GRE® For Dummies®, Premier 7th Edition

Table of Contents

Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
What You’re Not to Read
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Part I: Mastering the GRE Test-Taking Experience
Part II: Tackling the Verbal Section One Word at a Time
Part III: High School Math and Beyond: Math You Thought You’d Never Need Again
Part IV: Penning Powerful Analytical Essays
Part V: Taking Full-Length Practice GREs: It’s All You
Part VI: The Part of Tens
CD-ROM
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I: Mastering the GRE Test-Taking Experience
Chapter 1: Knowing What to Expect with the GRE
Signing Up for the GRE
Breaking Down the GRE into Small Doses
Scoring Max: 340 and 6
Knowing how the scoring breaks down
Calculating your score
Knowing how your scores measure up
Playing the guessing game
Seeing or cancelling your scores
Gimme a Break! GRE Intermissions
Chapter 2: Owning the GRE: Strategies for Success
Making the Best Use of Your Time
Budgeting your time for studying
Budgeting your time for practicing
Beating the clock: Time management tips
Repeating the Test
Reporting Test Administration Abnormalities
Using Ancient Scores
Chapter 3: Gearing Up for Test Day
Gathering Your Stuff before Test Day
Knowing What Not to Bring
Training Physically and Mentally for Test Day
Staying active
Eating well
Relaxing
Test-Driving the Computerized Version
Bringing the GRE into Your Comfort Zone
Getting familiar with subject matter and questions
Reminding yourself of how fully prepared you are
Understanding that the GRE is only one of many admissions requirements
Part II: Tackling the Verbal Section One Word at a Time
Chapter 4: Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence: The Easiest Verbal Questions
Grasping Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence Questions
Developing Your Skills for Finding the Correct Answers
Interpreting the sentence
Using vocabulary properly
Recognizing irony, figures of speech, and formal diction
Attacking the Question Head-On
Read and interpret the sentence while covering the answer choices
Fill the blanks with your own words
Eliminate answer choices that don’t match your words
Overcoming Tricky Sentences
Identify transition words and use them to get the gist of the phrases
Break the sentence into smaller pieces
Check one word blank at a time to eliminate answer choices
Getting Your Hands Dirty with Practice Questions
Text Completion questions
Sentence Equivalence questions
Chapter 5: Making Sense of What You Read: Reading Comprehension
Recognizing the Three Reading Comprehension Question Formats
Multiple-choice questions: Choose one answer
Multiple-choice questions: Choose one or more answers
Sentence-selection questions: Choose a sentence from the passage
Developing Strategies for Success
Using the context as your road map
Grasping the gist of the passage
Using keywords strategically
Avoiding traps
Acing the Three Commonly Tested Reading Comprehension Passages
The biological and physical science passage
The social sciences passage
The humanities passage
Chapter 6: Analyzing the Argument Questions
Covering the Answer Choices
Knowing What to Look for in the Question
Reading the Passage with a Critical Eye
Identifying the premise and conclusion
Finding the hidden assumption
Spotting weaknesses in supporting details
Exploring common logical fallacies
Answering the Question in Your Own Words
Eliminating Wrong Answers to Find the Right One
Leveraging the process of elimination
Testing your skills
Trying some other examples
Chapter 7: Expanding Your Vocabulary to Boost Your Score
Brushing Up on Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots
Prefixes
Suffixes
Roots
Memorizing the GRE’s Most Common Vocabulary Words
Part III: High School Math and Beyond: Math You Thought You’d Never Need Again
Chapter 8: Brushing Up on Basic Arithmetic
Eyeing Integers, Factors, and Multiples
Factoring in Prime Time: Prime and Composite Numbers
Reading between the Lines: Absolute Value
Remembering the Order of Things: Putting PEMDAS to Use
Measuring Up: Units of Measurement
Discovering the Point with Decimals
Adding and subtracting decimals
Multiplying decimals
Dividing decimals
Facing Off with Fractions
Adding or subtracting fractions
Multiplying fractions
Dividing fractions
Mixed numbers
Manipulating Percentages
Converting between percentages and decimals or fractions
Finding the percent of change
Making Ratios More Rational
Considering the total number of items
Finding the amount of a specific term
Combining two or more ratios
Working the Numbers: Arithmetic Practice Problems
Chapter 9: Algebra: Finding What X Really Means
Tapping the Powers of Bases and Exponents
Working with Symbolism Problems
Substitute for the variable in the symbol question
Substitute for the variable in the function question
Mastering the Fundamentals of Algebra
Solving for x
Multiplying with the FOIL method
Unfoiling: Also known as factoring
Dealing with Roots and Radicals
Simplifying radicals and roots
Estimating the radical
Adding and subtracting radicals
Multiplying and dividing radicals
Working radicals from the inside out
Traversing the X and Y Axes with Coordinate Geometry
Using formulas to solve problems
Performing linear algebraic equations
Solving simultaneous equations
Recognizing Patterns in Numerical Sequences
Arithmetic
Geometric
Fibonacci
Sequential terms
Chapter 10: Shaping Up Your Geometry Skills
Exploring Lines and Angles
Lines
Angles
Recognizing the Many Sides of Polygons
Determining total interior angle measure
Finding one interior angle
Understanding Triangles from Top to Bottom
Recognizing triangle types
Noting key characteristics
Working with similar triangles
Calculating a triangle’s perimeter and area
Understanding the Pythagorean theorem
Identifying common Pythagorean ratios in right triangles
Knowing Quadrilaterals Inside and Out
Recognizing a quadrilateral when you see one
Working with Circles
Recognizing a circle’s characteristics
Mastering essential formulas
Tackling shaded-area problems
Going 3D with Volume and Surface Area
Calculating volume
Calculating total surface area
Chapter 11: Translating English into Math: Word Problem Strategies
Working a Word Problem Step by Step
Are We There Yet? Calculating Distance, Rate, and Time
Figuring Averages
Taking shortcuts: Finding averages of evenly spaced or consecutive terms
Solving missing-term average problems
Working with weighted averages
Calculating Simple Interest: I = Prt
Working Out with Work Problems
Mixing It Up with Mixture Problems
Sorting Out Sets and Groups
Set relationships: Dealing with unions, intersections, and subsets
Sorting out group questions
Solving Simple Probability Problems
Rule #1: Create a fraction
Rule #2: Multiply consecutive probabilities
Rule #3: Add either/or probabilities on a single event
Surveying Different Counting Methods
Putting the counting principle to work
When order matters: Permutations
When order doesn’t matter: Combinations
Using counting methods to solve probability problems
Chapter 12: Interpreting Data and Graphs
Brushing Up on Basic Stats
Defining the median
Understanding mode
Establishing the range
Finding the mean
Calculating the standard deviation
Analyzing Data in Tables
Analyzing Data in Graphs
Reading different graph types
Answering questions with two graphs
Estimating graph totals quickly
Chapter 13: Comparing Quantities: They Report, You Decide Which Is Greater
The Answer Choices Are Always the Same: Memorize Them Now
As Easy as π: Approaching QC Questions
Gotchas and Other Groaners: Tips, Traps, and Tricks
Remembering that equal appearances can be deceiving
Keeping an eye out for scale
Avoiding distraction from a pretty picture
Canceling out identical quantities
Weighing the quantities
Plugging in the Sacred Six
Throwing down a hundred
Inserting variety when working with multiple variables
Deciding On Your Own: Quantitative Comparison Practice Questions
Part IV: Penning Powerful Analytical Essays
Chapter 14: Writing Analytical Essays on Issues and Arguments
A Half Dozen Is Good: How the Essays Are Scored
What the essay scores really mean
Key methods to scoring well
Writing the Issue Essay
Step 1: Start with your supporting info
Step 2: Take a position that’s in line with the supporting data
Step 3: Write the introduction
Step 4: Use your best supporting detail for the second paragraph
Step 5: Write paragraphs three and four
Step 6: Write the conclusion
Tying everything together with smooth transitions
Analyzing an Argument in Six Paragraphs
Step 1: Identify the stated position
Step 2: List the reasons given to support the stated position
Step 3: Analyze the assumption and conclusion based on the facts
Step 4: Write the introduction
Step 5: Write paragraphs two, three, and four
Step 6: Draft the conclusion
Chapter 15: Practicing Analytical Writing and Sample Essays
Setting the Stage for a Realistic Experience
Writing an Analyze an Issue Essay: Some Samples
Sample essay — score 6 (outstanding)
Evaluator comments on the score 6 essay
Sample essay — score 4 (adequate)
Evaluator comments on the score 4 essay
Sample essay — score 2 (seriously flawed)
Evaluator comments on the score 2 essay
Writing an Analyze an Argument Essay: Some Samples
Sample essay — score 6 (outstanding)
Evaluator comments on the score 6 essay
Sample essay — score 4 (adequate)
Evaluator comments on the score 4 essay
Sample essay — score 2 (seriously flawed)
Evaluator comments on the score 2 essay
Part V: Taking Full-Length Practice GREs: It’s All You
Chapter 16: Practice Exam 1
Answer Sheet
Chapter 17: Practice Exam 1: Answers and Explanations
Analytical Writing Sections
Section 1: Verbal Reasoning
Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning
Section 3: Verbal Reasoning
Section 4: Quantitative Reasoning
Answer Key for Practice Exam 1
Chapter 18: Practice Exam 2
Answer Sheet
Chapter 19: Practice Exam 2: Answers and Explanations
Analytical Writing Sections
Section 1: Verbal Reasoning
Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning
Section 3: Verbal Reasoning
Section 4: Quantitative Reasoning
Answer Key for Practice Exam 2
Chapter 20: Practice Exam 3
Answer Sheet
Chapter 21: Practice Exam 3: Answers and Explanations
Analytical Writing Sections
Section 1: Verbal Reasoning
Section 2: Quantitative Reasoning
Section 3: Verbal Reasoning
Section 4: Quantitative Reasoning
Answer Key for Practice Exam 3
Part VI: The Part of Tens
Chapter 22: Ten Key Facts about the GRE
You May Return to Previous Questions in the Same Section
The GRE Doesn’t Penalize for Guessing
The GRE Uses a Percentile-Based Scoring System
Practice Makes All the Difference
You Must Study for the GRE
The GRE Is Different from the SAT
The GRE Also Measures Your Stamina and Performance under Pressure
Other Than the Math, the General GRE Is Subject-Neutral
You Can Practice the GRE on Your Own Computer
You Can’t Bring Anything into the Testing Center
Chapter 23: Ten Mistakes You Won’t Make (And Others Will)
Cheating
Running Out of Steam
Planning for Your Breaks
Worrying about the Past Questions or Sections
Panicking over the Time Limit
Rushing through the Questions
Choking on the Essays
Fretting over the Hard Questions
Taking the Test with Your Best Friend
Changing Your Morning Routine
Chapter 24: Ten Ways to Warm Up and Relax Before and During the GRE
Work Some Easy Math First
Do Some Light Reading
Breathe Deeply
Rotate Your Head
Cup Your Eyes
Hunch and Roll Your Shoulders
Shake Out Your Hands
Extend and Push Out Your Legs
Curtail Negative Thoughts
Visualize Success
Appendix A
System Requirements
Using the CD
What You’ll Find on the CD
Troubleshooting