Tài liệu Master the Gre 2010 - Part 33 docx

Where: The 30-minute Verbal Reasoning section How Many: Approximately 9 test items out of 30 all together, interspersed with other question types on the computerized GRE What’s Tested: •

SUMMING IT UP

• Lines and line segments are the fundamental elements for most GRE geometry

problems, so it’s essential to be familiar with the basic rules of angles formed by

intersecting lines

• Be certain you know the properties of all basic types of triangles You’ll not only

encounter several problems involving triangles on the GRE, but you’ll also need

to have the skills necessary for solving problems with four-sided figures,

three-dimensional figures, and circles

• GRE circle problems typically involve other types of geometric figures as well,

including triangles, squares, rectangles, and tangent lines Learn the basics of

circle problems and you’ll be a step ahead in solving the most advanced geometry

problems

• GRE coordinate geometry questions involve the xy-plane defined by the

hori-zontal x-axis and the vertical y-axis You will need to know how to determine the

slope of a line, so remember to calculate it as “rise over run” and not “run over

rise.”

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P ART V

VERBAL REASONING

.

CHAPTER 12 Analogies CHAPTER 13 Sentence and Text Completions CHAPTER 14 Reading Comprehension

CHAPTER 15 Antonyms and GRE Vocabulary

OVERVIEW

In this chapter, you’ll learn a step-by-step approach to handling any GRE

Analogy, and you’ll apply that approach to some GRE-style Analogies Then

you’ll learn strategies for solving GRE Analogies and for avoiding common

test-taking pitfalls when it comes to these test items Later in the chapter,

you’ll examine in detail the types of word-pair relationships that the test

designers use most often in GRE Analogies

KEY FACTS ABOUT GRE ANALOGIES

You first looked at GRE Analogies in Chapter 2 and in this book’s Diagnostic

Test Here’s a quick review of key facts about this question type

Where: The 30-minute Verbal Reasoning section

How Many: Approximately 9 test items (out of 30 all together), interspersed

with other question types on the computerized GRE

What’s Tested:

• Your ability to understand the relationship between two words

• Your vocabulary

Directions: During the computerized GRE, test directions similar to the

following will precede your first Analogy question, and a briefer version will

appear above each such question:

Directions: In the following question, a related pair of words or phrases is

followed by five lettered pairs of words or phrases Select the lettered pair that best expresses a relationship similar to that expressed in the original pair

.

307

Other Key Facts:

• Analogies contain words only (no phrases)

• The first word pair is capitalized (all caps), but the five answer choices are not

• In all six word pairs, the first word is of the same part of speech (noun, verb, or adjective); the same is true of the second word in all six word pairs

THE 5-STEP PLAN

Your first task in this chapter is to learn the five basic steps for handling a GRE Analogy (You’ll apply these steps to two sample questions.)

Step 1: Determine the Meaning of the Words

Determine the meaning of each word in the original pair If you’re unfamiliar with one

or both words, try to guess what it means based on its prefix, if any, and root

Step 2: Figure Out How the Words Are Related

Determine how the two words are related, and make up a sentence that expresses that relationship Try to be specific A sentence such as “[one word] is a type of [the other word]” might suffice for easier Analogies, but in most cases you’ll have to get more specific (A bit later, we’ll take an in-depth look at the most common types of word relationships appearing on the GRE.)

Step 3: Try Out Your Sentence Using the Answer Choices

Try each answer choice in turn, eliminating those that clearly don’t work Read your sentence, substituting each word pair for the original pair Ask yourself whether the

sentence makes sense with the new pair If it does, or if it’s close, the pair might be your

best choice If it doesn’t, eliminate that answer choice

Step 4: Try Again If You Have More Than One Answer

If you’re left with more than one answer—or no answer at all—go back and make your sentence fit better Your original sentence might have been:

• Too general

• Too specific

• A good start, but not sufficient (in other words, there’s another kind of rela-tionship you must recognize to narrow down the choices further)

Step 5: Choose the Best Answer

If none of the choices fits exactly, choose the one that works best No analogy is perfect,

so don’t look for a perfect match You’re looking for the best answer—the closest fit of the five choices

Applying the 5-Step Plan

Let’s apply these five steps to two GRE-style Analogies Start by reading the first one

(below) as follows: “Write is to scribble as is to .”

PART V: Verbal Reasoning 308

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1 WRITE : SCRIBBLE ::

(A) shout : mutter

(B) send : dispatch

(C) cut : carve

(D) walk : stagger

(E) please : worry

This question is easier than average One feature that makes it easy is that you’re

probably familiar with all the words Another is that the relationship between the

original pair is rather straightforward Let’s walk through this question using the

5-step approach:

Step 1: The meaning of the two words is obvious Go on to step 2.

Step 2: Here are two variations of a sentence that expresses the relationship between

the capitalized pair:

“To scribble is to write in a hasty or careless manner.”

“Scribbling is a careless or hasty form of writing.”

Step 3: Let’s test each answer choice to see which ones fit in the second sentence as

substitutes for the capitalized word pair (We’ll use the second variation of the

sentence.)

Choice (A): Is muttering a careless or hasty form of shouting? No To mutter is to

speak indistinctly, especially in a low and quiet voice Although muttering and

scrib-bling might both be unintelligible (very difficult to understand), scribscrib-bling is not by

definition difficult to understand, whereas muttering is What’s more, the relationship

between muttering and shouting has to do with volume, not degree of care, and the

two words are contrary in meaning Muttering is quiet, whereas shouting is loud On

the other hand, “write” is a neutral word; it is not contrary to “scribble,” which is

merely one form of writing So, in two respects, choice (A) is not a strong analogy

Choice (B): Is dispatching a careless or hasty form of sending? No To dispatch is to

send; in other words, the two words are essentially synonymous (Dispatch can also be

used as a noun, meaning “efficiency” or “promptness.” But since the first words in the

other pairs are all verbs, you should analyze dispatch as a verb here.) So, choice (B) is

not a strong analogy

Choice (C): Is carving a careless or hasty form of cutting? No Although carving does

describe a particular form of cutting, carving is often performed by design,

delib-eration, and even care So, the relationship between cutting and carving is somewhat

contrary to the relationship between write and scribble You can safely eliminate

choice (C)

Choice (D): Is staggering a careless or hasty form of walking? Yes To stagger is to walk

in a clumsy, teetering manner—in other words, carelessly What’s more, “walk” and

“write” are both neutral terms Staggering is a form of, not contrary to, walking, just

as scribbling is a form of, not contrary to, writing So, in this respect, choice (D)

provides a much stronger analogy than choice (A) Admittedly, choice (D) does not

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provide a perfect analogy (For example, staggering is not a hasty form of walking.) But no analogy is perfect, and choice (D) is definitely stronger than choices (A), (B),

or (C)

Choice (E): Is worrying a careless or hasty form of pleasing? No The two words are

unrelated to each other Since there’s no link between them, let alone any analogy between them and the capitalized pair, you can easily eliminate choice (E)

Step 4: We’ve narrowed down our choice to (D) Since choice (D) is such a good fit,

there’s no need to go back and revise our sentence

Step 5: The correct answer is (D) Choose choice (D), and move on to the next

question

Now let’s apply the five-step approach to a second GRE-style Analogy Start by

reading it (below) as follows: “Adjudication is to trial as is to .”

2 ADJUDICATION : TRIAL ::

(A) postlude : symphony (B) forecast : weather (C) footnote: report (D) misdemeanor : felony (E) prognosis : surgery

This Analogy falls squarely into the “difficult” category One feature that makes this tough is that it’s packed with words that might look somewhat familiar to you but that you might have trouble defining precisely Another reason this one is difficult is that the relationship between the capitalized pair is a bit abstract, and the same can

be said for some of the other pairs as well Here’s how to tackle the question using the five-step approach:

Step 1: If adjudication is a new word to you, take it apart and look for clues The root

jud appears at the beginning of more common words such as judge and judicial The prefix ad means “to or toward.” So a good guess would be that the verb adjudicate means “to judge.” In fact, that’s exactly correct! An adjudication is a decree or pronouncement, such as a verdict, usually made by a judge at the conclusion of a trial.

Step 2: Express the relationship between the two capitalized words simply, without

getting too specific or abstract:

“An adjudication occurs at the conclusion of a trial.”

Step 3: Let’s test each answer choice to see which ones fit in our sentence as

substitutes for the original word pair

Choice (A): Does a postlude occur at the conclusion of a symphony? Yes A postlude is

a concluding piece or movement of a symphony

Choice (B): Does a forecast occur at the conclusion of weather? No By definition, a

forecast precedes a weather event So, at least in this respect, choice (B) expresses a contrary relationship to the capitalized pair Eliminate choice (B)

PART V: Verbal Reasoning 310

TIP

If you don’t know the meaning

of a word, try to guess based

on its root and/or prefix The

other word in the pair might

also provide a clue.

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Choice (C): Does a footnote occur at the conclusion of a report? Sometimes Although

footnotes usually appear at the bottom (or “foot”) of the page on which they are

referenced, footnotes can be grouped as endnotes at the end of a report

Choice (D): Does a felony occur at the conclusion of a misdemeanor? No The words

felony and misdemeanor describe types of crimes By definition, a felony is a more

serious crime than a misdemeanor So the relationship between felony and

misde-meanor is not even close to the one between adjudication and trial You can easily

eliminate choice (D)

Choice (E): Does a prognosis occur at the conclusion of surgery? Yes, it can A prognosis

is a prediction of the chances of recovery from illness or surgery; a prognosis may very

well occur just after surgery is completed

Step 4: You’ve narrowed down the choices to (A), (C), and (E) You need another

sentence that is either more specific or that focuses on a different aspect of the

relationship between adjudication and trial Consider the purpose or function of an

adjudication (now you’re getting a bit more abstract):

“An adjudication is a pronouncement of the outcome, or result, of a trial.”

Step 5: Neither choice (A) nor choice (C) fit at all, do they? But choice (E) is a very

close fit A prognosis is an pronouncement (by the physician) as to the result of

surgery The surgery might have been successful, for example, and the chances of

recovery good Sure, the analogy isn’t perfect But it’s the closest match among the

five choices The correct answer is (E).

ANALOGY STRATEGIES

In the previous section, you picked up some valuable ideas for gaining a tactical

advantage when it comes to GRE Analogies Here you’ll review those ideas and learn

about some others As a whole, these strategies will give you the insights you need to

think clearly about Analogy questions and handle them efficiently, while avoiding the

kinds of blunders that average test takers might commit

Try to Capture the Essence of the Word-Pair Relationship

Ideally, you should formulate a sentence that captures the essence of the relationship

between the two capitalized words If you formulate a sentence that captures one aspect

of the relationship but fails to capture the defining relationship, you probably won’t zero

in on the best answer choice For example, consider the following analogy:

3 EXTORT : INFLUENCE ::

(A) steal : borrow

(B) saturate : dye

(C) comfort : medicate

(D) interrogate : ask

(E) plummet : fall

TIP

The first strategy here is by far the most important one Mastering it is the key to handling GRE Analogies In fact, you’ll devote the entire second half of this chapter

to it.

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The correct answer is (D) In the capitalized pair, the relationship involves

both quality and degree Someone who plans to EXTORT (force from another by violence or intimidation) hopes to exert great INFLUENCE Three of the choices,

(A), (D), and (E), illustrate an analogous relationship To steal is to borrow permanently; to interrogate is to ask very closely and thoroughly; and to plummet

is to fall rapidly and precipitously.

Leaving yourself three viable choices should tell you that you haven’t yet deter-mined the essence of the relationship between EXTORT and INFLUENCE So try again: The usual purpose of extortion is to compel another to give you something (usually money) by influence; similarly, the usual purpose of interro-gation is to compel another to give you something (usually information) by asking So in both pairs, the relationship is one of degree as well as purpose Would it make sense to say that the purpose of stealing something is to obtain something else by borrowing? Or that the purpose of descending is to plummet?

No So choice (D) provides a better analogy than either choice (A) or (E)

The More Precisely You Define a Word-Pair Relationship, the Better

Don’t expect to solve every GRE Analogy simply by plugging word pairs into simple sentences such as the following:

“ is a type of .”

“ is a tool used to .”

“ is part of a .”

Use simple sentences such as these as a starting point, but be prepared to refine the word-pair relationship by fine-tuning your sentence so the relationship is more spe-cific Let’s follow this advice to help solve the following GRE Analogy:

4 WATER : RESERVOIR ::

(A) lumber : forest (B) oven : kitchen (C) wheat : silo (D) oil : pipeline (E) zoo : animal The correct answer is (C) If you apply the sentence “A RESERVOIR is a place

where you would find WATER” to the five choices, here’s what you end up with:

(A) A forest is a place where you would find lumber.

(B) A kitchen is a place where you would find an oven.

(C) A silo is a place where you would find wheat.

(D) A pipeline is a place where you would find oil.

(E) An animal is a place where you would find a zoo.

You can only eliminate one answer choice (E) So you need to revise your original sentence to express a more specific relationship Try this sentence: “A RES-ERVOIR is a place where WATER is stored for later use.” Now let’s see which answer choices we can eliminate:

PART V: Verbal Reasoning 312

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