Mastering the Verbal

Long Term Preparation Broaden your reading and read deeply (The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, etc.) Look up new words that challenge you and practice using them. Work on weakness areas weekly Practice your answers using a guide book

Approaches and Strategies All questions count the same. Answer easy questions first. Make educated guesses. Skip questions that you really can’t answer Limit your time on any one question. Keep track of time. Use your test booklet as scratch paper.

Critical Reading Sentence Completion (19 questions) Tests vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure. Passage-based reading (48 questions) Tests comprehension of what is stated in or implied by the passage.

Timing Spend seconds on a shorter question seconds on a longer question. 90 seconds on reading a passage. Practice and time yourself, see if you finish early enough.

Question 1 Though ostensibly a put down in its good natured ribbing, the average “Celebrity Roast” turns out to be a more of a _______ in reality. A.Critique B.Masquerade C.Eulogy D.Debacle E.Calamity

When should I guess? Student A has no idea. Student B notices a latin root, eu-like in euphemism is positive Student C notices that the word should be the opposite of a put down, therefore a eulogy. Eulogy is given at a funeral in praise.

Question 2 Martha’s Vineyard, once a sleepy vacation spot for ______ visitors, has now become a _______ mecca for hordes of sun-worshipping tourists. A.Myriad-quiet B.Impoverished-weary C.Discriminating-bustling D.Impetuous-depressing E.Curious-pensive

Practice 1-9 Use the context of the sentence, what do you know? Use logic to look for opposite relationships and eliminate wrong answers. Don’t answer if you have no context.

Reading Comprehension Draw Generalizations from Main Ideas Draw Inferences Spot Details from the Text Understand the Author’s Role Understand Language in Action Look Beyond the Passage to Predict Outcomes

Get the Big Picture Look for the Main Idea What is the author doing? Describing? Telling a Story? Why? Look closely at the words the author uses, do they have something in common? Do they share a common feeling (tone)? If you understand 1 and 2, look deeper, why might a writer do something like this.

Let’s Analyze the 1 st Passage List notice up here:

The Writing Section A Crash Course in Grammar Make these words plural: tax, lady, ray, roof, knife Make these words plural possessive: book, box, lady, sheep (Does the plural end in s? Then s’. Does it have no s ending, then ‘s?)

Verbs Know your tense Make sure sentences match Ed-matches ed at both parts of the sentence, and so on. The airplane circled the airport and then heads toward Atlanta. Correct

Subjects and Objects I versus me I is a subject Me is an object I am the one responsible for him. He is the one responsible for me.

Modifiers Good versus well (well is an adverb) Students do well in school. Avoid double negatives Keep things next to what they modify Jill walked her new dog with her miniskirt on.

Joining Words Unless is a subordinate conjunction Without is a preposition Unless dad’s check comes through, I will have to wait for an X-box. Without good directions, traveling is difficult.

Commas Ending sentences correctly To separate items in a series When more than one adjectives preceded a noun Words or phrases that interrupt a sentence Appositive phrases Quotations Joining sentences with coordinating conjunctions

Capitalizing First word of a complete sentence The comments of each new speaker in a conversation Each first letter in the new line of a poem Proper Nouns and Adjectives The first letter of the first word in a salutation

Confused words Complement-compliment Principle-principal Accept-except Then-than Your-You’re It’s-Its

Essay I.Strong Narrative Lead Into Thesis II.Explain Example 1 Topic Sentence Restrict the Topic Give a Concrete Example Conclude III.Repeat with Example 2 IV.Strong Conclusion