"Haidee's and Eric's brains are currently under-going a temporary rearranging of contents. Blog posts will resume when the construction project has been completed. Thank you for your understanding."
It's been a long time since we've written a blog post. You may be wondering: "Where are Eric and Haidee?" That's a good question!
For the past several weeks we've been brushing up on our quantitative reasoning skills - reviewing concepts like exponents, roots, linear and quadratic equations, geometry, permutations, and probability. We've also been expanding our vocabulary to include words like, laconic, erudite, pulchritude, and refulgent. It's not that we particularly enjoy the studying of random academia (although we do, at times, considers ourselves to be quite "geeky"). We are preparing to take (insert ominous music here), the Graduate Record Examination!
The Graduate Record Examination (more commonly known as "the GRE"), is one of the most mind-draining, expensive, and, quite frankly, useless standardized tests on the market. It's a grueling 4-hour marathon: two 30-minute analytical writing sections, two or three 35-minute quantitative reasoning (math) sections, and two or three 30-minute verbal reasoning sections, all with a refreshing one minute break in between each arduous section, and a mere ten minute break at the half-way point of the test (just in case you have to use the bathroom or something). Yikes!
We've taken a few practice tests (both timed and un-timed). I've found that the most difficult part of this test is the endurance factor: by the third hour of staring at a computer screen, even a fairly easy reading passage is difficult to comprehend. Mistakes become more frequent as the brain becomes more mushy.
We're scheduled to take the GRE on Monday, October 28th. Your prayers are greatly appreciated! In the meantime, (if you're as geeky as we are) enjoy a few sample GRE questions: (for more, visit the official ETS website).
Scroll down to see answers.
1.
Scientists are not the only persons who examine the world
about them by the use of rational processes, although they sometimes _______ this impression by
extending the definition of “scientist” to include anyone who is ________ in
his or her investigational practices.
(blank one): Conceal, create, undermine
(blank two): intuitive,
logical, haphazard
2.
The ________ nature of classical tragedy in Athens belies
the modern image of tragedy: in the modern view tragedy is austere and
stripped down, its representations of ideological and emotional conflicts so
superbly compressed that there’s nothing ________ for time to erode
(blank one): unadorned,
harmonious, multifaceted
(blank two): inalienable,
exigent, extraneous
3.
Murray, whose show of recent paintings and drawings is her
best in many years, has been eminent hereabouts for a quarter century, although
often regarded with _______, but the most _______ of these
paintings ______ all doubts.
(blank one): partiality,
credulity, ambivalence
(blank two): problematic,
successful, disparaged
(blank three): exculpate,
assuage, whet
4.
In the x y plane, what is the slope of the line whose equation is 3x-2y = 8?
A. -4
B. -8/3
C. 2/3
D. 3/2
E. 2
5.
In State X, all vehicle license plates have 2 leters from teh 26 letters of the aplabet followed by 3 one digit numbers. How many different licesne plates can State X have if repetition of letters and numbers is allowed?
A. 23,400
B. 60,840
C. 67,600
D. 608,400
E. 676,000
6.
You
have a 36 gallon tank. Water is pumped
in at a rate of 3 gallons / hour. In
order to fill the tank in exactly 48 hours, at what rate must water also be
pumped out of the tank?
Answers:
1. create, logical
2. multifaceted, extraneous
3. ambivalence, successful, assuage
4. D. 3/2
5. E. 676,000
6. 9/4 gallons per hour
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