How I got 800 on the GRE Verbal Section

[AmigoRo]

Here's how I prepared for GRE verbal.

Vocabulary

http://www-ec.njit.edu/~grk4352/

Get the New GRE wordlist 0.3 beta

It's the best piece of wordlist software in the world. This is the only tool I used to improve my vocab.

This is what I did. First, I did all 51 (100 words each) word sets. Actually there about 4000 words because there are repetitions. Whenever I came across a word I didn't know, I didn't guess it. I looked it up the dictionary. This way, the program records what words you have missed. Don't depend on the definitions the program gives you. Couple of them are wrong.

After the first round, I managed to eliminate about 60% of the words. That left me with 1600 words. Then I started from beginning and eliminated words I remembered. In five weeks, I had memorised 4000 words, with minimal effort !

Reading Comprehension

I went to this site:

www.aldaily.com

and read essays there. They are very deep in meaning, but very well written. This improved my RC skills by leaps and bounds.

A bonus is that he essays you find on this site will help you with the AWA issue topic too.

RC Tips for the exam

1. Identify the core theme of the passage. This is of utmost importance.
2. Identify the purpose of the passage (instructing, describing etc).
3. Identify the tone of the authors writing (neutral, critical, supportive).
4. Map the course of the essay. For example, The author will start off by presenting an argument. Then he will either present evidence to support it, or refute it. Look for words like "however" which mark a twist.
5. Don't get bogged down in the minute details in the first reading. You can generally ignore most statistics. Come back to them only if you get a question asking for that specific piece of information.

Look at the following excerpt(from www.aldaily.com):

In the book of Genesis, God decreed that there were limits to growth by never allowing the Tower of Babel to reach the sky. In modern times, the task of delineating human aspirations fell to the Club of Rome, which in its 1972 study, Limits to Growth, declared that in a world of finite resources, unlimited economic expansion and prosperity are impossible to pursue.

The international scientists, who at the invitation of Italian industrialist Aurelio Peccei came together in the late 1960s to form the Club of Rome, meant well. They were united by their conviction that enormous ecological problems faced humankind and called for extraordinary political measures. At the time of its release, Limits to Growth had a profound impact, spawning alarmist headlines such as “A Computer Looks Ahead and Shudders” and “Scientists Warn of Global Catastrophe.” The subsequent 1973 oil crisis, prompted in part by the Arab embargo, made the study seem eerily prescient.

But 30 years later, the Club of Rome’s most dire forecasts have failed to come true. Vital minerals such as gold, silver, copper, tin, zinc, mercury, lead, tungsten, and oil should have been exhausted by now. But they aren’t. Due to an exponential increase in population growth, the world should be facing desperate shortages of arable land and rising food prices. Yet food prices have never been lower. And the world’s health should have been undermined by an exponential increase in pollution. People today, however, live longer than ever before, and in Western cities, most pollutants are on the decline, driven down by technological advances and environmental legislation.

What's the theme of the essay?
What's the pupose?
What's the author's tone of voice?
What's the course of the essay?

Well, I hope you find this information helpful. If you have any specific questions, please do ask. I will do my level best to answer.

HTH

AmigoRo



Title edited from:

How I prepared for GRE verbal

to

How I got 800 on the GRE Verbal Section

and topic moved by Erin.

[raghuveer_v]

Wonderful and Truly elegant piece of advice. I wish we had you as a member before my GRE.

Anyway, TMians now have the guidance of

The Verbal GURU, Ro!

[AmigoRo]

My analysis of the passage.

In the book of Genesis, God decreed that there were limits to growth by never allowing the Tower of Babel to reach the sky. <font color="orange">In modern times, the task of delineating human aspirations fell to the Club of Rome, which in its 1972 study, Limits to Growth, declared that in a world of finite resources, unlimited economic expansion and prosperity are impossible to pursue. </font id="orange">

So now we know what the author is going to talk about.

The international scientists, who at the invitation of Italian industrialist Aurelio Peccei came together in the late 1960s to form the Club of Rome, <font color="orange">meant well</font id="orange">. The phrase meant well signals two things. Firstly, the author has some sympathy for the Club of Rome. Secondly, the scientists' are probably mistaken. This is what I mean by identifying the tone of voice. They were united by their conviction that enormous ecological problems faced humankind and called for extraordinary political measures. <font color="orange">At the time of its release, Limits to Growth had a profound impact, spawning alarmist headlines such as “A Computer Looks Ahead and Shudders” and “Scientists Warn of Global Catastrophe.” The subsequent 1973 oil crisis, prompted in part by the Arab embargo, made the study seem eerily prescient.</font id="orange"> The author provides evidence to show why the club thought the way it did.


<font color="orange">But</font id="orange"> That's the twister 30 years later, the Club of Rome’s most dire forecasts have failed to come true. Vital minerals such as gold, silver, copper, tin, zinc, mercury, lead, tungsten, and oil should have been exhausted by now. But they aren’t. Due to an exponential increase in population growth, the world should be facing desperate shortages of arable land and rising food prices. Yet food prices have never been lower. And the world’s health should have been undermined by an exponential increase in pollution. People today, however, live longer than ever before, and in Western cities, most pollutants are on the decline, driven down by technological advances and environmental legislation. The author provides a volume of evidence contrary to the original argument.

The theme of the essay: The veracity the argument by a certain group that there are limits to human growth imposed by finite resources.

The purpose: Refute the notion that there are limits to growth.

The author's tone of voice: Softly critical.

The course of the essay:

Introduce argument
Introduce proponent
The evidence that convinced the proponent
TWIST
<font color="brown">Refutation
Evidence to support the refutation</font id="brown">


HTH
AmigoRo

[ananya]

Amigoro,
That is very useful.I agree that it is important to follow the course of the essay.
I will go through the site you mentioned and follow the excercise.

Thanks,
Natasha

[phase]

Amigoro,
after reading the way you prepared GRE verbal,I find that there are many skills in dong reading comperhension.Would you please show me some beyond what you have illustrated.

[tapi]

Amigoro,
still waiting for your advice:o

[mirkwood]

hey, the Arts & Letter Daily is really a cool website! Thanks a lot for offering such a good source!

[tapi]

mirk what exactly did you read .

[philipskaren]

anything u would like to advice for people who r avg in maths. what should be the course of action for them.???

[fanfan]

hey,i am first come here and very appreciated what u said!waiting ur more suggestion.
well,i can not open :http://www-ec.njit.edu/~grk4352/
can u tell me another link.