CliffsNotes Verbal Review for Standardized Tests, 2nd Edition
Autor Deborah Covinoen Limba Engleză Paperback – 4 noi 2012
Score
higher
on
any
standardized
test
with
the
help
of
CliffsNotes!For
anyone
taking
any
standardized
test—such
as
the
SAT,
ACT,
GMAT,
Praxis
I,
GRE,
or
others—CliffsNotes
Verbal
Review
for
Standardized
Testsis
designed
to
review,
refresh,
and
reintroduce
essential
grammar
and
verbal
skills.
Written by test preparation experts, this clear, concise, and easy-to-use guide gives insight into the types of questions you'll face on the exam, and demonstrates how to avoid the common and costly errors that trap the unprepared.
Written by test preparation experts, this clear, concise, and easy-to-use guide gives insight into the types of questions you'll face on the exam, and demonstrates how to avoid the common and costly errors that trap the unprepared.
- Grammar and usage review
- English usage and sentence correction
- Timed essay writing
- Verbal ability—antonyms, analogies, and sentence completion
- Reading comprehension
- Strategies for each question type
- Practice exercises with hundreds of questions and complete explanations
- Parts of speech, adjectives and adverbs, linking verbs, and comparatives and superlatives
- Punctuation—using commas, semi-colons, colons, apostrophes, and dashes
- Writing narrative, descriptive, analytical, and expository essays
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9781118334256
ISBN-10: 1118334256
Pagini: 480
Dimensiuni: 133 x 210 x 25 mm
Greutate: 0.41 kg
Ediția:2nd Edition
Editura: HMH Books
Colecția Cliffs Notes
Locul publicării:Hoboken, United States
ISBN-10: 1118334256
Pagini: 480
Dimensiuni: 133 x 210 x 25 mm
Greutate: 0.41 kg
Ediția:2nd Edition
Editura: HMH Books
Colecția Cliffs Notes
Locul publicării:Hoboken, United States
Public țintă
Literally millions and millions of standardized tests are administered every year. Test–takers of any standardized test that includes a verbal section will benefit from this book!Cuprins
Introduction
1
What
This
Guide
Contains
1
How This Book Is Organized 2
How to Use This Guide 2
Types of Questions 4
Range of Difficulty and Scope 4
PART I: GRAMMAR AND USAGE
Chapter 1: Grammar and Usage Question Types 7
General Strategies for Sentence/Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence (Vocabulary Skills) Questions 7
Sentence Correction – Type 1 8
Directions 8
Sentence Correction – Type 2 10
Directions 10
Sentence Correction – Type 3 11
Directions 11
Improving Paragraphs 14
Directions 14
Sentence/Text Completion 18
Directions 18
Examples for SAT Questions 18
Examples for GRE Questions 20
Sentence Equivalence 22
Directions 23
Chapter 2: Grammar and Usage Diagnostic Test 25
Answer Sheet 25
Sentence Correction – Type 1 27
Sentence Correction – Type 2 30
Sentence Correction – Type 3 36
Improving Paragraphs 43
Sentence/Text Completion 49
Sentence Equivalence 54
Answer Key for the Grammar and Usage Diagnostic Test 58
Sentence Correction – Type 1 58
Sentence Correction – Type 2 58
Passage I 59
Passage II 59
Passage III 59
Improving Paragraphs 59
Passage I 59
Passage II 59
Sentence/Text Completion 59
Sentence Equivalence 60
Charting and Analyzing Your Test Results 60
Diagnostic Test Answers and Explanations 61
Sentence Correction – Type 1 61
Sentence Correction – Type 2 62
Sentence Correction – Type 3 63
Passage I 63
Passage II 64
Passage III 64
Improving Paragraphs 65
Passage I 65
Passage II 65
Sentence/Text Completion 66
Sentence Equivalence 68
Chapter 3: Grammar and Usage Review 71
Introduction to Grammar and Usage Review 72
Practice Exercises: Charting and Analyzing Your Results 73
Section 1: Basic Parts of Speech 75
Adjectives and Adverbs 76
Linking Verbs 76
Comparatives and Superlatives 78
Practice Exercise 1: Basic Parts of Speech 78
Answers – Practice Exercise 1: Basic Parts of Speech 79
Section 2: Case 80
Subject and Object Errors 80
Pronouns in Apposition 81
Who and Whom 81
Possessive Errors 84
Practice Exercise 2: Case 85
Part A 85
Part B 85
Answers – Practice Exercise 2: Case 86
Part A 86
Part B 86
Section 3: Agreement 87
Subject and Verb Agreement 87
Pronoun Agreement91
Practice Exercise 3: Agreement 93
Answers – Practice Exercise 3: Agreement 94
Section 4: Verbs 95
Verb Tenses 96
Subjunctives 100
Lie/Lay, Rise/Raise, Sit/Set 101
Practice Exercise 4: Verbs 102
Answers – Practice Exercise 4: Verbs 103
Section 5: Misplaced Parts and Dangling Modifiers 105
Dangling Modifiers 107
Participles 108
Gerunds 108
Infinitives 109
Prepositional Phrases and Elliptical Clauses 109
Practice Exercise 5: Misplaced Parts and Dangling Modifiers 110
Answers – Practice Exercise 5: Misplaced Parts and Dangling Modifiers 111
Section 6: Parallelism 112
Common Parallelism Errors 113
Unnecessary Shifts in Verb Tenses 114
Unnecessary Shifts from an Active to a Passive Verb 114
Unnecessary Shifts in Person 114
Parallelism Errors in a List or Series 115
Parallelism Errors in Correlatives 115
Practice Exercise 6: Parallelism 117
Answers – Practice Exercise 6: Parallelism 119
Section 7: Ambiguous Pronouns 120
Practice Exercise 7: Ambiguous Pronouns 121
Answers – Practice Exercise 7: Ambiguous Pronouns 122
Section 8: Other Errors of Grammar 122
Sentence Fragments 122
Double Negatives 123
Omission of Necessary Words 123
Direct and Indirect Questions 126
Like and As 127
Who, Which, and That—Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses 127
Practice Exercise 8: Other Errors of Grammar 128
Part A 128
Part B 129
8: Other Errors of Grammar 130
Part A 130
Part B 131
Section 9: Errors of Diction, Idiom, and Style 132
Diction 132
Fewer/Less, Many/Much, Number/Amount 132
Between/Among 133
Affect/Effect 133
Idiom 133
Style 135
Practice Exercise 9: Errors of Diction, Idiom, and Style 137
Part A 137
Part B 138
Answers – Practice Exercise 9: Errors of Diction, Idiom, and Style 139
Part A 139
Part B 139
Section 10: Punctuation 140
Commas, Semicolons, and Colons 142
Comma 142
Semicolon 143
Colon 143
Other Marks of Punctuation 144
Dash 144
Apostrophe 144
Practice Exercise 10: Punctuation 145
Answers – Practice Exercise 10: Punctuation 148
Vocabulary Skills Review 149
Prefixes 149
Suffixes 150
Roots 151
Grammar and Usage Review Test 151
Answers and Explanations – Grammar and Usage Review Test 157
Chapter 4: English Grammar and Usage Practice Test 161
Answer Sheets 161
Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1 161
Section 2: Sentence Correction – Type 2 162
Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3 162
Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 163
Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion 163
Section 6: Sentence Equivalence 164
Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1 166
Directions 166
Set 1 166
Set 2 168
Set 3 171
Set 4 173
Section 2: Sentence Correction – Type 2 176
Directions 176
Set 1 176
Set 2 180
Set 3 184
Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3 188
Directions 188
Set 1: Passages I and II 188
Set 2: Passages III, IV, and V 194
Set 3: Passages VI and VII 200
Set 4: Passages VIII and IX 204
Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 208
Directions 208
Set 1: Passages I and II 208
Set 2: Passages III and IV 214
Set 3: Passage V 218
Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion 221
Directions 221
Set 1 221
Set 2 225
Set 3 228
Set 4 232
Set 5 236
Section 6: Sentence Equivalence 241
Directions 241
Set 1 241
Set 2 245
Set 3 249
Answer Key 253
Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1 253
Set 1 253
Set 2 253
Set 3 253
Set 4 253
Correction – Type 2 254
Set 1 254
Set 2 254
Set 3 254
Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3 254
Set 1: Passages I and II 254
Set 2: Passages III, IV, and V 255
Set 3: Passages VI and VII 255
Set 4: Passages VIII and IX 255
Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 256
Set 1: Passages I and II 256
Set 2: Passages III and IV 256
Set 3: Passage V 256
Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion 257
Set 1 257
Set 2 257
Set 3 257
Set 4 257
Set 5 258
Section 6: Sentence Equivalence 258
Set 1 258
Set 2 258
Set 3 258
Charting and Analyzing Your Test Results 259
Answers and Explanations 260
Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1 260
Set 1 260
Set 2 261
Set 3 261
Set 4 262
Section 2: Sentence Correction – Type 2 263
Set 1 263
Set 2 264
Set 3 265
Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3 267
Set 1: Passages I and II 267
Set 2: Passages III, IV, and V 268
Set 3: Passages VI and VII 269
Set 4: Passages VIII and IX 270
Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 271
Set 1: Passages I and II 271
Set 2: Passages III and IV 273
Set 3: Passage V 274
Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion 274
Set 1 274
Set 2 275
Set 3 277
Set 4 278
Set 5 281
Section 6: Sentence Equivalence 283
Set 1 283
Set 2 285
Set 3 287
PART II: READING COMPREHENSION
Chapter 5: Reading Comprehension Review 293
Reading Comprehension Passages 294
Content of Passages 294
Reading Comprehension Questions 294
Specific Types of Questions 297
General Strategies for Success 298
Time Management 298
Directions 299
Section 1 – Brief Passages 299
Suggested Strategies for Brief Passages 300
Question Type: The Writer’s Main Purpose 300
Question Type: Vocabulary in Context 301
Other Specific Types of Questions 302
Question Type: Infer the Writer’s Point of View 302
Question Type: Identify a Summary of Ideas 303
Question Type: Draw Conclusions Based on a Passage’s Contents 303
Question Type: Identify the Main Idea of the Passage 304
Question Type: Envision the Intended Audience for the Passage 305
GRE Question Types 306
Question Type: Select One or More Answers 306
Question Type: Select in Passage 307
GMAT Question Types 308
Question Type: Critical Reasoning 308
Question Type: Plan of Action 309
CBEST Question Types 309
Tables of Contents or Indexes 310
Graphs, Charts, and Tables 311
Passages with Numbered Sentences 312
Question Type: Fact vs Opinion 313
Question Type: Assess the Strengths and Weaknesses of an Argument 314
Question Type: Inserts and Transitions 314
Question Type: Summaries in Outline Form 315
Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty 315
Strategies for Long Passages 316
Question Type: Identify the Writer’s Tone 318
Question Type: Draw Inferences based on the Passage’s Contents 319
Question Type: Envision the Intended Audience 319
Question Type: Draw a Conclusion 320
Question Type: Direct Comprehension 320
Section 3: Paired (Comparative) Reading Passages 321
Description 321
Strategy 321
Section 4: Long Passages – Challenging 324
Question Type: Identify the Writer’s Primary Purpose 326
Question Type: Direct Comprehension 326
Question Type: Understand the Meaning of Words 327
Question Type: Draw a Conclusion 327
Question Type: Make an Inference 328
Question Type: Direct Comprehension 328
How to Mark Passages 329
Answer Sheet for Reading Comprehension Practice Test 331
Section 1: Brief Passages 331
Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty 331
Section 3: Long Passages – Challenging Difficulty 332
Reading Comprehension Practice Test 333
Directions 333
Section 1: Brief Passages 333
Practice Set 1: Brief Passages I, II, III, IV 333
Practice Set 2: Brief Passages V, VI, VII, and VIII 337
Practice Set 3: Passages IX, X, XI, XII, and XIII 340
Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty 344
Practice Set 1: Long Intermediate Passages I and II 344
Practice Set 2: Long Intermediate Passages III and IV 349
Practice Set 3: Long Intermediate Passages V and VI 353
Practice Set 4: Long Intermediate Passages VII and VIII 358
Practice Set 5: Paired Passages IX and X 362
Section 3: Longer Passages – Challenging 367
Practice Set 1: Passages I, II, and III 367
Practice Set 2: Passages IV and V 376
Answer Key for Reading Comprehension Practice Test 383
Section 1: Brief Passages 383
Practice Set 1 383
Practice Set 2 383
Practice Set 3 383
Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty 383
Practice Set 1 383
Practice Set 2 383
Practice Set 3 383
Practice Set 4 383
Practice Set 5 383
Section 3: Long Passages – Challenging 384
Practice Set 1 384
Practice Set 2 384
Answers and Explanations for Reading Comprehension Practice Test 385
Section 1: Brief Passages 385
Practice Set I, Passages I, II, III, and IV 385
Practice Set 2, Passages V, VI, VII, and VIII 385
Practice Set 3, Passages IX, X, XI, XII, and XIII 386
Section 2: Longer Passages – Intermediate Difficulty 387
Practice Set 1: Passages I and II 387
Practice Set 2: Passages III and IV 388
Practice Set 3: Passages V and VI 389
Practice Set 4: Passages VII and VIII 390
Practice Set 5: Passages IX and X 391
Section 3: Long Passages – Challenging 392
Practice Set 1: Passages I, II, and III 392
Practice Set 2: Passages IV and V 393
PART III: WRITING TIMED ESSAYS
Chapter 6: Approaches to Writing Timed Essays 397
Scoring 397
Scoring Guidelines 398
Scoring Criteria 402
General Strategies for Essay Writing 403
Strategies for Specific Types of Essays 404
The Narrative/Descriptive Essay 404
Sample Task 1 – Narrative/Descriptive Essay 405
Overview of Sample Task 1 405
Preparing to Write 406
Writing 408
Proofreading 411
Sample Task 2 – Narrative/Descriptive Essay 412
Overview of Sample Task 2 412
Sample Essay Response – Task 2 413
The Analytical/Expository Essay 414
Sample Task 1 – Analytical/Expository Essay: “Analyze an Issue” 415
Overview of Sample Task 1 415
Sample Essay Response – Task 1 416
Sample Task 2 – Analytical/Expository Essay: “Analyze an Issue” 417
Overview of Sample Task 2 417
Five-Paragraph Essay 418
Analyze an Argument Essay 419
Sample Task 3 – Analytical/Expository Essay: “Analyze an Argument” 419
The Argumentative or Decision Prompt Essay 422
Sample Task 4 – Decision Prompt Essay, “LSAT” 422
Overview of Sample Task 4 423
Sample Task 5 – Argumentative Essay, “ACT” 425
Overview of Sample Task 5 425
Sample Task 6 – Argumentative Essay, “PPST” 427
Overview of Sample Task 6 427
Additional Question Types and Techniques 428
Compare and Contrast Essays 428
Steps to Writing a Successful Essay 429
Essay Writing Practice 429
GRE 430
Sample Topics 430
GMAT 435
Sample Topics 435
LSAT 437
Sample Topics 437
SAT 440
Sample Topics 441
ACT 442
Sample Topics 442
PPST 444
Sample Topics 444
CBEST 445
Sample Topics 445
Essay Response Checklist 447
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 449
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 451
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 453
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 455
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 457
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 459
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 461
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 463
How This Book Is Organized 2
How to Use This Guide 2
Types of Questions 4
Range of Difficulty and Scope 4
PART I: GRAMMAR AND USAGE
Chapter 1: Grammar and Usage Question Types 7
General Strategies for Sentence/Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence (Vocabulary Skills) Questions 7
Sentence Correction – Type 1 8
Directions 8
Sentence Correction – Type 2 10
Directions 10
Sentence Correction – Type 3 11
Directions 11
Improving Paragraphs 14
Directions 14
Sentence/Text Completion 18
Directions 18
Examples for SAT Questions 18
Examples for GRE Questions 20
Sentence Equivalence 22
Directions 23
Chapter 2: Grammar and Usage Diagnostic Test 25
Answer Sheet 25
Sentence Correction – Type 1 27
Sentence Correction – Type 2 30
Sentence Correction – Type 3 36
Improving Paragraphs 43
Sentence/Text Completion 49
Sentence Equivalence 54
Answer Key for the Grammar and Usage Diagnostic Test 58
Sentence Correction – Type 1 58
Sentence Correction – Type 2 58
Passage I 59
Passage II 59
Passage III 59
Improving Paragraphs 59
Passage I 59
Passage II 59
Sentence/Text Completion 59
Sentence Equivalence 60
Charting and Analyzing Your Test Results 60
Diagnostic Test Answers and Explanations 61
Sentence Correction – Type 1 61
Sentence Correction – Type 2 62
Sentence Correction – Type 3 63
Passage I 63
Passage II 64
Passage III 64
Improving Paragraphs 65
Passage I 65
Passage II 65
Sentence/Text Completion 66
Sentence Equivalence 68
Chapter 3: Grammar and Usage Review 71
Introduction to Grammar and Usage Review 72
Practice Exercises: Charting and Analyzing Your Results 73
Section 1: Basic Parts of Speech 75
Adjectives and Adverbs 76
Linking Verbs 76
Comparatives and Superlatives 78
Practice Exercise 1: Basic Parts of Speech 78
Answers – Practice Exercise 1: Basic Parts of Speech 79
Section 2: Case 80
Subject and Object Errors 80
Pronouns in Apposition 81
Who and Whom 81
Possessive Errors 84
Practice Exercise 2: Case 85
Part A 85
Part B 85
Answers – Practice Exercise 2: Case 86
Part A 86
Part B 86
Section 3: Agreement 87
Subject and Verb Agreement 87
Pronoun Agreement91
Practice Exercise 3: Agreement 93
Answers – Practice Exercise 3: Agreement 94
Section 4: Verbs 95
Verb Tenses 96
Subjunctives 100
Lie/Lay, Rise/Raise, Sit/Set 101
Practice Exercise 4: Verbs 102
Answers – Practice Exercise 4: Verbs 103
Section 5: Misplaced Parts and Dangling Modifiers 105
Dangling Modifiers 107
Participles 108
Gerunds 108
Infinitives 109
Prepositional Phrases and Elliptical Clauses 109
Practice Exercise 5: Misplaced Parts and Dangling Modifiers 110
Answers – Practice Exercise 5: Misplaced Parts and Dangling Modifiers 111
Section 6: Parallelism 112
Common Parallelism Errors 113
Unnecessary Shifts in Verb Tenses 114
Unnecessary Shifts from an Active to a Passive Verb 114
Unnecessary Shifts in Person 114
Parallelism Errors in a List or Series 115
Parallelism Errors in Correlatives 115
Practice Exercise 6: Parallelism 117
Answers – Practice Exercise 6: Parallelism 119
Section 7: Ambiguous Pronouns 120
Practice Exercise 7: Ambiguous Pronouns 121
Answers – Practice Exercise 7: Ambiguous Pronouns 122
Section 8: Other Errors of Grammar 122
Sentence Fragments 122
Double Negatives 123
Omission of Necessary Words 123
Direct and Indirect Questions 126
Like and As 127
Who, Which, and That—Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses 127
Practice Exercise 8: Other Errors of Grammar 128
Part A 128
Part B 129
8: Other Errors of Grammar 130
Part A 130
Part B 131
Section 9: Errors of Diction, Idiom, and Style 132
Diction 132
Fewer/Less, Many/Much, Number/Amount 132
Between/Among 133
Affect/Effect 133
Idiom 133
Style 135
Practice Exercise 9: Errors of Diction, Idiom, and Style 137
Part A 137
Part B 138
Answers – Practice Exercise 9: Errors of Diction, Idiom, and Style 139
Part A 139
Part B 139
Section 10: Punctuation 140
Commas, Semicolons, and Colons 142
Comma 142
Semicolon 143
Colon 143
Other Marks of Punctuation 144
Dash 144
Apostrophe 144
Practice Exercise 10: Punctuation 145
Answers – Practice Exercise 10: Punctuation 148
Vocabulary Skills Review 149
Prefixes 149
Suffixes 150
Roots 151
Grammar and Usage Review Test 151
Answers and Explanations – Grammar and Usage Review Test 157
Chapter 4: English Grammar and Usage Practice Test 161
Answer Sheets 161
Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1 161
Section 2: Sentence Correction – Type 2 162
Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3 162
Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 163
Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion 163
Section 6: Sentence Equivalence 164
Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1 166
Directions 166
Set 1 166
Set 2 168
Set 3 171
Set 4 173
Section 2: Sentence Correction – Type 2 176
Directions 176
Set 1 176
Set 2 180
Set 3 184
Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3 188
Directions 188
Set 1: Passages I and II 188
Set 2: Passages III, IV, and V 194
Set 3: Passages VI and VII 200
Set 4: Passages VIII and IX 204
Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 208
Directions 208
Set 1: Passages I and II 208
Set 2: Passages III and IV 214
Set 3: Passage V 218
Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion 221
Directions 221
Set 1 221
Set 2 225
Set 3 228
Set 4 232
Set 5 236
Section 6: Sentence Equivalence 241
Directions 241
Set 1 241
Set 2 245
Set 3 249
Answer Key 253
Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1 253
Set 1 253
Set 2 253
Set 3 253
Set 4 253
Correction – Type 2 254
Set 1 254
Set 2 254
Set 3 254
Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3 254
Set 1: Passages I and II 254
Set 2: Passages III, IV, and V 255
Set 3: Passages VI and VII 255
Set 4: Passages VIII and IX 255
Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 256
Set 1: Passages I and II 256
Set 2: Passages III and IV 256
Set 3: Passage V 256
Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion 257
Set 1 257
Set 2 257
Set 3 257
Set 4 257
Set 5 258
Section 6: Sentence Equivalence 258
Set 1 258
Set 2 258
Set 3 258
Charting and Analyzing Your Test Results 259
Answers and Explanations 260
Section 1: Sentence Correction – Type 1 260
Set 1 260
Set 2 261
Set 3 261
Set 4 262
Section 2: Sentence Correction – Type 2 263
Set 1 263
Set 2 264
Set 3 265
Section 3: Sentence Correction – Type 3 267
Set 1: Passages I and II 267
Set 2: Passages III, IV, and V 268
Set 3: Passages VI and VII 269
Set 4: Passages VIII and IX 270
Section 4: Improving Paragraphs 271
Set 1: Passages I and II 271
Set 2: Passages III and IV 273
Set 3: Passage V 274
Section 5: Sentence/Text Completion 274
Set 1 274
Set 2 275
Set 3 277
Set 4 278
Set 5 281
Section 6: Sentence Equivalence 283
Set 1 283
Set 2 285
Set 3 287
PART II: READING COMPREHENSION
Chapter 5: Reading Comprehension Review 293
Reading Comprehension Passages 294
Content of Passages 294
Reading Comprehension Questions 294
Specific Types of Questions 297
General Strategies for Success 298
Time Management 298
Directions 299
Section 1 – Brief Passages 299
Suggested Strategies for Brief Passages 300
Question Type: The Writer’s Main Purpose 300
Question Type: Vocabulary in Context 301
Other Specific Types of Questions 302
Question Type: Infer the Writer’s Point of View 302
Question Type: Identify a Summary of Ideas 303
Question Type: Draw Conclusions Based on a Passage’s Contents 303
Question Type: Identify the Main Idea of the Passage 304
Question Type: Envision the Intended Audience for the Passage 305
GRE Question Types 306
Question Type: Select One or More Answers 306
Question Type: Select in Passage 307
GMAT Question Types 308
Question Type: Critical Reasoning 308
Question Type: Plan of Action 309
CBEST Question Types 309
Tables of Contents or Indexes 310
Graphs, Charts, and Tables 311
Passages with Numbered Sentences 312
Question Type: Fact vs Opinion 313
Question Type: Assess the Strengths and Weaknesses of an Argument 314
Question Type: Inserts and Transitions 314
Question Type: Summaries in Outline Form 315
Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty 315
Strategies for Long Passages 316
Question Type: Identify the Writer’s Tone 318
Question Type: Draw Inferences based on the Passage’s Contents 319
Question Type: Envision the Intended Audience 319
Question Type: Draw a Conclusion 320
Question Type: Direct Comprehension 320
Section 3: Paired (Comparative) Reading Passages 321
Description 321
Strategy 321
Section 4: Long Passages – Challenging 324
Question Type: Identify the Writer’s Primary Purpose 326
Question Type: Direct Comprehension 326
Question Type: Understand the Meaning of Words 327
Question Type: Draw a Conclusion 327
Question Type: Make an Inference 328
Question Type: Direct Comprehension 328
How to Mark Passages 329
Answer Sheet for Reading Comprehension Practice Test 331
Section 1: Brief Passages 331
Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty 331
Section 3: Long Passages – Challenging Difficulty 332
Reading Comprehension Practice Test 333
Directions 333
Section 1: Brief Passages 333
Practice Set 1: Brief Passages I, II, III, IV 333
Practice Set 2: Brief Passages V, VI, VII, and VIII 337
Practice Set 3: Passages IX, X, XI, XII, and XIII 340
Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty 344
Practice Set 1: Long Intermediate Passages I and II 344
Practice Set 2: Long Intermediate Passages III and IV 349
Practice Set 3: Long Intermediate Passages V and VI 353
Practice Set 4: Long Intermediate Passages VII and VIII 358
Practice Set 5: Paired Passages IX and X 362
Section 3: Longer Passages – Challenging 367
Practice Set 1: Passages I, II, and III 367
Practice Set 2: Passages IV and V 376
Answer Key for Reading Comprehension Practice Test 383
Section 1: Brief Passages 383
Practice Set 1 383
Practice Set 2 383
Practice Set 3 383
Section 2: Long Passages – Intermediate Difficulty 383
Practice Set 1 383
Practice Set 2 383
Practice Set 3 383
Practice Set 4 383
Practice Set 5 383
Section 3: Long Passages – Challenging 384
Practice Set 1 384
Practice Set 2 384
Answers and Explanations for Reading Comprehension Practice Test 385
Section 1: Brief Passages 385
Practice Set I, Passages I, II, III, and IV 385
Practice Set 2, Passages V, VI, VII, and VIII 385
Practice Set 3, Passages IX, X, XI, XII, and XIII 386
Section 2: Longer Passages – Intermediate Difficulty 387
Practice Set 1: Passages I and II 387
Practice Set 2: Passages III and IV 388
Practice Set 3: Passages V and VI 389
Practice Set 4: Passages VII and VIII 390
Practice Set 5: Passages IX and X 391
Section 3: Long Passages – Challenging 392
Practice Set 1: Passages I, II, and III 392
Practice Set 2: Passages IV and V 393
PART III: WRITING TIMED ESSAYS
Chapter 6: Approaches to Writing Timed Essays 397
Scoring 397
Scoring Guidelines 398
Scoring Criteria 402
General Strategies for Essay Writing 403
Strategies for Specific Types of Essays 404
The Narrative/Descriptive Essay 404
Sample Task 1 – Narrative/Descriptive Essay 405
Overview of Sample Task 1 405
Preparing to Write 406
Writing 408
Proofreading 411
Sample Task 2 – Narrative/Descriptive Essay 412
Overview of Sample Task 2 412
Sample Essay Response – Task 2 413
The Analytical/Expository Essay 414
Sample Task 1 – Analytical/Expository Essay: “Analyze an Issue” 415
Overview of Sample Task 1 415
Sample Essay Response – Task 1 416
Sample Task 2 – Analytical/Expository Essay: “Analyze an Issue” 417
Overview of Sample Task 2 417
Five-Paragraph Essay 418
Analyze an Argument Essay 419
Sample Task 3 – Analytical/Expository Essay: “Analyze an Argument” 419
The Argumentative or Decision Prompt Essay 422
Sample Task 4 – Decision Prompt Essay, “LSAT” 422
Overview of Sample Task 4 423
Sample Task 5 – Argumentative Essay, “ACT” 425
Overview of Sample Task 5 425
Sample Task 6 – Argumentative Essay, “PPST” 427
Overview of Sample Task 6 427
Additional Question Types and Techniques 428
Compare and Contrast Essays 428
Steps to Writing a Successful Essay 429
Essay Writing Practice 429
GRE 430
Sample Topics 430
GMAT 435
Sample Topics 435
LSAT 437
Sample Topics 437
SAT 440
Sample Topics 441
ACT 442
Sample Topics 442
PPST 444
Sample Topics 444
CBEST 445
Sample Topics 445
Essay Response Checklist 447
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 449
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 451
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 453
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 455
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 457
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 459
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 461
How Effectively Does Your Essay… 463