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2016

Tips for GRE Analytical Writing

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GRE sets two writing tasks (Analyze an Issue, and Analyze an Argument) collectively called the Analytical Writing Section (or Analytical Writing Measure). The tasks are designed to test critical thinking and analytical writing skills. The essays come first on the test – 30 minutes for the issue and 30 minutes for the argument.

Making Notes from Book ca. 2000

You have to type your response. Obviously there is no spell-check or grammar check available.

The essays are marked by one human reader and one computer program (e-rater)

Scores range from 1-6

Analyze an issue

The first task on the GRE is the discussion of an issue. The topic is intentionally open to interpretation, so that you can marshal your arguments in support of a position. It is rather like a debate. A good essay of this type will give highly specific reasons for a point of view, and back up its thesis with suitable examples. Minor errors in spelling punctuation or grammar will not prevent your getting a good mark – poor logical flow and vagueness will.

Analyze an argument

shutterstock_119579611The second task on the GRE is the analysis of an argument, which tests your ability to find flaws in apparently logical arguments. It does help if you have a basic familiarity with the terms of logic, so that you can successfully identify the premises and assumptions on which a conclusion rests. Here the mark you obtain is directly linked to your ability to evaluate the logic of the given argument and address the specific instructions you are given. With a little training and practice, this task is actually easier than the issue.

Final points

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It is a good idea to get someone to review your essays. Get feedback from a teacher or from someone with good language and logical skills. You will not get a good mark if you write too little. If you think your essays are too short, you can ask your reviewer for ideas on what else you could have included. Essays always need good transitions between paragraphs and good logical flow throughout � someone else could spot where you could have improved the flow.

A few minor lapses in spelling and grammar will not count too much against you, but a mostly error-free response will obviously get a better score.

A score of 4 out of the potential 6 is considered competent. While it is nice to be competent, it is worth striving to be good or very good so put in a little extra effort on this section.

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Introduction to the Analytical Writing Measure (GRE Practice)

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The Analytical Writing measure tests your critical thinking and analytical writing skills. It assesses your ability to articulate and support complex ideas, construct and evaluate arguments, and sustain a focused and coherent discussion. It does not assess specific content knowledge.

imagesThe Analytical Writing measure consists of two separately timed analytical writing tasks:

a 30-minute “Analyze an Issue” task

a 30-minute “Analyze an Argument” task

The Issue task presents an opinion on an issue of general interest followed by specific instructions on how to respond to that issue. You are required to evaluate the issue, consider its complexities and develop an argument with reasons and examples to support your views.

The Argument task requires you to evaluate a given argument according to specific instructions. You will need to consider the logical soundness of the argument rather than agree or disagree with the position it presents.

The two tasks are complementary in that one requires you to construct your own argument by taking a position and providing evidence supporting your views on an issue, and the other requires you to evaluate someone else’s argument by assessing its claims and evaluating the evidence it provides.

Individuals taking the computer-delivered test will use a basic word processor developed by ETS. The basic word processor contains the following functionalities: insert text, delete text, cut-and-paste and undo the previous action. Tools such as a spell checker and grammar checker are not available in the ETS software, largely to maintain fairness with those examinees who must handwrite their essays at paper-delivered administrations.

Preparing for the Analytical Writing Measure

GREBOOKS

Everyone — even the most practiced and confident of writers — should spend some time preparing for the Analytical Writing measure before arriving at the test center. It is important to understand the skills measured and how the tasks are scored. It is also useful to review the scoring guides, sample topics, scored sample essay responses and reader commentary for each task.

The tasks in the Analytical Writing measure relate to a broad range of subjects — from the fine arts and humanities to the social and physical sciences — but no task requires knowledge of specific content. In fact, each task has been tested by actual GRE® test takers to ensure that it possesses several important characteristics, including the following:

GRE test takers, regardless of their field of study or special interests, understood the task and could easily respond to it.

The task elicited the kinds of complex thinking and persuasive writing that university faculty consider important for success in graduate school.

The responses were varied in content and in the way the writers developed their ideas.

Published Topic Pools for the Analytical Writing Measure

To help you prepare for the Analytical Writing measure, the GRE Program has published the entire pool of tasks from which your test tasks will be selected. You might find it helpful to review the Issue and Argument pools:

Issue Topic Pool

Argument Topic Pool

Test-taking Strategies for the Analytical Writing Measure

Before taking the GRE General Test, review the strategies, sample topics, essay responses and reader commentary for each task contained in this section. Also review the scoring guides for each task. This will give you a deeper understanding of how readers evaluate essays and the elements they’re looking for in an essay.

awa-scoreIt is important to budget your time. Within the 30-minute time limit for the Issue task, you will need to allow sufficient time to consider the issue and the specific instructions, plan a response and compose your essay. Within the 30-minute time limit for the Argument task, you will need to allow sufficient time to consider the argument and the specific instructions, plan a response and compose your essay. Although the GRE readers who score your essays understand the time constraints under which you write and will consider your response a first draft, you still want it to be the best possible example of your writing that you can produce under the testing conditions.

Save a few minutes at the end of each timed task to check for obvious errors. Although an occasional spelling or grammatical error will not affect your score, serious and persistent errors will detract from the overall effectiveness of your writing and lower your score accordingly.

See the Links below that can help you to grow more on this exam….

https://www.ets.org/s/gre/accessible/GRE_Overview_Writing_18_point.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix1qUEM9ahg

 

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How to speak English well

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ph0fv9gsysAre you also looking for a shortcut to English fluency?

We don’t have tricks that will give you perfect English in five minutes a day.

But we do have solid tips that will help you learn how to speak English more fluently, in less time.

Here are some tips that will help you speak English better than ever.

Accept That English Is a Weird Language

Sometimes you can find patterns in English grammar, but other times English doesn’t make sense at all. For example, why are “read” (reed) and “read” (red) the same word, but pronounced differently depending on whether you’re speaking in the past or present tense? Or why is “mice” the plural of “mouse”, but “houses” is the plural of “house”?

Unfortunately, there are just as many exceptions as there are rules in English. It’s easy to get stuck on learning how to speak English properly, if you try to find a reason for everything.  Sometimes English is weird and unexplained, so instead the best thing to do is just memorize the strange exceptions and move on.

Dive into the Deep End

Studying English for an hour once a week isn’t usually enough to make any real progress. The best way to quickly improve your English is to spend at least a few minutes practicing every day. Immerse yourself as much as possible every time you study, and challenge yourself to listen to, read, and even say things in English that you think might be too difficult for you. If you want to speak English fluently, you need to make it an essential part of your everyday life.

Stop Being a Student

English-language-feature-806x421The right attitude can make the difference between failure and success. Stop thinking of yourself as someone who is learning English, and start thinking of yourself as someone who speaks English. It’s a small change, but it will make you feel more confident and help you to use the English you already know more effectively.

This also means you need to start thinking in English. If you want to say the word “apple” in English, for example, right now you probably think of the word in your native language first, and then try to think of the correct word in English. Instead, try imagining a picture of an apple, and then just think the English word “apple”. Real fluency happens when you stop mentally translating conversations.

Get More out of Listening

When most students listen to a native English-speaker, they focus on understanding what all the words mean. This is definitely important, but there is a lot more you can learn from listening. Try listening not just to what the words mean, but to how the person says them. Notice which words the person links together in a sentence, or when they say “ya” instead of “you.” Try to remember these details the next time you speak and your English will begin to sound more natural. Easier said than done, right? When you listen to native English speakers, it can be hard to understand every single word that is spoken. They might use many words you don’t know, talk too fast or have a strong accent.

Learn and Study Phrases

Speaking English fluently means being able to express your thoughts, feelings and ideas. Your goal is to speak English in full sentences, so why not learn it in full sentences? You’ll find that English is more useful in your everyday life if you study whole phrases, rather than just vocabulary and verbs. Start by thinking about phrases that you use frequently in your native language, and then learn how to say them in English.

Don’t Study Grammar Too Much

The key to learning a language is finding a balance between studying and practicing. Speaking English fluently isn’t the same as knowing perfect English grammar – even native English-speakers make grammar mistakes! Fluency is about being able to communicate. That’s why sometimes it’s important to put the grammar textbook away, so you can go out and practice those writing, reading, listening and speaking skills in the real world.

Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes

speaking_ielts_part_1.2Sometimes it can be difficult to put all those rules and words together into a simple sentence. Don’t let the fear of saying something wrong stop you from speaking at all. Even if you think you’re making a mistake, keep speaking anyway. Most of the time, people will understand what you’re trying to say, even if you make a mistake. Plus, the more you speak, the easier it gets, and the more quickly the right words will come to mind.

How to Speak English Well … It’s *NOT* what you think: “Don’t think, just speak” – a great, motivational phrase that explains well the rationale behind focusing on speaking rather than thinking. You can also go through this link to make your speech even more smart… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKmkB7OVO_M

 

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“I do not know English, How to do well in Verbal”

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Practicing speaking is one of the most fun and rewarding parts of learning English. Once you can speak even a little English, there are loads of ways to improve your skills quickly while having tons of fun. Here are ten top tips for improving your spoken English and having a great time while you do it! Do you struggle to think of the right words in English? Are you afraid to make mistakes? Is not knowing the correct English grammar scaring you into silence? This happens to many people that are learning English.

4417136805_86a078baa8You are not alone.

So, you need to know how to improve English speaking? Good!

Below you will find eight simple tips on how to improve speaking English.

  1. Listen to More English

Listening to English trains your ears to understand. It helps you know correct phrases from incorrect phrases. Try listening to any English audio you can find. There are millions of resources out there… and a lot are free. Try listening to different podcasts or music in English. Or you could watch TV or movies in English. Listening to English also allows you to hear it being spoken in natural contexts.

  1. Speak More English

Seems obvious, right? But what if you have no one to speak English with? Trying speaking out loud to yourself. Read a book, article or practice English phrases out loud. As you speak more English out loud, you will train your ears to hear your mistakes and you will be able to correct yourself. You could also register for an online English speaking course to help you improve your English speaking quickly.

  1. Make Millions of Mistakes

Okay, maybe you won’t necessarily make millions of mistakes… but who’s counting? If you need to know how to learn English speaking, then you can’t be afraid to make mistakes. No one speaks perfect English. Don’t be silent because you do not know how to say something; just do your best. By being silent you will not learn from your mistakes. By trying to speak English you will teach yourself what sounds right and will learn to fix your commons errors. Open your mouth and start talking!

Businesswoman explaining, canon 1Ds mark III

  1. Bad grammar? Keep talking.

Yes, you heard read right. Don’t stop speaking English because you don’t know the proper verb tense to use. Native English speakers will be able to understand you even if you use incorrect English grammar. The most important thing is that you are trying to speak.  If you confuse a native English speaker while talking with them, they will likely ask you clarifying questions to ensure they understood you correctly.

  1. Memorize Common English Phrases

There are many phrases in English that you will hear and use over and over again. Instead of memorizing single words, you should memorize entire phrases. After a little practice, you will start using these phrases automatically without thinking.

  1. Keep it simple!

You need to keep your words simple to ensure you are improving your English speaking . Do not try to say complex things. Speak in simple short sentence in English to ensure you are understood by all. After you have mastered basic or beginners English speaking then you will be able to start speaking in more complex ways.

  1. Don’t waste time translating

Many English language learners get stuck when trying to improve their speaking skills. This is because they are concentrating on translating instead of speaking. If you focus on the words coming out of your mouth and not what their exact meaning is in your native language; you will improve. At the beginning, you may only understand 30 or 40 percent of what is being said to you. That’s perfectly fine. Don’t stop speaking and translate. To get by, you just need to understand the basic meaning of what is being said to you. Not. Every. Single. Word.

Improving English speaking is not just about becoming proficient but also sounding natural when you speak English. By using some of the words and phrases you hear native speakers use, you will start using real English instead of textbook English.

Knowing how to improve English speaking should not be difficult. If you use these tips on a consistent basis you should be able to improve your English speaking skills.

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GRE Preparation

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myhc_19523The GRE General Test features question types that closely reflect the kind of thinking you’ll do — and the skills you need to succeed — in today’s demanding graduate and business school programs. Get a look at the structure of the computer-delivered or paper-delivered GRE General Test.

The GRE General Test measures your

  1. verbal reasoning,
  2. quantitative reasoning,
  3. critical thinking and
  4. analytical writing skills.

Verbal Reasoning

The Verbal Reasoning section measures your ability to:

Analyze and draw conclusions from discourse; reason from incomplete data; identify author’s assumptions and/or perspective; understand multiple levels of meaning, such as literal, figurative and author’s intent

Select important points; distinguish major from minor or relevant points; summarize text; understand the structure of a text

Understand the meanings of words, sentences and entire texts; understand relationships among words and among concepts

Get a quick view of the Verbal Reasoning question types.

Take a closer look at the Verbal Reasoning section, including sample questions with rationales, tips and more.

Quantitative Reasoning

The Quantitative Reasoning section measures your ability to:

Understand, interpret and analyze quantitative information

Solve problems using mathematical models

Apply basic skills and elementary concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis

The Quantitative Reasoning section includes an on-screen calculator. If you are taking the paper-delivered test, a calculator will be provided at the test center.

Get a quick view of the Quantitative Reasoning question types.

Take a closer look at the Quantitative Reasoning section, including sample questions with rationales, tips and more.

Analytical Writing

The Analytical Writing section measures your ability to:

Articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively

Support ideas with relevant reasons and examples

Examine claims and accompanying evidence

Sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion

Control the elements of standard written English

The Analytical Writing section requires you to provide focused responses based on the tasks presented, so you can accurately demonstrate your skill in directly responding to a task.

Get a quick view of the Analytical Writing question types.

Take a closer look at the Analytical Writing section, including sample questions, scored sample essay responses, reader commentary, tips and more.

Modified Versions of Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning Questions

The test you take may include questions that are modified versions of published questions or of questions you have already seen on the test. Some modifications are substantial; others are less apparent.

Even if a question appears to be similar to a question you have already seen, it may in fact be different and have a different answer. Pay careful attention to the wording of each question.

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GATE: How to prepare by your own efforts : : some Tips

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Preparation Procedure 

A. To prepare for a competitive exam, the first and foremost thing is determination. It is like “If I want to do it, I will do it, No matter how”. An Exam is just like a battle, give your everything to it, but stay calm as well.
B. Fix small targets like I will complete this and this topic in this week. This is the time for concept building. Learn more and more concepts and learn them by heart.
C. You need to plan actually every day according to the level of preparation you have done. You need to look out on every aspect of each subject and have to decide how much time to give to each topic.
D. Every day when you wake up, make a list of topics you will cover by the night. Strive to achieve the target. and if you fail, have a new start next morning. This is all about how much fight you can put.
E. Sleeping is also important. It freshens you up. Sleep of at-least 6 hrs is very vital. Do not sleep too much also as makes you dull and inactive.
F. In the schedule you need to take some short brakes of about 10-15 minutes after every 2-3 hrs of study.
G. Do not get disheartened if you are not able to keep up to your plans, make another plan and keep trying. Keep your spirit high.
H. As far as concentration, you can also try meditating. It helps in relaxing your brain and
concentrating.
I. If you take adequate sleep with proper diet and devote the rest of the time in properly planned study with breaks in about every 2-3 hrs of regular study you can surely get through this phase.

Tip Number 1:
It’s true that this is a crucial time for you and any efforts without proper direction won’t bring about the desired results. What I would suggest you to do is, make a list of all those chapters that you have completed thoroughly and that you are comfortable with. Then identify your weak areas ant try to cover them as soon as possible.
• Once you overcome those areas, this would give you a mental boost and you shall gain
momentum and complete rest of the things even faster.
• Try to finish your studies once at least by November end or mid-December. Then start giving
test papers.
• Plus start solving GATE Questions of previous years, as they help a lot.
• This is a schedule viewing the long term plans.
As far as daily efforts are concerned, you are yourselves responsible for making a timetable and following it. This is because only you know your daily schedule and the time slots that you can devote for studying. Hence try to optimize those…..Keep your spirits high.

 

Tip No 2: 
First of all take the GATE brochure where you will have the syllabus for GATE and read every topic and ask your inside voice that “CAN YOU DO THIS?? DO YOU KNOW THIS??” by the voice comes from inside you can categorize the every subtopic into GOOD , AVERGE & LOW.
• Now prepare your schedule in such way that you will give time to solve problems from topics
which are rated as GOOD & AVERAGE and give relatively more time for reading concepts as well as problems of topics which rated as LOW.
• So at that time you write as many model exams as possible and AFTER WRITING THE EXAMS
YOU NEED TO ANALYZE THE PAPER. This will helps you a lot to identify where you make the
common mistakes. It will be more productive if you concentrate on the topics in which you are
good at during this time after model exams.
• you can prepare the schedule yourself in a better way than anyone else because you know your strong and weak points. but you need to prepare your schedule in such a way that where you can become at-least AVERAGE level in the topics PRESENTLY RATED AS LOW.
• And also do the previous year GATE papers. there will be some topics where topics are easy and surely good number questions are expected(like KMap concept in Digital).so don’t leave them. never leave them. you can easily get what the topics are those if you observe the previous year papers. hope this will be useful for you.

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GATE CSE 2016 Students did Better?

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Yes, GATE CSE students did much better compared to any previous year batch in GATE. First of all the 2 sets in 2016 were not easier compared to any paper before. Also, there were more number of numerical answer questions and aptitude questions of set 1 were quite hard. Moreover no “marks to all” was given unlike in 2012 where 14 marks out of 100 was given to all. In spite of all these GATE CSE 2016 students did perform much better and on average scored 5 marks more compared to those in 2015 as shown in below graph.

As seen in the graph- the marks in 2016 were more especially for those who scored high (60+). This shows that GATE CSE students have finally learned how to study for GATE using best resources and score high rather than just solving problems (without understanding theory behind) and getting 40-60. So, in future if you are not studying properly you have less chance of success in GATE CSE. This data also shows that GATE CSE students of 2016 are better prepared to tackle IIT interviews and hopefully there will be more admits this year as research admit numbers are mostly flexible.

Just to reiterate:

60 marks in GATE CSE 2010: Rank 100
60 marks in GATE CSE 2015: Rank 291 (Just about in old IITs in last round)
60 marks in GATE CSE 2016: Rank 450 (2 year M.Tech. not possible in Gen. category in old IITs/IISc.)

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