ARCO Master the GRE 2009 (with CD

✍ Scribed by Mark A Stewart, Therese DeAngelis

• Publisher: Peterson's
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 625
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

peruse the other reviews. yes, it's unanimous. this is a one star study guide.

where i differ from, and what i would like to add to the other reviews is to provide more specific examples of where this guide is wanting:

1. there are some gems here. don't be fooled by all the mistakes. for example, there is a section on ALTERING FRACTIONS AND RATIOS that will be helpful if learned, Exponents You Should Know, a table delineating Exponents and the Real Number Line, a table of Roots You Should Know, a table of PYTHAGOREAN TRIPLETS, a nice geometry section, etc.

2. the section on PERMUTATIONS and COMBINATIONS, and PROBABILITY are wanting. insufficient and unacceptable for a study guide.

3. nice section on Circles and Inscribed Polygons, and Tangents and Inscribed Circles, although the explanations were wanting.

4. the reason why you want to avoid this book (or what section of the book to avoid) - the Analogies section:

but before I go there; the gem is ANALOGY CATEGORIES YOU SHOULD KNOW

now for it's flaws -

page 304 analogy incorporates the idea that mercury is unstable. look up mercury in the McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of science and technology. it isn't even remotely intimated that this element is unstable. if this analogy/reasoning were on an actual test, i'd be the first one to dispute it.

page 306 analogy asks us "is straightness a defining characteristic of an arrow? No ..." are you starting to get the picture? what of the idiom "straight as an arrow" ? what? are arrows suppose to be crooked? If this analogy/explanation were on an actual gre test, i'd be the first one to challenge it. i would think that even china has perfected the art of manufacturing straight arrows. which makes me wonder: who wrote that? who edited that? where is this coming from? who is going to think that an arrow is not, by definition, straight?

page 310 "does a clot reduce exposure to bleeding? No ..." whoever's heard of "exposure" to bleeding? a clot reduces bleeding. am i studying for the gre or a test in obfuscation?

page 312 - does a battlefield demonstrate a lack of strategy? sure it does. it is an expression of a lack of diplomacy. how a place where people are killing each other exemplify strategy? i would dispute this one.

page 316 is lying a form of insincerity? sure it is.

page 328 - verbal reasoning - what of this sentence: " ... nations are now tackling public-health problems jointly, through joint research programs." does this strike you as retarded? why not just say "... nations are now tackling public-health problems through joint research programs." ?

there's a reason for this study guide getting one star. it's because it's frustrating to read. it's stupid. i'm going to get over this book and move on to something more efficacious. and that's all i have to say about that.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover Page......Page 1
Title Page......Page 2
ISBN 076892605X......Page 3
Contents (with page links)......Page 6
SPECIAL STUDY FEATURES......Page 12
ABOUT THE CD......Page 13
GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK......Page 14
TOP 10 STRATEGIES TO RAISE YOUR SCORE......Page 15
I - GRE BASICS......Page 18
THE GRE STRUCTURE AND TESTING FORMAT......Page 20
YOUR GRE SCORES......Page 22
SCORING YOUR PRACTICE TESTS—QUANTITATIVE REASONING AND VERBAL REASONING......Page 23
TAKING THE GRE COMPUTER-BASED TEST......Page 26
GRE AVAILABILITY AND REGISTRATION......Page 34
GENERAL TEST-TAKING TIPS......Page 36
SUMMING IT UP......Page 39
THE ANALYTICAL WRITING SECTION......Page 40
THE QUANTITATIVE REASONING SECTION......Page 43
THE VERBAL REASONING SECTION......Page 50
SUMMING IT UP......Page 58
II - DIAGNOSING STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES......Page 60
ANSWER SHEET PRACTICE TEST 1: DIAGNOSTIC......Page 62
3 Practice Test 1: Diagnostic......Page 68
ANALYTICAL WRITING......Page 69
QUANTITATIVE REASONING......Page 71
VERBAL REASONING......Page 77
ANSWER KEY AND EXPLANATIONS......Page 85
III - ANALYTICAL WRITING......Page 98
KEY FACTS ABOUT THE GRE ISSUE TASK......Page 100
THE 7-STEP PLAN......Page 101
5 TIPS FOR SCORING HIGH......Page 107
ISSUE TASK STRATEGIES......Page 115
SUMMING IT UP......Page 118
KEY FACTS ABOUT THE GRE ARGUMENT TASK......Page 120
THE 7-STEP PLAN......Page 121
TIPS FOR SPOTTING COMMON REASONING FLAWS......Page 128
ARGUMENT TASK STRATEGIES......Page 137
SUMMING IT UP......Page 140
OVERVIEW......Page 142
AVOID EMPTY RHETORIC......Page 143
CONNECT YOUR IDEAS......Page 144
USE THE LANGUAGE OF CRITICAL REASONING PROPERLY......Page 145
REFER TO YOURSELF, THE STATEMENT, OR THE ARGUMENT— AS NEEDED......Page 146
VARY SENTENCE LENGTH AND STRUCTURE......Page 148
WRITE CLEARLY AND CONCISELY......Page 149
USE LANGUAGE CORRECTLY AND PERSUASIVELY......Page 150
SUMMING IT UP......Page 152
IV - QUANTITATIVE REASONING......Page 154
KEY FACTS ABOUT GRE PROBLEM SOLVING......Page 156
THE 5-STEP PLAN......Page 157
PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES......Page 163
THE DATA INTERPRETATION FORMAT......Page 172
DATA INTERPRETATION STRATEGIES......Page 176
THE NUMERIC ENTRY FORMAT (NEW)......Page 177
SUMMING IT UP......Page 181
KEY FACTS ABOUT GRE QUANTITATIVE COMPARISONS......Page 182
THE 6-STEP PLAN......Page 184
QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON STRATEGIES......Page 188
SUMMING IT UP......Page 193
OVERVIEW......Page 194
PERCENTS, FRACTIONS, AND DECIMALS......Page 195
SIMPLIFYING AND COMBINING FRACTIONS......Page 197
DECIMAL PLACE VALUES AND OPERATIONS......Page 200
SIMPLE PERCENT PROBLEMS......Page 202
PERCENT INCREASE AND DECREASE......Page 203
RATIOS AND PROPORTION......Page 204
ALTERING FRACTIONS AND RATIOS......Page 206
RATIOS WITH MORE THAN TWO QUANTITIES......Page 208
ARITHMETIC MEAN, MEDIAN, MODE, AND RANGE......Page 209
STANDARD DEVIATION......Page 215
ARITHMETIC SEQUENCES......Page 216
GEOMETRIC SEQUENCES......Page 217
PERMUTATIONS......Page 219
COMBINATIONS......Page 220
PROBABILITY......Page 221
SUMMING IT UP......Page 225
OVERVIEW......Page 226
BASIC PROPERTIES OF NUMBERS......Page 227
FACTORS, MULTIPLES, AND DIVISIBILITY......Page 229
PRIME NUMBERS AND PRIME FACTORIZATION......Page 231
EXPONENTS (POWERS)......Page 232
ROOTS AND RADICALS......Page 236
LINEAR EQUATIONS WITH ONE VARIABLE......Page 240
LINEAR EQUATIONS WITH TWO VARIABLES......Page 243
LINEAR EQUATIONS THAT CANNOT BE SOLVED......Page 248
FACTORABLE QUADRATIC EXPRESSIONS WITH ONE VARIABLE......Page 249
NONLINEAR EQUATIONS WITH TWO VARIABLES......Page 253
SOLVING ALGEBRAIC INEQUALITIES......Page 254
WEIGHTED AVERAGE PROBLEMS......Page 255
CURRENCY PROBLEMS......Page 256
INVESTMENT PROBLEMS......Page 257
PROBLEMS OF RATE OF PRODUCTION AND RATE OF TRAVEL......Page 258
PROBLEMS INVOLVING OVERLAPPING SETS......Page 262
SUMMING IT UP......Page 264
OVERVIEW......Page 266
LINES AND ANGLES......Page 267
TRIANGLES......Page 270
ISOSCELES AND EQUILATERAL TRIANGLES......Page 274
RECTANGLES, SQUARES, AND PARALLELOGRAMS......Page 276
CIRCLES......Page 283
ADVANCED CIRCLE PROBLEMS......Page 284
POLYGONS......Page 291
CUBES AND OTHER RECTANGULAR SOLIDS......Page 293
CYLINDERS......Page 295
COORDINATE SIGNS AND THE FOUR QUADRANTS......Page 297
DEFINING A LINE ON THE COORDINATE PLANE......Page 298
GRAPHING A LINE ON THE COORDINATE PLANE......Page 301
COORDINATE GEOMETRY......Page 303
MIDPOINT AND DISTANCE FORMULAS......Page 306
SUMMING IT UP......Page 308
V - VERBAL REASONING......Page 310
KEY FACTS ABOUT GRE ANALOGIES......Page 312
THE 5-STEP PLAN......Page 313
ANALOGY STRATEGIES......Page 316
ANALOGY CATEGORIES YOU SHOULD KNOW......Page 322
SUMMING IT UP......Page 334
OVERVIEW......Page 336
KEY FACTS ABOUT COMPLEX TEXT COMPLETIONS......Page 337
THE 5-STEP PLAN (SENTENCE COMPLETIONS)......Page 338
SENTENCE COMPLETION STRATEGIES......Page 342
STRUCTURAL CLUES FOR COMPLETING SENTENCES......Page 346
THE 4-STEP PLAN (COMPLEX TEXT COMPLETIONS)......Page 350
FIND THE LOGICAL CONNECTIONS......Page 354
COMPLEX TEXT COMPLETION STRATEGIES......Page 357
SUMMING IT UP......Page 359
INTERACTIVE READING: THE KEY TO READING COMPREHENSION......Page 360
THE 7-STEP PLAN......Page 361
INTERACTIVE READING STRATEGIES......Page 366
QUESTION TYPES......Page 371
GRE TEST DESIGNERS’ TOP 10 WRONG-ANSWER PLOYS......Page 385
CHECKLIST FOR UNDERSTANDING GRE READING PASSAGES......Page 386
CHECKLIST FOR ANSWERING GRE READING QUESTIONS......Page 387
SUMMING IT UP......Page 388
KEY FACTS ABOUT GRE ANTONYMS......Page 390
THE 5-STEP PLAN (ANTONYMS)......Page 391
ANTONYM STRATEGIES......Page 394
HOW THE GRE TESTS YOUR VOCABULARY......Page 399
HOW THE TEST DESIGNERS CHOOSE VOCABULARY FOR THE GRE......Page 400
PRIMARY GRE VOCABULARY RESOURCES......Page 403
STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING A GRE VOCABULARY......Page 404
SUMMING IT UP......Page 407
VI - FIVE PRACTICE TESTS......Page 408
ANSWER SHEET PRACTICE TEST 2......Page 410
ANALYTICAL WRITING......Page 416
VERBAL REASONING......Page 418
QUANTITATIVE REASONING......Page 424
ANSWER KEY AND EXPLANATIONS......Page 432
ANSWER SHEET PRACTICE TEST 3......Page 442
ANALYTICAL WRITING......Page 448
QUANTITATIVE REASONING......Page 450
VERBAL REASONING......Page 458
ANSWER KEY AND EXPLANATIONS......Page 464
ANSWER SHEET PRACTICE TEST 4......Page 474
ANALYTICAL WRITING......Page 480
VERBAL REASONING......Page 482
QUANTITATIVE REASONING......Page 488
ANSWER KEY AND EXPLANATIONS......Page 497
ANSWER SHEET PRACTICE TEST 5......Page 508
ANALYTICAL WRITING......Page 514
QUANTITATIVE REASONING......Page 516
VERBAL REASONING......Page 524
ANSWER KEY AND EXPLANATIONS......Page 530
ANSWER SHEET PRACTICE TEST 6......Page 540
ANALYTICAL WRITING......Page 546
VERBAL REASONING......Page 548
QUANTITATIVE REASONING......Page 554
ANSWER KEY AND EXPLANATIONS......Page 562
APPENDIX......Page 572
Vocabulary List......Page 574
ABOUT THE AUTHOR......Page 614
Give Us Your Feedback......Page 624