Sentence Correction in GMAT primarily tests the following 8 points:
1.Style
2.Subject - Verb Agreement
3.Verb, Tense & Mood
4.Pronoun Agreement, Pronoun Reference & Pronoun Case
5.Modifiers
6.Parallelism
7.Comparison
8.Idioms
The last 4 topics are very important and constitute the most no. of errors that are tested on the GMAT.I promise you if you choose to read each and each topic everday once(it hardly takes 45 min to an hour to revise) before 15 days of your exam, SC is a cake walk.
I ' ll discuss each and every topics in detail in the next post. But one important rule. Acquaint yourself with these testing points (these are the only ones that will be tested for sure) so that you have them on your tips and also learn to find out errors or appreciate the sentences from any editorial or article.This helps learn the nuances of Sc's very easily.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Critical Reasoning (CR)
After touching the other two topics topics in the verbal section i.e SENTENCE CORRECTION and READING COMPREHENSION, I suggest you to dwell into the Critical Reasoning. Although this section seems to be a little tough in the beginning, you ll be able to ace it with perfection. Since this is a subset of the Reading Comprehension, mastering Reading will help you a lot in CR.Typically, One paragraph will be given and one question will be asked on the para given.
There are a couple of strategies(which I ll discuss later) which help you get good results.To note a few, First read the question always before reading the paragraph. This helps you have an idea of what you are looking for in the paragraph. Then read the para, keeping in mind the question(look for what the question asks). Now the important part is : think of a possbile answer for the question i.e prephrase the answer beforehand. This greatly helps you in eliminating the answer optiosn that lie out of the scope.
After following the above methods, you ll eventually arrive at the best answer option. I ll discuss in detail some strategies later. Watch out for them. But one important point again. Take note of the exercises you've done. They help you a lot. Also learn to dominate the exam..you ll feel damn confident!!!
There are a couple of strategies(which I ll discuss later) which help you get good results.To note a few, First read the question always before reading the paragraph. This helps you have an idea of what you are looking for in the paragraph. Then read the para, keeping in mind the question(look for what the question asks). Now the important part is : think of a possbile answer for the question i.e prephrase the answer beforehand. This greatly helps you in eliminating the answer optiosn that lie out of the scope.
After following the above methods, you ll eventually arrive at the best answer option. I ll discuss in detail some strategies later. Watch out for them. But one important point again. Take note of the exercises you've done. They help you a lot. Also learn to dominate the exam..you ll feel damn confident!!!
Reading Comprehension
First of all guys, Reading is there in all of us. We have been doing it from since childhood. Furthermore, everyone needs to read in order to learn any topic. And this is the most tested topic on any Standardized Exam. So , we have to start loving Reading . No looking back. One should ingrain Reading Comprehension in their lives. :) looks like exaggeration but true.
Read, read and read everything that comes your way. But this alone doesn't help guys. You need to understand certain key points while reading. In any writing, the author follows certain guidelines while writing. He establishes the topic , tells us the scope of the passage and also hints us about the main purpose of the passage in the 1st para. We need to watch out for these points while reading the 1 st para. However in rare cases, the main purpose of the passage remains unclear till the end of the passage. Still the topic and scope are established in the 1 st para it self.
In addtion to the topic, scope and main purpose ,we need to understand why the matter is written . The second and third para (or more paragraphs in the passage) are supporting paragraphs. They lay emphasis on the topic. They also have a purpose on their own. For example, when an author discusses about Benefits of Democracy, he probably discusses the benefits in the second para. Moreover, he provides examples to support his points. There will be a question : Why is the example provided ? The answer is to lay more emphasis on the benefits or to support his point. Of course, answer options wont be this straight forward.
Moreover, the conclusion of the passage also gives information about why the passage is written. If you have these key points in mind while you read the passage, chances of your accuracy being 100% would increase dramatically. Mind you, reading is not as tough as it seems to be; it's just a simple task presented to fool you as though it were complex. Learn to dominate it..!!!
Read, read and read everything that comes your way. But this alone doesn't help guys. You need to understand certain key points while reading. In any writing, the author follows certain guidelines while writing. He establishes the topic , tells us the scope of the passage and also hints us about the main purpose of the passage in the 1st para. We need to watch out for these points while reading the 1 st para. However in rare cases, the main purpose of the passage remains unclear till the end of the passage. Still the topic and scope are established in the 1 st para it self.
In addtion to the topic, scope and main purpose ,we need to understand why the matter is written . The second and third para (or more paragraphs in the passage) are supporting paragraphs. They lay emphasis on the topic. They also have a purpose on their own. For example, when an author discusses about Benefits of Democracy, he probably discusses the benefits in the second para. Moreover, he provides examples to support his points. There will be a question : Why is the example provided ? The answer is to lay more emphasis on the benefits or to support his point. Of course, answer options wont be this straight forward.
Moreover, the conclusion of the passage also gives information about why the passage is written. If you have these key points in mind while you read the passage, chances of your accuracy being 100% would increase dramatically. Mind you, reading is not as tough as it seems to be; it's just a simple task presented to fool you as though it were complex. Learn to dominate it..!!!
Sentence Correction
Guys, this is the easiest section in the verbal part of the GMAT. If you get your hold in the fundamentals, you can crack it very easily.
First, get a good grammar book. This is just for the warm up . Just devote 2 or 3 days for this book. Have a brief overview of the general rules in grammar and do some exercises. Don't overdo. This helps you to get back to basics, which we often forget.
Second, I suggest you get the MANHATTAN SENTENCE CORRECTION book. It has around 9 chapters, which discuss in detail the testing points of the SC 's in the GMAT. I bet you guys, this is the most refreshing book I 've got while prepping for GMAT. Read it n number of times, atleast once a day . Take a chapter and read it ...read it again.... Complete the book...again do it ..do it ...and do it.....Finally, you ll be a SC pro. Practice other material, viz Official Guide, Kaplan or any other material ( keeping the Manhattan Sentence Correction principles as base) . In this process, I suggest you take notes.Notes help you a lott .. It doesn't matter how many practice question you do, but what matters is the quality of the notes you take. This is because the same concepts are tested again and again and you tend to forget i them if you don't get a good hold of the concepts.
Practise, Practise, and Practise...Once again don't forget to take notes on the topics. Make flash cards or simple mnemonics and remember the most frequesntly tested topics.Moreover, spot the errors or appreciate your knowledge by reading editorials or any articles in magazines. This helps a great deal in boosting the confidence of your knowledge.
More to come............
First, get a good grammar book. This is just for the warm up . Just devote 2 or 3 days for this book. Have a brief overview of the general rules in grammar and do some exercises. Don't overdo. This helps you to get back to basics, which we often forget.
Second, I suggest you get the MANHATTAN SENTENCE CORRECTION book. It has around 9 chapters, which discuss in detail the testing points of the SC 's in the GMAT. I bet you guys, this is the most refreshing book I 've got while prepping for GMAT. Read it n number of times, atleast once a day . Take a chapter and read it ...read it again.... Complete the book...again do it ..do it ...and do it.....Finally, you ll be a SC pro. Practice other material, viz Official Guide, Kaplan or any other material ( keeping the Manhattan Sentence Correction principles as base) . In this process, I suggest you take notes.Notes help you a lott .. It doesn't matter how many practice question you do, but what matters is the quality of the notes you take. This is because the same concepts are tested again and again and you tend to forget i them if you don't get a good hold of the concepts.
Practise, Practise, and Practise...Once again don't forget to take notes on the topics. Make flash cards or simple mnemonics and remember the most frequesntly tested topics.Moreover, spot the errors or appreciate your knowledge by reading editorials or any articles in magazines. This helps a great deal in boosting the confidence of your knowledge.
More to come............
My GMAT
Hey, finished my gmat with a 700 : 50Q AND 35V. I am very happy at my verbal outcome. Want to share a few points on my preparation....
First, I was very determined to score high.Took some time off the office and concentrated on my GMAT atleast for 3 hrs daily. I ensured that I never lost sight off the Verbal section, esp the Reading comprehension.Admittedly, RC was the toughest nut to crack and I am proud of improving my success rate to 99% in this section. For folks who are poor at critical reasoning, I suggest regular practise: not the quantitiy of CR's but the quality of CR's you do matters. Let it be 5 CR's a day, but pls make sure you take notes on all the 5 CR's ytou do daily. It doesn't matter whther you have done them correctly; what matters is whther you took notes on all the questions- they help you a lotttt when you revise at the last moment.
Moreover, the important section which you should not neglect is THE SENTENCE CORRECTION. I bet you guys, if you master the SC's and RC's, your verbal scores will boost up.This is because the distribution of the verbal section has more of SC's and RC's in the beginning. I suggest you get aquainted with the Grammar rules. This helps but look out for more tips in my posts regarding SC's.
Finally , the math section in the GMAT is moderately tough. But it should not daunt any student from Asia. However, even if you make more mistakes in the math section, you wont be penalised as high as it is in the verbal section. So, keep your kool and concentrate on the verbal section guys. I ' ll share my experiences from my preparation.Thank you all....
First, I was very determined to score high.Took some time off the office and concentrated on my GMAT atleast for 3 hrs daily. I ensured that I never lost sight off the Verbal section, esp the Reading comprehension.Admittedly, RC was the toughest nut to crack and I am proud of improving my success rate to 99% in this section. For folks who are poor at critical reasoning, I suggest regular practise: not the quantitiy of CR's but the quality of CR's you do matters. Let it be 5 CR's a day, but pls make sure you take notes on all the 5 CR's ytou do daily. It doesn't matter whther you have done them correctly; what matters is whther you took notes on all the questions- they help you a lotttt when you revise at the last moment.
Moreover, the important section which you should not neglect is THE SENTENCE CORRECTION. I bet you guys, if you master the SC's and RC's, your verbal scores will boost up.This is because the distribution of the verbal section has more of SC's and RC's in the beginning. I suggest you get aquainted with the Grammar rules. This helps but look out for more tips in my posts regarding SC's.
Finally , the math section in the GMAT is moderately tough. But it should not daunt any student from Asia. However, even if you make more mistakes in the math section, you wont be penalised as high as it is in the verbal section. So, keep your kool and concentrate on the verbal section guys. I ' ll share my experiences from my preparation.Thank you all....
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