GRE® Quick Prep Edition
GRE® Quick Prep Edition
by Ron Woldoff, MBA, MIS Founder, National Test Prep with Joe Kraynak
GRE® For Dummies®, Quick Prep Edition Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030‐5774 www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Media and software compilation copyright © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748‐6011, fax (201) 748‐6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and may not be used without written permission. GRE is a registered trademark of Educational Testing Service (ETS). This publication is not endorsed or approved by ETS. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: WHILE THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR HAVE USED THEIR BEST EFFORTS IN PREPARING THIS BOOK, THEY MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES REPRESENTATIVES OR WRITTEN SALES MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR SITUATION. YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH A PROFESSIONAL WHERE APPROPRIATE. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877‐762‐2974, outside the U.S. at 317‐572‐3993, or fax 317‐572‐4002. For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/ techsupport. Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print‐on‐demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e‐books or in print‐on‐demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport. wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Control Number: 2014956252 ISBN 978‐1‐119‐06864‐8 (pbk); ISBN 978‐1‐119‐06867‐9 (ebk); ISBN 978‐1‐119‐06883‐9 (ebk) Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents at a Glance Introduction................................................................................. 1 Part I: Getting Started with the GRE.............................................. 3 Chapter 1: Knowing What to Expect with the GRE...................................................................................5 Chapter 2: Owning the GRE: Strategies for Success...............................................................................11 Chapter 3: Gearing Up for Exam Day........................................................................................................17
Part II: Two Full‐Length Practice GREs........................................ 23 Chapter 4: Practice Exam 1 .......................................................................................................................25 Chapter 5: Practice Exam 1: Answers and Explanations.......................................................................49 Chapter 6: Practice Exam 2........................................................................................................................61 Chapter 7: Practice Exam 2: Answers and Explanations.......................................................................85
Index......................................................................................... 99
Table of Contents Introduction.................................................................................. 1 About This Book.........................................................................................................................1 Foolish Assumptions..................................................................................................................1 Icons Used in This Book............................................................................................................2 Where to Go from Here..............................................................................................................2
Part I: Getting Started with the GRE............................................... 3 Chapter 1: Knowing What to Expect with the GRE............................................................5 Signing Up for the GRE...............................................................................................................5 Breaking the GRE into Manageable Pieces..............................................................................6 Scoring Max: 340 and 6..............................................................................................................7 Understanding how the scoring breaks down..............................................................8 Calculating your score.....................................................................................................8 Figuring out how your scores measure up....................................................................9 Playing the guessing game...............................................................................................9 Seeing or canceling your scores.....................................................................................9 Taking advantage of the ScoreSelect option...............................................................10 Gimme a Break! GRE Intermissions........................................................................................10
Chapter 2: Owning the GRE: Strategies for Success......................................................11 Making the Best Use of Your Time.........................................................................................11 Budgeting your time for studying.................................................................................12 Budgeting your time for practice..................................................................................12 Beating the clock: Time management tips...................................................................13 Repeating the Test....................................................................................................................13 Reporting Test Administration Abnormalities.....................................................................15 Using Old Scores.......................................................................................................................15
Chapter 3: Gearing Up for Exam Day..................................................................................17 Gathering Your Stuff the Night Before...................................................................................17 Knowing What Not to Bring.....................................................................................................18 Training Physically and Mentally for Test Day.....................................................................19 Staying active..................................................................................................................19 Eating well........................................................................................................................20 Relaxing............................................................................................................................20 Test‐Driving the Computerized Version................................................................................20 Bringing the GRE into Your Comfort Zone............................................................................21 Getting familiar with subject matter and questions...................................................21 Understanding that the GRE is only one of many admissions requirements............................................................................22
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Part II: Two Full‐Length Practice GREs......................................... 23 Chapter 4: Practice Exam 1 .................................................................................................25 Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 1..........................................................................................27 Analytical Writing 1: Analyze an Issue...................................................................................29 Analytical Writing 2: Analyze an Argument...........................................................................30 Section 1: Verbal Reasoning....................................................................................................31 Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning..........................................................................................36 Section 3: Verbal Reasoning....................................................................................................39 Section 4: Quantitative Reasoning..........................................................................................44
Chapter 5: Practice Exam 1: Answers and Explanations...............................................49 Analytical Writing Sections.....................................................................................................49 Section 1: Verbal Reasoning....................................................................................................50 Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning..........................................................................................52 Section 3: Verbal Reasoning....................................................................................................54 Section 4: Quantitative Reasoning..........................................................................................56 Answer Key for Practice Exam 1.............................................................................................60
Chapter 6: Practice Exam 2..................................................................................................61 Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 2..........................................................................................63 Analytical Writing 1: Analyze an Issue...................................................................................65 Analytical Writing 2: Analyze an Argument...........................................................................66 Section 1: Verbal Reasoning....................................................................................................67 Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning..........................................................................................72 Section 3: Verbal Reasoning....................................................................................................76 Section 4: Quantitative Reasoning..........................................................................................81
Chapter 7: Practice Exam 2: Answers and Explanations...............................................85 Analytical Writing Sections.....................................................................................................85 Section 1: Verbal Reasoning....................................................................................................86 Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning..........................................................................................88 Section 3: Verbal Reasoning....................................................................................................91 Section 4: Quantitative Reasoning..........................................................................................93 Answer Key for Practice Exam 2.............................................................................................97
Index.......................................................................................... 99
Introduction
W
elcome to GRE For Dummies, Quick Prep Edition. Don’t take the dummies thing personally — you’re obviously no dummy. You made it through high school with high enough grades and test scores to get into college. You then graduated to join the elite group of approximately 30 percent of U.S. citizens who hold bachelor’s degrees, and some of you already have advanced degrees. And now you’re ready to go further. Between you and your goal is the GRE: a test designed solely to challenge your ability to remember everything you’ve forgotten since high school — material you haven’t touched in years. Maybe you feel confident that you know your stuff and don’t need to review right triangles, prefixes and suffixes, and tips on finding the main idea in a reading passage. If that’s the case, you’ve come to the right place. This book gives you an overview of the GRE in order to successfully reach your goal: admittance to the grad school of your choice and perhaps a scholarship to help pay your way. In your hands is a concise guide to the GRE that includes two practice exams to help you get comfortable with the test format and get familiar with the various content you’ll likely encounter on the exam. If you need a fast, effective introduction to the GRE, you’re holding the right book.
About This Book In GRE For Dummies, Quick Prep Edition, I introduce you to the GRE, offer some test‐taking strategies, and then present two practice exams that you can use to gauge how you’ll do on the test when it counts. After you take a practice exam, be sure to review the answer explanation for every question. If you don’t have time for in‐depth studying, looking at the answer explanations may be enough of a refresher to help you bump up your score on the GRE by a point or two.
Foolish Assumptions This book is intended to help you prepare for the GRE. I assume that you’re in at least one of these three stages of your GRE planning: ✓✓ You’ve already scheduled the GRE, or are about to, and you want to sharpen your test‐ taking skills in preparation for the exam. ✓✓ You have to take the GRE for acceptance into the graduate program at your preferred school. ✓✓ You’re considering a graduate program or school that requires the GRE as part of the application process and want to know what the exam is all about and see how you’d perform on the exam.
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Icons Used in This Book Although everything included in this book is valuable, some tidbits call for special attention. Look for the following icons to quickly spot the most important information. This icon indicates little bits of wisdom to make your GRE experience go more smoothly and improve your success. This icon marks key points to remember while you’re taking the GRE, especially anything that’s likely to surprise you on the test. By knowing what to expect, you’re better prepared to handle it.
Where to Go from Here If you’ve already signed up to take the GRE, you may want to jump right to one of the practice exams to see how well you do in a mock testing situation. After you take the test, be sure to review the answer explanations for all the questions — not just the ones you answered incorrectly. Reviewing all the explanations will reinforce what you already know, and you never know, but you may just pick up a new fact or two. If the GRE remains a big mystery to you but you know you need to take it to get into grad school, start with Chapter 1 to get the lowdown on the exam. Then keep reading to get some advice about studying for the exam and preparing for test day. If after taking the practice exams in Part II, you think you could benefit from some additional review in a particular area, I encourage you to pick up the latest edition of GRE For Dummies. That book includes detailed reviews of the various content that makes up the Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning sections of the exam; it also includes additional practice tests.
Part I
Getting Started with the GRE
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