GRE

Half a Century Plus of High-Frequency GRE Vocabulary

Dilip Oak's Academy

16615941154_7ddf951ddd_o

The following post packs 60+ high-frequency GRE words into a simple but engaging tale from the Panchatantra about how a sage found a suitable spouse for his mouse daughter.See if you can understand the exact meanings of the sentences. If not word meanings along with illustrative sentences are given below.

 

A Husband for a Mouse

There was once a hermitage on the bank of the Ganga where a community of hermits lived an idyllic life of quietude and meditation, quite oblivious to the world. The hermits were disciples of a sage named Yadnyavalkya, who practiced rigid self-discipline and was always rapt in meditation. One day, while he was performing his diurnal ablutions in the river, a hawk flew over with a female mouse in its talons. Suddenly, the hawk lost hold of the mouse and it plummeted from the hawk’s grip straight into the hands of the ascetic. When he perceived the hawk still lurking above, he knew he could not forsake the mouse, or the rapacious predator would seize it again. So, he placed the mouse on a leaf of a nearby Banyan tree and, using his yogic faculty of transmutation, he changed it into a little girl. He then brought her to the hermitage and said to his wife, “My dear, please accept this child as a blessing, as we do not have children of our own.” Thus, the girl became a denizen of human society, living in the hermitage and, mastering the art of meditation under the conscientious care of the sage himself.

One day some years later, the sage’s wife apprised him of the fact that their daughter was now nubile. They decided to give the matter serious thought, since she was a singular young woman and therefore deserved a no less singular husband. The next morning, using his powers of invocation, the sage summoned the sun god and said, “Please accept my daughter’s hand in marriage and, if she accepts you, may you both live in connubial bliss.”

The daughter however, balked at accepting this suitor eminent though he was, “Father”, she said, “the sun god illuminates the entire world with his transcendent brilliance, but he is torrid and choleric. I therefore do not wish to marry him. Please find a better husband for me.” The sage wondered, “Who might be a better husband than the sun god?”

The luminary suggested, “O sage, if your daughter finds my refulgent personality too resplendent for her tastes, why not solicit the consent of the king of clouds to this marriage? He is cool where I am hot and a provider of shade rather than light. Further, he is superior to me, for his cloud walls can impede my light and hide me from the sight of men.”

So the sage, using his powers, summoned the King of Clouds, and said, “Please accept my daughter’s hand in marriage and, if she accepts you, may you live with her in conjugal bliss.”

But once more there were remonstrances from the daughter: “Father, the king of clouds is swarthy in appearance and dank and tenebrous in nature. I do not wish to marry him. Please seek a better husband for me.”

The sage wondered, “Who might be a better husband than the king of clouds?” The king of clouds said, “O sage, let me suggest a solution to your quandary. Why not seek an alliance with the wind god? He neither dark nor light but, he is superior to me, for he can dispel my cloud chariots with his power.”

So the sage then summoned the wind god, and said, “Please accept my daughter’s hand. Live with her in nuptial bliss, if she accepts you.”

But there were expostulations from the daughter once again: “Father, the wind god is too volatile, restive, and fickle. He keeps changing direction. I cannot marry him. Please seek a better husband for me.”

The sage wondered, “Who might be a better husband than the wind god?” The wind god said, “O sage, why not seek the alliance of the king of mountains? He is superior to me, for he is firm and unchanging and, he alone can stand in my way and force me to change my course according his will. He might be the husband that your daughter seeks.”

So the sage, using his powers, summoned the king of mountains, and said, “Please accept my daughter’s hand. Live with her in matrimonial bliss, if she accepts you.”

But the daughter said, “Father, the king of mountains has a stony, glacial personality and he is completely unyeilding. I cannot marry such an adamant husband. Please seek a better husband for me.”

The sage sighed, “Who might be a better husband than the king of mountains?” he wondered. But the king of mountains himself advised, “O sage, the way out of your predicament is seek an alliance with the king of mice. He is superior to me, for stony and obdurate though I am, he has riddled me with holes.”

So the sage, using his powers, summoned the king of mice, and said, “Please accept my daughter’s hand in marriage and resolve my dilemma. Live with her in matrimonial bliss, if she accepts you.”

When his daughter met the king of mice, she immediately conceived an ardor for him (which in time became both obsessive and erotic) and she shyly agreed to the marriage. So the sage transformed his daughter into a beautiful female mouse, and thus she was finally married.

Thus the wise say: What is innate is immutable.

Vocabulary

  1. idyllic (adjective): relating to the peaceful life in the countryside: “Between the ages of eight and twelve, I lived an idyllic life on my father’s farm in the countryside.” “On the wall was a painting showing an idyllic scene with a lake and mountains.”

 

  1. meditation (noun): deep and concentrated thought: “After twenty years of continuous meditation, the sage finally perceived the ultimate truth.” “I read philosophy for two hours every morning, then spend an hour in meditation on what I have just read.”

 

  1. quietude (noun): peace and quiet; tranquillity: “The only way I can survive my office job is by looking forward to my twice-yearly holidays in the quietude of the mountains.”

 

  1. oblivious (adjective): completely unaware: “Being completely absorbed in his work, the professor was oblivious to the fact that his marriage had collapsed and his wife was about to leave him.” “The dog lay in the middle of the road eating a rat, oblivious to the rapidly approaching goods carrier.”

 

  1. rapt (adjective): completely absorbed in something: “I found him sitting on the beach, in rapt contemplation of the sunset.”

 

  1. rigid (adjective): usually stiff and hard; here it means not allowing variation or deviation from a fixed plan or path: “He followed a rigid (unvarying) daily routine.” “Immediately after death, the body of an animal begins to become rigid.” “During the night, the wet clothes left on the clothesline had frozen and become rigid.”

 

  1. diurnal (adjective): daily (rather than weekly, monthly or yearly); happening in the day (instead of in the night): “After my father’s death, I became so severely depressed that I was unable to perform even the most basic diurnal” “Records of temperature variation are kept on an annual, monthly and diurnal basis” “Bats are nocturnal creatures, most domestic animals (e.g. the dog, the cat and the cow) are diurnal”

 

  1. ablution (noun, usually as plural ablutions): the act of washing: “Many religious rituals begin with ablutions.”

 

  1. talon (noun): the claw of a bird: “The eagle dived and seized the piglet in its talons.”

 

  1. plummet (verb): to fall straight down: “The airline pilot knew that if the plane’s last engine stopped the plane would plummet ten kilometres to the ocean below.” “I saw the man plummet from the roof of the office tower to the street below.”

 

  1. ascetic (noun): a person who abstains from excessive sensual indulgence for religious reasons: “For fifty years the ascetic lived in the forest eating nothing but dead leaves.”

 

  1. perceive (verb): to notice; to apprehend (to come to know and understand) with the senses: “I am unable to perceive a difference between these two twin monkeys.” “Only people with perfect eyesight can perceive the moons of Jupiter without a telescope.”

 

  1. lurk (verb): to move stealthily and cautiously so as not to be seen: “At night, dogs and cats prowl through the alleys loking for the rats that lurk” “The superstitious villagers never use that road, because they believe that ghosts lurk in the nearby woods.”
  1. forsake (verb): to abandon: “You can’t depend on anyone else in your life, but you can always be sure that your dog will never forsake” “At a time when I was very discouraged about my PhD program, my sister urged me not to forsake my studies.”

 

  1. rapacious (adjective): eager to grasp; apt to seize: “In cities, the pig is a rapacious scavenger, eating several times his own body weight in garbage every day.” “The general let loose his rapacious soldiers on the conquered city, which they looted and burnt, killing every inhabitant they found.”

 

  1. predator (noun): an animal or person who pursues others as prey: “The shark is the most dangerous predator in the ocean.” “The court decided that the gangster was a dangerous predator who should be locked up in prison for the rest of his life.”

 

  1. faculty (noun): an ability; a physical or mental power: “This kind of demon has the faculty of changing his shape at will.” “Of all our faculties, the faculty of reason is the one that is most uniquely human.”

 

  1. transmutation (noun): a change of one thing into something different; a transformation: “Ancient scientists believed that there must be some way to achieve the transmutation of iron into gold.” “When we wash this dirty, shaggy dog and shear off his hair, we will bring about a transmutation, effectively making him into a new dog.”

 

  1. denizen (noun): a resident or inhabitant; in the story it means one who has become adapted to a new condition or place: “The whale is the largest denizen of the ocean.” “originally inhabitants of colder climes they became denizens of the hot desert regions.”

 

  1. conscientious (adjective): careful, attending to every detail; always striving to do what is good, right and proper; always living life and making decisions according to ethics and conscience: “Thanks to his conscientious attendance on her, his mother recovered from her grave illness within just three weeks.” “The scientist was fired by the pharmaceutical company because of his conscientious refusal to participate in experiments on animals.”

 

  1. apprise (verb): to inform: “This letter is to apprise you that your services are no longer required at our company.” “The police called her to apprise her of the fact that her husband had been arrested.”

 

  1. nubile (adjective): of marriageable age; ready for marriage: “In traditional societies, girls are generally married off as soon as they become nubile.”

 

  1. singular (adjective): unique; extraordinary: “He was a man of extraordinary brilliance and goodness, certainly the most singular individual I have ever known.” “Even after thirty years, this film remains a singular”

 

  1. invocation (noun): the act of invoking or calling upon a deity, spirit, etc., for aid, protection, inspiration and so on: “Usually the invocation of God is done only in times of distress” “The invocation ceremony involved saying lots of phrases in Sanskrit and the burning of much incense and other offerings in the sacred fire.”
  1. connubial (adjective): relating to marriage: “She did not believe that cooking and cleaning were among her connubial” “They remained together for thirty years of connubial misery.”

 

  1. balk (verb): stop short, as if faced with an obstacle; and refuse to continue: “He was willing to participate in the robbery but, balked at the idea of murder” “She had a fiery revolutionary spirit and there was little that could stop her since there was little that she balked”

 

  1. eminent (adjective) high, lofty; in the story it means having high status: “Of all mountains, Everest is the most eminent.” “Attending the conference were several eminent scientists including Einstein.”

 

  1. illuminate (verb): to enlighten; to light up: “We propose to illuminate the housing society with powerful new lights.”

 

  1. transcendent (adjective): above all others; supreme: “Thanks to his extraordinary achievements in many intellectual fields, he is generally regarded as a transcendent” “Draupadi was a woman of transcendent beauty.”

 

  1. torrid (adjective): very hot; passionate: “He bought a house in Uttarakashi because he was no longer able to endure the torrid summers in Tamilnadu.” “They got married after a torrid two-year love affair.”

 

  1. choleric (adjective): tending to be easily angered; irascible: “He was a choleric man who had few friends and never married.” “The rhinoceros is among the most choleric of beasts.”

 

  1. luminary (noun): one of the shining heavenly bodies (the sun, moon, and stars); (also one who is highly respected in his field or is an inspiration to others in it): “In ancient times people used to believe that the luminaries revolved around the earth.”

 

  1. refulgent (adjective): brightly shining; gleaming: “The solitary knight advanced against the opposing army, a heroic figure in refulgent silver armour.” “The burning sun, reflected in the refulgent windows of the skyscraper, nearly blinded the pilot of the helicopter as he circled the building.
  1. resplendent (adjective) dazzling; glorious; brilliant: “The crew of the naval vessel resplendent in their white uniforms, stood at attention on its deck.” “The crown was resplendent with jewels”
  1. (consent)(noun): permission or agreement: “Before you go ahead with the play, get the principal’s consent” “When asked whether she would marry him, she gave her consent.”
  1. solicit (verb): to strongly request; to beg: “It is illegal to solicit people for money in public places.” “The prime ministerial candidate took special care to solicit the support of the IT sector.”

 

  1. impede (verb): to block; to prevent: “A pile up of logs and other debris had impeded the flow of the river and had thus created a little lake.” “Right-wing economists charge that social programs impede economic growth.”

 

  1. conjugal (adjective): relating to marriage:“Balancing professional demands and conjugal duties is not an easy task.” “Disturbances in conjugal conjugal life can affect your performance in your place of work and vice-versa.”

 

  1. remonstrance (noun): protest; objection: “They agreed but, not without remonstrance” “The stern look that he gave them silenced all remonstrance”

 

  1. quandary (noun): a puzzling or difficult situation: “Having lost his passport and all his money, he found himself in a quandary.” “My quandary is this: how do I tell her that her husband is dead without shattering her newfound confidence in life?”

 

  1. swarthy (adjective): dark: “Under the blazing summer sun, the complexions of cricketers and other sports people can become quite swarthy.” “ The newcomers had the swarthy skins of those who work all day in the fields or travel through the deserts.”

 

  1. dank (adjective): unpleasantly damp or humid: “After walking in heavy fog for three hours, it was a relief to get back home and out of the dank” “They walked through the dank corridors of the abandoned underground storage buildings.” “The dank monsoon atmosphere is very bad for respiratory problems.”

 

  1. tenebrous (adjective): dark; relating to darkness: “For the better part of the twentieth century, the wreck of the Titanic lay undiscovered in the tenebrous depths of the north Atlantic ocean.” “In the other directions it was bright and clear but to the south we could see a tenebrous sky, darkened by thunderclouds on the southern horizon.”

 

  1. dispel (verb): to scatter; to drive away: “Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to dispel the rioting mob.” “Our NGO is working to dispel the public’s irrational fear of genetically modified foods.”

 

  1. nuptial (adjective): relating to marriage:“ modern couples might believe in taking nuptial vows but, many do not believe in nuptial rights and ceremonies.” “Different cultures associate different colours with bridal attire (clothing): in America it is the nuptial white of the brides gown; in India it is the red of her nuptial But of the nuptial couple, the bride alone has traditionally assigned colours; the groom can chose whatever colours he likes”

 

  1. expostulation (noun) protest: They submitted to the orders but, not without vigorous expostulation.

 

  1. volatile (adjective): rapidly changing; inconstant; unpredictable: “Having a volatile personality, he frequently spoke angrily to friends for no apparent reason, then apologized the next day.” “Global warming has led to a more volatile climate, with the seasons becoming unpredictable from year to year.”

 

  1. restive (adjective): agitated; restless: “Because of the raging thunderstorm, his horse was restive and difficult to control.” “Most of the animals in the zoo seemed restive and unhappy.”

 

  1. fickle (adjective): easily changing one’s mind; likely to go back on decisions and choices: “Right now, opinion polls strongly suggest that he will be elected prime minister in next week’s election, but voters are fickle, so it will be impossible to be certain until all the votes are in.” “If I had known how fickle she is, I would not have bought her the expensive car that she said she liked. Now she is telling me to take it back.”

 

  1. glacial (adjective): icy; like or relating to ice: “During the Canadian winter, glacial winds often blow down from the Arctic, bringing very low temperatures.” “Don’t expect him to be friendly when you meet him: he is known for hs glacial”

 

  1. unyielding (adjective) inflexible, firm: “The lawyer appealed to the judge for leniency but, the judge was unyielding”
  1. adamant (adjective) completely unyielding in opinion or attitude despite appeals, urgings, arguments etc.: “He was threatened, bribed, coaxed but he remained adamant”
  1. predicament (an.) an unpleasantly puzzling, difficult or dangerous situation: “He was now in a roomful of gangsters all of whom were looking at him with hostile stares – it was a predicament that he could see no easy way out of”
  1. obdurate (adjective) stubborn, refusing to listen: “How we are going to get this obdurate man to go along with out plan I don’t know”
  1. riddle (verb): to pierce something all over with holes: “With his machine gun, the terrorist riddled the side of the train with bullets.” “In every empty lot, rats riddle the ground with their burrows.”

 

  1. resolve (verb): provide a solution to: “If both sides are willing to listen, I am confident that we can resolve this problem”

 

  1. dilemma (noun) a difficult or puzzling problem or situation; a difficult choice between two equally pleasant (or unpleasant) alternatives: “His dilemma was that he had to go but he couldn’t find an excuse to leave” “The proposals were both equally attractive; how to choose between them was his dilemma”

 

  1. conceive (verb): normally this means to become pregnant; here it means to experience the beginning of a feeling, idea etc: “She conceived the idea while she was in bed with a fractured leg”

 

  1. ardor (noun): passionate love for someone or something; a passion for someone or something: “He speaks of her with such ardor that you can tell he must still be passionately in love with her.” “A good teacher is able to communicate his ardor for the subject to his students.”

 

  1. obsessive (adjective): persistently and involuntarily recurring in the mind: “She has an obsessive concern with cleanliness, and spends much of the day cleaning the house and everything in it.” “His obsessive hatred of dogs led him to put out poison for the neighborhood strays.”

 

  1. erotic (adjective): relating to sexual desire: “Nowadays few people know that there is an large body of erotic poetry in Sanskrit.” “Erotic love is different from other kinds of love, but it is a form of love.”

 

  1. innate (adjective): inborn; present in the individual since the time of birth; congenital: “It is still impossible to say with certainty whether personality traits are innate or acquired.” “The human infant has an innate linguistic ability which allows him to rapidly pick up language from people around him.”

 

  1. immutable (adjective): unchangeable; unchanging: “It is an immutable law of nature that every living thing must eventually die.” “The Himalayas have stood as immutable witnesses to thousands of years of Indian history.”

A High-Frequency GRE Vocabulary Punch… from the Panchantantra

Dilip Oak's Academy

533117376_7f575bc39c_o

This story from the Panchatantra contains 19 high-frequency GRE words. See if you can understand the meanings from the story otherwise, the meanings are given below.

Mandavisarpini was a white flea. She lived in the folds of the luxuriant bedclothes on the bed of a king in a certain country; she lurked about in them at night and fed on his blood without anybody noticing. One day, a bug managed to enter the beautifully decorated bedroom of the king. When the flea saw him, she cried, “O bug, what are you doing in the king’s bedroom? Leave at once before you get caught!”

The bug replied, “Madam, even if I were just a nugatory good-for-nothing pest (which I most certainly am not), it would not be right to treat me this way, because I am your guest, and one should welcome a guest with comity and humility. It is the duty of the host to offer refreshments,” the bug continued, “and though I have fed myself with all types of blood, I never have I had the opportunity to savor the blood of a king. It must be very savory, for a king’s life is filled with all kinds of opulence, and so he must satisfy his palate with only the most magnificent culinary marvels. So, if you will permit, I would love to taste the king’s blood.”

The flea was dumbfounded.

“O Bug, you have a painful bite which feels like a barb perforating the skin, she said, “so the king will surely wake up when you bite him. I feed on the king’s blood only when he is in profound sleep. I can permit you to feed on the king’s blood only if you promise to wait till he is asleep.”

The bug agreed: “I promise to wait till the king is asleep, and only after you yourself have fed will I feed on his blood.”

Soon after they had resolved on this plan, the king came and lay down to sleep. The bug could not control himself, and decided to take a tiny bite of the king right away. As the king had not yet fallen asleep, he jumped when he felt the bug’s sharp bite. Distraught, the king shouted to his servants: “There is something in my bed that has bitten me! Look for it!”

On hearing this, the bug quickly ran to a corner of the bed and camouflaged himself by standing in front of the dark wood of the bedframe. The servants scrutinized the bedclothes sheet by sheet, and found the flea in one of the folds. They killed her at once, thus allaying the king’s anxiety, and the king then went to sleep in peace.
Thus the wise say: Beware the false promises of strangers and friends alike. You are the one who will end up paying for them.

GRE Vocabulary and Meanings

  1. luxuriant (adjective): splendid, shining, and beautiful: “He watched her as she combed her luxuriant brown hair.” “The actress came to the awards ceremony dressed in a luxuriant green sari.”
  2. lurk (verb): to move stealthily and cautiously so as not to be seen: “At night, rats lurk in the ground-floor rooms of our house.” “I never walk on the university campus at night, because they say that thieves lurk in the woods there.”
  3. nugatory (adjective): worthless: “Throughout my teens I continuously wrote poetry, most of which now seems nugatory or positively hilarious.” “A degree from a third-rate university is nugatory.”
  4. comity (noun): courtesy; consideration; kindness: “Political refugees deserve to be treated with comity by the host state while their applications are being considered.” “I wouldn’t recommend that hospital: I sensed a distinct lack of comity on the one occasion when I was treated there.”
  5. humility (noun): humbleness; lack of pride: “Despite his fame, the actor always treated his fans with humility and gratitude.” “When approaching the god in worship, you must always assume an attitude of humility.”
  6. savor (verb): to attentively appreciate a positive experience, particularly a taste: “Just savor the bold flavor of this new Italian wine I bought today.” “I hate it when other audience members talk at concerts while I’m trying to savor the music.”
  7. savory (adjective): tasty; having a pleasing taste: “This bhaji is much more savory than I expected: in fact, on the basis of its appearance, I thought it would taste disgusting.” “A little spice makes food more savory; too much spice just drowns out the taste.”
  8. opulence (noun): splendor of wealth; splendid show of wealth: “Having been quite poor before he became famous, the young actor was unprepared for the opulence of his new lifestyle.” “He’s a man of simple tastes, so he is very uncomfortable with the opulence of the expensive new house his wife forced him to buy.”
  9. palate (noun): the top of the mouth, once thought to be the location of the faculty of taste; the faculty of taste: “Our food will delight your palate with tastes you’ve never even imagined.” “There’s no point in taking him to fancy restaurants: He has the palate of a street dog.”
  10. culinary (adjective): relating to cooking and food: “Among the things that most attracted her to him were his culinary skills.” “For me, the most memorable thing about our trip to Europe was the great variety of culinary experiences we had in the countries we visited.”
  11. dumbfound (verb; almost always in the form of the past passive participle dumbfounded): astonish; appall: “Philosophers of every generation concern themselves with the same set of eternal mysteries that dumbfound the human mind.” “I was dumbfounded when my wife of twenty years sold all our property, emptied our bank account, and fled to Bolivia.”
  12. barb (noun): a thorn; any sharp piercing object: “As he ran through the forest, barbs and branches tore his clothes.” “Bees and wasps have a poisoned barb in their tail with which they sting their enemies.”
  13. perforate (verb): to penetrate; to cut through: “The bullet perforated his left side and lodged between his left lung and his heart.” “Use this machine to perforate the pages so that they can be bound.”
  14. profound (adjective): very deep: “The wreck of the Titanic lies at the bottom of one of the Atlantic Ocean’s most profound chasms.” “The old professor’s students were amazed by his profound knowledge of his subject.”
  15. resolve (verb): to decide (also resolve on): “I resolve to study Japanese for an hour a day until I have attained native fluency.” “After ten hours of deliberations, the prime minister and his cabinet resolved on a declaration of war.”
  16. distraught (adjective): distressed; upset; alarmed: “At the airport, distraught friends and family of the passengers waited anxiously for news of the missing plane.” “I became distraught when my wife still had not returned home at eleven PM.”
  17. camouflage (verb): to conceal something by making it look similar to its surroundings: “Deer camouflage themselves by standing amidst tall dry grass that is similar in color to their brown coats.” “He camouflaged his cricket bat by leaning it against the trunk of a tree.”
  18. scrutinize (verb): to examine or search very carefully: “Even if you have edited your written work thoroughly, you will find errors that you had missed earlier if you scrutinize it again” “Every day I scrutinize the online newspapers for stories about genetically modified crops.”
  19. allay (verb): to neutralize or lay to rest (fear, anger, hunger, or some other negative feeling or experience): “She tried to allay my fear of flying by telling me that in fact one is more likely to be stabbed to death by a monkey than to die in a plane crash.” “The health minister sought to allay the public’s anxiety about Ebola by announcing that every person coming into the country would now be thoroughly screened for the disease.”

GRE Score Reports: Things You Should Know

Dilip Oak's Academy

Score Card

The first thing you should know: take your GRE about 1 ½ to 2 months before your earliest important deadline. It is going to take approximately that much time for your score reports to reach the universities you have chosen as score recipients (i.e. the universities you chose to send your score reports to). Here’s what the ETS says:

Getting Your GRE ScoresAbout 15 days to a month after your test, you will be able to view online and print out, for your own records, your score report in the PDF format shown below:

Examinee GRE Score Report Image

Having seen the format, you probably have some questions: for example, why are the scores for the Verbal and Sections given under two different headings: prior format and current format? And what is the estimated current score under prior format for?

Well, before August 2011, the GRE used to score the Verbal and Quantitative sections on a scale of 200-800 instead of between 130-170 as they now do. According to the ETS, GRE scores are valid for 5 years. This means that GRE scores taken in September 2011 will continue to be valid according to the ETS till September 2016. Until then the ETS has to provide a way of comparing the old and new scores. They do this by providing:

  • an old score equivalent for tests taken under the Revised General GRE format (taken on or after 01 August 2011)
  • a new score equivalent for tests taken under the earlier GRE format (i.e. before 01 August 2011)

This is why the scores for the Verbal and Quantitative sections in the PDF shown above are given in two columns: ‘Prior Format’ and ‘Current Format’. This allows universities to easily compare the scores of students who have taken the older versions of test and those who have taken the newer one without too much difficulty. The ‘Estimated Current Score’ column (under ‘prior format’) was specially meant for candidates who had taken the old format of the test and for whom American universities needed an estimated equivalent score in the new format.

Somewhat pointlessly, the ‘estimated current score’ is also given for students who have taken the new version of the test (the Revised General GRE as it is called) – this is pointless since they already have an actual score in the new column. But we guess, since the ETS had the columns, they had to fill them up! Perhaps, reports after August 2016 will be simpler. Practically, however, this comparative data will not make much of a difference to you since most universities do not accept GRE scores that are older than 3 years. So, American universities probably stopped accepting September 2011 reports in September 2014.

Here are some other important links to check out:

Can I ask the ETS to show universities only the scores I want them to see?

Free GRE score reports

Ordering additional GRE score reports

And just in case, you are interested here’s the PDF format the score report that the universities you are applying will see if you have asked the ETS to send them a score:

Graduate Institution GRE Score Report Image

Gourmets and Gourmands; Photographers and Philistines: Food, Photos and a GRE Vocab Feast

Dilip Oak's Academy

(The following passage on food photo sharing contains 38 GRE words. If you find it difficult to understand, read through the explanation of the meanings of the words (given with illustrative sentences) and then reread the passage.)

The food photo sharing phenomenon (or what you might call the visual department of gastronomy) is in full swing. New tools such as Foodspotting and Eat.ly are constantly proliferating. Add in the photo-handling capabilities of sites like Foursquare and it’s no surprise that the “eat and tweet” trend has inundated social media feeds. Interestingly enough, this flood of food images is being engendered not just by gourmands or even specialist food sites, but ordinary philistines like you and me who have no expertise in food beyond our own pedestrian predilections. Showing – not just telling – others what you’re eating is becoming mainstream. So is vicariously enjoying others’ food. Why is everyone suddenly so keen to snap their snacks (and gorge on images of the food that others eat)? Does this simply reflect a universal human desire to share things that gives us pleasure? Is it showing off or, is it a drive to gain status? What is the genesis of this new drive? And how is it changing our approach to food and eating?

There are lots of theories about why people like to share pictures of food. Some experts suggest it’s because eating is one of society’s most essential communal activities, and sharing food photos is the next best thing to convivial experience of eating together. Others speculate that food photos allure us because we have always started a meal by ‘eating with our eyes’, preparing ourselves for the actual culinary experience by savoring its visual aspects first. Others still, conjecture that food has become something of a status symbol, and sharing a photo of a meal, particularly from a buzz-worthy restaurant, is as much about establishing one’s place in the social media hierarchy as it is about documenting what we ate today.

The interesting thing about food photography is that it combines two subjects that really resonate with society as a whole: food and culture. Meals, for example, are often a time when people come together to celebrate life and human relationships. So, a food photographer is a visual food anthropologist. It’s not just about the food on the plate; it’s also about the context: the moments, the connections, the scenes, the places, the stories. Think about how people relate to food and what connects them to it. Some of the most interesting photographs come out of this relationship. Mobile phones and social media are at the heart of the food image vogue because social media provide the space where a lot of us document and curate our lives and, mobile phones allow people to capture and share their experiences wherever they are. A new element has enlivened the routine of dining: snapping photos of your meal before you eat is now becoming commonplace in places ranging from the fanciest restaurants to your local café and even in less reputable dives.

Of course, filtered photos of food are no surrogate for the experience of the meal itself: they cannot replace the aromas and sensations of preparation and consumption or, the conversations that take place at the table. As for the snaps themselves – these are merely the yeast with which we leaven the pleasures of the Net. Now that’s food for thought!

1. gourmets (noun): people who are experts in food and wine (often contrasted with gourmands – see below) “He’s very easygoing about everything else, but where food is concerned, he’s a gourmet, eating only the best he can afford.”

2. gourmands: people who enjoy eating fine food and often eat in excess (for the gourmet quality is the important thing; for the gourmand quantity is more important than quality): “He’s a typical gourmand and is quite capable of finishing off two whole tandoori chickens all by himself.”

3. phenomenon (noun): an observable thing or event; a remarkable or astonishing thing or person: “Tsunamis used to be a rare phenomenon, but in recent years they have become alarmingly frequent.” “Nobody had any idea that this small-budget independent film would become such a phenomenon at the Oscars.”

4. gastronomy (noun): the pursuit of refined eating experiences; an appreciation of good food: “Gastronomy is one of the traits that separate humanity from the animals.” “As a lover of fine food, I believe that any man who knows nothing of gastronomy does not deserve to be called civilized.”

5. proliferating (from the verb proliferate): multiplying; increasing in number: “During the nineties, call centers were rapidly proliferating in Mumbai and Bengaluru.” “NGO’s do not seem to be proliferating at the same rate as they were a few years back.”

6. inundated (verb): flooded with something; poured into (something) in great quantity: “After the storm, an underground pipe burst and inundated our housing society with drain water.” “When they heard the news of my mother’s death, my friends and family inundated my inbox with condolences.”

7. engendered (from the verb engender): given birth to; produced; created: “Hailstorms are engendered by atmospheric conditions that used to be rare in this part of the world but have recently become quite common.” “The current mood of anger against government and corporate corruption was engendered by a wave of scandals in recent years.”

8. philistine (noun): someone who lacks higher culture; an ignorant, crude and unrefined person: “She is a well-read person, but she’s very lonely because her husband is a philistine who does nothing but watch the idiot box and play video games.” “He’s such a philistine that he thought that Satyajit Ray’s notable film ‘Apu Samsaar’ was a Salman Khan film.”

9. expertise (noun): a high level of knowledge and skill in a particular domain: “The professor declined to supervise my PhD because her expertise was in a slightly different domain.” “Although he was the president of a major computer manufacturer, he had no expertise in programming.”

10. pedestrian (adjective): commonplace; ordinary; unexceptional: “All the reviews of the film were extremely positive, but I found it pedestrian.” “As a singer he is pedestrian, but as a guitarist he is really extraordinary.”

11. predilections (noun): preferences; likings: “His fatal heart attack was the result of his lifelong predilection for ghee-rice.” “Our dear old dog Nandi had a predilection for chasing cars which ultimately led to his death.”

12. mainstream (adjective): commonplace; conventional: “Twenty years ago, almost no one had a mobile phone; now they have become so mainstream that even labourers have them.” “Once, only village people and goondas got tattoos, but in recent years they have gone mainstream, and now any college student or housewife might have one.”

13. vicarious (adjective): done or experienced indirectly or through a substitute: “This video game gives you the vicarious experience of being a fighter pilot in Afghanistan.” “Today I used Bing Maps to take a vicarious walk through the streets of Tokyo.”

14. keen (adjective): eager; enthusiastic: “I have to admit that I’m not very keen to accept his lunch invitation: I find his company so boring that I have difficulty staying awake.” “I have always been very keen on horror films: I’ve seen about thirty in the last year alone.”

15. gorge (verb, always in the phrase gorge on): to eat a huge quantity of something (also figuratively): “On Saturdays I stay at home and gorge on chivda while reading vampire novels.” “On Saturdays I stay at home and gorge on vampire novels while eating chivda.”

16. universal (adjective): occurring everywhere; valid for everyone and everything: “The Canadian government provides universal health care coverage.” “A universal dengue vaccination would totally eliminate the disease within a generation.”

17. genesis (noun): origin; birth; beginning; process of coming into being: “Today, the world is witnessing the genesis of a new political world order.” “The American space program owed its genesis to the country’s military rivalry with Russia.”

18. communal (adjective): relating to a community: “Eating is the most basic communal activity.” “As a radical individualist, I have no interest in communal activities like festivals.”

19. convivial (adjective): characterized by collective happiness and enjoyment; relating to enjoyable group activities: “The convivial atmosphere of the wedding reception was ruined when the bride’s brother punched her new husband in the face.” “Even though he was generally a solitary man, he did look forward to convivial family occasions like birthdays, weddings, and holidays.”

20. speculate (verb): to guess on the basis of evidence: “Police speculate that the serial murderer may have known his victims personally.” “Environmental scientists speculate that global temperatures may have begun to rise not long after the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.”

21. allure (verb): do draw; to attract; to fascinate: “The fundamental principle of advertising is this: if an advertisement can allure the viewer’s senses, then he will remember the product.” “I didn’t want to accept the university’s job offer because I could see that it was not a first-rank institution, but they tried to allure me by telling me that it would be a permanent position.”

22. culinary (adjective): relating to cooking and food: “Among the things that most attracted her to him were his culinary skills.” “For me, the most memorable thing about our trip to Europe was the great variety of culinary experiences we had in the countries we visited.”

23. savor (verb): to attentively appreciate a positive experience, particularly a taste: “Just savor the feeling of a cold, sweet drink sliding down your throat on a hot summer’s day .” “I hate it when other audience members talk at concerts while I’m trying to savor the music.”

24. aspect (noun) one side or dimension of something: “Every aspect of a problem must be considered if an effective solution is to be found.” “Rightly understood, religion and science are two mutually complementary aspects of the same single, unified reality.”

25. conjecture (verb): to make an informed guess; to speculate about something known on the basis of known facts: “The detectives conjecture that the murderer must have thrown the murder weapon in the nearby river and fled on a train from the nearby station.” “Historians conjecture that the temple must be about one thousand five hundred years old.”

26. buzz (noun): chatter; excited discussion of a popular thing: “This popular new clothing store has generated a lot of buzz all over town.” “You can gauge the success of a new establishment by how much buzz it’s creating.”

27. hierarchy (noun): an ideal structure in which things are ranked in ascending grades of value: “Human beings have always tended to place themselves at the top of the hierarchy of living things.” “Within his first year at the company he was already getting promoted and climbing the corporate hierarchy.”

28. document (verb): to record in writing; to record with written or photographic evidence: “We have to document all our expenses on this trip so that the company will reimburse us.” “The photographs in this book document the story of India’s struggle for independence.”

29. resonate (verb): to be meaningful to someone; to make sense; to express feelings that reflect and bring out one’s own feelings on the subject: “The prime minister’s speeches, which paint an optimistic picture of a prosperous future for the country, resonate with the country’s ambitious youth.” “The story of his struggle to escape from poverty through education and hard work resonates with millions of poor people.”

30. anthropologist (noun): a scholar who scientifically studies human behavior: “An anthropologist must be a completely objective observer of human culture, and must never interfere in what he observes.”

31. context (noun): the situation and circumstances surrounding a thing; the “bigger picture”: “A biography cannot effectively tell the story of its subject’s life unless it also presents a full picture of the social context in which he lived.” “You can’t believe everything people say in the context of a heated argument.”

32. vogue (noun): craze; popular interest in a particular thing: “Italian cuisine is currently enjoying a vogue, but like all vogues it will soon pass and be replaced by another one.”

33. enliven (verb): to make something lively or interesting: “We can always count on the professor to enliven a dull party with his vast general knowledge and bizarre comments.” “Amir Khan briefly enlivens this otherwise boring film with a hilarious five-minute appearance.”

34. reputable (adjective): having a good reputation; respected: “No matter how smart you may be, if your degree isn’t from a reputable university you’ll have trouble finding a good job.”

35. dive (noun): a cheap, low-quality restaurant: “I love eating in this dive, but my wife thinks the place is so disgusting that she won’t even enter it with me.”

36. surrogate (noun): replacement; substitute: “For ensuring good health, there can be no surrogate for vigorous daily exercise.” “Saccharine was the first surrogate for sugar.”

37. aroma (noun): a smell (almost always in a positive sense): “I actually prefer the aroma of coffee to its taste.” “The aroma coming from the kitchen tells me that today’s supper is really going to be something special.”

38. leaven (verb): (said of yeast) to make bread “rise” when it is being baked; (figuratively) to make anything more lively or interesting: “He knows something about everything, and has the most interesting way of talking, so he’s always been the leaven of any get-together he attends.” “Novels were the leaven of my life during the four mind-numbing years I spent earning a bachelor’s degree in a subject I hated.”

Centre Shock: The Unexpected Challenges Your GRE Test Center May Throw at You!

Dilip Oak's Academy

Hi folks! Today’s post is a write up by Shraddha Barawkar, an engineering student (see brief bio below) about her GRE test experiences at the Prometric Center at Goregaon. We thought it might be interesting for all you GRE candidates out there to hear about how things worked out for her.

 


  • Name: Shraddha Barawkar
  • Branch: Mechanical Engineering
  • College: Pune Vidhyarthi Griha’s College of Engineering and Technology
  • GRE Date: 5 December 2014
  • GRE Center: Prometric Testing Pvt Ltd
  • Center Location: Techniplex I, Goregaon (West), Mumbai

 

Ideally, you should enter your GRE test center full of pep and leave it with a smile! But if you don’t prepare for conditions at the test center or think about travelling there, you may be in for an energy drain that can wipe the smile right off your face. And that can throw off your performance in the GRE!

One of the first things I realized is that it would have been better to be at the test location the day before. I live in Pune and my GRE test center in Goregaon West, Mumbai, was about 120 kms. away – that’s for non-Maharashtrian readers! (Google map and more details here) So, I had to wake up at 4 a.m. and eventually left my house at 6.30 for Mumbai. Not a good idea on the day of the exam!

However, it was early morning, there was only light traffic and so we reached the outskirts of Mumbai at 10 a.m. I heaved a sigh of relief: I had a 12.30 p.m. slot, there were still 2-½ hours for my test and we thought it would take only half an hour to cover the approximately 25 kms to the test center. But by then, the traffic had started up and so, it took us 1-½ hours. As a result, I didn’t even get to have breakfast in peace. Luckily though, my father was able to grab a couple of wadas for me from the vendors outside the center. Finally, at 12.25 p.m., I walked into the center.

My test room was on the 8th floor. As I entered the room, I saw 50 expressionless faces looking blankly at me: those of my fellow test-takers. Simultaneously, I was hit by a sharp temperature drop, from 300C outside, to around 180 inside. I felt as if I had entered a graveyard, and my hands started shivering. Nevertheless, I put a smile on my face and tried to converse with some of the folks there, but they were very reticent, adding to the nervousness I felt because of chill in the room. I could feel myself losing focus and giving in to the desire to just to get the exam over as soon as possible! The atmosphere at the test center, I realized, doesn’t help you to settle into the right frame of mind to take the test.

Shraddha's Overall Evaluation of the Test Center

Somehow, eventually, the formalities got over (passport, ID checking etc.) and, a painful half an hour later, we were asked to put our bags and accessories in the lockers. Then, one by one, we were sent to the main exam room. I relaxed a bit at that point, since I thought that the formalities were finally over. But I was wrong! Inside there was yet another room where I was asked to remove my blazer, unchain my back pockets, raise the collar of my formal shirt and unfold the lower portion of my jeans. This was all done by male authorities, which as a woman, I found quite embarrassing. Finally, I was sent to the test room.
During the exam itself, I encountered two important problems: firstly, typing with nearly numb fingers was a tough job in the analytical writing section. Secondly, during the 10 minute-break halfway through the test, I thought going to the waiting room would be a simple matter. But again I had to complete formalities involving signatures and time entry in order to check out. After the break the whole process of apparel checking was repeated which, took another 3-4 minutes. I was not aware that I had to include time for these things in the break as well and it was only by luck that I had come back early from my break. These circumstances made the GRE a tougher nut to crack!

You might wonder, why I am telling about you my frustrating experiences. It’s because I don’t want you to get demoralized by these things; I want you to be prepared for the worst. The first challenge lies in overcoming the unfavorable conditions at the test center. Only then can you attain the calm state of mind that you need to solve tricky GRE questions!

In conclusion, here’s my advice: if your test center is not located in your home town, you should be at the test location a day before. Find out about nearby places to eat and travel routes and times. Take into consideration traffic conditions too, and try to reach an hour early! You should also eat properly before the test and wear warm clothes. Sometimes the washrooms are far from the test rooms. So, be prepared for a long trek there and, if you are at the Goregaon center, all the formalities of signing in and signing out too!

Hope this helps folks.

This is Shraddha wishing you all the best to give your best!

ETS ScoreSelect for the GRE: a Boon …More or Less!

Dilip Oak's Academy

For students who have given the GRE more than once, the worry has always been that the universities will see their low scores along with their high ones. To deal with this problem the ETS launched the ScoreSelectTM feature some years ago. ScoreSelect allows you to decide which GRE scores will go to universities and colleges which means that you can omit poor scores from your graduate school applications. If you are retaking the GRE therefore, or have GRE scores that you are not keen to show the universities, it seems that ScoreSelect will allow you to breathe a little more easily. But you should be aware that this apparent boon does have its limitations.

Firstly, you won’t be able to mix and match your best maths and verbal performances from separate tests to create a super report. ScoreSelect only allows you to send score reports as a whole. Secondly, if you want the full flexibility that ScoreSelect offers then, it comes at a price.

As the ETS explains, after test day, you can send Additional Score Reports and select the ScoreSelect.

  • Most Recent option — using which, you can send your GRE scores from your most recent test
  • All option — using which, you can send your GRE scores from all tests in the last 5 years.
  • Any option — using which, you can send your GRE scores from one OR many tests in the last 5 years.

As you can see, it is the third option that gives you full scope to exclude the ‘bad’ scores you don’t want the universities to get. But, at this point, i.e. after test day, you will have to shell out $27/- per report. On test day, on the other hand, when you can choose 4 universities to send your score report to AT NO ADDITIONAL COST, this magical option is not available. All you have is the ScoreSelect Most Recent and All options. In short, if you want to get the full benefit of the ETS’s ScoreSelect option, you will have to pay for it at the rate of $27 per score report. As someone once said, there’s no such thing as a free lunch!

The third problem is that universities are all aware that you may be making use of this facility – and so, some may ask you to send score reports of all the GRE tests you have taken in the last 5 years anyway! If that’s the case with a university that you have selected, then you are stuck, and ScoreSelect is not going to help you.

So, the option exists. But it’s expensive, and it may not always be possible to use it. But, if the university you are applying to is willing to let you show them just the best side of yourself then, if you need it ScoreSelect is always there. Proceed thoughtfully!

How to Save 180 Dollars When You Take the GRE and TOEFL

Dilip Oak's Academy
Score Reporting: GRE and TOEFL

Unexpected Ways to Save Money on Test Fees

Most of you know that preparing for the GRE test involves things like hours of practice and learning lots of words and formulae by heart. For the TOEFL, as you are aware, you have to brush up on your grammar. But you most probably never thought that preparing for these tests would involve thinking through which universities or colleges you would like to apply to. But it does, and here’s why: saving the 180 dollars is as simple as selecting the names of 4 universities from a drop-down list as part of the free score reporting option. Here’s how it works.

Understanding Free Score Reporting

At the end of the GRE test, the ETS allows you to choose 4 universities to which they will send your GRE test score to WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL CHARGE. This is the ‘free score reporting’ feature, so called since the payment for reporting the score to those four institutes is included in the GRE registration fee. The TOEFL has a similar feature. The difference here is that the selection of the university or college you would like to send your free scores to needs to be done BEFORE the exam – any time after you have booked the TOEFL exam date up to 24 hours before your TOEFL test date.

Common Misconceptions and Mistakes

Most students don’t make use of these useful money saving features since they generally don’t decide which universities they want to apply to before their GRE or TOEFL exams. The reasoning is that the choice of university depends on the GRE test score hence, university selection can be done only after the test. So, students normally request what the ETS calls Additional Score Reports (ASRs) only after they have selected universities to apply to (according to their GRE score). At that point they end up paying a fee of 27 dollars for each additional GRE ASR they request and 19 per TOEFL report. But, if you have already made use of the free score reporting feature, you make a saving of $27 + $19 = $46/- per university and $184 for all 4 universities!

Researching and Selecting Universities

But how do you select which universities you want to apply to before you have even got your GRE score? Well, you should have some idea of what universities you want to apply to beforehand – after all, on the basis of your GRE test scores you will only be making a selection of 4 for ‘free score reporting’ from that list; and though you may not have your GRE test scores in hand before the actual test, your mock tests will give you some idea of what scores you can expect. To make that list, talk to your college seniors or get on to some well-researched discussion forums. This is something that you have to do in any case. You can also have a look at our Admission Counseling Services.

Keeping Extra Cash in Your Pocket

If, on this basis, you can make you make up your mind about what universities you would like to apply to before the GRE and TOEFL exams, you’ll be able to keep that $184 /- in your pocket! That works out to over 11,000 rupees, and you could buy a pretty decent smartphone with that amount or… plan a trip to Goa!

As India’s leading Study Abroad Consultant, Dilip Oak’s Academy offers a comprehensive suite of admission counseling services that can guide you through the entire process from Shortlisting Universities to Visa Counseling. With our expertise, we have successfully sent 32,000 students to various prestigious American universities like MIT, Stanford, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon. We also offer classroom and online coaching for GRE, TOEFL, and IELTS, as well as GRE Self Prep. To explore our services, book a free consultation or call us at 91-20-67444222.

Vocabulary Vitamins for the GRE Available Here!

Dilip Oak's Academy

Here’s our challenge for you: a cursory glance at this blog (and even this introduction!) will radically improve your vocabulary. Read it and see if it doesn’t! If you find the words challenging, take a look at the explanations below the article below. They are all from the high-frequency GRE list.

Any journey gives you a chance to take an exciting break from the soporific routine of everyday life. In fact, travelling to places and cultures very different from your own can be a visionary experience. In some cases the sights and sounds of an exotic locale can seem surreal. But going solo takes travel to a different level altogether.

It is true that solo travel can have its disadvantages. Most of us would be wary of going solo because of the difficulties we might face: communication problems, cultural misunderstandings and loneliness among them. On the other hand, people who have never traveled on their own before often describe their first solo trip as a liberating experience. Traveling alone gives you the chance to fully indulge your own curiosity and predilections without being hampered by a companion’s prejudices, tastes, or preferences. You can do exactly what you want to do – all the time. Always wanted to try surfing? Sign up for a class and go for it! There’ll be no one sitting on the beach bored and impatient while you’re out on the waves having a great time. If you are connoisseur of food, a vacation alone will give you opportunities to experiment to your heart’s content with the local cuisine. And there are attractions that will augment the pleasure of the experience. A frenzied shopping spree at the local markets, especially for a solo woman traveler, can be an exhilarating experience.

Further, a little preparation and common sense can spare you the difficulties of solo travel. A detailed itinerary, a meticulous study of maps and other local information is the ticket to a smooth vacation. Also, as unfamiliar sights and sensations inundate you, you must take care not to be gullible or overconfident. Without a companion to watch your back, you are potentially vulnerable to antisocial people and hazardous situations. However, a solo traveler can also blend in more easily than a group; and not drawing too much attention is a good way to stay safe. And there may be compensations: solo travelers who clearly need assistance often have the good fortune to experience the benevolence and magnanimity of the locals. So, traveling solo need not necessarily is more dangerous than going to the movies or having dinner by yourself in your own city.

And, there is a final reward for the adventurous of soul: if you are willing to put away your fear of the unknown, you will discover the paradox at the heart of solo travel: traveling alone far from your roots and all you have known, you will discover not merely new places, you will discover yourself!

vocabulary vitamins

OK, for those who had a little difficulty with the blog or just want a sharper understanding of the vocabulary, here are the 23 high-frequency GRE words that this blog covered along with their meanings, and illustrative sentences. Find the ones you had trouble with and read them through.

Cursory (adjective): done or made quickly: “Even the most cursory look at the organization’s records shows problems.”

Radical (adjective): favoring extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions: “The new president has made some radical changes to the company.”

Benevolence (noun): an act of kindness, disposition to do good: “People either think their benevolence benefits them materially, or gain satisfaction from altruism.”

Visionary (adjective): relating to a vision (that is, a hallucinatory dreamlike experience); marvelous and unreal: “His visionary paintings seem to come from another world.” (Noun) having or showing clear ideas about what should happen or be done in the future, [She is considered a visionary leader amongst her peers]

Prejudice (noun): a bias or assumption; a poorly founded belief: “Many people have the prejudice that only native speakers can teach a language well.” “At first I doubted that he could really be an expert programmer because he didn’t have a degree, but I abandoned that prejudice as soon as I saw how brilliant his coding was.”

Surreal (adjective): seemingly unreal; giving the impression of being unreal; very strange: “I just had a rather surreal conversation with a man who came up to me on the street and told me that aliens from another planet were about to invade the earth.”

Indulge (verb): to give free rein to something; to allow something to follow its own inclination: “I didn’t really want to listen to him talk about his problems, but I indulged him because he was obviously so lonely.” “When someone insults you, you should not indulge your impulse to insult him in return: just walk away.”

Predilection (noun): a preference or tendency: “She has a predilection for chocolate soy milk.” “My dog has an embarrassing predilection to steal people’s floaters and chew them to pieces.”

Soporific (adjective): causing sleep; boring: Only an enormous cup of coffee can keep me awake during one of his soporific lectures.”

Wary (adjective): cautious (of something): “I’m wary of getting into a conversation with her, because once she starts talking she doesn’t stop for hours.”

Augment (verb): to increase something by adding something to it: “You need to augment your CV a bit. Are there any projects or work experience you may have left out?” “We can augment the effect of this drug by adding another.”

Inundate (verb): to flood; to overwhelm; to come at in great quantity; to flood with something: “I assure you that once you complete your M Tech at our college, companies will inundate you with job offers.”

Gullible (adjective): too ready to accept what one is told; too easily persuaded: “Shortly after getting off the plane at Mumbai, a gullible tourist paid a street vendor five thousand rupees for two samosas.”

Itinerary (noun): the plan of a journey: “Why is the bus stopping here? I didn’t think this town was on the itinerary.” “Once I actually start driving I tend to forget about the itinerary and just follow my heart.”

Meticulous (adjective): very careful and thorough; giving attention to details; reflecting or characterized by such carefulness: “He is an extremely meticulous programmer: his code is always perfect the first time.”

Vulnerable (adjective): in danger of being injured or attacked: “Homeless women are far more vulnerable than homeless men.” “The country was vulnerable to attack from the east because all its forces had been moved to meet the attack on its western border.”

Hazardous (adjective): dangerous; perilous: “He has been convicted twice for hazardous driving.” “This housing society was built on ground contaminated with hazardous chemicals.”

Magnanimity (noun): bigheartedness; greatness of heart; selfless generosity: “It requires great magnanimity to truly forgive someone who has badly injured you.” “He was known for the magnanimity he showed to his friends, whom he never hesitated to help with money or other assistance whenever they needed it.”

Connoisseur (noun): someone who has gained a profound knowledge of some thing or activity by frequently exposing himself to it over a long period of time: “He became a connoisseur of Japanese films by watching thousands of them over the years.” “I consider myself something of a connoisseur of idlis, having eaten tens of thousands of them over the years.”

Cuisine (noun): a type of cooking, usually defined by its national origin (Chinese cuisine; Continental cuisine; Mexican cuisine): “I don’t like Italian films much, but I love Italian cuisine.”

Frenzied (adjective, past participle of the verb to frenzy): characterized by extreme excitement, agitation, and distress: “When the dogcatcher caught the dog in his net, the animal at first made frenzied attempts to struggle free, then became still as if he realized that there was no point.”

Exhilarating (adjective, past participle of the verb to exhilarate): thrilling; causing a feeling of extreme happiness and excitement: “Climbing to the summit of a mountain is an exhilarating experience.”

Paradox (noun): an apparently self-contradictory or impossible thing, situation, or statement: “The most intelligent men are often the least effective leaders: history shows us this paradox again and again.”

Don’t Read This Unless You Have a Good Vocabulary!

Dilip Oak's Academy

The passage below has 20 high-frequency vocabulary words in it. See if you can understand their meaning from the context. If not read the meanings and sample sentences given below the passage.

When was the last time you played a game or pursued a hobby?

One can choose a hobby from a plethora of options, and explore them more or less deeply. Some try to develop their culinary skills, or attempt writing a book, or indulge in more erudite hobbies like numismatics or philately. Some set their heart on playing a musical instrument, like the guitar.

But people often abandon their culinary journey when their first curry turns out to be insipid. Those who take up writing may love the idea of writing, but when it comes to actually writing, they find themselves staring endlessly at a blank page or computer screen. Most people are too capricious and lazy to stick with a hobby that requires a bit of discipline to be really rewarding. In the end, many become disillusioned when it turns out to be more work than they expected, and their initial euphoria fizzles out. I do not wish to flippantly claim that a hobby is all play and no work; but once you have decided which hobby you want to pursue and have familiarized yourself with the basics of it, you will find that the work that is involved is pleasurable and rewarding in a way that your regular paid work can never be.

And how do you go about choosing a hobby? Above all, don’t be a skeptic: unless you believe in your right and ability to enjoy being a neophyte in a new field, you will not be able to take pleasure in it – and pleasure is the whole point. In choosing, you should use your intuition, and choose something which fits the soul. The trick is to know your inner self, and to be both idealistic and pragmatic at the same time in following it. To find a hobby that will suit your nature and circumstances, you need to make a list of the things you enjoy doing, and then consider how much free time and money you can devote to the activity you choose. No matter how ludicrous your idea for a hobby may initially seem, you have to boldly transcend your doubts and prejudices, and savor the excitement of novelty and uncertainty.

No matter how diffident one is when taking up a hobby, no matter how casually one pursues it, it is still important to have one. A hobby can kindle a new interest in life and reveal hitherto unsuspected aspects of oneself, even on occasion leading to a new career.

Now here are the meanings, with illustrative sentences. Read them through and then see if you can understand the passage.

1. plethora (noun): a large quantity:

“It was raining on the day the politician arrived at his next campaign stop, so when he got to the podium and looked out at his audience, all he saw was a plethora of umbrellas.”

“The response to the director’s new film was a plethora of disappointed reviews.”

2. culinary (adjective): relating to cooking:

“The man I marry will have to have good culinary skills, since I will be too busy with my career to cook, and I love good food.”

3. erudite (adjective): learned; having a deep knowledge of something; reflecting such deep knowledge:

“Let us now hear what the erudite professor himself has to say about this matter to which he has devoted so many years of study.”

“Based as it was on 20 years of research, his writing was erudite; unfortunately, however, he was unable to make his subject interesting.”

4. numismatics (noun, plural): the study of coins:

“Numismatics is an important branch of archeology.”

5. philately (noun): the collection and study of stamps:

“When he told me that he had a passion for philately, I thought I would find him intolerably boring; instead, he introduced me to a fascinating new hobby.”

6. insipid (adjective): lacking taste (in both a literal and figurative sense); dull; uninteresting:

“The restaurant reviewer complained that everything on the menus was more or less insipid: he would have liked a little more spice in everything.”

“I once made an effort to read his poetry, but I found it too insipid to continue.”

7. capricious (adjective): impulsive; affected by short-lived bursts of enthusiasm; frequently changing one’s mind; resulting from or reflecting such impulsiveness:

“Being capricious by nature, he had started learning five different languages at one time or another, but had never progressed beyond the basics before giving up.”

“Thanks to your capricious decision to buy a dog, we have yet another mouth to feed in the house.”

8. disillusioned (adjective, past participle of the verb to disillusion): having the feeling that one’s expectations and beliefs about something have been disappointed and proved false:

“I had grown up believing that the university was a temple of learning filled with young people who were devoted to the search for knowledge and truth, so my first year of undergraduate study left me feeling deeply disillusioned.”

“After twenty years of work in the environmental movement, he retired a disillusioned man.”

9. euphoria (noun): intense happiness; extremely high spirits; exhilaration:

“I have never felt such euphoria as I did on the day of our marriage.”

“Most mountain climbers report that they feel a tremendous euphoria upon reaching the mountain’s summit.”

10. flippantly (adverb, from the adjective flippant): in a frivolous, non-serious, thoughtless manner (generally referring to acts of speech):

“I flippantly told her that our friendship meant nothing to me, but immediately regretted it.”

11. diffident (adjective): lacking confidence; unsure of oneself:

“Despite being told again and again that he was a musical genius, he remained diffident about his ability, and as a result retired early from his career as a concert pianist.”

“Let me assure you that your writing is of the highest quality: you have no reason at all to be diffident.”

12. kindle (verb): to light a fire; to bring something into being or inspire it, starting from a small beginning:

“As night fell, the trekkers gathered sticks and leaves and kindled a fire.”

“In his campaign speeches, the prime ministerial candidate tried to kindle his audience’s patriotism with fiery speeches about the nation’s growing importance on the international scene.”

“I gave her many books of poetry, trying to kindle an interest that we could pursue together, but she just wasn’t interested.”

13. skeptic (noun): someone who doubts:

“I used to be a skeptic in matters of religion, but at this point in my life I feel more inclined to admit that there may be a lot of truth in it.”

“The average voter is much more of a skeptic today than he was thirty years ago, and much less likely to believe politicians’ campaign promises.”

14. neophyte (noun): an absolute beginner in some field or activity:

“Despite being a neophyte in politics, the chief minister’s son was immediately given important posts and responsibilities.”

“Even when he was a neophyte in chess, he used to defeat serious players with years of experience.”

15. intuition (noun): a feeling about something that is not based directly on reasoning or logical processes of thinking:

“Most managers do not actually think through their decisions in a logical and systematic way, but depend on intuition to tell them what they should do in a difficult and complex situation.”

“I can’t really tell you why, but I have an intuition that something terrible is about to happen.”

16. idealistic (adjective): having high, noble, and possibly unrealistic ideals and principles; characterized by or reflecting such an attitude:

“When I was younger, I was very idealistic, and frequently chose to do what I thought was right, even if that meant sacrificing my own interests for the benefit of others.”

“The prime minister’s idealistic decision to institute a universal health care system proved to be an economic disaster for the government.”

17. pragmatic (adjective): realistic; having a sound sense of what is really possible and necessary; characterized by or reflecting such an attitude (opposite of idealistic):

“The new president of the company was much more pragmatic than the previous one, and instituted reforms which quickly made the company profitable again.”

“I take a pragmatic view of marriage: it should be seen as an institution that exists to make both partners happy, and if it ceases to be this, then it should be allowed to come to an end.”

18. ludicrous (adjective): ridiculous; absurd; laughable:

“Your plan to equip the doghouse with a solar-powered heating system is ludicrous.”

“On his first day of work he came to the office dressed in a ludicrous multicolored costume adorned with peacock feathers, mirrors, and chains, and was immediately fired.”

19. transcend (verb): to rise above; to overcome:

“Great works of art are the ones that deal with issues of universal and eternal importance, and thereby transcend the particular historical circumstances in which they were created.”

“Amazingly, she was able to transcend the terrible problems and challenges in her life and become the first person in her family to go to university.”

20. savor (verb): to enjoy the taste of something; to fully enjoy something:

“Just savor the wonderful taste of this garlic and carrot pickle!”

“As he felt his life drawing to an end, he made more and more of an effort to savor each and every moment and experience to the fullest.”

Cracking the Verbal Section 2: Turning Verbal Debility into Verbal Ability

Dilip Oak's Academy

Cracking the GRE Verbal Section

(Note: debility means weakness or disability; verbal debility here means a weakness or disability relating to the verbal section. Also, check out the other difficult words in this post. To get the meaning, just hover your mouse over them.)

 

How to Improve Vocabulary

1. Get those Vocab Lists, Look up those Dictionaries

As we said in our previous post, a good grasp of vocabulary is instrumental to achieving success in the Verbal Section. To improve your vocabulary, start by learning word meanings, synonyms, and antonyms. In order to do this you will need to find a good GRE list on the net – there are several available – and look up the synonyms and antonyms on a good online dictionary e.g.

On every handy piece of software to download and install on your laptop, phones, tablets, PCs etc is wordweb (http://wordweb.info/free/): it will give you words, meanings, sample sentences etc. for every word you hover your cursor over.

(Note to Dilip Oak’s Academy students: you already have VaiVocabulary – this gives you the word list along with synonyms, antonyms, easily confused words and a whole lot of revision features.)

2. Learn, Revise, Repeat

Developing an effective vocabulary also means consistent learning and revision so, start learning well before the exam – at least three months is recommended – and set up a learning and revision schedule. Make regular revision an integral part of your schedule: unless you revise regularly and repeatedly, you won’t remember any of that difficult vocabulary you are learning.

4. Target the Tough Ones

When you revise, mark out any words that you tend to forget: they need extra revision. The more you tend to forget them, the more they need to be revised; and the more you revise them, the better you will remember them!

5. Start Small

Doing all the learning and revision required can be an arduous task so, start with a good 500 high frequency GRE® word list. A short list like this will be a good stepping stone to the longer ones; and learning it will help you in overcoming the mental blocks associated with vocabulary learning.

6. Put it in Context

Keep in mind that simply memorizing words by rote is not enough, however; and developing a good vocabulary is not merely a matter of memorizing meanings of thousands of words. Often students notice that simply knowing the meaning of an obscure GRE word does not guarantee selecting the right answer in the exam. A proper understanding of exactly how to use vocabulary is necessary. It is this knowledge of usage that helps you to choose the right word for the given context. It is therefore advisable that, along with all your efforts to increase your vocabulary, you focus on getting a clear understanding of how to use these GRE words and which words fit in a particular context.

 

Developing Good Reading Habits

Apart from going through word lists, developing good reading habits is also crucial. One way in which this helps is getting an understanding of usage and context as we saw above. Secondly, though the GRE® is not a test of general knowledge, the reading comprehension passages in the verbal section cover a variety of topics and areas. Some background knowledge of the subjects being discussed in the passage you are reading is always useful since it is always easier to understand something that is at least somewhat familiar than something that is completely unfamiliar. For both these reasons it is imperative that you read a variety of articles from newspapers, magazines, and the web. Sites like the ones below give you access to an eclectic collection of very high quality writings.

http://thebrowser.com/ (easier but nevertheless intriguing reading – good to start with: it stimulates your interest and gets you reading without bogging you down with difficult words or convoluted sentences)

http://www.aldaily.com/ (more complex stuff, really long articles – get into this slowly)

Reading through this material at random can ensure both plenty of practice for comprehension and exposure to vocabulary in context.

(Note for Oak’s students: check out this link)

 

 

Cracking the GRE®: Verbal Reasoning 1 – the GRE exam’s Toughest Nut to Crack

Dilip Oak's Academy

Vocabulary tough nuts

First, here’s some basic orientation for GRE® rookies. The GRE exam incorporates 3 types of section:

  • Analytical Writing (the essay writing section which is scored on a scale of 0-6 with half point increments)
  • Quantitative Reasoning (which tests Maths skills)
  • Verbal Reasoning (which tests English skills – both Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning are scored on a scale of 130-170 in 1-point increments)

Typically, cracking the GRE requires 4-12 weeks of preparation. A major chunk of this time will inevitably be invested in preparing for the Verbal section. Why is this so? Firstly, a lot of Indian students taking the GRE are engineers or others for whom the Quantitative Reasoning section is not a major problem. But Verbal reasoning includes questions on Reading Comprehension, Text Completion, and Sentence Equivalence which require good reading skills and an extensive vocabulary. However, most Indian students don’t tend to read much and, as a result, these are precisely the skills and knowledge that they lack. So, the Verbal Reasoning section is a tough nut to crack. What difficulties does it throw up?

Doing well in reading comprehension entails, among other things, an ability to read challenging unseen passages on unfamiliar topics, locate relevant information within the mass of details given in the passage, understand assumptions and implications and, get the main point. Choosing the right options from among several close alternatives requires insight, and discrimination, and the ability to recognize correct restatements and inferences.

 

In Sentence Equivalence or Text Completion questions, a proper understanding of the logic and reasoning of the sentences plays an important role: without it you won’t find the correct approach. Then, there are the vocabulary challenges. We all know that word meanings in the English language can be quite tricky. The GRE exam makes this problem even trickier by offering you close choices in Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion questions – ones which require you to understand the nuances of meaning and usage of words. Understanding usage and context therefore play a very important role in eliminating the wrong answers. Further, the wide variety of sub-question types and the high difficulty level of the questions is a challenge to most students.

Given the difficulties verbal questions pose, preparation for the Verbal section means developing a thorough mastery of vocabulary, reading skills and the strategies for tackle them successfully. Naturally, doing well in the Verbal section takes intensive preparation and practice for all students. You have to start well in advance, have the right resources and a good study plan. Our next blog will give you a few tips on how to move closer to attaining prowess in this difficult section.

 

Cracking the GRE: Are You Ready for the Analytical Writing Challenge?

Dilip Oak's Academy

Are you ready for AW?

AW Challenging… Really?

If you ask students to name the most difficult section in the GRE, most engineers would say: “Verbal Reasoning” and most non-engineers would say “Quant”. Hardly anyone would suggest that Analytical Writing plays much of a role either in cracking the GRE or getting an admit for an MS in US. For most students taking the GRE exam, therefore, the Analytical Writing section (also called AW) is a surprisingly challenging part. There are several reasons for this.

The Problems of the Engineer

  • First, if you are like most students who come to Dilip Oak’s Academy, you have lost touch with essay writing long ago – your last encounter with this lost ‘art form’ was probably 3-5 years ago in the 10th standard, and whatever you did learn about it has long been buried under the load of highly technical data that you had to stuff your head with during your bachelor’s course.
  • Second, as an engineer (or even a non-engineer) you don’t even understand why AW should be included in the GRE at all (check out this article if you are still not clear).
  • And third, you probably think that since you did essay writing in school, you should be able to manage this section without too much trouble.

However, the AW section is important and it demands that you meet a very specialized (and exhausting) set of requirements.

Why the Big Fuss about AW?

1. Do you understand the issues?

The first Task in AW is always the Issue essay where, you have to think deeply about topics that you most probably have never read about or ever thought you would have to tackle. So, for example:

  • Do you think that getting exposure to another culture will help you understand the culture of your own country?
  • How do you think that a civilization should be judged – on the basis of its scientific and cultural achievements or on the basis of the well-being of its people?
  • And finally, do you think that people in public life should be required to hold to the highest ethical and moral standards and do they have any right to expect privacy?

(For the actual topics, see the pool of issue topics here.)

On these unfamiliar topics, you have to come up with a variety of specific examples that show your insight into the topic; and you have to use these examples to examine the central issue from a variety of different angles. At the very least, you are expected to address both sides of the issue.

2. Getting into arguments

In the Argument essay (see the argument topic pool here), which is the second Task you will tackle in the Analytical Writing section, you have to do several things. Among them, you may have to:

  • evaluate the given argument and its line of reasoning
  • raise questions about its hidden assumptions and flaws
  • set out the evidence required to strengthen or weaken it or
  • examine whether its predictions are likely to come about.

You need to know how to do these things and you need to practice them so that, you can analyze and type in smooth, seamless flow. Further, in both these types of task, you will have to fine tune your essay to meet the specific requirements of the question type you are dealing with in that particular task – and there are 6 different question types in the issue task and 7 different question types in the argument task.

Summing up the Challenge

This means that right at the beginning of the exam, you will have to put in an hour of intense analytical effort to identify the key elements in the argument or issue topic and to produce well-written essays which meet the precise requirements of the task. For this your mind will have to be focused, alert and clear and your fingers will have to have the stamina to put in the 20 minute-burst of near-continuous typing required to generate an essay of 350-450 words, the minimum required to adequately cover an analytical writing topic. It’s not the Olympics but, you need to be physically and mentally prepared for the task. So, here’s the bottom line: if you want to be competent at the AW tasks, you will need careful, well-planned preparation and practice. Make sure you do this well beforehand.

Note: If you are a student at Dillip Oak’s Academy you can take a free Analytical Writing Counseling Appointment (scroll to the end of the page on this link for further details).