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Hi Erin, Thanks for your great explanation too! Erin, if you don't mind, could you please answer my post re: "skill" (noun vs. non-count) too? Thanks so much! -- Sonita

Hi Honda, Sorry for the delay in responding. I've been swamped this past weekend. According to Strunk and White (and also ETS' explanation in the GMAT [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] 10th ed.), you should use "like" to compare nouns, pronouns and noun/pronoun phrases. When you compare clauses, use "as." Hope this helps! Thanks, Sonita

Hello again Silent Bob, I might be wrong. But I think, "likening" here is being done by those opposed to the colorization technique. Thus, "likening" is "modifying" the clause "...many others in the film industry, however, contend that the technique degrades major works of art." In doing so, those opposed to the colorization technique are essentially comparing the technique to the act of putting lipstick on a Greek statue. I'm sorry if I make you even more confused :-( As a general rule, it seems, in ETS' speak, "which" is only used to modify an immediate noun. With phrases or clauses, we should always use the participial phrases (past and present participles). Like the "filigree" example, do you remember? I'm sorry if I make you even more confused. -- Sonita

Hi Malegria, (e) is correct because you're essentially comparing "the technique of colorization of black and white film by a computer" to "putting a lipstick on a Greek statue." Here, you're comparing the technique to the act of putting lipstick on a Greek statue, NOT comparing the technique to the Greek statue. That's why (e) is correct. And for Silent Bob, if I'm not mistaken, here "likening" is not in the gerund form (eventhough both the gerund and the present participle form use the "verb+ing" form), but in the present participle form, modiying the clause that appeared before it. At least that's how the GMAT explanation explained it :-) Strunk and White said the gerund form is used to transform a verb into a noun, but the present participle form is used to modify a clause. Hope this helps. -- Sonita

Hi all (or Erin), In general, is "skill" a countable or a non-countable noun? I saw one such question on the GMAT practice test and it seems (I might be wrong), it can be both countable and non-countable, depending on the context. Kinda like "experience" and "experiences." Are these correct or incorrect? 1. His English skill is not much (here, "skill" is non-countable) 2. In addition to being an expert pilot, he has many other skills (here, skill is countable) Here is an explanation for "experience" (non-countable) vs. "experiences" (countable), quoted from http://www.rpi.edu/web/writingcenter/wc_web/school/articlescountable.htm (I cannot find any explanation for "skill" though) "Another example is "experience, which as an uncountable noun refers to abstract knowledge or skill that can be gained by observing or participating in events. However, as a singular or plural countable noun ("experience/experiences"), it refers to a particular instance (or instances) of participation in events." Thanks! -- Sonita

Hello Scott, Thanks for the congrats :-) To answer your question, I did all the DS, PS, and SC questions in the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] 10th ed. book before taking the 6 paper-based tests and PP (which was a mistake, b/c like everyone here said, when one takes PP AFTER finishing up [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], one's score on the PP is not representative of one's true ability since one, most probably, has seen many of the PP questions on OG). I did some of the practice questions in the CR and RC parts of the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], but didn't finish all of them the way I finished all the DS, PS and SC questions. As for me, at first, my problem areas were SC, some DS, and PS questions. On the SC, at first, I could not figure out ETS' fondness for using the participial form (both the present participle and past participle) in modifying a clause. Only after taking notes of many of my mistakes did I realize that in ETS' "speak," the participial form is used to modify clauses, while "which" is used ONLY to modify an immediate noun. After much deliberation, I also figured out when the use of "like" or "as" is appropriate :-) I also figured out that ETS likes parallel constructions in the form of "A, B, and C." :-) Basically, little things like these made a big difference in improving my scores. For the DS questions, my original problems were mainly with inequalities. I figured out that I should always consider the corner points of "-1," "0," and "1" in inequality or equality problems in order to cover all my bases. For the PS questions, my weakness was not being able to find "shortcuts" to problems that instinctually requires long calculations. For example, things like, if July 25th, 1983 was a Friday, what was the day of 25th of July 1989, considering that 1984 was a leap year? Things like that. My advice to you, for what it's worth, please always make notes of your mistakes, put them all in your "REVIEW" notes and review them over and over again and truly understand why you made the mistakes and why the correct answer is correct. That way, it ensures that you will never make the same mistakes again. Don't worry Scott, just relax, be confident, and you'll do great in Sept. Trust me. It's all abt our state of mind on the test day. Best of luck! Regards, Sonita

Hello Rohit, Thanks for your kind words, you're very considerate :-) Also, I just noticed that you also got a 710 on your 2nd try. CONGRATS Rohit, good job! Yeah, I'll think abt it within the next few days and make a decision then whether or not to retake. Where are you planning on applying to Rohit? Best of luck in your apps, maybe we'll be classmates one day! :-) Warm regards, Sonita

Hi all, Just took the GMAT this morning. First try, score is 710 (95%) with Q: 48 (87%) and V: 40 (90%). Like everyone here, I practiced a lot with offocial ETS stuff: [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], the 6 paper-based tests sold on mba.com, and PowerPrep. My scores on the paper-based tests and PP have ranged from 690-780. When I took the test today, I felt the math was relatively easy and finished 5 minutes before time was up. I knew I made some mistakes in the math, but couldn't go back :-) There were also some relatively easy math questions whose answers, for some reasons, I couldn't find in the answer choices (I've recalculate over and over again, ha!). Usually, on practice tests, I always feel the verbal is somewhat easier than that math for me. However, today, on the real test, I felt that the verbal was harder than the math. There're times that I lost focus while working on the verbal. Very hard to focus for some reasons. Anyway, should I retake the GMAT a week or two from now (since today is July 31st, I can easily register for the first or second week of August)? To be honest, I felt my score of 710 is somewhat low, however, I also felt confident while working on the problems today and yet only got 710 in the end. I am a bit hesitant to retake lest my score will drop. What do you guys think? I'm planning to apply to b-schools for the Fall 2004 admission. My undergrad degree was in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from UC Berkeley (with a so-so GPA, 3.4). I have 5 years of working experience and have had my own start-up company, which was acquired by a much larger competitior in early 2000. I also have a Master of Engineering in Logistics from MIT. Will the 710 be realistic enough in aiming for the top 5 b-schools? Or should I retake it? On the one hand, i kinda want to retake it to see whether i can up my score. but on the other hand, i'm also worried that the score might drop even lower than 710 if i retake it. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot everyone! Regards, Sonita