General advises for Reading:
The first thing you should know is that your attention shouldn’t be on simply reading what is written. What this means is that rather than just reading what is written, you should focus more on understanding its meaning. You should understand what is being said and also the context of that which is written. This skill is useful in the verbal section of all the exams as mentioned above. The best way to do this is by attempting as many practice questions as you can and by understanding where you are committing mistakes.
Another important aspect is the speed at which you read the question/statement. Since the exams as mentioned above are timed exams, it is imperative that you go through the question/statement as quickly as possible. In both exams, you have approximately 2 minutes to answer each question. In those 2 minutes, you need to go through the question statement, understand what is being said, and choose the correct answer(s). To do this, you need to be able to go through the question as quickly as possible and also understand what the question is trying to ask. Believe me when we say this, 2 minutes pass a lot quicker in an exam than they do waiting for someone to come out of the bathroom.
Basic strategy for Reading Comprehension:
Even you are reading this lecture, you must try to be as quick as you can up to the speed where you understand what you are reading. So yes you can improve your reading speed in just few weeks.
Lastly, before starting your verbal preparation, it is highly recommended that you develop a habit of reading English newspapers. You can do this while you’re having breakfast or if someone is driving you to and from work or if you’re free at any time. But you must take some time out and read English newspapers, especially the editorial pages. This will provide you with two benefits: i) the speed at which you read and understand what is written will gradually improve, and ii) it will keep you abreast of the current affairs and happenings in your country and around the world. The first benefit that we’ve mentioned will help you in your exam, whereas the second benefit will help you perform better in your interview.
Another thing that you can do while reading the newspaper is that you keep a highlighter and dictionary next to you. Whenever you see a word or idiom that you’re not particularly familiar with or that is new to you, you can simply highlight that word or idiom using your highlighter and search for the meaning in the dictionary. Keep on seeing those new words or idioms daily until those words or idioms and their meanings are etched in your brain. This will improve your lexicon and will help you perform better in your exam and in your interview.
What you can also do is make a little Excel sheet that has the words in one column, their meanings in another column, and their usage in a sentence in another column. This way, all the new words that you learn will be stored in a single sheet
Keeping in mind the important points we’ve discussed above, let’s start our verbal section preparation.
Types of passages:
Let’s start by understanding the ‘Main Idea’ questions.
There are two different types of passages namely: Long Passage and Short Passage.
In long passages, you will almost always get a question that asks you the main idea of the passage. However, in short passages, the chances of such a question being asked are rare. When you are reading a long passage, you should read it in such a way that you understand what the author is trying to say and that you should be able to write down the main idea in your own words. While there are questions that are asked from within the passage that require you to pay attention to what is written, you need to focus on the flow of the passage as well. Pay attention to words that either change or maintain the flow and tone of the passage. Words such as however, although, instead of this, yet, similarly, but, on the other hand, among other words, can indicate that there is going to be a change in the flow or tone of the passage and that the author might disagree with what was previously stated. Similarly, words such as consequently, as a result, thus, hence, therefore, ergo, for this reason, because of this, amongst other words, can indicate that there won’t be any change in the flow or tone of the passage and that the author might agree with what was previously stated. Such words let you know the flow of the passage and finally would help you understand the overall organization and main idea of the passage. The overall organization would help us answer general types of questions, such as:
General Question types:
1. What is the main idea of the passage?
2. What is the purpose of the author in writing the passage?
3. What is the tone of the author in the passage?
4. What is the role of 3rd paragraph in the passage?
5. What would be an appropriate topic for the passage?
Explanation:
Long passages always consist of several paragraphs. You must understand what is being said in each paragraph and give each paragraph a small topic or point. And the process is simple. Read the first paragraph and then take 5 to 10 seconds to think about what’s written in the paragraph. Then take 5 seconds more to answer why the paragraph is written and what purpose it serves. For your ease, the topic of each paragraph can be something that starts with ‘To’ like: To ……... Keep it brief and limit it to a few words. For example, the topic for a paragraph can be “To discuss XYZ”, “To give example in order to disprove XYZ”, or “To conclude about XYZ” etc. Do this for each paragraph of the long passage.
Each long passage will take you somewhere from 2-5 minutes, depending on how quickly you can read and understand what is being said. After you have read the passage and written down your points about the paragraphs, take a few seconds to revise what you have written. This will give you an overall picture of the passage and make it easier to get the main idea. When you get the main idea, write it down in your own words and then check the answer choices to see if any of the answer choices matches your answer. This would help you in accurately answering ‘main idea’ or ‘purpose’ questions. There is a long passage given at the end of this lecture. The passage has ready-made points to ease you into preparation. Later on, you’ll have to prepare the points yourself so that you know how it’s done.
Important point:
Keep in mind that the answer choice must never go outside of the scope of the passage. The scope of the passage means that the main idea should be according to the information given in the passage and also the flow of the passage. You cannot assume anything. Anything that is not written in the passage, but you know very well, is out of the scope of the passage. You should avoid being emotional when reading the passage. It doesn’t matter whether you agree or disagree with what is being said in the passage; as long as it is stated in the passage, you have to take that information to be true. If, for example, the passage states that all crows are white, and you KNOW for a fact that all crows are black, you must read the passage with the assumption that all crows are white. As long as you are reading a passage, whatever is stated in it is true. At times, the passage can state something that is incorrect, whereas you know the correct version of it. There can be trap answers given that will be according to your own correct information, not according to the passage. Be wary of such trap answers. Focus only on what is said in the passage and the information provided in it.
The following article appeared in a newspaper.
A problem identified and perhaps solution is going to propose in next paragraphs:
Last week Public Health England said they are working on a new tool to tell patients their brain age, as part of the fight against dementia. As far as structure of your grey matter is concerned, once you’re past the mid-twenties, it’s downhill all the way – your brain begins to shrink. Structural decline is inevitable and an inescapable fact of life. If we lived to be 150 years old, we’d all eventually display signs of Age Related Cognitive Decline (ARCD) as a result of the natural processes of brain ageing. Being around that long would mean that at some point we would all have succumbed to the forgetfulness, distractedness and compromised problem solving that characterizes ARCD. ARCD may be an inevitable thing in the long run. But you’ll be pleased to hear that there are several things that you can start doing right now to help slow this process down.
Reduce free radicals:
If not kept under control, a free radical is to the structure and fabric of your brain what a bull is to a china shop. Having gained access to your brain mainly through cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes and fatty foods. The best way of counteracting their damaging effects is simply by reducing intake of red meat and eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables – the oldest and still the best readily available sources of brain tissue protecting anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants mop up the free radicals before they can cause any damage. So make sure you do your 5+ portions of fruit and veg a day for your brain’s sake.
Take your brain for a walk:
A liter of blood passes through your brain every minute. This is just as well because there’s no space for storage in the brain so it must receive a constant supply of nutrients to keep it working properly. Any interruption to the flow of blood to a certain chunk of the brain can lead to Silent Cerebral Infarct at best or a full blown stroke at worst. Making sure that the pump that pumps all that blood “your heart” is in good working order is a good first step; regular exercise is the best way to keep the heart strong. It also helps to ensure that the blood vessels transporting the blood remain clear of obstructions – vital to allow that oxygen-packed, nutrient rich blood to reach every part of your brain, every minute of the day.
Regular moderate to intense exercise is well known to keep brains functioning better for longer. And the most likely explanation is that by keeping moving, as opposed to spending most of the day sedentary, you keep your heart and brain’s blood vessels flexible so they can always deliver the goods where they’re needed most.
Build cognitive reserve through neuroplasticity (get some hobbies):
What sets your brain apart from today’s supercomputers is its ability to physically change to meet new challenges. By consistently challenging it with fresh mental activities, your brain will be continually forced to restructure, rewire and build new connections to cope with the new demands placed on it.
There are four hobbies that the Einstein Ageing Study observed were associated with a delay in the onset of dementia. These activities, if carried out regularly, intensively and over long periods of time are thought to help build “Cognitive Reserve” which appears to delay the transition of ARCD into dementia by several years.
Learn a musical instrument:
Playing an instrument involves manipulations of an object with various body parts (e.g. fingers, lungs and mouth for most wind instruments) to produce tightly coordinated and rhythmically precise sounds. Even reading the music involves decoding the marks on a piece of paper that denote the pitch, onset, duration and style of each note. And holding the sequence in mind for long enough to execute the correct muscle movements. All whilst simultaneously listening to the sounds you produce yourself in relation to those produced by the other players in your band to establish that the desired overall effect is created. Great mental gymnastics!
Play chess:
Chess requires potential moves of both players to be imagined and held in mind so that further moves can be thought through. Opportunities and pitfalls of each potential sequence of moves must be analyzed to select the best strategy. The more moves in advance a person tries to plan, the harder the brain areas in their Frontal and Parietal Lobes that support working memory are pushed try to keep in mind where all the pieces would stand after each imagined move. Improving your working memory can also have a positive impact on fluid intelligence. So playing chess might even make you smarter too!
Dancing:
Dancing is a quintessentially social event. Maintaining regular social contact with other people is known to have a powerful positive impact on mental health. Also it makes well-being by making individuals feel connected to their community. Most of the dance styles in question require careful coordination of your own movements with those of your dance partner. This must all be synchronized to the musical beat. Physical contact triggers the release of oxytocin into the bloodstream. This neurohormone induces feelings of trust, comfort and a sense of belonging; boosting that sense of social connectedness and well-being.
Reading:
Reading involves converting strings of letters into words, words into sentences and keeping the meaning of one sentence in mind in light of those preceding and following it. Images must be conjured up in the mind’s eye and sounds in the mind’s ear. Previous chapters of whatever book you happen to be reading must be brought back to mind. So you may interpret new events and future possible scenarios must be imagined to anticipate likely outcomes. A dynamic impression of all the characters personalities is assembled whilst the trajectory of the plot unfolds.
Whether you’re going to play an instrument, have a game of chess, get up and dance or enjoy a good book. The key to inspiring your brain to change is to do it regularly, intensely and over long periods. The great news is that these are all fun activities that anyone can do to ensure they maintain a healthy brain for as long as possible.
What should be the title of the article above?
A) Health of a brain.
B) Characteristics of a healthy brain
C) Why we need healthy brain?
D) How to keep your brain young?
E) Factors affecting life expectancy.
Answer Explanation:
Pre-thinking:
Process of Elimination (P.O.E) is one of the best techniques that most people use. Be that as it may, it is still highly advisable to think about your own answer before looking at the given answer choices. After reading this article, we must realize that it was about activities that keep our brain active and healthy. Now that we have the main idea in our own words, we can look at the answer choices and see which one suits our answer the best. We can also use the process of elimination to get our answer. Let’s see how that works by checking each answer choice separately.
P.O.E:
A: Answer choice A suggests that the main point of the passage is to discuss the health of a brain. Does this answer choice match what we concluded? You have to think precisely in GMAT and GRE exams, because some answer choices are written in such words that they’re trap answers and people usually fall for them. The passage has not described the symptoms of when a brain is healthy or when it is not. Was the crux of the passage about the health of a brain? No, it isn’t. Since choice A is not addressing the theme of the passage, we have eliminated it. Let’s move on to the next choice.
B: Answer choice B looks like a much better option than option A, but it is a trap answer. If this were the answer, the passage would’ve explained the characteristics of healthy brain, rather than the tasks done by us to make our brains healthy. This seems to be an appropriate answer, but it also seems to be a trap answer. So let’s keep this answer in the “maybe” pile and see if there’s a better answer in the rest of the answer choices.
C: Answer choice C suggests the importance of a healthy brain. Again, the article doesn’t imply the benefits and importance of a healthy brain or why we need to have a healthy brain. Therefore, we can eliminate this answer choice.
D: Answer choice D suggests how to keep your brain young, which is exactly what we concluded before coming to answer choices. The article is about the activities that keep our brains active and young. This seems like the best option, so let’s put it in the “maybe” pile along with answer choice B and see if we can find a more suitable option in the remaining answer choices.
E: Answer choice E suggests factors that affect expectancy of life, which is irrelevant and out of the scope of the passage. So this option can be eliminated.
Approach to correct answer:
Now, we have two answer choices in the “maybe” pile. They are answer choice B and answer choice D. Out of these two, the one that best suits our conclusion is answer choice D, which is the right answer.
Similar questions:
Similarly, main idea questions such as What is the main purpose in writing the passage above?, can also be solved confidently using our points assigned for each paragraphs. So the correct answer of this must be revolving around words such as ‘a problem is identified, and its easy counter measurements are advised’. BE CAREFUL from trap answer choices, because there’s almost always a choice exists that looks to be correct, but actually it’s not. For instance, a trap answer might revolve around words such as ‘a problem is identified and its alternatives are recommended’. Many of you might stuck in these two choices, but I must advise you to be confident while eliminating or selecting a choice. The later choice is wrong because alternatives are options or actions that used in place of the problem. So alternatives were not recommended, rather some activities are advised to face this problem to slow its damaging effect. An alternative is used to avoid the problem. As the problem as discussed in the passage cannot be avoided, but can be reduced with less damaging effect. So later option is clearly incorrect, being out of scope. And former statement is exactly within scope of the passage and, therefore, should be correct answer choice.
Takeaway:
All in all, in this lecture there are two points that you’ve learned:
1. Be precise and specific; never go beyond the scope of the passage in any case.
2. Be confident while eliminating an answer choice during POE and while selecting the answer choice that most accurately translates to what you have concluded.
Article is credited to: Independent News UK.
Article reference:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/forgetful-distracted-foggy-how-to-keep-your-brain-young-9850827.html