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Sample Excerpt 2: Guerrilla Tactics for the GRE™*: Secrets and Strategies the Test Writers Don’t Want You to Know
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Sample
1: Table of Contents
Sample
1: Table of Contents Table
of Contents
Resume Center General
Tips
About Us Our
Mission
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Chapter 2: Vocabulary
Tips for the GRE™ Antonym questions, in which you will be given a word and asked to identify the answer choice that means the exact opposite Analogy questions, which present two words that are related in some way. You must determine the relationship and find another pair of words that is related in the same way Sentence completion
questions, which require you to select the correct word to complete a
Reading comprehension
questions, which will ask you to define or explain the meaning of a word
in a particular context To no one's surprise, all of these sections are laced with difficult words that students must know to answer the questions correctly. Fortunately, the test writers continue to use several fairly predictable tricks and traps when they write these questions. By anticipating (and preparing for) them, savvy students can ace these sections of the exam WITHOUT memorizing the definitions of thousands of unfamiliar words. In fact, from our perspective, most test prep classes take an overly ambitious approach to vocabulary that we feel is inherently misguided. Without exception, they present their students with a list of 3,000 to 5,000 definitions to memorize in the weeks before the test. The problem is, most students must balance their GRE preparation with their college courses, outside jobs and numerous personal responsibilities. Few of them have the time or energy to retain thousands of new definitions for the big day. In fact, we know several students who became overwhelmed by the lists that they began to confuse the words. On the actual exam, they easily fell into one of the test writers' main traps. Let's be honest about the vocabulary challenges of the GRE; unless you have a crystal ball, there is no way you will know exactly what words will appear on the exam. Whether you memorize 300 words or 3,000, there's an excellent chance that at least one or two words will appear that you don't know. The solution, however, is NOT to memorize more words, but to focus your attention on those what are most likely to show up on the GRE. By focusing on the test writers' most popular tricks and traps, you can achieve excellent results with far less preparation time. In this chapter, we
will describe the resources that are included in the Appendices, along
with our detailed strategies for using them: Strategy 2. Many students are stunned to discover that they only need to know the general meaning of words (rather than exact definitions) for the Analogy, Antonym, and Sentence Completion sections of the GRE. They are even MORE stunned to learn that the test writers tend to limit their questions to the same 15 to 20 groups of words…… and their opposites. This is definitely a situation that savvy students can use to their advantage. If you study sample GREs, you will notice several similarities in Sentence Completion questions: 1. Most of the sentences
are written in a similar manner; the blank(s) are adjectives that describe
a person, mood, place or situation. 4. Further, the four
incorrect answer choices nearly ALWAYS include a difficult or unusual
word that means exactly the opposite of the correct word! If the
student has not followed the logic of the question, or, in questions with
two blanks, has misinterpreted the relationship between the two words,
these “opposites” represent a classic (and avoidable) trap.
Example 1.
Jenny had a tendency to be _______ with her friends, always loaning
them money a. parsimonious If you did not know the correct answer, note how helpful the information in Appendix 2 would have been. Below, I have copied the two lists of words from that Appendix that mean generous and cheap. Not only was the correct answer choice on the list; one of the words that means the opposite of generous was also included as an incorrect answer choice as a trap. Generous: Altruistic, beneficent, benevolent, charitable, effusive, humanitarian, magnanimous, munificent, philanthropic Cheap: Frugal, miserly, paltry, parsimonious, penurious, provident, thrifty Although the 10 words listed under “generous” differ slightly in meaning, the GRE rarely explores such minor differences. Its focus, inevitably, is whether or not students can distinguish the words on one of the lists from those on the other.
Example 2. Jane’s __________ attitude at work was particularly impressive, considering her recent painful injury. a. nascent Hard Working: Assiduous, diligent, persevering, tenacious Lazy: Apathetic, indolent, insipid, languid, lethargic, torpor,
In recent test preparation
classes, we have received incredibly positive feedback from students on
our list of word groupings in Appendix 2. If learning them in this manner
is a good fit for your personal learning style, then by all means do so.
We are sure that the technique will help you to earn several points on
the GRE. If not, read on for another strategy that will inevitably come
in
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