Tài liệu Master the Gre 2010 - Part 17 pptx

Frequent occurrences of awkward, wordy, or redundant phrases can lower your Analytical Writing score—especially if these problems interfere with the reader’s understanding of your essay.

Quoting the Statement or Argument

Occasionally, it may be appropriate to quote key words or phrases from the Issue

statement or Argument statement For example, you may wish to point out a key

phrase that is ambiguous or vague (“certain respondents”), or a term that is overly

inclusive or exclusive (“only” or “all”) This is fine, as long as you keep the number of

quoted words and phrases to a minimum; there’s never any justification for quoting

entire sentences

MAINTAIN PROPER TONE AND VOICE

In any type of essay writing, you should maintain a somewhat formal tone

throughout An essay that comes across as conversational is probably too informal

for the GRE

The overall tone should be critical but not inflammatory or emotional Don’t overstate

your position by using extreme or harsh language Don’t attempt to elicit a visceral or

emotional response from the reader Appeal instead to the reader’s intellect

A direct, even forceful voice is perfectly acceptable for making your main points But

don’t overdo it; when it comes to the details, use a more dispassionate approach

Don’t try to make your point with “cutesy” or humorous remarks Avoid puns, double

meanings, plays on words, and other forms of humor Likewise, sarcasm is entirely

inappropriate for your GRE essays The reader may not realize you’re being sarcastic,

in which case your remark will only serve to confuse him or her

VARY SENTENCE LENGTH AND STRUCTURE

To ensure high GRE essay scores, strive to write sentences that vary in length and

structure in a way that helps convey their intended meaning rather than obscuring or

distorting it Here are some examples:

• For rhetorical emphasis, try using an abrupt, short sentence to make a crucial

point, either before or after longer sentences that elucidate that point

• Use a semicolon to transform two sentences involving the same train of thought

into one; and use the word “and” to connect two independent clauses (just as in

this sentence)

• Sentences with the same essential structure can help convey your line of

rea-soning to the reader Try using the similar structures for a list of reasons or

examples

• Sentences that essentially repeat (verbatim) throughout your essay suggest an

immature, unsophisticated writing style Try to avoid using so-called template

sentences over and over, especially for the first and last sentence of each body

paragraph

WRITE CLEARLY AND CONCISELY

You’re most likely to score high on your GRE essays if you develop a clear and concise writing style Frequent occurrences of awkward, wordy, or redundant phrases can lower your Analytical Writing score—especially if these problems interfere with the reader’s understanding of your essay

Beware of Wordiness

With enough words, anyone can make a point, but it requires skill and effort to make your point succinctly As you proofread your essay, if a sentence seems clumsy or overly long, check for a wordy or awkward phrase that you can replace with a more concise, clearer one

In your Argument essay, for example, you can often replace wordy phrases that signal

a premise with a single word For example: “the reason for,” “for the reason that,” “due

to the fact that,” “in light of the fact that,” and “on the grounds that” can be replaced with “because,” “since,” and “considering that.” Here are some additional examples:

Original: Discipline is crucial to the attainment of one’s objectives.

Better: Discipline is crucial to attain one’s objectives.

Original: To indicate the fact that they are in opposition to a bill, legislators

some-times engage in filibusters

Better: To show that they oppose a bill, legislators sometimes engage in filibusters Original: The employee with ambition

Better: The ambitious employee Original: The system which is most efficient and accurate

Better: The most efficient and accurate system

Original: Both unemployment levels as well as interest rates can affect stock prices.

Better: Unemployment levels and interest rates can affect stock prices.

Original: The reason science is being blamed for threats to the natural environment

is because scientists fail to see that technology is only as useful or as harmful as those

who decide how to use it

Better: Science is being blamed for threats to the natural environment because

scientists fail to see that technology is only as useful or as harmful as those who decide how to use it

Watch Comma Placement

Although punctuation is the least important aspect of your GRE essays, habitually overusing, underusing, or misusing commas may not only interfere with the reader’s understanding of your essay and interrupt the flow of your sentences, but it may also contribute to a lower score Use the least number of commas needed to ensure that the reader will understand your point

NOTE

To speed up the writing

process, some GRE test takers

copy and paste phrases and

sentences, then “tweak” them

to avoid the template look.

There’s nothing wrong per se

with this strategy, but you’ll

probably find that it takes

more time than it’s worth.

USE LANGUAGE CORRECTLY AND PERSUASIVELY

To ensure top scores for your essays, strive to convince the readers that you possess

a strong command of the English language—in other words, that you can use the

written language correctly, clearly, and persuasively You need to demonstrate a

solid grasp of vocabulary, use proper idioms (especially prepositional phrases), and

use proper diction (word usage and choice) Let’s take a look at how you can

accomplish this

Demonstrate a Solid Grasp of Vocabulary

By all means, show the reader that you possess the vocabulary of a broadly educated

individual and you know how to use it But keep the following caveats in mind:

• Don’t overuse “SAT-style” words just to make an impression Doing so will only

suggest that you’re trying to mask poor content with window dressing

• Avoid obscure or archaic words that few readers are likely to know Readers do

not have time while reading essays to consult dictionaries

• Avoid technical terminology that only specialists and scholars in a specific field

would understand GRE readers are typically English-language generalists in the

fields of English and Communications

• Use Latin and other non-English terms very sparingly After all, one of the

primary skills you’re being tested on is your facility with the English language

The occasional use of Latin terms and acronyms—for example, per se, de facto, ad

hoc, i.e., and e.g.—is perfectly acceptable Non-English words commonly used in

academic writing, such as vis-á-vis, caveat, and laissez faire are acceptable as

well, but again, be careful not to overdo it

• Avoid colloquialisms (slang and vernacular)

Use Proper Diction

In evaluating your essays, GRE readers also take into account your diction, especially

when problems interfere with the understanding of your essays Diction refers chiefly to

your choice of words and to the way a word is used When you commit an error in diction,

you might be confusing one word with another because the two words look or sound

similar Or you may use a word that isn’t the best choice for conveying the idea you have

in mind Here’s an example of the first type of diction error:

The best way to impede employees to improve their productivity is to allow

them to determine for themselves the most efficient way of performing their

individual job tasks

The word impede means “to hinder or hamper”; in the context of this sentence, impede

should be replaced with a word such as impel, which means “propel or drive.” The test

taker might have confused these two words Now here’s an example of the second type

of diction error:

NOTE

The rules for Standard Written English require that Latin and other non-English terms be italicized (or underlined) However, GRE word processors don’t allow you to do so You can leave words like this as is, but be sure they’re terms that most educated people would know.

The word diffident means “reluctant, unwilling, or shy.” A more appropriate word here would be ambivalent, which means “undecided or indecisive.” Or perhaps the test taker meant to use the word indifferent, thereby committing the first type of diction

error

What appear to be diction errors might in many instances be merely typing errors Accordingly, problems with your word choice and usage will adversely affect your scores only if they are obvious and occur frequently

Use Idioms Correctly

An idiom is a distinctive phrase that is either proper or improper based upon whether

it has become acceptable over time and through repeated and common use Here are two sentences, each of which contain an idiomatic prepositional phrase and another idiom:

Example (From a Typical Issue Essay):

The speaker’s contention flies in the face of the empirical evidence, and in any

event runs contrary to common sense.

Example (From a Typical Argument Essay):

For all we know, last year was the only year in which the company earned a

profit, in which case the vice president’s advice might turn out to be especially

poor in retrospect

Idioms don’t rely on any particular rules of grammar; hence they are learned over time by experience As you might suspect, the English language contains more idi-omatic expressions than you can shake a thesaurus at Moreover, the number of possible diction errors isn’t even limited to the number of entries in a good unabridged English dictionary Although it is impossible in these pages to provide a thorough review of diction and idiom, here are some guidelines to keep in mind when writing your GRE essays:

• If you’re the least bit unsure about the meaning of a word you want to use in your essay, don’t use it Why risk committing a diction blunder just to impress the reader?

• If a phrase sounds wrong to your ear, change it until it sounds correct to you

• The fewer words you use, the less likely you’ll commit a diction or idiom error When in doubt, stick with a relatively brief phrase that you think will still convey your point

• If English is your second language, take heart: In evaluating and scoring your essays, GRE readers take into account diction or idiom problems only to the extent that those problems interfere with a reader’s understanding of your sen-tence’s intended meaning As long as your writing is understandable to your EFL (English-as-First-Language) friends, you need not worry

TIP

If you have time before your

exam and you think your

diction and use of idioms need

improvement, consult a

reputable guide to English

usage, a trusted professor, or a

colleague with a firm grasp of

Standard Written English.

SUMMING IT UP

• GRE essay readers place less weight on writing style and mechanics than on

content and organization—but the way you write can affect your GRE Analytical

Writing score To ensure a high score, you need to make sure your essays are

persuasive in style; appropriate in tone and voice; varied in sentence length and

structure; clear and concise; and correct in diction, word usage, idiom, grammar,

and writing mechanics

• Use rhetorical words and phrases and use irony as a rhetorical device Avoid

empty rhetoric; use punctuation properly and for emphasis

• Be sure to connect your ideas and use the language of critical reasoning properly

• You may need to refer to yourself, the statement, or the argument itself If so, be

consistent and follow the suggestions outlined in this chapter to help ensure that

your references are appropriate

P ART IV

QUANTITATIVE REASONING

.

CHAPTER 7 Problem Solving CHAPTER 8 Quantitative Comparison CHAPTER 9 Math Review: Number Forms,

Relationships, and Sets CHAPTER 10 Math Review: Number Theory and

Algebra CHAPTER 11 Math Review: Geometry

• Key facts about GRE problem solving

• The 5-step plan

• Problem-solving strategies

• The data interpretation format

• Data interpretation strategies

• The numeric entry format (new)

• Summing it up

The GRE Quantitative Reasoning section consists of test items in two basic

formats: Problem Solving and Quantitative Comparison In this chapter, you’ll

focus exclusively on the Problem Solving format First, you’ll learn a

step-by-step approach to problem solving and apply it to some GRE-style examples

Then you’ll review strategies for solving GRE quantitative problems as

effi-ciently as possible, while avoiding common test-taking pitfalls Later in the

chapter, you’ll examine the numeric entry format, a special type of Problem

Solving question recently added to the GRE

You first looked at GRE Problem Solving in Chapter 2 and in this book’s

Diagnostic Test Let’s quickly review the key facts about the Problem Solving

format

KEY FACTS ABOUT GRE PROBLEM SOLVING

Where: The 45-minute Quantitative Reasoning section

How Many: Approximately 14 test items (out of 28 altogether), mixed in with

Quantitative Comparisons

What’s Tested:

• Your proficiency in performing arithmetical operations

• Your proficiency in solving algebraic equations and inequalities

• Your ability to convert verbal information into mathematical terms

• Your ability to visualize geometric shapes and numerical relationships

•

.

• Your ability to devise intuitive and unconventional solutions to conventional mathematical problems

Areas Covered: Any of the Quantitative Reasoning areas listed from pages 36 to 43

is fair game for a Problem Solving question

Directions: Problem Solving directions are similar to the following Most of these

directions are actually assumptions for interpreting figures (pay special attention to the last note):

Directions: Solve the problem and select the best answer choice.

Notes:

• All numbers used are real numbers

• All figures lie on a plane unless otherwise indicated

• All angle measures are positive

• All lines shown as straight are straight Lines that appear jagged can also be assumed to be straight (lines can look somewhat jagged on the computer screen)

• Figures are intended to provide useful information for answering the ques-tions However, except where a figure is accompanied by a “Note” stating that the figure is drawn to scale, solve the problem using your knowledge of

mathematics, not by visual measurement or estimation.

Other Key Facts:

• All Problem Solving questions are five-item multiple-choice questions, except that you might encounter one numeric entry question as well

• About one half of the questions are story problems (involving “real world” sce-narios)

• Numerical answer choices are listed in either ascending or descending order

• Some Problem Solving questions involve the interpretation of graphical data— tables, charts, and graphs (you’ll examine the data interpretation format later in this chapter)

• The focus is on skills, not number crunching (you won’t need to deal with unwieldy numbers or perform lengthy calculations)

• Calculators are prohibited, but scratch paper is provided

THE 5-STEP PLAN

The first task in this lesson is to learn the 5 basic steps for handling any GRE Problem Solving question Just ahead, you’ll apply these steps to three sample questions

Step 1: Size Up the Question

Read the question and then pause for a moment to ask yourself:

• What specific subject area is covered?

• What rules and formulas are likely to come into play?