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cartera

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  1. Can I use the GMAT AWA Issue template for TWE? Would I get a high score with that template?
  2. Finally, in my 2nd attempt, I got 760. After my first attempt, in which I got 620, in Mid February, about 1.5 months ago. I feel so relieved, I lost 10 kilos since I started my revision. So, GMAT is a good way to loose weight. From my experience, I dare to say that everyone, with effort and good practice material, can reach the 700 level. Thanks to everyone in this forum, especially to - 800bob: for your clear explanations on SCs - 12rk34: You really helped me in math with your step by step explanations - genius_in_the_gene: you also really helped me with your - bear&bull: your SC skills are great - effective_factor: for your tough SC questions - mitzi: for your abundant practise materials - Gmater-1: for your practice materials and your support during the preparation process - john333: for your help with math - john.3030: your support from the beginning - Clintonn: for his folder of GMAT materials - Star_321: for his debrief and experience - To anyone that helped me out, I thank all of you. Without this site, I don't know where I would be. Debrief My main point is that if you want to increase your GMAT score in a short period of time, then practise with SC. SC is the only section which you can improve easily in a short period of time. It is very difficult to increase your RC skills in a short period of time. CR is also difficult to increase within few weeks. Furthermore, SC is the most heavily weighted part of the exam. So, the best way is to practice continously with Gprep sentence corrections, taking notes of each sentence. I started my preparation in October 2008. However, during I barely had any time to study in October and November because was very busy with work. I started to take GMAT seriously in December, taking advantage of the Christmas Holidays. However, until mid January, I spent 70% my time on quants and 30% on verbal. My math skills are poor. I didnt took math in high school nor in the university, and when I started my revision back in October, I coudlnt even remember how to divide without a calculator!!! I had to start from zero with most of math concepts: geometry, and most of algebra and arithmetics concepts. However, I was good with stadistics and probability. I took stadistics instead of math in high school and also I took CFA level 1 last year, where there were a lot of stadistics concepts. In fact, I booked my CFA Level II exam for June this year but decided to give up revision because of the GMAT. From the last third of January, I started to focuse on the verbal part. I spent 70% of my time on verbal and 30% on quants. I didnt have any problem with RC as I went to college in a english-speaking country.But really had a lot of troubles with SC and CR. Even tough, in the practice tests, I used to get fewer mistakes in the verbal section than the quantitative section. I book my first test by the end of January but delayed it until mid February because I was not that I was ready. In my first attempt, I was highly confident that I could get a 700+. In fact, during my practice test with SETs before my 1st attempt, I was getting fewer than 10 mistakes. However, when I saw my socre on the scree, I felt really depressed. But I didnt give up. I started to study again the same evening and book my second attempt for mid March. I decided to work harder this time. I sought advises from friends. One of my friend who scored 740 suggested me to practice with Gprep, and it really work. I took every 20-40 questions of Prep. I also analysed why each question was right and why each question was wrong. His advise really worked. Useful practice materials: - OG 10 --> really useful - Gprep --> the best practise material. There are two versions, the one launched in 2006 and, in august 2008, GMAC launched a new version. I feel that the new version is tougher than the old one. The new version has a lot of questions from GWD (known as Sets in this forum). There are in total more than 500 SC questions, 150 CR questions, 35 esseys and 118 questions, 400 PS questions, and 450 DS questions. - GWD, aka, Sets --> really useful, the best after Gprep - CR Bible from Powerscore --> really good for new starters - Math posts from Testmagic: Try to practice few posts everyday. - Adhmajons Note: compilation of 800bob's posts Useful internet sites: - Testmagic - Manhattan GMAT Forum - Beat the GMAT Practice materials partially useful: - Feifei Logics: the questions are good but the explanations are bad - LSAT exams: good to practise some. - XDF SC Baiyong: good practice material, however, a lot of questions are from OG - XDF Logics: really good for practising, there are more than 600 pages of CR questions. - Spidy Notes Practice materials I feel not useful at all - OG11: a lot of people have good words for OG11 but I personally feel OG11 useless, it is time-wasting to practice with this book because the questions are really easy and the explanations are bad. In fact, the style of OG10 and OG11 are totally different - Kaplan: did not practice much but I think it is not useful I suggest everyone not to spend money on fancy and expensive GMAT preparation courses or materials. Now looking back, I think everyone can pass GMAT only by practising only with Gprep, Sets and OG10. Sentence Correction This is by far the most important section in the whole exam. Nobody can get a high score without scoring high in this section. And this is the only section where one can improve his GMAT score in a short period of time. The best material is Gprep. I advise you to practise repetively with Gprep, it has more than 500 SCs, and the real test is highly similar to those SCs. Critical Reasoning Powerscore CR Bible is the best material for begginniers. After that, I suggest to practice with LSAT exams. However, dont get depressed with the rates of failure, you can see my rates in the attached exel sheet. Gprep also has 150 CRs. CRs from the real exam are very similar to Gprep. The most important issue with CR is to read carefully the premises. Reading Comprehension I am sorry, I cannot really suggest you anything in this section as I went to college in a English speaking country and did not have problem with reading comprehension. The only think I can suggest is to practice with Gprep. However, your should is better spend in improving your SC skills than in your RC skills. Furthermore, instead of reading carefully everything, you should learn to find answers to each question. For example, this question is taken from Gprep: The passage suggests that modern multinationals differ from early chartered trading companies in that Look for the words: "chartered trading companies" in the text. In reality, however, early trading companies successfully purchased and outfitted ships, built and operated offices and warehouses, manufactured trade goods for use abroad, maintained trading posts and production facilities overseas, procured goods for import, and sold those goods both at home and in other countries. The large volume of transactions associated with these activities seems to have necessitated hierarchical management structures well before the advent of modern communications and transportation. For example, in… Go back to the beginning and you see the word however, then stop there because it means that everything before the word however does not concur with the point after the word however. Also stop after for example because after that, the author is only giving samples and not useful to answer the question. Quantitative - PS and DS Practice with this forum everyday. I think everybody can get a high score in math, with effort. Again, the best practice material is Gprep, you have more than 900 math questions. Also, read carefully every questions to not to committ mistakes. AWA Don't was time on AWA, I only prepared for two hours before the G-day. Learn by heart a template for the issue section and anotehr template for the argument section and that is more than enough. Use the classic points in the Analysis of Argument: in a temporal effect relationshiop, just say that the extinsion of the dinousour also occurred before something happened and that does not imply that the extinsion of the dinosours caused something to happen, critisis the stadistics data, or invent whatever reason to weak the points of the argument. Rate of mistakes: I have attached the excel file which I used to practice with. I normally took badges of 18 questions and gave myself 30 minutes. This is less time than the time in the real test. I used to finish 18 SCs in 25 minutes and 18 CRs in 30 minutes. However, in the real exam, I only had 30 seconds left when I finished the last question. So, it is better to give oneself less time than the amount of time one has in the real test. Practice Tests I took the simulated Gprep three times, twice in November and once in January. I also took Powerprep once during Christmas. My scores were: - Gprep 1: 640 - Manhattan Free Test: 650 - Gprep 2: 680 - Powerprep1: 650 - Gprep 2: 750--> not indicative because most of questions were repeated As you can see, I'm not one of those gifted guys who can score 700+ with Gprep before starting to revision. I did not take any simulated exam after January, because the questions are repeated, so the scores are not indicative anymore. I personally feel the scores from Gprep only give a rough idea of where one is. However, there are other factors that also affect one’s score: whether one is nervous during the day of exam, or whether one get distracted during the exam. I advise everyone to forget about the Gprep socre after taking both test and to focus on the rate of mistakes. If you can keep your rate within 15%, then you are in the 700+ level. Time investment: I don’t consider myself an outstanding person, so had to work very hard: - Weekdays: 3-4 hours daily - Weekend: 10-12 hours daily. I normally start around 11am and around 8pm. What I did before the G-Day: I didnt do what others in this forum advised to do the day before the G-Day such as go for a walk, read a book or gathering with friends.. Instead, I took a day off from work and started to study from 9:30 am until 1230 with only two stops for lunch and dinner. In fact, I did that for the whole weekend, from Saturday until Monday, 3 days consecutively. I made sure that I sleep well, at least 7hours that night. From my experience, I found that there is a consistency between hours of sleep and mistakes. I get fewer mistakes when practicing when I sleep better the night before. G-Day My test was at 9:30 in the morning. I woke up at 8:00, had a shower and went directly to the test site by underground to make sure I woundt be late. I arrived 15 minutes earlier. I stopped by a nearby KFC to have something as I hadn't have breakfast. I went to the exam thinking that I was not as ready as the last time, when I was really expecting a 700+ during the first time and was very confident. During the exam, I felt I was doing worse than the previous time and I seriously felt that I would score lower than the previous time. However, when the score come out of the screen, I count belive it. Even on my way back, in the underground, I looked carefull again and again my score to make sure I didn't mistook the score. I was so happy that I even forgot to have lunch. One more thing, a high GMAT score does not guarantee anything. My friend got 740 and was rejected by two HK universities this year. However, respect the GMAT, there should be some reason if almost all Business Schools require it. Again, thanks to everybody from this forum and all the best.
  3. Imo E 1.A substance from the licorice plant, 50 times sweeter than sucrose, was recently discovered, is not only a natural sweetener but also prevents tooth decay. (A) A substance from the licorice plant, 50 times sweeter than sucrose, was recently discovered --->run-on sentence, missing conjunction between was.. and is... (B) A substance, which was recently discovered, from the licorice plant, 50 times sweeter than sucrose --->missing conjunction between which was...and 50times..., furthermore, that is 50x sweeter? licorice plant or substance? what was recently discovered? sucrose or the substance? © A substance from the licorice plant, which was recently discovered to be 50 times sweeter than sucrose, (D) A substance from the licorice plant, 50 times sweeter than sucrose , which was recently discovered, (E) A recently discovered substance, 50 times sweeter than sucrose from the licorice plant, E changes the meaning but I think it is the only valid option
  4. There is nowhere in early American literature where the influence of Jane Austen is so apparent as the novels of James Fenimore Cooper. A. There is nowhere in early American literature where the influence of Jane Austen is so apparent as -->not parallal, shoud be: in....so..as in.... B. In early American literature, nowhere is Jane Austin's influence so apparent than in C. It is nowhere more apparent in early American literature that Jane Austen was an influence as in D. Nowhere in early American literature is the influence of Jane Austen more apparent than in E. Nowhere in early American literature is it more apparent that Jane Austen had an influence than so, D
  5. Deserts are inhabited with several distinct animal species, with each their own method of adapting to long periods of moisture shortage. A. with several distinct animal species, with each their B. with distinctly several animal species, each with its C. by several distinct animal species, each with its D. by several distinct animal species, having each its E. by several distinct animal species, that each has their so, C
  6. Such orb-weaving spiders like the argiope build webs in an essentially wheel-like structure, with an outer rim and a number of spokes emanating from the hub. A. Such orb-weaving spiders like the argiope build webs in an essentially wheel-like structure B. Such orb-weaving spiders as the argiope builds webs with what is essentially a wheel-like structure C. The argiope spider, in the same way as other orb-weaving spiders, build webs in a structure that is essentially wheel-like D. Orb-weaving spiders such as the argiope build webs that are essentially wheel-like E. Like other orb-weaving spiders do, the argiope builds webs as essentially wheel-like so, D
  7. On August 13, 1868, the warship U. S. S. Wateree, anchored in the harbor of Arica, off the coast of what is now northern Chile, rode on the crest of a tsunami (seismic sea wave) and coming to rest in the Atacama Desert, it was some three miles up the coast and almost two miles inland from its initial anchorage. A. rode on the crest of a tsunami (seismic sea wave) and coming to rest in the Atacama Desert, it was --->parallelism and run-on, unclear reference of it B. rode on the crest of a tsunami (seismic sea wave), while it came to rest in the Atacama Desert, -->unclear reference of it C. rode on the crest of a tsunami (seismic sea wave) and came to rest in the Atacama Desert, D. riding on the crest of a tsunami (seismic sea wave), to come to rest in the Atacama Desert --->missing predicate E. riding on the crest of a tsunami (seismic sea wave), it had come to rest in the Atacama Desert, which is --->missing predicate, run-on
  8. the easiest and fastes way to solve this sc to remember the idiom: unlike x, y where x and y are similar things. Here, only C meets this condition. body is correct because bodies would mean that each arachnids have more than 1 body
  9. Population is uncountable, you never say two populations, you can say two people Dollar is countable but money not, you say one dollar, one rupee but you never say one money
  10. Imo D The only thing it could refer to is the firm. Though instead of and is needed to introduce contrast 1.The original employees hired, who had been there over twenty years, were fiercely loyal to the firm, and it offered no retirement benefits or profit sharing to any employees. (A) and it offered no (B) and it offered neither © still it offered no -->still is and adverd, cannot be used as conjunction (D) though it offered no (E) though it offered neither
  11. Imo on A, in C rate for is used when we are talking about money, for other things, we use rate of. furthermore, A is parallel. Furthermore, that/those are used to refer to noun, no adjetives. metabolic is an adjetive
  12. a loosening is a gerund, loosening is a participle
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