Sequester

Segregated, providing privacy or seclusion; Example, 1-When a person becomes depressed, s/he tries to sequester himself from the society 2-  It is not right to sequester certain people on the basis of their caste and creed.

Entitlement

Right granted by law or contract, claim; Example, 1- This is every child’s entitlement to get their parents’ support. 2- Only few are entitled to get free pass.

Tumultuous

Noisy, disorderly; Example, 1- Last night there was so much tumultuous situation in my neighborhood . It seemed like some mischief was going on. 2- When I lost my permanent job that was tumultuous period of my life.

Pedantic

Marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects; Example, 1-The professor’s lecture was so pedantic that students found it tough to retain in it. 2- Some people are so pedantic in performing religious rituals that they create havoc for everybody.

Notoriety

The quality of being notorious; Example, He had an ambition to be celebrity fashion designer instead he had gained notoriety for being fashion fopa.

Soporific

Tending to induce sleep, drowsy; Example, You feel sleepy after taking cough medicine because generally all cough syrups have soporific properties.

Shipra Srivastava

• Reading Comprehension Passages are generally taken from many different sources and disciplines and there is sheer possibility that you find material unfamiliar to you. You should not be disheartened if you encounter unfamiliar material; do not forget you can answer all the questions on the basis of the information provided in the passage. However, if you do not feel comfortable with provided passage then try to attempt it at last.

• First you must read and analyze the passage cautiously before you answer any question based on that passage, and pay extra attention on the  clues because it may actually  help you in  understanding the less explicit aspects of the passage.

Must do it:

• • Find out the main idea of passage then try to separate it from supporting ideas or evidence.
  • Find out author’s strong view points to which author is committed and from those author advances as assumed or speculative.
  • Find out how transitions in ideas are taking place.
  • Establish the relationship between different ideas on following basis.
    • Are they contrasting and consistent?
    • Whether one supports the other?
    • Whether one apply to other in a particular circumstance?

• Be sure about what you are being asked and answer exactly that you are told to answer. So it is suggested read questions carefully before you searched answer for those questions.

• Try to answer each question on the basis of the information provided in the RC passage only. You should not depend on knowledge from outside. Sometimes this could be the case that your own views or opinions are conflicting with those presented in a passage; if this is a case then you must work within the context provided by the passage. You are not supposed to agree with every thing that you read in passage.

Read more on Revised RC: http://learnwordlist.com/blog/new-revised-gre-verbal-section-sample-questions-and-answers/2010/08/gre-word-list-test-blog-barrons-vocabulary

Do share with us your views, comments on this blog. Kindly provide us your feed back in feedback section below this blog.

Warm Regards,

Shipra Srivastava

Team LearnwordList.com

Hi All, we know that GRE is changing from August 1, 2011 .We wish to give you a feel about how changed verbal section will look, so it can clear the picture in your mind up to some extent. The revised GRE Verbal Reasoning section will consist following types of questions:

1. Reading Comprehension
2. Text Completion
3. Sentence Equivalence

Reading Comprehension (RC)

Changed RC section will consist of 3 types of questions:

1. Select one or more answer choice: In this newly introducing multiple choice type questions, students will be provided with three answer choices, and student will be asked to choose all the correct answer choices. Correct answer choice could be one, two or all three .So, students will have a privilege to choose more than one option. To score excellent in these types of questions students should focus on choosing only correct options as there would be no credit for a fractionally correct option. Example:

(Examples mentioned below is from www.ets.org)

Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of popular music without imitating it. Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies’ sound is distinctively his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass’s classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music. Yet this use of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of popular music. His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.

The passage suggests that Glass’s work displays which of the following qualities? A return to the use of popular music in classical compositions

1) An attempt to elevate rock music to an artistic status more closely approximating that of classical music.

2) A long-standing tendency to incorporate elements from two apparently disparate musical styles

Answer: A and C

(Answer choice is more than one choice)

2.  Select-in-Passage: This is also a newly entered section in RC. This type of question will require to choose a sentence from the passage that meets the certain description. These types of questions will definitely give an idea to GRE evaluators to judge how well a student can understand the RC passage. Example:

Select the sentence from the above mention passage distinguishing two ways of integrating rock and classical music.

Answer:

“His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.”

3. Select one answer choice: GRE‘s Reading Comprehension section will still go with traditional format, where students have to choose one option from provided five options.

Text Completion questions

The Text Completion question will include a passage comprising one to five sentences with one to three blanks .There will be three to five options per blank. Students have to choose the one option from the provided options to fill in the blank. While choosing the option, student must remember the context of passage to choose the correct option. Example:

Vain and prone to violence, Caravaggio could not handle success: the more his (1)__________ as an artist increased, the more (2)__________ his life became.

Blank 1: temperance, notoriety, eminence

Blank 2: tumultuous, providential, dispassionate

Answer: eminence and tumultuous

Sentence Equivalence Questions

These types of questions will consist of a single sentence with one blank only. Student will be provided with six answer choices and from the six choices students have to pick just two answers .Do bear in mind there will be no credit for partially correct answer.

Although it does contain some pioneering ideas, one would hardly characterize the work as __________.

1) orthodox
2) eccentric
3)original
4)trifling
5)conventional
6)innovative

Answer: C and F

These all changes that we have discussed above will be in effect from 1 August, 2011. If you are planning to take GRE before that, then you see same old pattern. Kindly post your views, comments below this blog.

Wishing you all, success!!!

Best Regards,

Shipra Srivastava

Team Learnwordlist.com

In GRE’s reading comprehension you will generally be presented with three or more reading comprehension passage. Comprehension passages are drawn from different areas like science,humanites or may be from renowned university presses corpus .Format of RC section is very simple there are some 300-500 words containing paragraph that are taken from already publish material and series of question are asked from this content of passage.

How to brush up reading skills and comprehension answering skills
There is one very interesting observation that reading speed is not constant and it varies for example if you are from accounts background or may be from humanities then there are sheer chances that you will be slow in medicine. Generally it is said that your reading speed should be like 200-250 [words per min/wpm] for RC section.speed can be improve with regular reading practice .For example if your current speed is 100[wpm].set a target for yourself for 110 [wpm] for one week. read regularly to achieve it .You can also follow below mention tactics to score good in RC section of GRE.

Step 1: Read the small section of editorial(or any section which you generally like ) of any newspaper once (preferably a well-known English paper), you can also use magazine or some other printed material.

Step 2: Write down a two to three line summary on what you have understood from that one reading of the article. If you don’t get it then go through again. In beginning it will take time but eventually you’ll pick up speed.

Step 3: Check all words that are new to you.

Step4: jot down all the new words that you come across.lookout their dictionary meaning.

Step5: Now re-read passage and check how much you can comprehend now.

Some commonly asked questions upon RC section

Reading comprehension questions test your ability to understand a passage and answer question on the basis of what is stated and implied in the passage. Some probable question could be on following topics.

• Main idea of passage
• To choose title for passage
• Asked about specific detail in passage
• Asked to give meaning of an unfamiliar word
• Asked to make inferences
• Vocabulary questions
• Question on author’s style or mood

Some useful information to solve RC

o When you are not able to figure out the meaning of some unfamiliar word then don’t press panic button. There are chances that you won’t be necessarily require the meaning of that word to answer passage questions.

o Focus on general content of each paragraph.

o To choose the topic of paragraph just don’t focus on opening and ending sentences.

o Skim questions quickly before reading the passage. so when you will be reading passage you will have some idea what you have to look for in passage.

o At last read all questions that are still answered.

I hope that above mentioned information will be useful in cracking comprehension section of GRE. If have any other idea to crack GRE Reading Comprehension section then share with us.

Please feel free to ask your questions and post comments below.

Good luck for your GRE Exam.

Shipra Srivastava
Team LearnWordList.com

The four sections pertaining to Verbal Ability in GRE are:

1. Antonyms
2. Analogies
3. Sentence Completion
4. Reading Comprehension

Antonyms: You all would love to know that Antonyms are generally restricted to Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives. This lessens your burden of preparation for quite an extent. In GRE you will never find an exact answer. You will always find an answer choice that is very close an option. So here lies your challenge. You have to judiciously sift the options for the right answer choice. This sifting requires elimination of irrelevant, inappropriate or wrong answer choices. Sometimes it might happen that you suddenly forget the meaning of a word. You can then try to define that word by using it in a sentence. Try that way. This will help you in establishing the meaning of a word. Questions sometimes might be indirect. In a situation like that also try deriving the ‘secondary meaning’ of a particular word. If you are unaware of the meaning of a word, try guessing the meaning considering the root, prefix and suffix of the word.

Analogies are slightly tougher, for the fact that you need to precisely establish the relationship between word pairs. Analogies measure your ability to recognize

• Relationships among words and concepts they represent
• Parallel relationships

Things you should never forget while answering Analogies:

1. Read the question and ‘all’ the answer choices at least once thoroughly

2. Do not jump to conclusion

3. Try to draw a connecting link between the two words given as question

4. Apply the same connecting link to all the answer choices

5. The word pair that takes the connecting link perfectly is your answer choice

Read more: GRE: Analogy Segment (Strategies and Techniques)

Sentence Completions

ETS Says:

Sentence completions measure your ability to recognize words or phrases that both logically and stylistically complete the meaning of a sentence.

Important points to remember while answering the Sentence Completion questions

1. Read the incomplete sentence completely, once or twice to understand the meaning better

2. Identify the tone of the sentence. The tone of the sentence could be neutral, acerbic, ironic, descriptive or critical

3. Your answer choices are in harmony with the tone of the sentence. For example a critical tone will never take neutral options as answers.

4. When a sentence has conjunctions like ‘and’ your answer choices are usually synonymous

5. When a sentence has words like but, however, yet, in spite of, nevertheless, the answer choices are usually antonymous. These words also indicate a change of thought, a twist of thought rather

6. Do not jump to hazardous conclusions while answering

7. See that both the options fit into the sentence mellifluously. Sometimes only one option fits into and students hastily select that, without realizing that it was a trap laid by the ETS. Beware!!

8. Please do not be in a haste to complete the segment and jump to the next!

Read more: Sense and Sentence Completion: Crack GRE Verbal with a Bang!

Reading Comprehension Questions

The ETS says:

Reading comprehension questions measure your ability to

• Read with understanding, insight, and discrimination
• Analyze a written passage from several perspectives

The passages for Reading Comprehension are mainly taken from humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

Some Effective reading techniques for GRE- RC:

1. Lip-sync while reading

2. Read with a sense of inquiry

3. Predict the future of the passage

4. Remember the 5 Ws

5. Guess the meanings of the words ( you don’t know) in broader context

6. Do a progressive reading not a regressive one

7. Jot down the important dates/data on a rough paper

Read more: http://learnwordlist.com/blog/gre-reading-comprehension/2009/08/gre-word-list-test-blog-barrons-vocabulary

With the GRE Verbal Ability Blueprint in your hand you can now aim for an inspiring score. Please do read the strategies once again to perform well in the exam. Once you have grip over the fundamentals try practicing some model GRE questions. This will help you evaluate your performance. And do take all the tests designed exclusively for you on the site. These tests help you gauge your performance.

In case you have queries please do get back to us without apprehensions.

Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager- learnwordlist.com

‘Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man’, how insightful was Francis Bacon to write this! Indeed reading is one major and basic skill that is tested in many of the competitive examinations these days. No wonder it happens to be one major segment in the GRE.

The GRE General Test has three Reading Comprehension Passages. The length of a typical RC passage is between 500 and 650 words. All these passages have a euphemistic tone and are free from discrimination of any kind. We have to remember that the GRE is an American Examination, naturally the passages deal with the socio-economic, historical and scientific aspects pertaining to the great nation.

The tone of the passages is generally neutral, and the type of the Reading Comprehension is usually discursive (one having many views, contradictions and data pertaining to breakthrough researches). The number of questions asked ranges from 19 to 22.

The above mentioned are the technical details of the exam, now coming to the actual strategies that one needs to adopt for cracking this segment successfully, one has no way but to read the passage effectively, accurately and fast. There is no short-cut once again, to get through this segment with a feather in the cap. As a student you have to run through the passage with all your soul and heart.

It’s a human tendency to read articles faster and understand them better, those that appeal to him/her. Unfortunately you may see extremely ‘boring’ kind of passages on the computer screen in GRE. But that shouldn’t kill your enthusiasm to read. There’s no way my dear student, you have to fall in love with that passage and read it as if you were the writer, or at least a person who’s genuinely interested in similar issue. Yes, that’s right you have to read the passages with a ‘sense of inquiry’. As if there’s nothing between you and the comprehension you are reading. You have to keep your brain focused and free from thoughts not pertaining to GRE when you are reading.

You have to do a progressive reading. I strongly object ‘regression’, i.e. going back to the last read lines time and again. If you are doing that it shows that you are not an effective reader and you need a lot of practice before you take GRE. Few persons are born with photographic memory. We are not Swami Vivekananda or Acharya Vinobha Bhave to remember things in one single go.

Hence, I suggest you make use of the rough paper to jot down important data, dates while reading. This will make you feel committed to the passage. You can also do a lip-sync while reading. This helps in remembering things better. If you complement lip-sync to the movement of your eyes over the lines of RC you will remember the contents of the write-up a better way. Scientific studies prove this. As you are reading have a sense of belonging with the passage. Ask yourself why, where, who, what, which. Put them on the rough paper. Try to predict the future of the passage even as you are reading. Please be objective in your analysis, don’t become subjective. Put yourself in the author’s position and think. There is no ‘in my opinion’ in GRE – RC.

One very important thing about RC is Vocabulary. Please do not become panicky when you find an alien word. Guess the meaning of the word taking the broader context into consideration. Let the alien word not become a potential impediment during the process of reading. Remember, you have to do all these in stark 15 minutes!!

Effective reading techniques for GRE- RC in nutshell:

1. lip-sync while reading

2. read with a sense of inquiry

3. predict the future of the passage

4. remember the 5 Ws

5. guess the meanings of the words ( you don’t know) in broader context

6. do a progressive reading not a regressive one

7. jot down the important dates/data on a rough paper

Some students believe that they can first read the question and then read the passage. Dear students, what will you do when the very first question is asking you the central idea of the passage? Will that not be a criminal wastage of time? And please come out of the fallacy that the questions asked in GRE-RC are direct in nature. Most of them are inferential type questions. So you have to do a lot of ‘reading between the lines’. But the ETS does make your lives easier by providing the passage with paragraph numbers or highlighting certain words in the passage for a quick reference. Please read the passage as if you were in love with it.

Some GRE-RC options that can never be the correct answer choice:

1. All hasty generalizations
2. Options that support discrimination of any kind
3. Options that have an acerbic tone
4. irrelevant options ( red herring fallacy )

So out of the five options you are ideally left with one correct answer choice. Did you get my point there?… (That’s a great clue! smiles)

Let us now read what the ETS has to say about the Reading Comprehension segment of GRE:

{{**Reading comprehension questions measure your ability to read with understanding, insight and discrimination. This type of question explores your ability to analyze a written passage from several perspectives. These include your ability to recognize both explicitly stated elements in the passage and assumptions underlying statements or arguments in the passage as well as the implications of those statements or arguments.

Because the written passage upon which the questions are based presents a sustained discussion of a particular topic, there is ample context for analyzing a variety of relationships.

Pay attention to the following as you review the passage:

• The function of a word in relation to a larger segment of the passage
• The relationships among the various ideas in the passage
• The relationship of the author to the topic or to the audience.

You will find five types of reading comprehension questions to answer:

1. The main point of the passage
2. Information explicitly stated in the passage
3. Information or ideas implied or suggested by the author
4. Possible applications of the author’s ideas to other situations, including the identification of situations or processes analogous to those described in the passage
5. The author’s logic, reasoning, or persuasive techniques

In each edition of the General Test, there are three or more reading comprehension passages, each providing the basis for answering two or more questions. The passages are drawn from different subject matter areas, including the humanities, the social sciences, the biological sciences, and the physical sciences.

Here are some approaches that may help you in answering reading comprehension questions.

• Since reading passages are drawn from many different disciplines and sources, you may not be familiar with the material in every passage. Do not be discouraged if you encounter unfamiliar material. Questions are to be answered on the basis of the information provided in the passage, and you are not expected to rely on outside knowledge of a particular topic.
• You should analyze each passage carefully before answering the accompanying questions. As with any kind of close and thoughtful reading, look for clues that will help you understand less explicit aspects of the passage. Try to separate main ideas from supporting ideas or evidence. Try also to separate the author’s own ideas or attitudes from information he or she is presenting.
• Note transitions from one idea to the next, and examine the relationships among the different ideas or parts of the passage. For example, are they contrasting? Are they complementary? Consider the points the author makes, the conclusions drawn, and how and why those points are made or conclusions are drawn.
• Read each question carefully and be certain that you understand exactly what is being asked.
• Always read all the answer choices before selecting the best answer.
• The best answer is the one that most accurately and most completely answers the questions being posed. Be careful not to pick an answer choice simply because it is a true statement. Be careful also not to be misled by answer choices that are only partially true or only partially satisfy the problem posed in the question.
• Answer the questions on the basis of the information provided in the passage. Do not rely on outside knowledge. Your own views or opinions may sometimes conflict with the views expressed or the information provided in the passage. Be sure that you work within the context of the passage. You should not expect to agree with everything you encounter in reading passages. **}}

Read the article carefully at least two to three times. Approach us with queries in case you have any.

Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager- learnwordlist.com

{** The following text is an extract from ets.org}

How many of us really exercise our brains?

Fortunately or unfortunately physical workout any day has edge over mental workout. Most of us hardly ever consider the fact that the brain which functions perennially (just like the heart) has to be exercised too…for better performance. Isn’t it pathetic? Research studies prove that mental exercises will make an average performer an extraordinary achiever. Brain teasers, crossword puzzles, sudoku and many other mind-chiseling equipment certainly refine your thinking and comprehension abilities.

As a deviation from norm, I would like you all to participate in a simple yet interesting game which will sharpen your reasoning skills. I present for you all a simple aerobic exercise for your brain!! All you need is a pen/pencil and a scribbling pad. Just note down these 25 words that follow and give me the equivalent (synonym) of the word starting with P. Exciting isn’t it!!…I now look forward to your responses…

I will give the equivalents of the first three words starting with P.I guess this will make your understanding better.

1. bucket…Ans) pail

2. faultless…Ans) perfect

3. maybe….Ans) perhaps

4. forgive

5. mollycoddle

6. steal

7. annoy

8. good-looking

9. picture

10. choose

11. ugly

12. go

13. revolt

14. treachery

15. stone

16. inactive

17. fussy

18. suffering

19. light-colored

20. gasp

21. fear

22. eulogize

23. artist

24. sheet

25. collection

26. chastise

27. skin

28. tap

You can now start working.

Thinking is a quintessential skill. We all are born with congenital thinking ability. But only a few of us develop that ability into a skill. These gifted people are the successful lot.

I am sure with a little amount of thinking you can find the equivalents beginning with P for all these words. I don’t say you should know the answers intuitively. You can pretty well depend on your Vocabulary learning resources- dictionaries, word lists, thesauri etc. But work!! I mean both mentally and physically.

Dear students please do not wait for ready made answers. Such answers just cheat you. They stay in your short-term memory for a while and evaporate forever. In other words they fool you. But if you really put in a diligent effort to know the equivalents of these words, all these words, their meanings and synonyms will be with you for a lifetime boosting your confidence whenever you feel a paucity of it.

So pull up your socks for a great mental (a little physical too) exercise. I promise this is going to be a great learning experience.

And remember: There is no shortcut to success!!

Team

Learnwordlist.com