This post is part of the Sunday Series for GRE Prep by TOTAL Learning Results. Enjoy!
When faced with the issue task, the essay grading rubric states that for an essay to achieve a score of a 4 or higher, relevant examples need to be stated and used as evidence to support a conclusion. But what evidence can you study before hand to improve your score?
It is unreasonable to expect students to have encyclopedic knowledge of every topic, so a different tactic has to be employed.
A good student needs to be able to gain detailed knowledge of a few example topics, and my favorites are Martin Luther King, Nuclear Weapons, the Civil War, and Richard Nixon. These four examples contain all sorts of moral and ethical issues; knowledge of these four topics can be tied in to literally any essay topic that you may encounter.
With practice and discipline you can use these four topics to support any position on any topic on the GRE.
The worst thing to use is hypothetical examples, which take a lot of time to explain and provide context for, and can allow the essay grader to poke holes in your made-up scenario. Factual examples allow you to draw your own conclusions; setting up your own hypothetical example detracts from the argument and means that your conclusions are not reality based.
So pick your own four examples and limit yourself to just those four; practice tying them in to different essay topics!
Make it a great day!
-Daniel
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
GRE Quantitative Vocabulary
This post is part of the Sunday Series for GRE Prep by TOTAL Learning Results. Enjoy!
There are vocabulary words to learn for the Verbal section, and then there are also vocab words to learn for the math section!
In this post I will explain two simple math terms that are necessary to do well on the GRE, but often cause a lot of confusion.
What does the GRE consider a prime number? And what does it consider an integer?
Nearly everyone taking the test knows that "7" is an integer, and is also a prime number. Likewise with "13".
But what about "1"? Or "-1" & "0"?
All numbers, including 0, 1, and negative one, are integers.
However, 0 and 1 are not prime!
Learn the lessons of this table!
Make it a great day!
-Daniel
There are vocabulary words to learn for the Verbal section, and then there are also vocab words to learn for the math section!
In this post I will explain two simple math terms that are necessary to do well on the GRE, but often cause a lot of confusion.
What does the GRE consider a prime number? And what does it consider an integer?
Nearly everyone taking the test knows that "7" is an integer, and is also a prime number. Likewise with "13".
But what about "1"? Or "-1" & "0"?
All numbers, including 0, 1, and negative one, are integers.
However, 0 and 1 are not prime!
| Number | Integer | Prime |
| 0 | Yes | No |
| 1 | Yes | No |
| -1 | Yes | No |
| 3 | Yes | Yes |
Learn the lessons of this table!
Make it a great day!
-Daniel
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Generic Method for Area Problems
This post is part of the Sunday Series for GRE Prep by TOTAL Learning Results. Enjoy!
The GRE Quantitative section includes of a number of area and perimeter related problems that are very difficult to conceptualize in one's head. Take the image below:
What is the area of the green section? And more challenging: what is the area of the yellow section?
The answer to both of these requires what I call the "generic solution" method. The value of this is that it can help you solve any problem you face on the GRE requiring formulas for circles or squares, and you will face them.
Most students, even good students, don't have a one size fits all approach and most aren't able to describe how they solve the problem. So here is what to do:
The green triangle:
The radius of the circle, r, helps form a right isosceles triangle. It is a 45-45-90 triangle, and the two legs are both of length r/(sqrt 2). The area for a triangle is 1/2*base*height, and the final answer is (r^2)/4.
The Yellow segment:
Here is where the generic method can help. The area of the circle is pi*r^2, or "pie r-squared".
The sliver could be described as the area of the circle, minus the area of the square; that would leave the four remaining slivers. Therefore, one-fourth of the remaining area would be the area of one sliver.
The equation then would be [(Area of the circle)-(Area of the square)]/4
The important step is to write up this equation before trying to make calculations. Now that we have the equation, we can plug in numbers and variables to find the answer, but the first step is to always come up with a "generic equation" using terms like "area of circle", "area of square", "perimeter of the circle", "perimeter of rectangle", etc. Then plug and chug.
That is the key to the generic method: start with the largest area, and start subtracting off portions of the area using the names of the segments. Then calculate!
Make it a great day!
-Daniel
-Daniel
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Logical Fallacies in the Argument Task
This post is part of the Sunday Series for GRE Prep by TOTAL Learning Results. Enjoy!
The argument task for the GRE is not something that you are supposed to pick a side on. Instead, you are required to find faulty logical reasoning and assumptions that the author is making. This may sound complicated but the GRE relies on using the same three faulty logic "techniques" over and over and over again. In this post I will list them below, with brief explanations, and then dissect a real GRE prompt from the GRE "test bank" for each example.
Each fallacy occurs when the author...
1) Assumes to know what someone else is thinking.
Example: You assume I bought a certain kind of cereal because of the fancy advertising on the front, when in reality I picked the cheapest cereal available.
2) Assumes causality from correlation.
Example: You see an advertisement showing a cool person drinking Bud Light, so you assume it is the beer that makes him cool.
3) Assume that a solution that works in one case will work in another.
Example: Eskimos build igloos out of ice, so I should make my house in Los Angeles out of ice as well.
My examples are slightly silly, but the GRE is testing for that specific skill of finding these assumptions hidden inside arguments that look very reasonable at first glance. Below is a real GRE prompt.
"A recent study shows that people living on the continent of North America suffer 9 times more chronic fatigue and 31 times more chronic depression than do people living on the continent of Asia. Interestingly, Asians, on average, eat 20 grams of soy per day, whereas North Americans eat virtually none. It turns out that soy contains phytochemicals called isoflavones, which have been found to possess disease–preventing properties. Thus, North Americans should consider eating soy on a regular basis as a way of preventing fatigue and depression."
This is a very interesting argument, and looks like something I would find on Yahoo! or a similar website. But are there problems with the logic, according to the GRE?
The answer is yes:
Assumes that a solution that works in one case will work in another. The author assumes that a solution for people living in Asia will work for those living in North America, but there are many differences between the two groups, and I will list the first few that come to mind: North America is much more ethnically diverse than Asia, soy is much less available in North America, there are family and community differences between North America and Asia. Etc., etc., etc.
Assumes causality from correlation. Is the soy causing the people of Asia to suffer less fatigue and depression? Or is there anything else to be considered? There are many, many causes of fatigue and depression, including environmental pollution, family connectedness, geographic location, humidity, amount of red meat in the diet, hours per day spent working, hours per day spent exercising, hours per day of sunlight. Prescribing soy as a "cure all" for depression and fatigue caused by all these different factors is poor logic.
Assumes to know what someone else is thinking. How does the author know if North Americans are truly and honestly more fatigued and depressed than Asians? There could be cultural norms that affect polling or whatever study was done to determine these factors. Are Asians less willing to admit fatigue or depression? Is it a taboo subject for them ? Are North Americans more willing to discuss concerns, or do they exaggerate more than Asians? The study cites no evidence to support the claim, and a true study must evaluate the source of information and the methods used to gather it.
In this one prompt there are all three of the logical fallacies that the GRE tests for, and a proper analysis could score a 6 following one, two , or all three of these different paths if time permits.
Remember, the GRE isn't asking for what you believe or support, it is just asking you to find faulty logic and reasoning.
Make it a great day!
-Daniel
The argument task for the GRE is not something that you are supposed to pick a side on. Instead, you are required to find faulty logical reasoning and assumptions that the author is making. This may sound complicated but the GRE relies on using the same three faulty logic "techniques" over and over and over again. In this post I will list them below, with brief explanations, and then dissect a real GRE prompt from the GRE "test bank" for each example.
Each fallacy occurs when the author...
1) Assumes to know what someone else is thinking.
Example: You assume I bought a certain kind of cereal because of the fancy advertising on the front, when in reality I picked the cheapest cereal available.
2) Assumes causality from correlation.
Example: You see an advertisement showing a cool person drinking Bud Light, so you assume it is the beer that makes him cool.
3) Assume that a solution that works in one case will work in another.
Example: Eskimos build igloos out of ice, so I should make my house in Los Angeles out of ice as well.
My examples are slightly silly, but the GRE is testing for that specific skill of finding these assumptions hidden inside arguments that look very reasonable at first glance. Below is a real GRE prompt.
"A recent study shows that people living on the continent of North America suffer 9 times more chronic fatigue and 31 times more chronic depression than do people living on the continent of Asia. Interestingly, Asians, on average, eat 20 grams of soy per day, whereas North Americans eat virtually none. It turns out that soy contains phytochemicals called isoflavones, which have been found to possess disease–preventing properties. Thus, North Americans should consider eating soy on a regular basis as a way of preventing fatigue and depression."
This is a very interesting argument, and looks like something I would find on Yahoo! or a similar website. But are there problems with the logic, according to the GRE?
The answer is yes:
Assumes that a solution that works in one case will work in another. The author assumes that a solution for people living in Asia will work for those living in North America, but there are many differences between the two groups, and I will list the first few that come to mind: North America is much more ethnically diverse than Asia, soy is much less available in North America, there are family and community differences between North America and Asia. Etc., etc., etc.
Assumes causality from correlation. Is the soy causing the people of Asia to suffer less fatigue and depression? Or is there anything else to be considered? There are many, many causes of fatigue and depression, including environmental pollution, family connectedness, geographic location, humidity, amount of red meat in the diet, hours per day spent working, hours per day spent exercising, hours per day of sunlight. Prescribing soy as a "cure all" for depression and fatigue caused by all these different factors is poor logic.
Assumes to know what someone else is thinking. How does the author know if North Americans are truly and honestly more fatigued and depressed than Asians? There could be cultural norms that affect polling or whatever study was done to determine these factors. Are Asians less willing to admit fatigue or depression? Is it a taboo subject for them ? Are North Americans more willing to discuss concerns, or do they exaggerate more than Asians? The study cites no evidence to support the claim, and a true study must evaluate the source of information and the methods used to gather it.
In this one prompt there are all three of the logical fallacies that the GRE tests for, and a proper analysis could score a 6 following one, two , or all three of these different paths if time permits.
Remember, the GRE isn't asking for what you believe or support, it is just asking you to find faulty logic and reasoning.
Make it a great day!
-Daniel
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