” because the sentence tells us that the speaker “nearly burned [his or her] tongue” on the tea, which means it was very hot. Certain Fill-in-the-Blank questions involve two blanks, and each answer choice presents two words that you cannot mix and match. The strategy for solving this kind of Fill-in-the-Blank question is the same: look for context clues and other information presented in the sentence that suggests a certain pair of words above others. Finally, Fill-in-the-Blank ISEE Verbal Reasoning questions may also involve phrases instead of single words. Once more, you should approach these questions in the same way as other Fill-in-the-Blank questions, paying attention to the logic of the sentence and any clues that it provides as to what would make the most sense in the blank. If you find yourself stuck on any problem on the ISEE, it’s a good idea to guess, since your score is only calculated from the number of questions you get right and ignores any questions you got wrong, or for which you didn’t submit an answer. This means that guessing can only help your score—it can’t hurt it!

One way to enhance your study sessions is through taking a free Full-Length Lower Level ISEE Verbal Reasoning Practice Test. These comprehensive tests ask you to utilize all of the skills you might be asked to exercise on the real exam. The lengthy format gives you a chance to build your endurance and practice your pacing. Just like the results pages for the concept-specific practice tests, each results page for the complete practice tests includes a review of relevant concepts and clear explanations of each answer. These free online ISEE practice tests can also help you create a personalized study guide by illuminating the specific topics on which you may want to spend your study time. As you work through your study plan, try using the other Learning Tools to bolster your review. Once you feel prepared, you can evaluate your progress by taking another Full-Length Lower Level ISEE Verbal Reasoning Practice Test.

If you want to practice answering some Synonym questions or Fill-in-the-Blank questions, like those you will encounter on the Lower Level ISEE’s Verbal Reasoning section, use Varsity Tutors’ free ISEE Lower Level Verbal Reasoning Practice Tests! These Practice Tests each contain about a dozen questions, and you can choose to either do Practice Tests with a mix of question types, or to focus on one particular type of question; you should work in a way that best meets your studying needs. After completing a Practice Test, you get to see how your score compares to those of other test-takers, how long it took you to answer each question, and full explanations for each problem. By reading the explanations for any the problems you missed, you can figure out where you went wrong or learn the word that gave you trouble. By using Varsity Tutors’ free Lower Level ISEE resources to study, you can make sure that you feel fully prepared to give the Lower Level ISEE your best shot on test day.