Prepare to be Sentenced!
One of the most important building-blocks of an essay is the sentence. Writing an essay for an Analytical Writing Task in the GRE or the GMAT – or even the TOEFL Independent Writing Task – means that you will be expressing your thoughts in an academic context. So, you need to use sentences that are acceptable in that kind of context, but also effectively to translate your ideas onto the screen
- Complex sentences show that you are able to use the language fluently
- Clear well-formed sentences make your essay easy to understand
- Variety in sentence construction will make your essay interesting
How can you write like that? Simple, click on the link below and find out:
http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/bldsent.html
The link will take you to some useful suggestions published by the University of Ottawa, Canada on ‘Hypergrammar,’ their online resource page for grammar and writing. Use this link to understand:
- the importance of sentence structure
- the purpose of different types of sentences,
- what kind of sentences work best in formal writing assignments such as essays.
Happy reading. Happy writing!
Vocabulary Learning and Revision (to be started preferably 3-5 months in advance)
The largest, most time-consuming component of your GRE preparation is vocabulary revision. Achieving a good level of basic preparation involves getting familiar with around 4,000 words commonly used on GRE test. To really understand a word you need to know its range of meanings, some of its important secondary meanings, its usage (illustrated by sample sentences using the word) and it is often useful to know the roots of the word. Dilip Oak’s Academy has provided two very useful aids for learning and revising these various aspects. Described below is how you can use them both at home and outside.
At Home:
When at home use VaiVocabulary. VaiVocabulary is one of the best vocabulary learning softwares available in the market. It has a number of features which help to make vocabulary learning really effective. Here are some tips on how to get the most of it:
- Try out all the features in order to select which combination works best for you – some of the more important features are given below:
- Pictures – these are connected to the meaning and help to remind you of the meaning.
- Sample sentences or usage – remember you don’t understand the meaning when you learn the definition: real understanding comes when you see how the word is used in sample sentences.
- ‘Video’ – most of this is really audio, but the videos give really good explanations of word meaning and lots of additional sample sentences.
- Mnemonics – ways of linking the meaning of the word with the form of the word; many are given; select the ones you find most useful.
- Word origins – these are the roots of words which help you to understand the meanings of words rather than just learning them by heart.
- Synonyms – the easy synonyms help you to understand the meaning of a word better; the hard ones extend your vocabulary.
- Mark any word you cannot remember ‘very difficult’ by default so that you will be able to repeatedly revise it; lower the rating when you get better at remembering.
- most important: sincerely go through all quizzes, the rapid revision (it comes up at the beginning of a new session) and the difficulty-based revision sessions.
- The VaiVocabulary DVD has a tutorial that will take you through all the available features and explain how to use them
- If you run into any problems with installing or using the DVD contact the Academy – all the problems can be fixed one way or another, but don’t let problems prevent you from the enormous benefits of using this great vocabulary learning software.
Outside (i.e. when you are not at home): Use FlashCards and FlashCard Companion
- The FlashCards contain 4,000 GRE words and their meaning; 2-3 shades of meaning are given for every word.
- The FlashCard Companions are booklets which give you a sample phrase for every meaning of every word in the FlashCards.
- Every page in the FlashCard Companion booklet corresponds to a FlashCard. The number of the FlashCard is given at the top of the page. Word numbers are also given for ease of reference.
One of the most important aspects of preparing for reading comprehension in the GRE is preliminary reading – that is, reading to be done before you start tackling GRE RC passages in order to prepare you for the challenges that those passages will throw up.
One challenge that you will face on Reading Comprehension passages is that they tend to be about unfamiliar topics and concepts; and talk about unfamiliar terms and fields. They use difficult phrasing and vocabulary, and complicated sentence structure. The only way to get used to the level of complexity you will find in GRE passages is to read widely.
Another challenge is the fact that reading passages on screen means that you may not be able to see the whole passage at a time, and may have to scroll up and down to read the rest of the passage. This is very different from reading on paper, where you can usually see the whole passage on screen at a glance. The fact that, when reading longer passages onscreen, you will not be able to see the whole of the passage at once makes comprehending the passage much more difficult.
Reading widely both on paper and onscreen will help you build up the skills that you need to meet the challenges presented by reading comprehension passages in the GRE. The reading material suggested here is arranged, and should be read, in the following order:
Preliminary Reading
- General Reading on Paper
- General Reading on Screen
- Easy RC
Once you have completed the preparatory reading you can go on to actual GRE RC practice (see below):
- Medium-level GRE RC
- Hard GRE RC
- ETS Material
Going through the material in the order given will help you to get to the required competence in reading skills and tackling questions in easy stages.
General Reading on Paper – Newspaper Editorials
Newspaper editorials are short and have language that is fairly close to what you find in GRE RC passages in terms of both vocabulary and complexity of sentence structure. Unlike GRE passages, however, they deal with topics that are familiar and so can be easily understood. The familiarity of the subject matter will help you deal with, and get used to, the complex language and high-level vocabulary in GRE reading comprehension passages.
Approach
When you read, summarize the editorials (or any other articles, essays or passages that you read) as if explaining to a 5th Std. student. This will force you to be brief, clear and simple. If you can read and discuss editorials in groups of 2 or 3, then you can get greater clarity about the main idea of the editorial and how to present it. Apply this approach to all other passages that you read.
General Reading on Screen – Websites
As explained above, reading RC passages is more difficult when the passage is on the computer screen. To prepare for practice with reading onscreen which is required to take computer-based tests therefore, read websites like
- aldaily.com
- thebrowser.com
Note: the articles on the websites mentioned above are very long so, if you are not used to reading very much, read only a little at a time – may be just 5-10 lines at a time. Gradually increase the amount you read (to 15 or 20 lines and over time to 30-40 lines) and increase your stamina.
Reading such articles will also expose you to a broad range of topics and to concepts and vocabulary outside the scope of your usual reading. Other useful sites include:
- sciencenews.org (good explanations of terms you may have forgotten in the children’s articles)
- the-scientist.com (life science)
- sciencedaily.com
Read these websites in conjunction with:
- dictionary.com – for explanations of unfamiliar words
- Wikipedia – for explanations of unfamiliar terms, concepts, fields, people etc. that you encounter in your reading.
Easy RC – TOEFL® Reading Comprehension Passages
TOEFL RC passages are easier than those in the GRE, but (unlike the editorials and websites) they contain Reading Comprehension questions. Since the passages and questions are easier than those in the GRE, TOEFL RC passages provide a good ‘warm up’ which will prepare you to move from articles and editorials to actual GRE RC passages.
Practice for Reading Comprehension on the GRE
Once you have completed your preliminary reading, you should have gained several benefits:
- exposure to fields outside your normal reading
- knowledge of terms and concepts; personalities, processes, phenomena; and in general ideas and things in those unfamiliar fields
- an ability to handle complex sentence structure and phrasing
- an ability to understand the structure of passages and the modes of reasoning used and to understand the author’s main point.
Once you have attained some level of comfort on these fronts, you are ready to tackle the GRE reading comprehension passages in the practice material. The order in which you will do this final material is as follows.
- Medium-level GRE Reading Comprehension
- Hard GRE Reading Comprehension
- ETS Material
Medium-level GRE RC – RC Extra Practice (Sets 1-10)
- Over 80 passages, over 350 questions (approx.)
- Sets 1-4 contain:
- 58 short-medium passages (15-45 lines)
- 178 questions of the new and modified types:
- New: select-the-sentence-in-the-passage, double highlighted portion questions
- Modified: EXCEPT, Triple True/False, single highlighted portion
- Sets 5-10 contain:
- 30 long passages (60-75 lines)
- 201 questions of the older types (those continued in this version of the GRE test with minor modifications)
- Do the first sets untimed, the latter sets timed when you are comfortable with the techniques
Hard RC – Homework Material
- Verbal Ability Extra Practice Material:
- passages in pairs (one short, one medium)
- 11 questions on a pair of passages
- complete a pair of passages in 15 minutes as practice on timing
- Book 2 – hard passages and tricky questions; do last
ETS Material
This includes:
- Practice Test PDF – this is a full-length paper-based GRE test with 2 full-length Verbal sections (the PDF is available free on GRE site in the Test Taker’s section)
- PowerPrep 2.0 – 2 full-length CBTs
Take the PowerPrep tests after you have done all the other computer-based tests available in the market. The PowerPrep will give you the most accurate indicator of what your score is likely to be in the actual GRE. See the blog on Computer-based Practice for the CBT.
- ETS Official Guide
- 3 sets of material (easy, medium and hard) for both RC and discrete questions.
- 2 full-length paper-based tests (different from the one on the site)
The ETS material is the best available. This is what you should be practicing on immediately before your actual GRE test.
CBT – Practice on the Computer-Based Tests (1 month before GRE test)
The final stage of your GRE prep is taking practice GRE computer-based tests. If you are a student at Dilip Oak’s Academy, here is the plan – if you’re not, you are missing out!
- Start doing the Computer-based tests 3 weeks-1 month before the GRE.
- There are 10 Oaks tests (5 to be taken in the lab and 5 online) and two PowerPrep tests from the ETS, making a total of 12.
- Going through all of them, at the rate of one every 2-3 days will take about a month.
Material to be Covered and Order:
Given below are the tests you should take and the order in which you should take them. Carefully read the accompanying notes wherever they are given – they will save you a lot of confusion.
- The Oak’s free full-length diagnostic test
- The free test is separate from the 4 online tests that you will do at the end of your GRE course at Dilip Oak’s Academy
- You will have to register separately for the free online test at http://online.dilipoakacademy.com/ (click on the url to register).
- The login and password for the 4 Oak’s online tests are given in your I-Card; they are NOT to be used for the free test.
- This test should be taken as a diagnostic, to help you identify your areas of weakness, so that you can eliminate them while you are attending the course or, as you do the paper-based practice material.
- The Oak’s tests are harder than the GRE test, so to get a more accurate estimate of what your score will be in the actual test, add 10-12 marks to your score in the Oak’s tests. (This applies both for the free tests and for the 4 online tests.)
- First ETS PowerPrep II test
- The ETS PowerPrep II software contains 2 full-length CBTs.
- The PowerPrep II tests can be obtained either from CD in the ETS’s Official Guide for the GRE or, from the GRE website, where you can download the software.
- Do the first test after you have completed (most of) your paper-based practice material, so that you will understand the question types, techniques and timing thoroughly before you attempt the test.
- Your score in the PowerPrep II software will be given in the form of a range on the earlier 200-800 scale (so, for example, your verbal score might be given as 550-650/800). You can convert this into the corresponding range on the new scale using ETS’s concordances (score conversion tables) at the following url: http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/concordance_information.pdf
- 5 Tests in the Oak’s Lab – these are onscreen practice exercises which will prepare you for the full-length CBTs
- 4 Dilip Oak’s Tests Online – remember to add 10 marks to your overall score to get a more accurate idea of what your score will be in the GRE since our tests are tougher than the actual GRE.
- Second ETS PowerPrep II test – this will give you a fairly good idea of where you stand at the end of your preparation.
Take your last test a day or two before your actual exam – don’t do any last minute testing. This is the final stage of preparation. So, after this you should be all set to do your GRE. All the best!