Review for Midterm Exam
NO CLASS on Monday for the Labor Day holiday! The midterm will be on Wednesday, September 9th.
The Midterm Exam has a total of 41 questions; 21 are from Princeton,
and 20 are from GMAC.
Princeton vs. GMAC:
8 vs. 8 Sentence
Correction
7 vs. 6 Reading
Comprehension
6 vs. 6 Critical
Reasoning
[GRE Midterm has total 40 questions, 20 from Princeton, 20
from ETS, 10 each of Text Completion, and 10 each of Sentence Correction]
For both exams:
- Review question types,
answer types, scoring, and skills.
- Incorrect answers do NOT
subtract but do not add to scores either.
- It is best to answer every
question – at least guess!
- Scratch paper/noteboards
are provided, and you can always request more. Use them on all sections!
Most basic strategies for all sections of both tests:
- Do the “easy” parts first
- Educated guesses/PoE
- USE the scratch paper
- Double-check your answers
- Leave NO question
unanswered
- Read ALL answer choices
- Plug in the answers to
test them
- Try to come up with your
own answers and test them
- Memorize (turn the
memorization sheet into flash cards) basic rules and definitions
Basic PoE approach (Sentence Correction):
·
A – always repeats the original form (no
change); if you know an error exists, automatically eliminate
·
Eliminate answers that repeat the original error
·
Eliminate answers that introduce new errors
·
Eliminate answers that change the sentence’s
meaning
·
Choose the most concise answer if you have no
other criteria
See the flowchart on p. 256.
1.
(Reading Comprehension) Use PoE – eliminate answers
based on:
a.
Recycled language and memory traps – these are
NOT precise quotes but they sound similar to the language used in the passage;
human brains like what sounds familiar, so these are usually trap answers
b.
Extreme language – only good for a strengthen/weaken
question, BAD for ALL other questions; includes words like: always, never, all,
none, only, must, fail, best, worst, most, etc. Instead, we prefer
“wishy-washy” language like: some, often, may, useful, sometimes, maybe, can,
etc. (see p. 293)
c.
No such comparison – the answer choice compares
things that are NOT compared in the passage – check for what the author
actually compares in the passage by look for words like: better, more,
reconcile, less, decide, more than, less than, etc. Generally be skeptical of
comparisons in the answers – the ideas may have been discussed but not compared
in the passage
d.
Reversals – confusing because they say the
opposite of the main idea or one of the details – if you don’t take notes, you
will not recognize these reversals as wrong
e.
Emotional appeals – answer choices that have
some emotional bias or political value that the author does NOT discuss or
reference
f.
Outside knowledge – answer choices that rely on
the reader to think about information they have from their own experience but
is NOT contained in the passage – very tempting if you have this information,
but if the information is not in the passage, eliminate!
g.
Half right = ALL WRONG – an answer that has a
true part (based on the passage) but another part that is also false (based on
the passage)
2.
(Critical Reasoning) Use PoE – first, remember
that half right = all wrong
a.
Assumption – try the negation test: negate your
preferred answer and see if it changes the conclusion. Eliminate:
i. Out
of scope
ii. Extreme
language
b.
Weaken – ask how each choice affects the
author’s claim. Eliminate:
i. Out
of scope
ii. Extreme
Language (maybe keep)
iii. Strengthen
the argument
c.
Strengthen – ask how each choice affects the
author’s claim. Eliminate:
i. Out
of scope
ii. Extreme
language (maybe keep)
iii. Weaken
the argument
d.
Inference – ask how close the choice is to what
is in the passage. Eliminate:
i. Additional
assumptions
ii. Out
of scope
iii. Extreme
language
e.
Resolve/explain – ask what choice explains the
conflict and lets both claims be true. Eliminate:
i. Out
of scope
ii. Make
conflict worse
iii. Address
only one side
f.
Evaluate – look for a good test of the truth of
a claim. Eliminate:
i. New
information
ii. Information
that does not connect premises to conclusions
iii. Out
of scope
g.
Identify the reasoning – accurate descriptions
of the argument. Eliminate:
i. No
match to structure
ii. Partial
matches to structure
h.
Flaw – accurate descriptions of problems with
the argument. Eliminate:
i. No
mention of flaws
ii. Out
of scope
iii. No
match to argument
iv. Partial
matches to argument
No comments:
Post a Comment