<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Vocabulary – GRE</title> <atom:link href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/category/verbal/vocabulary/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre</link> <description>GRE Prep | Best GRE Test Preparation | Manhattan Prep GRE</description> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2021 02:39:02 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2</generator> <item> <title>Most Common GRE Vocabulary Words</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/common-gre-vocabulary-words/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Manhattan Prep]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 24 Feb 2021 01:40:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Common Vocabulary Words]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gre vocabulary words]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=12383</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>The most common GRE vocabulary words are rare but reasonable. The vocab questions don’t test the simplest GRE Vocabulary words, like cat or go. They also don’t test the hardest GRE Vocabulary words, like conodont or acnestis. The words tested on the GRE fall between these two extremes. They aren’t words that you see every […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/common-gre-vocabulary-words/">Most Common GRE Vocabulary Words</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12385" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/mostcommongrevocabularywords.jpg" alt="Most Common GRE Vocabulary Words" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/mostcommongrevocabularywords.jpg 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/mostcommongrevocabularywords-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/mostcommongrevocabularywords-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/mostcommongrevocabularywords-1024x536.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The most common GRE vocabulary words are </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">rare but reasonable</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The vocab questions don’t test the simplest GRE Vocabulary words, like </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">cat</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">go</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. They also don’t test the hardest GRE Vocabulary words, like </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conodont" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">conodont</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or </span><a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/acnestis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">acnestis</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The words tested on the GRE fall between these two extremes. They aren’t words that you see every day, but you’ll eventually run into them if you read plenty of high-quality writing—which is one thing the GRE is testing for! </span><span id="more-12383"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The most common GRE vocabulary words are “academic” words, of which English has many, and pretty much any academic word is fair game on the GRE. Odds are, you won’t see any of the same vocabulary words as someone who takes the GRE a month later. That makes it futile to try to list the “most common GRE vocabulary words”: since there are so many different possibilities, and since everyone sees different problems on the GRE, there’s no way to predict which words you might see! However, you’re not out of luck. If you choose your study resources wisely, you can maximize the odds that you’ll know the words you need. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A good starting place for GRE vocabulary is the 500 Essential GRE Words. </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/practice-materials/gre-flash-cards-essential-words/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight: 400;">You can get this set of words as a stack of paper flashcards here</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and that’s a good choice if you’re planning to </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-vocabulary-tips/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight: 400;">add your own imagery and examples to your flashcards</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To develop this list of words, we started with the words that had appeared in published official GRE problems. Then, we analyzed those words and found that they had a number of common characteristics. Based on this, we were able to add additional words that might not appear in the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/official-guides-for-gre/official-guide-gre-revised-general-test/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Official Guide to the GRE</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but that were very likely to appear on the GRE in general. To boost your GRE vocabulary, start with this set of words, then move to the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/practice-materials/gre-flash-cards-advanced-words/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight: 400;">500 Advanced GRE words</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which are rarer but still useful. You can also use the Manhattan Prep GRE app, which contains both!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What follows is a sample of common GRE vocabulary words that have appeared in published problems in the past. That doesn’t mean that they’ll appear on </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">your</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> GRE. However, this list will give you a sense of what you might see on your GRE—and how much vocabulary you need to learn! Look at these words as a sampling of GRE vocabulary—enough to get a taste of what to expect. We’ve divided them up based on the difficulty of the problems in which they initially appeared. </span></p> <h4><b>Basic Common GRE Vocabulary Words</b></h4> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Imminent: </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Something that’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">imminent</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is about to happen in the near future. You might have heard the phrase “imminent danger”: it refers to danger that’s immediately present, as opposed to danger that might cause problems in the future. An approaching tidal wave is an </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">imminent</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> danger, while rising sea levels are less imminent.</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Extraneous: </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">A long, dull textbook might contain a lot of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">extraneous</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> information: information that’s not really relevant to the topic. Extraneous means irrelevant or unrelated.</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Erroneous:</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> This word is related to the word </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">error</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. In fact, it means “wrong.” One common phrase is “erroneous judgment”: an erroneous judgment is an incorrect one. For instance, you might make an erroneous judgment of someone’s character based on their appearance.</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Insular</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: This GRE vocabulary word generally refers to a group of people, such as a community or a family. An </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">insular</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> group is one that doesn’t welcome people or ideas from the outside. The word comes from the same root as </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">island</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">peninsula</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: think of an insular group as being similar to an island, where it’s difficult for new people and ideas to come in and out.</span></p> <h4><b>Medium Common GRE Vocabulary Words</b></h4> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Prosaic: </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Something that’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">prosaic</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is ordinary and everyday. This word is the opposite of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">glamorous </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">or </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">exciting</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and it could be a synonym of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">quotidian</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">humdrum</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. It comes from the same root as the word </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">prose</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: prose is ordinary, everyday writing, as opposed to poetry.</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Partial</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: This looks like a straightforward word, but it’s on this list because of its second definition. Partial can refer to a part of a whole, but it can also serve as the opposite of the word </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">impartial</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. In that sense, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">partial</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> means ‘biased’ or ‘favoring one side over the other.’ Judges are supposed to be </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">impartial</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">; a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">partial</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> judge would probably do a poor job. You can associate this word with the words </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">partisan</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">prejudiced</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which are near-synonyms.</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ubiquitous: </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">A </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">ubiquitous </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">thing is something that shows up frequently and is all over the place. For instance, coffee shops and rain are both </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">ubiquitous</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in Seattle. Smartphones and the internet are </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">ubiquitous</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. An experience or a phenomenon can also be described as ubiquitous: a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">ubiquitous</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> danger is one that’s always lurking around the corner no matter what you’re doing.</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Propagate</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: This word literally refers to breeding something, such as an animal or plant. However, the GRE often uses it in a more metaphorical sense. To propagate an idea or a belief is to spread it widely around to other people. In this sense, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">propagate</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is a synonym of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">disseminate</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">promulgate</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h4><b>Tricky Common GRE Vocabulary Words</b></h4> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quotidian: </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">This word is the big brother of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">prosaic</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which we saw earlier in the list. Literally, it refers to something that happens every day. However, it is typically used to describe something as mundane, ordinary, or unglamorous.</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Restive</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Restive</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> tricks a lot of GRE test-takers because of its resemblance to words like </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">rest</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">restful</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. However, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">restive</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is actually related to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">restless</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">! It refers to something or someone that’s fidgety, on edge, tense, or unable to keep still. You may see this word used to refer to a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">restive crowd</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which is a crowd that’s starting to lose its cool and become confrontational.</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pernicious</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: This word means </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">harmful</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. However, it’s worth your while to learn exactly how it’s used. Something that’s pernicious isn’t just harmful; it’s typically harmful in a particular way. It’s not outright dangerous or violent, but rather, it causes a subtle or gradual type of harm. A blow to the head isn’t </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">pernicious</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but something like heart disease or the influence of social media might be. A good synonym for </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">pernicious</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">insidious</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Diffident</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: This word refers to a type of personality. A </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">diffident</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> person rarely speaks up; he might be described as timid or reluctant.</span></p> <p><b>Learning GRE Vocabulary</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Learning GRE vocabulary words is a tough but important task. Your next step should be to read our </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-vocabulary-tips/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight: 400;">tips for learning GRE vocabulary</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Find a good source of words to learn—the 500 Essential GRE Words are a good starting place!—and go through and remove the ones you already know by heart. Then, read about the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/hack-the-gre-vocab-use-spaced-repetition-to-get-maximum-results-with-minimum-time-investment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight: 400;">spaced repetition strategy</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to learn how and when to study words effectively. If you start now, you can master 50 or more new words per week between now and test day.</span></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/common-gre-vocabulary-words/">Most Common GRE Vocabulary Words</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>How to Review a GRE Vocabulary Question</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/review-gre-vocabulary-questions/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 21 Oct 2019 20:21:21 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Vocab]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gre vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Vocabulary Tips]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=12610</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>If you want to master the GRE, think like a scientist. Each practice text completion or sentence equivalence question you miss gives you two new pieces of data. When you put enough data together, you learn, grow, and improve. The first piece of data is the right answer, which tells you something about how GRE […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/review-gre-vocabulary-questions/">How to Review a GRE Vocabulary Question</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-12611" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocabulary-questions-1024x536.jpg" alt="gre-vocabulary-questions" width="1024" height="536" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocabulary-questions-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocabulary-questions-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocabulary-questions-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocabulary-questions.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you want to master the GRE, think like a scientist. Each practice text completion or sentence equivalence question you miss gives you two new pieces of data. When you put enough data together, you learn, grow, and improve. </span><span id="more-12610"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first piece of data is the right answer, which tells you something about how GRE problems work. The second piece of data is even more important: reviewing tells you about your own behavior as a test-taker. Do you read too quickly or too slowly? Do you fall for </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-sentence-equivalence-theme-traps/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">theme traps</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-sentence-equivalence-pairs/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">choose answers that aren’t synonyms</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">? When you review a problem, you don’t just learn what answer you were supposed to come up with. You also learn from examining the way that you solved it. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That doesn’t mean you should only review problems you got wrong, by the way. If you have a chance, review every problem you do! But, the most important problems to review are the ones that you got wrong, but </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">could</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> have gotten right. Not the absolute hardest, most ridiculously complicated problems — but the ones that challenged you just a little. Identified one of those problems? Here’s what to do with it.</span></p> <h3><b>Redoing a Text Completion or Sentence Equivalence Problem</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first step of review is redoing the problem. Don’t look at the right answers immediately after you finish a set of problems. Before you check the answers, go back and quickly try the problems a second time. You can take it easier this time: don’t use a timer, and feel free to look up definitions of vocabulary words. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The point of doing it like this is to challenge your brain to do more of the “heavy lifting.” You’re much more likely to remember something you figure out (at least partially) on your own, compared to something that you passively read. So, if it’s possible, try to figure out the right answer, or at least make a reasonable guess.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before you move on to reading the explanation, glance at the right answer(s). If the right answer isn’t what you expected, you may still be able to convince yourself of why the right answer was right. But, if you get stuck, use the explanation for assistance.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This first redo should happen shortly after you first try the problem. Once you’ve redone the problem for the first time, take some notes. Here’s how.</span></p> <h3><b>Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence Problem Logging</b></h3> <p><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/your-gre-problem-log-and-the-myth-of-practice-makes-perfect/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you don’t have a problem log already, start one now</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Here’s how to take great notes on a Text Completion or Sentence Equivalence problem.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Let’s do a Sentence Equivalence problem from the </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/strategy-guides/5-pound-book-gre-practice-problems/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to get on the same page. Try this problem before you keep reading:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-12612" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question.png" alt="gre-vocab-practice-question" width="777" height="261" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question.png 834w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question-300x101.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question-768x258.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 777px) 100vw, 777px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The answer to this one is </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">disingenuous</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">artful</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. If that’s not what you picked, look up those definitions first and see if you can convince yourself! Here’s the official explanation, too. Don’t read it until you’ve figured out as much as you can on your own.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12615" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question-explanation.png" alt="gre-vocab-practice-question-explanation" width="916" height="188" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question-explanation.png 916w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question-explanation-300x62.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question-explanation-768x158.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 916px) 100vw, 916px" /></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12614" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question-explanation-2.png" alt="gre-vocab-practice-question-explanation-2" width="904" height="74" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question-explanation-2.png 904w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question-explanation-2-300x25.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/10/gre-vocab-practice-question-explanation-2-768x63.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 904px) 100vw, 904px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first step of problem logging, regardless of whether you’re doing Text Completion or Sentence Equivalence, is to jot down any notes you have about the structure and meaning of the sentence. </span></p> <p><b>Student A </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">missed the second meaning of the word “impressed” when she first read the sentence. Here are her notes:</span></p> <blockquote><p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Impressed isn’t always positive! It can be neutral and mean “made a certain impression” or can even be negative (“She impressed me as a liar.”)</span></i></p></blockquote> <p><b>Student B </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">picked the opposite of the right answer, because she focused on only one part of the sentence. Here are her notes: </span></p> <blockquote><p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Get the meaning of the entire sentence before you decide! The second part said “did not believe she was naive,” but I only focused on “naive.” But, the first part should say that she probably wasn’t naive, because that’s what “did not believe” implies. </span></i></p></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The next step is also important for both Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence. Every GRE vocabulary problem includes clues in the sentence that point to the right answer. When you review a problem, especially if you missed it, </span><b>identify those clues</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and how they led you to the right answer. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are </span><b>Student A’s</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> notes on the clues: </span></p> <blockquote><p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">‘Education and experience’ = opposite of naive. But, she’s acting naive. So, she’s either a liar or an actor.</span></i></p></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are </span><b>Student B’s</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> notes: </span></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">‘Did not believe’ = she’s lying!</span></i></li> <li><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">‘Impressed’ = looked like, but wasn’t really?</span></i></li> <li><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">‘Naive’ versus ‘education and experience’ = opposites</span></i></li> <li><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The right answer should be something she actually is, not what she’s pretending to be</span></i></li> </ul> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, take some notes on the answer choices. In a Sentence Equivalence problem, this will be a little more involved than in a Text Completion problem, since the right answers have to be synonyms. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you picked the wrong answer, identify </span><b>what thought process caused you to pick it</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, if you haven’t already. For instance, did you not know some of the definitions? Did you fall for a trap? Did you make an incorrect assumption? Also, if there were words you didn’t know among the answer choices, write them down so you can make flashcards later. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are </span><b>Student A’s </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">notes on the answer choices. She picked </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">accomplished </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">artful</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Right answer shouldn’t have been positive (“impressed” isn’t always positive)</span></i></li> <li><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Artful isn’t necessarily positive! It means “cunning,” not “accomplished.” </span></i></li> <li><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Artful and disingenuous both mean “sneaky” or “deceitful” in this context. </span></i></li> <li><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Guileless, innocent, culpable = theme traps (law)</span></i></li> </ul> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are </span><b>Student B’s </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">notes on the answer choices. She picked </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">innocent</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">guileless</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">I picked answers that seemed to match “naive” (wrong)</span></i></li> <li><i>Guileless = innocent, good match but wrong meaning</i></li> <li><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Culpable = too strong, she may not be guilty, just deceptive</span></i></li> </ul> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, if you learned any general lessons from the problem, jot those down as well. For instance, if you read too quickly and skipped part of the sentence, make a note of that! This is how you identify patterns and key areas to practice for later. </span></p> <h3><b>What to do next</b></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you’ve written some notes in your problem log, set it aside for a while. Every week or two, schedule a study session where you </span><b>only</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> redo old problems. You don’t need to redo every problem a second time, but you should definitely revisit the ones that taught you the most.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Every couple of days, you should also glance over your problem log without redoing the problems. Just reread your notes. This is a great thing to do quickly when you have a little bit of downtime, and will help you reinforce what you’ve been working on. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, when you practice Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence problems, you’ll inevitably run into (and write down) vocabulary words you don’t know. What you do with these words depends on what they are. Maybe the unknown word was just a super obscure, rare piece of jargon that you don’t really need to learn, or maybe it’s actually worth learning. If you see an unknown word more than once, definitely make a flashcard for it! You can also get a sense of the value of a vocabulary word by looking up its meaning. A word that means “unpleasant” is more likely to show up on the GRE than a word that means “related to flooding.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Are you already pretty comfortable with the vocabulary-focused problems? Then just briefly jot down a few takeaways on any problem that manages to trick you. But if Text Completion and/or Sentence Equivalence are weak areas, make your review more intense for a couple of weeks, even if that means you get through fewer problems overall.</span></p> <p><strong>[ Related:</strong> <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/quantitative-comparison/">How to Review a GRE Quantitative Comparison Question</a> <strong>]</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Don’t forget that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. We’re not kidding! <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/free/">Check out our upcoming courses here</a>.</strong></em></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" data-pin-nopin="true" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> </em></i></b><i><em>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170Q/170V on the GRE. </em></i><i><em><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/48" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here</a>.</em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/review-gre-vocabulary-questions/">How to Review a GRE Vocabulary Question</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Top 10 GRE Vocabulary Tips</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-vocabulary-tips/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 04 Apr 2019 20:25:46 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE 101]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Learning Science]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Spaced Repetition]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Vocabulary Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[vocab]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=12375</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>You might think you know how to memorize GRE vocabulary. However, a lot of what we learned in school about memorization—and about learning—has turned out to be inefficient or outright incorrect. There are faster and easier ways to learn GRE vocabulary than just staring at flashcards or repeating the words over and over, and they […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-vocabulary-tips/">Top 10 GRE Vocabulary Tips</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12379" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/top-10-gre-vocabulary-tips.jpg" alt="Top 10 GRE Vocabulary Tips" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/top-10-gre-vocabulary-tips.jpg 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/top-10-gre-vocabulary-tips-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/top-10-gre-vocabulary-tips-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/top-10-gre-vocabulary-tips-1024x536.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You might think you know how to memorize GRE vocabulary. However, a lot of what we learned in school about memorization—and about learning—has turned out to be inefficient or outright incorrect. There are faster and easier ways to learn GRE vocabulary than just staring at flashcards or repeating the words over and over, and they aren’t all obvious! Here are our best science-based GRE vocabulary tips for speeding up your vocabulary acquisition.</span><span id="more-12375"></span></p> <h4><b>1. Tap into the “testing effect.”</b></h4> <p><a href="https://teach.com/what/teachers-know/testing-effect/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The testing effect</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is a phenomenon studied by education researchers. You can also use it to boost your GRE vocabulary!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Suppose that there are two classes of students and both classes will take the same final exam. Both classes learn the same material, from the same teacher, for an entire semester. However, one of the two classes also takes a five-minute quiz at the end of each class session. The students in the other class get five minutes of extra time to study, instead.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It turns out that the students who took the quizzes end up doing a better job on the final exam. Your brain loves making mistakes, even if it doesn’t feel that way sometimes. When you get a question wrong and then correct yourself, you’re much more likely to remember that question. You’re also more likely to retain information that you were forced to think hard about—say, when you were trying to remember the answer to a quiz question.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Start each GRE vocabulary study session by choosing five random vocabulary words and quizzing yourself. (The Manhattan Prep GRE app is an easy way to do this.) End each session the same way. Over time, you’ll be more likely to remember those words than if you simply spent more time reading over them. </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/lessons-from-learning-science-the-testing-effect/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">And for more on the testing effect and how you can use it on the GRE, check out this article</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h4><b>2. Give your brain a gift.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take a moment to think back to a vivid childhood memory, good or bad. Picture it as clearly as you can in your mind’s eye. What makes that memory so vivid? Your brain loves four things more than anything else, and most of your strongest memories probably have one or more of these features.</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Personal experience</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: You’re more likely to remember things that happened to you than facts you learned in school.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Strong emotion</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: You’re more likely to remember moments of anger, sadness, joy, fear, frustration, disgust, and so on.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Sensory experiences</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: You’re more likely to remember memories that include vivid smells, tastes, sounds, etc.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Surprises</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: You’re more likely to remember things that are unusual, shocking, disgusting, surprising, or strange.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you’re struggling with a GRE vocabulary word, associate it with a mental image that includes some of those four characteristics. To really connect the image to the word, make sure to somehow include the sound of that word as well. Here’s an example.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The word </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">dissipation</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> sounds a little bit like </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">diss</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">pay</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">shun</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The word itself refers to a drunken, debauched, over-the-top lifestyle—like something that might be fun in your youth, but quickly catch up with you. And here’s a mental image to go along with it: </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">A medical patient is waiting in the doctor’s office… he’s bloated and sickly because he lives a </span></i><b><i>dissipated</i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lifestyle—he drinks too much alcohol and eats too much fried food. The doctor tells him to stop his </span></i><b><i>dissipation</i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but the patient becomes furious! He screams at the doctor, telling him not to </span></i><b><i>diss </i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">or </span></i><b><i>shun</i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> him for his lifestyle. He refuses to </span></i><b><i>pay</i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for the visit because he didn’t get the advice he wanted.</span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s a lot more memorable than a boring and dry definition! If you’re struggling to remember the definition of a GRE vocabulary word, take advantage of the fact that your brain prefers to remember certain things.</span></p> <h4><b>3. Keep a file of tricky words for your GRE vocabulary.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What do these words have in common? </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Disinterested</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Enervate</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sanguine</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They all sound like they mean something they don’t! This makes them GRE vocabulary favorites. You’ll run into words like these as you study: words that logically should mean one thing, but actually mean something different.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12376" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/cc-90-image-1.png" alt="Top 10 GRE Vocabulary Tips" width="653" height="87" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/cc-90-image-1.png 653w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/cc-90-image-1-300x40.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 653px) 100vw, 653px" /></p> <p>Keep a special set of flashcards for words like these—and any words that always seem to trick your ear. And if you’re having trouble learning one of these words and keep making the same mistake over and over, check out the next of our GRE vocabulary tips…</p> <h4><b>4. You can’t delete a GRE vocabulary memory, but you can create new ones.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Have you ever had a vocabulary word that you just couldn’t seem to remember? Somewhere along the line, your brain decided that ‘disinterested’ meant ‘bored,’ and now that’s always the first thing that pops into your head when you see it, even though you know it means something else. These situations can be incredibly frustrating, but you can overcome them with this simple GRE vocabulary tip.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You can’t choose to ‘forget’ an incorrect definition that’s gotten stuck in your head. Instead, use that incorrect definition as a starting point. ‘Disinterested’ doesn’t mean ‘bored;’ it actually means ‘impartial.’ Use the tip from earlier and come up with a wacky mental image that links the two together.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For instance, imagine somebody being arrested and put on trial for being too boring! They’re brought to court, and the judge is so bored that she almost falls asleep right there at the bench. But she has to stay awake, because she needs to judge the case fairly and remain </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">disinterested</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. That’s a memorable visualization—if you can bring it up when you need to remember the word </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">disinterested</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, you’ll recall that it means </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">not biased</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h4><b>5. Definitions aren’t everything.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Try looking up the words you’re learning to see how people are actually using them. The results might surprise you. You can type the word into Google, but an even better resource is COCA—the </span><a href="https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Corpus of Contemporary American English</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Type in a GRE vocabulary word, such as </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">dispassionate</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and check out the results:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12377" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/cc-90-image-2.png" alt="Top 10 GRE Vocabulary Tips" width="647" height="204" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/cc-90-image-2.png 647w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/cc-90-image-2-300x95.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 647px) 100vw, 647px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">COCA uses text from news articles, television shows, and other sources of American English to show how words are actually used. It can be more reliable than a search engine if you’re specifically looking for example sentences. And having example sentences can really help you deeply understand a word! Which leads to our next tip…</span></p> <h4><b>6. You can know just enough to be dangerous.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this article, GRE instructor Tom Anderson asks a million-dollar question: </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/remember-gre-vocab-words/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">is it better to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">really</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> know 500 words or to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">sort of </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">know 1,000 words</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">? He concludes that you’re better off </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">really</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> knowing a smaller number of words and gives some great examples of how weak vocab knowledge can be dangerous on the GRE. Check out the article now!</span></p> <h4><b>7. Beware of second definitions.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Consider the GRE vocabulary word ‘flag.’ It seems weird that I even called it a GRE vocabulary word, right? ‘Flag’ is a simple word that’s easy to define: it’s that colorful piece of fabric, flapping in the wind, that represents a nation or a group. But there’s an infamous GRE vocabulary problem that tests the word ‘flag,’ and a lot of people get it wrong.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s because ‘flag’ has multiple definitions. One definition is common and very widely known. It’s the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the word. The other</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">definition is used much more rarely. ‘Flag’ can also mean ‘lose energy’ or ‘wear out’: ‘the runner started to flag during the last mile of the marathon.’</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GRE, of course, loves testing these second definitions. If you see something strange while solving a vocabulary problem—like a word that seems too common to be a GRE vocabulary word—think about second definitions. And make sure you’re writing down these definitions when you make flashcards!</span></p> <h4><b>8. Step up your GRE vocabulary learning with science.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Check out </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/build-your-gre-vocabulary-with-science-spaced-retrieval/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">this article on spaced repetition for GRE vocabulary learning</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Here’s the short version: when you partially forget something, then re-learn it again later, you create a stronger memory than you did initially. When you first learn a vocabulary word, you should review it frequently. Then, let longer and longer periods of time go by before you review it again. This will strengthen your memory of that definition by training your brain to recall it under difficult circumstances. The article linked above has an outline of how to use this method in your GRE vocabulary learning: it’s easier than it sounds, and has great results!</span></p> <h4><b>9. Change it up.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An old myth says that you should always study in the same place at the same time. Here’s the truth: </span><a href="http://www.joethetutor.org/study-in-different-places-not-just-one/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">you’ll form stronger memories if you study in different places at different times</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. When you change it up, you train your brain to practice retrieving memories under various conditions. By the time you take the real GRE, you’ll be ready for anything, and you’ll be able to recall definitions even in the testing center. Study at different times of day and in different places! Change up the way that you study, too: have somebody else quiz you, or quiz yourself. Look at the back of the flashcard or the front. Write down the definitions, or say them out loud. Your brain loves variety, so give it as much as you can!</span></p> <h4><b>10. Vocabulary isn’t everything.</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s a strange thing to write on a list of GRE vocabulary tips. Here’s the thing: the GRE doesn’t have any problem types where you </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">only </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">have to recite definitions. Both of the GRE vocabulary problem types—Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion—require you to put vocabulary words into context sentences. In some ways, this makes your job easier, but it also adds a level of complexity that you need to prepare for!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are multiple reasons you might miss a Text Completion or Sentence Equivalence problem. It’s possible to miss a problem because you didn’t know some or all of the vocabulary words. However, you can also miss a problem by misreading the sentence, or by misunderstanding the relationship between the blank and the rest of the text. Spend plenty of time doing practice problems instead of just memorizing definitions. (</span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/strategy-guides/5-pound-book-gre-practice-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 5lb. Book of GRE Practice problems has hundreds of GRE vocabulary problems</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">!) When you miss a problem, don’t assume that it’s always a vocabulary knowledge issue. Pay careful attention to situations in which you misunderstood the structure of the sentence, as well. Learning more vocabulary isn’t always the answer—you can also gain points by becoming an expert at </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/predicting-gre-verbal-answer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">predicting what answer the GRE wants</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>See that “SUBSCRIBE” button in the top right corner? Click on it to receive all our GRE blog updates straight to your inbox!</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" data-pin-nopin="true" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> </em></i></b><i><em>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170Q/170V on the GRE. </em></i><i><em><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/48" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here</a>.</em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-vocabulary-tips/">Top 10 GRE Vocabulary Tips</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>What’s Tested on GRE Verbal</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/whats-tested-on-gre-verbal/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 01 Apr 2019 21:06:24 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reading Comp]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Taking the GRE]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Executive Reasoning]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=12347</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>The GRE Verbal section is about more than just vocabulary and memorization. GRE Verbal also isn’t a bunch of subjective questions with no real right answer. Instead, it’s a challenging—and interesting—test of your reading, attention, English knowledge, and executive reasoning skills. Here’s the official take on what the GRE Verbal section tests, directly from the […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/whats-tested-on-gre-verbal/">What’s Tested on GRE Verbal</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-12350" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/whatstestedongreverbal.jpg" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - What's Tested on GRE Verbal by Chelsey Cooley" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/whatstestedongreverbal.jpg 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/whatstestedongreverbal-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/whatstestedongreverbal-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/04/whatstestedongreverbal-1024x536.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GRE Verbal section is about more than just vocabulary and memorization. </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/are-gre-verbal-questions-subjective/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">GRE Verbal also isn’t a bunch of subjective questions with no real right answer</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Instead, it’s a challenging—and interesting—test of your reading, attention, English knowledge, and executive reasoning skills. </span><span id="more-12347"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here’s the official take on what the GRE Verbal section tests, directly from the </span><a href="https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/verbal_reasoning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Educational Testing Service (ETS)</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">: </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Verbal Reasoning measure of the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">GRE</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">®</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> General Test assesses your ability to analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it, analyze relationships among component parts of sentences and recognize relationships among words and concepts.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Note some of the keywords there: </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">relationships</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">evaluate</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">synthesize</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The core skill involved in every GRE Verbal problem is reading comprehension. And what is reading comprehension, anyways? On the GRE, it boils down to two things: </span></p> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The ability to read complicated text and translate it into a series of simple ideas</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The ability to figure out, based on the words in the text, how those simple ideas relate to each other</span></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You’ll need those skills for every GRE Verbal problem, although the three problem types test them in slightly different ways. Let’s start with the two vocabulary-oriented GRE Verbal problem types: Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence. </span></p> <h4><b>What’s Tested on GRE Text Completion</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You’ll see approximately six </span><a href="https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/verbal_reasoning/text_completion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Text Completion questions</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on each of your GRE Verbal sections. Each question consists of a sentence or short paragraph which includes one, two, or three blank spaces. Your task is to pick the vocabulary word from the answer choices that “best completes the text.” </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Best completes the text” sounds fairly vague. However, the GRE is a standardized test, so every problem has to have a single right answer. That right answer needs to be right for a clear, logical, justifiable reason. Finding that right answer on a Text Completion problem relies on three skills: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can you find the information in the sentence that “proves” or “supports” the right answer? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can you figure out the relationship between that support and the word that belongs in the blank? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you know enough of the vocabulary words to match that relationship with a right answer? </span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Let’s look at those skills one at a time. First, you need to find critical information in the sentence without being distracted by irrelevant information. Every Text Completion question contains </span><b>clues</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that point you to the right answer. The clues in the sentence will always support one and only one of the answer choices. That doesn’t mean they need to be obvious! Part of solving Text Completion questions is figuring out what is a clue and what isn’t. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here’s an example, adapted from the </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/strategy-guides/5-pound-book-gre-practice-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">: </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, after refusing for a decade, the family patriarch, weakened by age and infirmity, surrendered to the impassioned pleas of his avaricious nieces, and gave his ______ to the risky investment stratagem.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(A) assent<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(B) aptitude<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(C) disinterest<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(D) disapproval<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(E) equivocation</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Solve that problem before you keep reading! The right answer is </span><b>assent</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which means agreement. The clue that leads you there is that the patriarch </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">surrendered to the pleas </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">of his </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">avaricious</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (greedy) nieces. That’s enough to tell you that he must have agreed to the risky investment, rather than disagreeing or remaining neutral. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How do you know, when you first read the sentence, that </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">surrendered to the pleas </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">is a clue but </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">patriarch</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">age and infirmity</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">refusing for a decade</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> aren’t? If it seemed clear to you, that’s because you exercised the first skill involved in Text Completion: identifying useful information. This is a skill that we can all improve with time and practice—and careful attention to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">how you knew</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that the right answer was right. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The second GRE Verbal Text Completion skill is figuring out how the clue relates to the blank in the sentence. In that example, the relationship was straightforward. However, it often isn’t that clear: </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">When first introduced by senior management, the new boss was viewed as a figurehead at best; but after months of watching him shake up the office hierarchy and double productivity, even the most ______ of his employees was astonished at what he was able to accomplish.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">(A) skeptical<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(B) clueless<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(C) fawning<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(D) senior<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">(E) resolute</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A huge clue here is that the new boss was viewed </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">as a figurehead at best</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: he wasn’t seen as an effective leader. However, how does the blank relate to that clue? Does it refer to employees who </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">didn’t</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> believe in the boss, or employees who </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">did </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">believe in him? There’s the second skill tested by Text Completion: can you work out, using </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/text-completion-sentence-equivalence-little-grammar-world-good-part-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">transition words and other signals in the sentence</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, how the blank relates to the clues? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The right answer to that problem is </span><b>skeptical</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The phrase </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">even the most ______ of his employees was astonished</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> tells the savvy reader that these employees wouldn’t normally be astonished by the boss’s accomplishments. The words </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">when first introduced</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, at the beginning of the sentence, also indicate that views of the boss have changed. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, Text Completion problems test a third skill: vocabulary. It’s easy to put too much emphasis on vocabulary knowledge, which is why it’s last on our list. You do need a strong vocabulary to solve tough Text Completion problems, but vocabulary isn’t everything. After all, </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/why-isnt-my-vocabulary-knowledge-helping-me-on-the-gre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">you can solve a lot of the problems on GRE Verbal with relatively little vocabulary, but you need reading skills to even start any problem</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GRE doesn’t care whether you can rattle off definitions. If that was the case, GRE problems would look a lot different! Instead, you want a more subtle kind of vocabulary knowledge: the kind that comes from reading and understanding words in context. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-vocabulary-tips/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">That’s why it’s so important to always use example sentences when you learn vocabulary words, and to look up words to learn how they’re actually used.</a> Since Text Completion asks you to put words in context, knowing the nuances of how vocabulary words are used is critical. </span></p> <h4><b>What’s Tested on GRE Sentence Equivalence</b></h4> <p><a href="https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/verbal_reasoning/sentence_equivalence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">GRE Sentence Equivalence</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is similar to Text Completion. There are approximately four of these problems on each GRE Verbal section, and each problem includes a sentence with a single blank. There’s also a twist: unlike Text Completion, Sentence Equivalence problems ask you to find </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">two</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> words that could each fit in the blank. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The two words have to follow the same rules as in Text Completion: they need to fit the sentence, based on the clues elsewhere in the sentence and the way those clues relate to the blank. On top of that, they need to be synonyms, which means that Sentence Equivalence leans a little more heavily on your vocabulary knowledge than Text Completion does. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In fact, it’s sometimes possible to solve a Sentence Equivalence problem without even reading the sentence! In some cases, there’s only one pair of answer choices that are synonyms. Since the right answers will always be synonyms, you can be sure that those answers will be right. More generally, you can eliminate any answer choice that isn’t part of a pair of synonyms. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This means that the clues in a Sentence Equivalence problem might (although not necessarily) be less clear than the clues in a Text Completion problem. Since you can use the information from the answer choices themselves, as well as the text of the sentence, you don’t always need extremely clear clues to solve a Sentence Equivalence problem. That said, there will always be some kind of clue in the sentence! However, Sentence Equivalence is definitely the most vocabulary-focused GRE Verbal problem type. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Like Text Completion, the vocabulary knowledge you’ll need relates to vocabulary in context. Read our <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-vocabulary-tips/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tips for learning GRE vocabulary</a> to learn how to develop this knowledge yourself. </span></p> <h4><b>What’s Tested on GRE Reading Comprehension</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reading Comprehension is the most diverse problem type on the GRE Verbal section. All Reading Comprehension questions involve some kind of passage and a multiple-choice question regarding that passage. However, the passages can be as short as a single paragraph or as long as four or more paragraphs. The questions can ask you to spot a small detail in the passage, understand the broad theme of the passage, or anything in between. There are even problem types that ask you to analyze and respond to a flawed argument in the passage. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first thing that GRE Reading Comprehension tests is how effectively you read the passage. This means quickly breaking down the passage—which may contain complex jargon and fancy rhetoric—into a series of simple ideas, and understanding how those ideas relate to each other. A Reading Comprehension expert can read a 50-line passage about an unfamiliar topic in biology, sociology, or economics and come away understanding the basic outline without knowing what any of the technical terms mean. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You’re also being tested on whether you can spot the right answer to a question about the passage. Some questions will ask you to identify the main idea of the passage, which involves figuring out, using only the text, what the author thought was most important. Other questions will ask you to identify details, requiring you to quickly skim the passage for keywords and avoid getting confused or overwhelmed by complex language. Some questions are oriented more towards the logic of the passage, asking you to draw a conclusion based on the passage or identify a weakness of an argument. The skill involved here is the ability to understand the basis of someone else’s argument and spot logical flaws in it. </span></p> <h4><b>GRE Verbal Also Tests Executive Reasoning</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GRE Verbal tests your vocabulary, your ability to read and understand relationships between ideas, and your ability to spot important information while ignoring extraneous detail. Like the Quant section of the GRE, the Verbal section also tests your </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_functions" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b>executive reasoning skills</b></a><b>. </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">These are the skills that you use when you quickly decide whether to commit to a problem, take a well-reasoned guess, or guess randomly and move on. You can’t devote all the time you want to every single GRE Verbal problem and still finish each section within the time limit. The GRE test writers know this! They’re intentionally testing your ability to set smart priorities and maximize your number of right answers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GRE is a test of vocabulary and reading skills, but it’s also a test of self-awareness and high-level reasoning. You’re not only trying to get the problems right—you’re trying to quickly make the call on how </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">likely</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> you are to get them right, in order to decide how much time and energy to spend on them. Luckily, just like reading comprehension and vocabulary, this skill can be developed with focused practice. Check out our article on </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/how-to-study-for-the-gre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">how to study for the GRE</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for some starting points! ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>See that “SUBSCRIBE” button in the top right corner? Click on it to receive all our GRE blog updates straight to your inbox!</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" data-pin-nopin="true" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> </em></i></b><i><em>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170Q/170V on the GRE. </em></i><i><em><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/48" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here</a>.</em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/whats-tested-on-gre-verbal/">What’s Tested on GRE Verbal</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/remember-gre-vocab-words/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Anderson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jan 2018 18:44:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Text Completion]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Vocab Words]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=11243</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? Check out our upcoming courses here. I’m going to give you two options. Which do you think would be more beneficial for your GRE Verbal score? 1) You are granted the ability (via some kind of […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/remember-gre-vocab-words/">The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11255" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/perils-half-remembered-gre-vocab-words-tom-anderson.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - The Perils of Half-Forgotten GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/perils-half-remembered-gre-vocab-words-tom-anderson.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/perils-half-remembered-gre-vocab-words-tom-anderson-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/perils-half-remembered-gre-vocab-words-tom-anderson-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/perils-half-remembered-gre-vocab-words-tom-anderson-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><b><i>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i></i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’m going to give you two options. Which do you think would be more beneficial for your GRE Verbal score?</span><span id="more-11243"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">1) You are granted the ability (via some kind of magic lightning bolt) to memorize 500 GRE vocab words instantly with really thorough definitions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">2) You are granted the ability (via some similar magic bolt) to memorize </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">the gist</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of 1000 GRE vocab words instantly.</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/12071fYBO811v2" width="480" height="276" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/movie-film-90s-12071fYBO811v2"></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So which would you choose—fewer words memorized in detail or more words memorized halfway?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In my years teaching the GRE, this is actually something I’ve put a little thought into. Of course, there are no magic bolts (that I know of) which enable you to instantly memorize GRE vocab words. But every GRE student does face a similar dilemma: is it better to memorize more words sloppily or fewer words with greater precision? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If I had a choice like the one above, I’d choose option #1, hands-down. In my opinion, 500 really solid definitions are a lot more useful than 1000 tenuous definitions. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why? Because the people who make the GRE Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions deliberately test you on the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">nuances</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of definitions. A half-definition is usually more dangerous than no definition at all.</span></p> <h4><b>I. What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You (But What You Halfway Know Can Hurt You Worse)</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here’s a little quiz. Pause for a second, stop reading the article, and write down the clearest definitions of these GRE vocab words you’re able to conjure. If you don’t have paper around… at least state a definition to yourself and try to remember the terms you used.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11244" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="629" height="286" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-1.png 629w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-1-300x136.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now compare your results with these, taken from </span><a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS696US696&q=Dictionary" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Google Dictionary</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The accuracy of a definition is not a matter of black-and-white or right-or-wrong. Think of yours falling somewhere on a spectrum of accuracy. Where did they fall? Mostly accurate? Halfway there? Totally unknown?</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11245" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-2.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="719" height="179" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-2.png 719w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-2-300x75.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is most definitely a good practice to push as many GRE vocab words as possible toward the green end of this spectrum. If you can use a word fluently, then you’ll likely know whether or not it fits a given fill-in-the-blank question. That said, we all have limited time and resources. Inevitably, many of the </span><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_good_word/2006/04/word_count.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">~1,000,000 words that make up the English language</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> will elude us. You don’t need to memorize all of the words and you don’t need to get all of them to the point of perfection. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In your vocabulary memorization practice, though, you should not let words sit in the “red zone” outlined above. </span><b>Words partly known are often more harmful than words you don’t know at all.</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To illustrate, look at the results of a couple of “students” doing the same little exercise you just did. We’ve got Beauregard’s and Antoine’s answers to the same little mini-quiz listed below:</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11246" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-3.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="609" height="137" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-3.png 609w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-3-300x67.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 609px) 100vw, 609px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It might be tempting to think that Beauregard has a slight edge on his GRE exam, but I’d argue that his answers are much more problematic than Antoine’s. Admitting you don’t know is much better than faking it. Beauregard scribbled out some half-answers and complete guesses; in the process, he whipped up some truly nebulous concoctions: fragments of connotations swirled into a cocktail of forgotten contexts and misremembered details. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Such half-remembered definitions are more likely to be harmful to your GRE Verbal score. Here are a few reasons why:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">1) Connotations matter: The GRE loves to test you on the nuances of words. Especially in Sentence Equivalence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">2) Denotations matter: The GRE loves to test you on precise definitions—and it often tests you on less-common second and third definitions too.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">3) Context matters: The GRE also loves to test you on the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">idiomatic usage</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of words. Practice the “correct” use of those words in context.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">4) Finally, and most importantly, GRE vocab words you don’t know at all can become strategic wildcards. It’s tempting to choose a word you half-know by “forcing” it to fit the blank in the sentence. If you admit that you don’t know, you won’t be lulled into picking a half-known word that you’re more comfortable with.</span></p> <h4><b>II. Embrace the Wildcard</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">GRE vocab words you don’t know become strategic wildcards. Consider, for example, this mockup of a Text Completion question:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">After a long day of toilsome labor in the fields, the farmer’s energy level deteriorated and she felt quite ________________.</span></i></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11247" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-4.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="132" height="113" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yeah, I know, that last word is in Chinese. And no, of course that won’t happen on the real exam, but humor me for a minute. Even though one word is in Chinese, I bet you can still get this question correct. Do any of the other words fit?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Working a long day in the fields does not usually make one excited or purple. Maybe you could make a case for sad, but there is no direct link to what the sentence is talking about. And the same goes for “angry.” There is no direct clue for any of those words in the sentence. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So what’s the right answer? Lei. It’s Chinese for “tired.” That’s a perfect fit for this sentence. Obviously you’d never be put in this position on the real exam—they don’t include other languages in the answer choices. Similar situations do arise on the GRE, though. Despite memorizing hundreds of GRE vocab words, you’ll likely encounter a few that you don’t know on the real exam. When you have a breakdown like this… </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11248" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-5.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="232" height="107" /><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">…pick the one you don’t know.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you treat the unknown GRE vocab words like strategic “wildcards,” you’re still in a really good spot to get the questions correct. Pick the wildcard if you have no other word that makes a good fit.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Note that this only works if you admit what you don’t know. If, instead, you were in a situation like this… </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">After a long day of toilsome labor in the fields, the farmer’s energy level deteriorated and she felt quite ________________.</span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11249" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-6.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="185" height="180" /><br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">…it would be much harder to make an accurate guess. Even if the right word is still choice E, you’d be lost in a sea of half-definitions, tempted to pick something that sorta-kinda seemed like it should fit. And on the GRE, something that “seems right” usually results in wrong answers.</span></p> <h4><b>III. Bringing It Back to Reality</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We’ve journeyed down a few hypothetical rabbit holes in this blog entry, so let’s bring it back to the actual test. Here’s a question from the </span><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/official-guides-for-gre/official-guide-gre-revised-general-test/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Official Guide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. It’s actually the “hardest” question in the entire book—only 10 percent of students got it correct when it was live on the real GRE exam. I bet that if you admit when you don’t know the meanings of words, you’ll have a pretty good shot of getting it right. Even if you’re able to eliminate one obviously wrong answer, your guessing odds will be significantly better than the percent of students who got it right when it was an actual test question. The key will lie in not letting yourself get lured in by a half-known word.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11250" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-7.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words by Tom Anderson" width="504" height="381" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-7.png 504w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/01/ta-6-image-7-300x227.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 504px) 100vw, 504px" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I bet you know the word “irrelevant.” </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may know the word “frivolous” too. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Don’t try to answer the question based on half-knowledge of the other words. Try to admit it: either you know them or you don’t. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can you be both “irrelevant” and “worthy of attention” at the same time? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">No.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And can you be both “frivolous” and “worthy of attention” at the same time? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Also no.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If that doesn’t sit well with you, go look up “</span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/frivolous" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">frivolous</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” and “</span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/irrelevant" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">irrelevant</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.” There is an element of the definitions you must be missing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you know it, you can rule out “</span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/didactic" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">didactic</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” in a similar way. “Intended to teach” has no relation to the clothing descriptions being mentioned. And “</span><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syntax" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">syntactical</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” fails as well. We are not discussing grammar or word order here. The only choice left is “sartorial.” Pick it. It’s the correct answer. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What does sartorial mean? Who cares. If you picked it, you just got the question right.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">…Okay, maybe you care a little bit. </span><a href="https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/sartorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Look up the definition of sartorial here</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Sure enough, it’s a perfect fit for the sentence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One way or another, remember the big point: You don’t have to know all the GRE vocab words on the test, but don’t try to fake it if you don’t really know the word. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now get out there and start moving a few more words from the “red zone” further to the right in your vocabulary spectrum! And if you hear of any magic vocab memorization lightning bolts out there, choose wisely. ?</span></p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://giphy.com/embed/7PwOZJLNYUkU" width="480" height="360" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/twin-peaks-dale-cooper-thumbs-up-7PwOZJLNYUkU"></a></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10555 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/08/tom-anderson-150x150.png" alt="tom-anderson" width="150" height="150" /><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/tom-anderson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Anderson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY.</strong> He has a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in education. Tom has long possessed an understanding of the power of standardized tests in propelling one’s education and career, and he hopes he can help his students see through the intimidating veneer of the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/53" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Tom’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/remember-gre-vocab-words/">The Perils of Half-Remembered GRE Vocab Words</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Recommended Reading for the GRE</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/recommended-reading-for-the-gre/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Cat Powell]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 26 May 2017 17:26:38 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Book Club]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Recommended Reading]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=10339</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Ready to take the plunge? Check out our upcoming courses here. When I was a kid, my mom read Don Quixote to me as a kind of cautionary tale: look at the crazy things you end up doing […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/recommended-reading-for-the-gre/">Recommended Reading for the GRE</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-10409" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/05/recommended-reading-for-the-gre-cat-powell.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - Recommended Reading for the GRE by Cat Powell" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/05/recommended-reading-for-the-gre-cat-powell.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/05/recommended-reading-for-the-gre-cat-powell-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/05/recommended-reading-for-the-gre-cat-powell-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/05/recommended-reading-for-the-gre-cat-powell-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><b><i>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Ready to take the plunge? </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i></i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I was a kid, my mom read </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Don Quixote</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to me as a kind of cautionary tale: look at the crazy things you end up doing if you read too much fiction. I did read too much fiction—and I still do—and this probably does explain some of my major personality flaws. But it also turns out that one of the crazy things you can do if you read too much is answer most GRE vocabulary questions, because one great gift of reading is that you learn a lot of interesting words. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GRE favors words that are used broadly, across many disciplines, and that are appropriate for academic writing. This means that many of the words that show up on the GRE are rarely used in our everyday conversations, and I find that a lot of them I’ve seen used primarily in 19</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">-century fiction.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My colleagues have written some great posts about how to learn words effectively <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/2016/05/25/hack-the-gre-vocab-use-spaced-repetition-to-get-maximum-results-with-minimum-time-investment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">with flashcards</a> and <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/2017/04/05/how-to-really-remember-a-gre-vocabulary-word/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">other tools</a>, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">and so today I want offer an alternate strategy: read great fiction, preferably older stuff, but maybe some 20</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">-century books as well. It’s a fun antidote to study fatigue and a great way to find new words in their natural habitat. Here’s some recommended reading for picking up lots of GRE vocab.</span><span id="more-10339"></span></p> <h4><b>MIDDLEMARCH by George Elliot</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Long 19</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">-century novels are not for everyone, but they are universally great for building vocabulary. (Tip for reading these: do it on a Kindle or other e-reader so you don’t have to lug around a heavy book). Elliot’s writing is beautiful, her characters are frustratingly flawed, and it’s a pleasure to see how their flaws (and virtues) create the trajectories of their lives.</span></p> <h4><b>LOLITA or PNIN by Vladimir Nabokov</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even though English was his third language, Nabokov has one of the richest vocabularies of any English-language author (he’s great inspiration for students pursuing degrees in second or third languages). </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lolita</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is his masterpiece, and, in my mind, one of the most perfect books written in English. But the dark subject matter and complicated puzzles aren’t to everyone’s taste. If you’d like something lighter, read </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pnin</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Nabokov’s gentlest and funniest novel, about a bumbling Russian academic struggling with the absurdities of the American university.</span></p> <h4><span style="color: #000000;"><b>PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (or any other novel) by Jane Austen</b></span></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I have to admit that, even though I was an English major, I didn’t read any Austen until I was in my mid-twenties. The rom-com association put me off (I strongly dislike rom-coms). But then I finally decided I should try to read her, and I was delighted—I read novel after novel for months. She’s sharp-witted and funny, and her observations about human nature and social behavior are still shockingly accurate, even though her own milieu is so different from our own. And while there are a lot of happy endings, these books are never saccharine or sentimental.</span></p> <h4><b>TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is tied with </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lolita</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for my favorite book of the 20</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> century. It takes a little patience to get into; her stream-of-consciousness style and structure can be jarring at first. But once you do find your way into the book, it will transform how you look at the world around you. Every glance shared between two people, every momentary shift in the light has a resonance in Woolf’s novel. Each time I read it, I’m surprised again by the immense scope of the material it tackles, balanced against its close attention to the minute particulars of human lives.</span></p> <h4><b>THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you have any interest in Gilded Age New York, Wharton’s work has wonderful descriptions of this world and what people wore in it. If this doesn’t appeal to you, then read it for her precise, glowing sentences, witty observations of human social interactions, and tragic characters.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whatever you choose to read, keep a stack of flashcards at hand to note down any new words. You’ll find great, GRE-appropriate words in all of these. Enjoy! ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/cat-powell/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cat Powell</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/cat-powell/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Cat%20Powell%20Bio%20Link" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-9911 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/01/cat-powell-150x150.png" width="150" height="150" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in New York, NY. </strong>She spent her undergraduate years at Harvard studying music and English and is now pursuing an MFA in fiction writing at Columbia University. Her affinity for standardized tests led her to a 169Q/170V score on the GRE. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Cat’s upcoming GRE courses here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/recommended-reading-for-the-gre/">Recommended Reading for the GRE</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>How to Really Remember a GRE Vocabulary Word</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/how-to-really-remember-a-gre-vocabulary-word/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 05 Apr 2017 19:57:48 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Challenge Problems]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gre vocabulary]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=10222</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? Check out our upcoming courses here. Think about your least favorite GRE vocabulary word. You know the one—every time you see it in your flashcards, you get that sinking feeling of dread. You always get this […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/how-to-really-remember-a-gre-vocabulary-word/">How to Really Remember a GRE Vocabulary Word</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b><i><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10234" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/04/how-to-really-remember-gre-vocabulary-word-manhattan-prep-gre-blog.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - How to Really Remember a GRE Vocabulary Word by Chelsey Cooley" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/04/how-to-really-remember-gre-vocabulary-word-manhattan-prep-gre-blog.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/04/how-to-really-remember-gre-vocabulary-word-manhattan-prep-gre-blog-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/04/how-to-really-remember-gre-vocabulary-word-manhattan-prep-gre-blog-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/04/how-to-really-remember-gre-vocabulary-word-manhattan-prep-gre-blog-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Crazy, right? </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i></i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">Think about your least favorite GRE vocabulary word. You know the one—every time you see it in your flashcards, you get that sinking feeling of dread. You </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">always</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> get this one wrong. You know it’s important, but for some reason, it just won’t stick in your head. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Okay, do you have a word in mind? Let’s conquer it—right here and now. </span><span id="more-10222"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My least favorite GRE vocabulary word is </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">dissipation</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. I missed this flashcard about ten times in a row </span><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/2016/06/21/how-i-got-a-340-on-the-gre/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the last time I studied for the GRE</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The problem is that it sounds like a lot of other, more familiar words: </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">dissolve</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">disperse</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">disintegrate</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Those words all refer to similar concepts: something is breaking into smaller pieces and being washed or blown away. </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dissipation</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, though, is the odd man out. It usually refers to drunkenness, debauchery, or wildness. Somebody with a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">dissipated</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lifestyle thinks only about what brings them pleasure. </span><b>Figure out why you’re struggling with your word</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. This will help you overcome it. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Next, do some </span><b>free association</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> based on your least favorite GRE vocabulary word. What does it sound like? What does it make you think of? Because </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">dissipation</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> sounds similar to other words, but has a different meaning, I’ll need to specifically think about what makes it </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">different</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> from those words. It has a similar beginning to those words—</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">diss</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">—but a different ending. Here are my notes:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Disaster, discipline, diss (insult), patient (medicine), patient (attitude), patent, pay, shun, disparage, disco</span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hang on to these notes for a second—we’ll come back to them soon. Right now, let’s talk about </span><b>things your brain likes to remember</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Your brain really loves remembering four things:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Personal experiences</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Strong emotions: anger, sadness, joy, frustration, disgust</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sensory experiences: smell, taste, sound, touch</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Shocking, surprising, unusual, bizarre, obscene, or disgusting images</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I vividly remember one day in elementary school when I lost my lunch box and had to eat a sandwich from the school cafeteria. I remember it because it was a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">personal experience</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (not something abstract that I learned in class), because it inspired </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">strong emotions</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (embarrassment, frustration), because it was a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">sensory experience</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (it involved taste and smell), and because it was </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">surprising and disgusting </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">(the sandwich, unlike the ones I brought from home, was wet and soggy). If you picture your own early childhood memories, the most vivid ones also probably fall into these categories.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Okay, let’s use both of the ideas we’ve been developing. Let’s take the </span><b>free association</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> we did earlier, and create a </span><b>memorable image</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For my least favorite GRE vocabulary word, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">dissipation</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, I’ll use the associations </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">diss</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">patient</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">pay</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">shun</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Let’s try to come up with a shocking, bizarre, sensory image that relates these associations with this word. </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">A medical patient is waiting in the doctor’s office… he’s bloated and sickly because he lives a </span></i><b><i>dissipated</i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lifestyle—he drinks too much alcohol and eats too much food. The doctor tells him to stop his </span></i><b><i>dissipation</i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but the patient becomes furious! He screams at the doctor, telling him not to </span></i><b><i>diss </i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">or </span></i><b><i>shun</i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> him for his lifestyle. He refuses to </span></i><b><i>pay</i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for the visit because he didn’t get the advice he wanted. </span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can you come up with something similar for your own word? Keep two things in mind: </span><b>weirder is better</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (nobody ever has to see this exercise except for you!), as long as it </span><b>strongly relates to the word</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. My own association works, because it involves strong emotions (the screaming patient), vivid imagery (the sickly-looking patient, the sights and smells of a doctor’s office), and is weird and shocking (the idea of screaming at a doctor). Importantly, it all relates back to </span><b>dissipation</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">—that’s what caused the patient’s problems. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Okay, do you have something? Add it to your flashcard. You can jot down a brief story or even draw a picture to remind you of this exercise. And if you’d like, share your least favorite word (and how you conquered it) in the comments! ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><em><b><i>See that “SUBSCRIBE” button in the top right corner? Click on it to receive all our GRE blog updates straight to your inbox!</i></b></em></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><em><strong><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/" target="_blank">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> </em></i></b><i><em>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170Q/170V on the GRE. </em></i><i><em><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/48" target="_blank">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here</a>.</em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/how-to-really-remember-a-gre-vocabulary-word/">How to Really Remember a GRE Vocabulary Word</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>GRE Vocab Words You Think You Know…But Don’t</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-vocab-words-you-think-you-know-but-dont/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 22 Feb 2017 17:00:32 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Challenge Problems]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Vocab Words]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=10024</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here. Some researchers estimate that there are as many as a million words in the English language. However, you won’t see words like mylohyoid, ekphrasis, or […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-vocab-words-you-think-you-know-but-dont/">GRE Vocab Words You Think You Know…But Don’t</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-10076" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/02/2-22-17-blog-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Vocab Words You Think You Know...But Don't by Chelsey Cooley" width="676" height="264" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/02/2-22-17-blog-1.png 676w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/02/2-22-17-blog-1-300x117.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px" /></p> <p><b><i>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! </i></b><a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Upcoming%20GRE%20Classes%20List%20Plug&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some researchers estimate that there are as many as a million words in the English language. However, you won’t see words like </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">mylohyoid</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">ekphrasis</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, or </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">cotyledon </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">on the GRE. In fact, even though English has a huge number of extremely rare words, the GRE almost never tests them. Instead, it focuses on a set of words we’ll call </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">rare but reasonable.</span></i><span id="more-10024"></span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rare but reasonable</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> words are words like </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">impenetrable</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">harmonious</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. They aren’t as common as </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">cat</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">dog</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but you’re reasonably likely to see them in an academic journal or an erudite news article. These words are much more likely to appear on your GRE than the extremely rare words. In fact, within the set of academic vocabulary, the GRE tests the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">more</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> common words much more often than the rarer ones. It’s hard to give exact statistics, but our research suggests that you’re more likely to see </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">ubiquitous</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (which is fairly common) on the GRE than </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">tendentiousness</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (which is quite rare), for example. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s good news, if you already know the more common academic vocabulary words. These words are high-value, and knowing them is very likely to help you out. However, there’s a flip side: it’s no big deal if you can’t define </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">hymnody</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but if you’re missing some of the heavy-hitting words, that could hurt you on test day. On top of that, some of the GRE’s favorite words to test are the fairly common ones that we like to think we know, but actually don’t. Here are a few of the best.</span></p> <p><b>Qualified: </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">This word, like most of the words on this list, has two meanings. Somebody who’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">qualified</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, well, they have qualifications! You might describe someone as a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">qualified doctor</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">qualified pilot</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. However, what’s a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">qualified success</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">? It’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">not</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> a particularly good success. In fact, a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">qualified</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> success is one that’s only partially successful. Likewise, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">qualified praise</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is praise that isn’t completely enthusiastic. And to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">qualify a claim </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">or a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">statement</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> means adding caveats or exceptions to it, or not standing behind it 100%. </span></p> <p><b>Apparent: </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">If your intelligence is </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">apparent</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, that means it’s obvious for anyone to see. On the other hand, if a GRE vocabulary question starts off like this:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The governor was apparently intelligent, but…”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">then, in the second half of the sentence, we’re going to hear about the governor doing something totally boneheaded. Depending on context, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">apparent</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> can refer to something that’s clear and obvious, or to something that only </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">seems</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to be true. Here’s an example from the <a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/strategy-guides/5-pound-book-gre-practice-problems/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CC%2040%20-%20GRE%20Vocab%20Words%20You%20Think%20You%20Know...But%20Don't%20-%20Link%20to%205lb%20Book%20of%20GRE%20Practice%20Problems" target="_blank">5lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems</a> that uses this trick:</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The apparent simplicity of a cup of coffee __________ the dizzying number of hours of toil required to produce it, from months of cultivation of the bean tree to painstaking refinement in highly sophisticated machinery.</span></p> <p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-10025 aligncenter" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/02/capture.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - GRE Vocab Words You Think You Know...But Don't by Chelsey Cooley" width="135" height="103" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> The coffee is </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">apparently</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> simple, but this only seems to be the case. In fact, it’s quite complex. (The correct answer here is </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">belies</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which fits the contrast between simplicity and complexity.)</span></p> <p><b>Measured</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: This word is so common that many of us wouldn’t think to put it on a flashcard. However, it has a clever second meaning that the GRE loves to use. If your tone of voice is </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">measured</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, that doesn’t mean that someone’s taken measurements of it. A </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">measured attitude</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">measured voice</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is one that’s calm, thoughtful, and steady. It’s a near-synonym with the adjective </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">restrained</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> – which also has two meanings!</span></p> <p><b>Arrest</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: Speaking of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">restrained</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the verb </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">arrest</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is also likely to be used non-literally on the GRE. If you </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">arrest</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> a runaway train, you aren’t taking it to jail – you’re just bringing it to a halt. Excessive heat might </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">arrest </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">(stop) the growth of crops. The most common place to see this meaning is in the phrase </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">arrest someone’s progress</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which just means stopping it. This is also where we get the phrase </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">cardiac arrest</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which is what happens when someone’s heart stops beating. </span></p> <p><b>Appropriate</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: On the two GRE vocabulary problem types, Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">the answer choices are always all the same part of speech</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. They might all be nouns, or all adjectives, but the test won’t mix the two together. If you don’t know this, and you see the word </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">appropriate</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the answer choices, you might assume that it’s an adjective (meaning ‘correct’ or ‘proper’). However, if the other answer choices are all verbs, look twice. Appropriate must be being used as a verb, as well. When used as a verb, it has a totally different meaning: to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">appropriate property</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is to seize it from the owner, often by force, and to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">appropriate a trademark</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> means taking it for your own without permission. Other words that have different meanings when used as different parts of speech: </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">flag </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">(noun or verb), </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">facility</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (noun or adjective), and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">intimate</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (adjective or verb). If you spot these, make sure the meaning you’re using matches the part of speech of the other answer choices. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The weirdest, toughest words aren’t the most important ones on the GRE. Instead, the most important words are the ones you’re most likely to see, and the ones that you don’t know yet. These words, which are fairly common but quite tricky, fall into the overlap of those two sets for many students. Make flashcards for them now, and if you spot others that are similar, don’t pass them by just because they seem easy! ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Upcoming%20GRE%20Classes%20List%20Plug&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><em><strong><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="//cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> </em></i></b><i><em>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170/170 on the GRE. </em></i><i><em><a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyCoursesGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog#instructor/48" target="_blank">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here</a>.</em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/gre-vocab-words-you-think-you-know-but-dont/">GRE Vocab Words You Think You Know…But Don’t</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Are GRE Verbal Questions Subjective?</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/are-gre-verbal-questions-subjective/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2017 18:44:57 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Challenge Problems]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gre verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Text completion]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=9893</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p> Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here. A lot of people think that GRE Verbal questions can have more than one right answer. The GRE itself doesn’t do anything to dispel […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/are-gre-verbal-questions-subjective/">Are GRE Verbal Questions Subjective?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9907" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/01/1-25-17-blog-2.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - Are GRE Verbal Questions Subjective? by Chelsey Cooley" width="676" height="264" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/01/1-25-17-blog-2.png 676w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/01/1-25-17-blog-2-300x117.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px" /></span></p> <p><b><i>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! </i></b><a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Upcoming%20GRE%20Classes%20List%20Plug&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A lot of people think that GRE Verbal questions can have more than one right answer. The GRE itself doesn’t do anything to dispel this myth, since Verbal questions often include wording like </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">which of the following is best supported? </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">or </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">with which statement would the author most likely agree?</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. These questions make it sound as if you’re supposed to read five pretty good answers and pick the best one, even if the other ones are okay, too. However, </span><b>this mindset will hurt you on test day. </b><span id="more-9893"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To understand why, suppose that you’re trying to write a Text Completion problem. To be good enough for the GRE, the problem has to help you tell the difference between stronger test-takers and weaker test-takers. People with strong vocabulary, reading, and reasoning skills should get the problem right; everyone else should get it wrong. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you just took any sentence and removed a random word, the problem you created might look like this one: </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For eons, _______ was considered not only polite, but virtuous.</span></p> <p><em>probity</em><br /> <em>parsimoniousness</em><br /> <em>prodigality</em><br /> <em>punctuality</em><br /> <em>panache</em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since there are no context clues, </span><b>everyone would be equally likely to get this one right</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Your problem would be testing how lucky the test-takers were, not the strength of their Verbal skills. So, what happens if we add some context?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For eons, ________ was considered not only polite, but virtuous; now, it is often perceived as unfashionable, and is typically not expected of guests.</span></p> <p><em>probity</em><br /> <em>parsimoniousness</em><br /> <em>prodigality</em><br /> <em>punctuality</em><br /> <em>panache</em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even though it includes more clues, </span><b>this problem is just as bad, and could never appear on the GRE.</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> You might suspect that the clues in the sentence point you towards </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">punctuality</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which refers to being on time: </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">unfashionable</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> calls to mind the saying “fashionably late,” and many people don’t expect their guests to be on time! However, this problem still isn’t testing vocabulary, reading, and reasoning. It’s testing your knowledge of sayings and your knowledge of human behavior. You couldn’t find the right answer using </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">only</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> vocabulary, reading, and the information in the sentence. That’s why you’d never see this one on the test.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s tough to write a problem that </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">only </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">uses vocabulary, reading, and reasoning skills. Here’s how the test writers do it: </span><b>they put the answer somewhere in the problem itself.</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Sometimes it’s obvious, and sometimes it’s very well hidden and takes a lot of thinking to piece together. But if it wasn’t in there, then they’d really be testing your world knowledge, not your understanding of the sentence or the passage! </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For eons, ______ was considered not only polite, but virtuous; now, fashionable behavior lauds laxity and tardiness and arriving at a function an hour late is considered appropriate.</span></p> <p><em>probity</em><br /> <em>parsimoniousness</em><br /> <em>prodigality</em><br /> <em>punctuality</em><br /> <em>panache</em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To get this one right, you only need two things: how to read the sentence correctly and how to define the tough vocabulary words. Those aren’t trivial skills – but, critically, they’re the skills that the GRE cares about. You can </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">prove</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">punctuality</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is correct, by using only the definitions of words and the information in the sentence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Not every official GRE problem is perfect, but the problems are tested extensively before they’re counted towards your score. Every official GRE Verbal problem you see will include all the information you need to find the right answer, right there in the text. Because of this, there will only be one right answer: it’s the only one that you can prove correct by using only the information you’re given. </span></p> <h4><b>How do you use this knowledge to get more Verbal questions right?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First, keep it in mind when you study. If you get down to two answer choices, but pick the wrong one, don’t tell yourself that you picked a ‘good, but not as good’ answer. That’s a cop-out! Consider whether you actually </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">proved</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the answer you picked, and whether you really used only the clues in the problem – is it possible that you introduced some outside ideas into your reasoning, or that you picked something that seemed </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">reasonable</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but wasn’t actually supported by the text? Work hard to explain to yourself why right answers are right and wrong answers are wrong – that sort of review will help you on test day. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Second, keep it in mind on test day. Unless you’re guessing (which is fine), only pick an answer if you can find the specific proof for it. Don’t just pick something that’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">good enough</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, or that </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">seems right</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">! If you can’t find any proof, make a guess and move on from the question, or look harder at the other answer choices you may have dismissed. If you convince yourself that every GRE Verbal problem has an objective right answer – just like every Quant problem – you’re already halfway to finding it. ?</span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Upcoming%20GRE%20Classes%20List%20Plug&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="//cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170/170 on the GRE. <a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyCoursesGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog#instructor/48" target="_blank">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/are-gre-verbal-questions-subjective/">Are GRE Verbal Questions Subjective?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Why Isn’t My Vocabulary Knowledge Helping Me on the GRE?</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/why-isnt-my-vocabulary-knowledge-helping-me-on-the-gre/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 12 Jul 2016 21:39:11 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vocabulary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Careful Reading]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=9197</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here. You’re up to your ears in flashcards. You know the meanings of ‘nostrum’, ‘pelf’, and ‘maculated’. Maybe you’ve even used the spaced retrieval technique; here’s a […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/why-isnt-my-vocabulary-knowledge-helping-me-on-the-gre/">Why Isn’t My Vocabulary Knowledge Helping Me on the GRE?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em><strong><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-9200" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2016/07/7-12-2016-blog-1.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - Why Isn't My Vocabulary Knowledge Helping Me on the GRE? by Chelsey Cooley" width="676" height="264" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2016/07/7-12-2016-blog-1.png 676w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2016/07/7-12-2016-blog-1-300x117.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px" />Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! <a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Upcoming%20GRE%20Classes%20List%20Plug&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog">Check out our upcoming courses here</a>.</strong></em></p> <hr /> <p>You’re up to your ears in flashcards. You know the meanings of ‘nostrum’, ‘pelf’, and ‘maculated’. Maybe you’ve even used the spaced retrieval technique; <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/build-your-gre-vocabulary-with-science-spaced-retrieval/" target="_blank">here’s a piece that I wrote on this technique</a>, and <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/hack-the-gre-vocab-use-spaced-repetition-to-get-maximum-results-with-minimum-time-investment/" target="_blank">here’s another</a> from my colleague, Céilidh Erickson. But when you take practice tests, your hard work with vocabulary doesn’t seem to be paying off. Why are you still missing GRE Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence problems?<span id="more-9197"></span> <strong> </strong>There are plenty of SEq and TC problems that you can solve with minimal vocabulary. There <em>aren’t</em> any that you can solve without careful reading. If you don’t get the right read on the sentence initially — if you make a wrong judgment on what <em>sort</em> of word belongs in the blank — no amount of vocabulary know-how will help you. Here’s one example from the <a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/store/practice-materials/5-pound-book-gre-practice-problems/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=5lbBookGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank">5lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems</a>.</p> <p><em>The music of the late ’70s is often described as _____________, despite the notable exception of a few innovators in the budding punk and hip-hop scenes.</em></p> <ul> <li>derivative</li> <li>visionary</li> <li>enigmatic</li> <li>cerebral</li> <li>evolving</li> </ul> <p>Most of my students get this one wrong on their first try. Here are some arguments I’ve heard in favor of wrong answers:</p> <p>‘I picked <em>cerebral</em>, because punk and hip-hop aren’t usually thought of as intelligent music. So, I thought it formed a good contrast to the rest of the sentence.’</p> <p>‘I picked <em>visionary</em>, because it fits well with the description of ‘innovators’.’</p> <p>Both of these students were able to define all five answer choices, but both of them still missed the problem! The first student used outside knowledge without realizing it. That’s a no-no on Text Completion — unless the problem <em>tells </em>you that punk and hip-hop aren’t cerebral forms of music, you aren’t allowed to include that in your reasoning. The second student missed the words ‘despite’ and ‘exception’, which show that the first half of the sentence<em> shouldn’t</em> fit with the second half.</p> <p>Neither of these mistakes had anything to do with vocabulary. Are you making errors like these? If you’re not sure, review some of the vocabulary problems that you’ve missed recently. Create a list of critical ‘structure’ words such as ‘despite’ and ‘exception’, or start asking yourself whether your reasoning is based solely on clues from the sentence. Non-vocabulary-related errors are far more common than many GRE students think — they just don’t stand out as much as a vocabulary word you don’t know.</p> <p>It’s also possible that you know a lot of vocabulary, but you’re missing some of the words you <em>really</em> need. Some words you come across are immediately recognizable as ‘vocabulary words’ — like the examples in the first paragraph of this article! Others, though, are more subtle. Would you create a flashcard for the word ‘qualified’? Most of my students wouldn’t. But you might run into a sentence like this one:</p> <p><em>The committee offered only qualified praise for the mayoral candidate, citing his _______ voting record as the basis for its beliefs.</em></p> <ul> <li>spotty</li> <li>impeccable</li> </ul> <p>Even if a word looks simple, it may still deserve some serious attention. This also applies to metaphorical uses of common words. A <em>polar</em> reception, for instance, is one that’s metaphorically ‘cold’. If you spot a word being used in a non-literal sense while you practice, jot it down, even if the word itself is one that you know. Vocabulary items don’t need to be single words, either! Some multiple-word phrases, such as <em>rack and ruin</em>, <em>arms race</em>, and <em>tantamount to</em>, rarely appear on flashcards but can still be tricky.If you skimmed past the word ‘qualified’ in your studies, this problem may be harder than it looks. Typically, ‘qualified’ means ‘having qualifications’, and has a positive connotation. But, on the GRE, it’s often used with a second, lesser-known meaning. ‘Qualified praise’ actually refers to praise that’s less than completely enthusiastic: perhaps the committee did praise the candidate, but only because all of the other candidates were worse! The right choice here would be <em>spotty</em>.</p> <p>If you’re not sure why you’re struggling with Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence, look away from vocabulary. No matter how many five-syllable Latin and Greek words you memorize, they’ll represent only a very small portion of what you see on the GRE. Much more often, you’ll need to rely on your ability to dissect a sentence, notice small context clues, and identify the real meanings of words with multiple different uses. Hone these skills, and you’ll see your GRE Verbal score improve. <strong><em><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f4dd.png" alt="📝" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></em></strong></p> <hr /> <p><strong><em>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. <a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Upcoming%20GRE%20Classes%20List%20Plug&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog">Check out our upcoming courses here</a>. </em></strong></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" src="//cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/11/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GRE Instructor" width="150" height="150" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170/170 on the GRE. <a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyCoursesGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog#instructor/48">Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GRE prep offerings here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/why-isnt-my-vocabulary-knowledge-helping-me-on-the-gre/">Why Isn’t My Vocabulary Knowledge Helping Me on the GRE?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>