一直在路上－killerluo的学习日记－请大家监督～

killerluo

说真的，不知道应该把这篇文章放在什么地方。因为时隔三年，我又回到了这个地方。

一切只是缘于三天前收拾东西时看到了第10版OG，心血来潮的打开阅读做了两篇，竟然全对了（之前只在答案页作分析时画了两笔）。突然感叹，GMAT这个东西真的是神奇的，确实是考思维和能力的。我只是把重点放在了文章结构和逻辑上，并没有像原来那样逐次逐句的理解文章。不过，语法全忘了，逻辑有些题目读不太懂。现在想想也未必是件坏事。以前的方法如果是错的呢？

还是缘于心血来潮，可能真的是工作之后便没有什么激情了吧。。我上了GMAC的官方网站（也许只是想借此找些事情来刺激一下麻痹的神经）。。发现GMAC孜孜不倦的阐述着GMAT的用意，而对象则是众多大学机构及应聘单位。用意是什么？就是GMAT Advantage and benefit，大家想要看的话可以自己搜索一下，我想，这可能也是增加IR的原因吧。GMAC官网上对于Verbal的各类题目解释也非常的简单，但是详细说明的还是那个Advantage，即各个学校机构或是众多外企考察应聘者的衡量标准，因为GMAT能达到这个公平公正的标准和考察应聘者的能力。

现在也从国外回来了，但是还是很怀念GMAT，还是想重温一下。。因为在职，非常忙，所以每天坚持半小时到1小时吧。。哈哈，请大家监督。。

首先是十一放假期间把Bible解决掉。还是下面分楼每天记录吧。。请大家监督。。

killerluo

2013.10.17

这几天发现很多之前沉了的NN帖（根据内容搜索得来的），觉得CDer真的是人才辈出，尤其是对于SC的理解和攻略显然比前几年有质的飞跃。
我在不断了解的过程中发现了以下资料：

Bible: 看了CR部分，觉得收获不大，不知道是不是后面的练习题出的不好（汗。。一有错题我就觉得是题出错了，或是出偏了）。。
Manhattan：大家的反映出奇的好，也是我下一阶段的材料
Ron's lecture: 听了一个SC，真的是受益匪浅，因为自己的时间很富裕，所以会把lecture听完，然后总结好送给大家。看到CD上有Ron的幻灯截图，但是说实话，不如听课收获大，因为Ron的课上会有很多例句，更容易理解，那些take away可能对大牛们更有用。这个据说要根据Manhattan配合着看。
Prep 08/07： Prep 08 用作补漏，因为大牛们总结的还是有些边框，不如Ron重在分析理解。据说Prep 07里有错误，所以想拿来练Pace.
OG：做了40道题了，真心觉得还得做官方的，自己的思路和答案也差不多，正确率在80%，总是有那么几道题在读题的时候就没看懂。对于SC，句意很重要，看懂的前提下，错误率就会减少。
GWD: 因为Prep中有重复做过的题，所以这个是临考练习Pace的最佳法宝。

所以近期的任务就是把Manhattan根据它的分类列出来，Ron的视频每天看一点，慢慢补充进去。
因为在职，所以还是坚持每天1-2小时（这个是来自Bible的，呵呵）。

killerluo

2013.10.21
为什么写这个呢。。其实上篇就已经明确要看Manhattan SC和Ron's lecture了。。但是偶就是个有些叛逆的小孩。。没看过的资料总想尝试一下。。虽然对Bible已经失望了，但是又看到了Manhattan FoV和Word Smart了。。所以就花了点时间。。
简单评论一下Word Smart 和 Manhattan FoV这两个材料（这个因人而异，只是我的感受啊，大家留情拍砖啊。。）

这几天扫了20多页Manhattan FoV，感觉不是太好，因为讲的太基础了，例如什么是名词，动词，形容词等等，如何使用。。其实看看也无妨，但又是用英语讲的，这就跟用中文讲拼音一样。。不知道我是否表达明白我的感受了。。然后是Word Smart，某个CDer推荐的，感觉对中国人不太实用，一个是说学单词要深究其使用方法，逐词深入分析并记忆（我觉得大家没有这个时间，还不如总结OG了），另外就是方法中有类似中国人学外语标拼音的方法，也就是为了记忆一个外语单词，用另外好几个外语单词的读音去记忆。。

然后转到了大家说的Manhattan SC 5th, 我只能说真的是好东西，刚看了20页就被吸引住了，没有废话，字字都要记下来。我是跟某个NN学的，把不同知识点分类手抄在纸上了，然后打算不断分类补充。觉得知识点还是自己总结的好，然后再不断地更新总结。看了一些NN的资料，真的非常感谢NN们的分享，里面的东西大多都是众多NN们经过自己的理解后不断更新总结出来的。但是，我想说的是，最重要的其实是NN们用的方法，而不是内容，因为NN们大多都会提到自己复习的资料。NN们用自己的表达方式或理解总结出来的东西，或许并不能使所有人全部吸收理解。所以，NN的分类题型，或是做表格的方法，倒是应该借鉴，然后就是我们自己向里面填充总结。

说了这么多的废话。。。好几天没说了。。见谅啊。。
所以要从Manhattan SC 5th开始了，今天完成1个section，很听话的把meaning 放到最后再看，虽然还是扫了一眼，哈哈。然后还有1个Ron的视频。
明天继续。。

killerluo

2013.9.29 （1 hour）
1.方法：www.gmathacks.com. 做题不在多，每天最好在固定的时间学习1－2小时，这样三个月封顶，语法题目300＋即可，不用多做，做错的、超时的、犹豫的要重新做总结。
2.记得放松，呼吸。在考试的时候，Verbal的三种题目类型是随时变化的，且之间没有logical transition,所以每做完一题，闭上眼睛，深呼吸，数三下，然后看下一题，告诉自己很简单，这样总体算起来其实只有两分钟。在纸上写ABCDE，这样有利于在tricky问题上选择。
3.所谓的高分库其实是题目复杂和内容难。内容上难是因为我们需要做一些自己不关心或是不感兴趣的话题（科学类文章，我感觉GMAT题库中最难的是生物题，如遗传学、疾病、药物）。阅读并不是考察你的相关知识领域，所以对于大部分文章，要做笔记的是outline，然后一直回忆文章的目的和每段的作用（支持或反对文章主旨）。另外，难度还在于GMAT把正确答案和易混错误答案的gap做的很小（语法，有可能两个选项都是对的，这就是为什么要选best而不是选correct）。不要skim文章，因为你会漏掉importantinformation or key words，尤其是CR，所以最有效的是只读一次，并且尽可能掌握所有信息，且熟悉所有题目考察点。
4.Scratchwork. RC: 写下outline, key words,其实有助于注意力集中，不管题目是否问主旨，在读完文章后都要写出主旨。CR：不用写太多的笔记，除非有关系题。SC：写下ABCDE选项，记录去除项，“X”“？”“－”。
5.CR：13／41.EG：
Until recently, the scholarly consensuswas that few marine species are approaching extinction. Closer examination ofmarine species near the island of Tasmania, however, revealed many factors,such as climate change and shing, that may be contributing to the extinction ofspecies thought to be safe. The rate of extinction of marine species may be just as high as that of non-marine species, but the lack of systematic samplinghas disguised the trend.
CR题目首先要读问题。题目类型有：support/weaken/assumption/best explain the apparentdiscrepancy described above.读题时，要确定the assumption-the unstated evidence-underlying theargument (evidence/assumption/conclusion).
6.CR分为两类：assumption-basedquestions/inference-based questions推论题.
  assumption-based questions:短文有结论，并且有evidence支持。做法：首先，确认结论，如果找不到那么找主要论点，然后找flaws and shifts。
  inference-based questions：根据文章信息做总结，一般可以排除assumption选项，因为GMAT文章很简洁，所以如果有两个词重复出现，则表示强调是同一事物，如果两个词略有改变，则说的是另外一回事。
7.Assumption-based question题目类别（75％）：
  Assumption: underlying assumption
  Strengthen/weaken: 文章中会有很多可行性方法，应该把注意力放在结论上，如果是一个计划方案，那么一定要清楚计划方案的范围和限定因素。
  Explanation/paradox: Whichof the following, if true, most helps to explain the apparentdiscrepancy (difference)? 解释题需要解决的是找到假设。
  Flaw (weaken)
  Evidence: Whichof the following would it be most useful to establish in order to evaluate theargument? 答案往往是既可以支持也可以削弱论点的。
8.Assumption-basedquestion题目形式：
因果题：因为A，所以B。
EG： Of the 75 bicyclists who were injuredriding their bicycles last month, 54 of them regularly wear bicycle helmets. Therefore, wearing a helmet makes it morelikely that a bicyclist will be injured while riding their bicycle. (wearing ahelmet--injury)问题Flaws：1.不戴头盔的是不是比戴头盔的伤得更严重。2.有没有其他原因倒是发生事故。作此类问题，我们要做的是削弱assumption or unstated evidence. EG: x doesn’t cause y; y cause x; z causes both x and y. EG:  example:
"Studies show that bicyclistswearing helmets are less likely to be injured in accidents than those who donot wear helmets."
"Whena bicyclist is injured, he or she becomes more likely to regularly wear ahelmet in the future."
"Bicyclistswho ride more than 100 miles per week are less likely to wear helmets and morelikely to suffer a bicycle-related injury."               

2013.9.30 （1.2 hour）
今天回家已经九点多了，然后还遇到了数字和百分比的题目，研究了小一会，感觉Bible上还是提倡自己想assumption的，所以花费了一点时间。
？？数字百分比题：
E.G: Of the 75 bicyclists who were injured riding their bicycles last month, 54 of them regularly wear bicycle helmets. Therefore, wearing a helmet makes it more likely that a bicyclist will be injured while riding their bicycle.
说明：“more likely”不代表确定的数字或确定的选择。我们更关心的是百分比而不是数字。如果我们想要strengthen这个问题，那么前提是参加比赛所有的人中，戴头盔和不戴头盔的人数相等，各100人，所以受伤的75人中，54个戴头盔的百分比比21个不戴头盔的多。如果我们想要weaken这个问题，且依然用百分比而不是数字：如果参赛的人中有90％是戴头盔的，而且受伤人群中有70％是戴头盔，那么有很多戴头盔的人是没有受伤的。相反，如果参赛中有10％是不戴头盔的，而且受伤的人中有30％不戴头盔，那么不戴头盔的有可能都受伤了。。所以，任何情况下，当你遇到绝对数值，且问题是explanation or paradox问题时，要注意数字可能会误导你，百分数会更准确。
样本容量：
CR中有很多调查报告，而调查又多根据样本来说明，EG：
60% of those surveyed in a recent poll said they would vote for Candidate X in the upcoming election. Therefore, Candidate X is likely to win the election.
此例子有很多weaken的方法：1.只有样本中的这些人会投票给X；2.样本容量太小，不足以说明问题；3.样本容量够大了，但是不具有代表性（如都是妇女或老人）；4.选举距离现在还有好几个月，没有时效性。所以遇到这样的题，要把注意力放在样本本身上，看是否有代表性。
9.Inference-based questions题目类型：（此类问题比较少）
  Fill in the blank:
10.详细讲解假设题
EG: Most airlines use some form of "tiered pricing," a strategy that involves selling similar seats for different prices depending on factors such as the type of customer and the number of days between the purchase and the flight. Generally, business customers and customers purchasing tickets at the last minute pay more than average price for a seat. Air Macaria, however, sells all seats for the same price. Therefore, when traveling routes served by Air Macaria and an airline that uses tiered pricing, business travelers purchasing tickets at the last minute save money by flying Air Macaria.
Q: Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
这道题让我想起了银行还贷款的两种方式，一种是平均还款额（每个月还款额是一样的，越短时间还完越合适）；另一种是递减式的还款额（开始月份的利息会高，越还越少，还的时间越长越合适）。另外，两种机票的价格是不定的，任何优惠都是建立在同等价格的基础上来比较的。
11.CR：假设题联系：
1.前提：会员可享受打折优惠，5年间，店面从3－16,但会员卡的数量没有改变；结论：打折优惠并没有因为店面增多而大幅度增长。问自己为什么？我首先想到的是会员没有使用会员卡。所以选A。
官方解释（P166）：文章中出现拥有会员卡的客户数量没有变，然后推断出在这个城市使用会员卡的人数没有增长。所以假设前提可能是：文章假设客户使用会员卡和客户拥有会员卡是有关系的。而（A）中提供了evidence和conclusion之间的联系，即增加的店面对那些拥有会员卡的拥护没有起到作用。   
                        

毛毛carina

插楼加菜加盐神马的最喜欢了~~~亲，加油！~~

killerluo

2013.10.1 （0.8 hour）
今天好累。。不过坚持看了不到一个小时。。

2.题中明显有lastyear/this year,所以推断比较这两年的flaw，去年卖保险多，luxury cars被偷多，保险诉求多；今年不卖luxury cars，所以除非卖大量的保险给non-luxurycars，否则很有会有保险诉求。问assumption是什么？C就是去年和今年的non-luxury cars失窃率差不多。
官方解释：在assumption题型中，通常有很多shift from evidence to conclusion,题目中出现保修单和luxury cars的保修与luxurycars的盗窃率有关联，推出如果不卖给luxury cars保险就不会有索赔（在文中前半段并没有给出这个结论），这是一个比较典型的shift: if the argument is true, the situation last year must staythe same.只有同等条件才可以比较。

3.总体概括为A的出现导致B的减少，结论A的出现使benefit上升。问assumption?B

官方解释： There is a shift from theevidence to the conclusion--Just because the revenues are up doesn’t meanprofits are up as well. 对于revenues的提升的同时要考虑到成本。

对以上三道练习题的总结：

其中2.3题超时了，是因为在第一遍没有明白文章意思（大忌），打算从语法和阅读中弥补，读第二遍的时候速度很慢，虽然答案都选对了，但是自己都没有想出答案中的assumption，也就是自己想的和答案不一样，说实话还是有些沮丧的。不过觉得shift还是有一定规律的，就像七宗罪的总结，题还是需要重复做，总结shift.

12.CR：Strengthen问题（在CR题目中大概占15％）

Plans andProposals:问是否有可能成功。一般可以把问题转化为结论放入文章中。

ExceptQuestion:此类问题中EXCEPT会大写，所以注意读题，其实是找出五个中的一个，而这个与其他四个表达的是相反的。但是比较难的题目会吧其他四个设为无效选项或与文章无关。

13.CR：Strengthen：练习P37

11－13correct14 wrong

总结:读题目时conclusion很重要，一定要弄清楚conclusion中的问题所在。另外，注意力不集中，看选项的花费的时间长，尤其是EXCEPT题（还做错了。。），不太习惯。

31.RC：Typesof Questions (P76)

类型分为四类：Scope (main idea): notonly matches the topic, but also the specific focus of the passage.

Detail: 文章某部分的文字重新组合。GMAT要考察的是你是否对文章结构完全清楚，以致能够快速的找到对应原文的段落或句子。

Inference: GMAT考察的是你是否能够区分作者的观点和其他不同的观点。

Structure: 和CR中的Boldface题很像。

killerluo

2013.10.2 （4hours）

14.CR:Weaken Questions

That we’re focusing on theassumption--the unstated, but necessary, part of the argument. The correct answer won’t contradict the evidence orconclusion: it doesn’t make sense to say something directly opposite of whatthe passage already states. Instead, focus on what the argument assumes. 对于先看问题还是先看文章并没有一个固定的模式，现在做练习时我采用的是先看问题，再看文章，然后自己想assumption。Flaw Questions: 和weaken question同等对待，如果仔细研究，weakenquestion和flaw question的选项有一些不同。

16.CR:Explanation and paradox questions

To bestapproach these questions, don’t look at the answer choices until you understandwhat it is you are trying to explain. If you’re not confident about whatconstitutes the "apparent discrepancy" or "unexpected effect,"re-read the passage looking for it. The correct answer will address thatdiscrepancy very specifically.

18.CR: EvidenceQuestions

Theanswer choices in an evidence question suggest things that might or might notbe true, and which would-if true or false-have an effect on the argument.

Here’s asample evidence question:

Which ofthe following would it be most useful to establish in order to evaluate theargument? Answer choices typically begin with the word “weather”.

答案往往可能strengthen也可能weaken原文，如果既没有strengthen也没有weaken，那这个选项就是个无关选项。

20.CR:Inference Question

此类问题与RC相关，因为1／4的RC问题都是Inference问题，此类问题需要你自己去总结conclusion。

Here area few examples of inference questions:

If thestatements above are true, which of the following is most strongly supported by them? 被支持

Which ofthe following hypotheses is best supported by the statements given?

Which ofthe following conclusions can properly be drawn from the information above?

Which ofthe following can properly be inferred regarding [x]?

[x’s]argument is structured to lead to which of the following as a conclusion?

答案只根据原文而不会relyon any other information.而且答案一般不会有肯定性语气，例如all, never, every等。

22.CR:Fill-in-the-blank questions

一般是lookingfor a piece of evidence而不是conclusion。

Inference FITBs: Some FITBs give you key words that signal that a conclusionis coming right before the blank. For instance:

Becauseof this trend, it is likely that______

Theresearchers’ findings suggest that it is reasonable to conclude that______

Evidence/Assumption FITBs: Other FITBs, like most of the examples you’ll see in thefollowing section, usekey wordsthat suggest the passage will conclude with a final piece of evidence.

Here aresome examples of concluding sentences:

The planis likely to succeed because______

Thescientists consider the technique worthy of further study, since_______

The words"because" and "since" signal that what follows will supportthe preceding phrase, which is usually a conclusion. If you’ve read through theCritical Reasoning section in order, you’ve already been exposed to some of thetechniques you need to handle these questions. If you can identify an unstated assumptionin the passage, that might be what should fill in the blank. You may have tolook at the answer choices and consider each one, but the logical relationshipsof evidence and conclusion are the same for a FITB as they are for the wholerange of CR assumption-based questions.

24.CR:Boldface Questions

这种类型题很让人头疼，在各个练习中也很少遇到，但是如果是这样，那么在真正的考试中遇到的几率也是很少的，你有可能在考试中是遇不到的。

Eachanswer choice in a boldface question will o.er a characterization of eachboldface statement. Here’s a sample answer choice:

The firstand the second are both evidence offered by the argument as support for itsmain conclusion.

You’llalso see statements characterized as some of the following:

initial conclusion

revised conclusion

assumption

a development the argument seeks to explain

a problem

a judgment

27. CR: CommonWrong Answer Choices

学习GMAT CR题目的时候最重要的是知道错题是怎么错的。

Off-Topic

The scopeof each passage is very narrow, whether it’s an assumption-based question or aninference-based question. This sort of wrong answer choice takes some tidbitfrom the passage and acts as if that tidbit were the main focus. It might beappealing for a moment, butif you consider the conclusion of the passage, or the scope of the premises,you’ll realize that such a choice can’t possibly relate to the entire passage.

Irrelevant Comparison

Manyquestions rely on the relationship between two things. For instance, the AirMacaria example we’ve turned to throughout this section has a conclusion thatis based on the relationship between Air Macaria’s prices and a competitor’sprices. Wrong answer choices of this sort reflect the fact that the correctchoice will include a comparison, but gets at least half of the comparison wrong.

Severalchapters ago, I compared an assumption to a piece in a jigsaw puzzle.

The correct answer fits on every side,but this sort of incorrect choice only fits on one side. The side that fitsmight make it a tempting choice, but it’s more important to focus on what mightmake an answer wrong.

Strong Language

Oninference-based questions especially, the wording of the passages is not verystrong. The tone is academic and few broad generalizations are made.

The sameshould be true of the correct answer. Words like "all," "none," and"never" will almost never appear in a correct answer choice. The one exceptionto this rule is when the passage itself contains such extreme language.

If thepremises make broad generalizations, it might be reasonable to draw a conclusionthat uses strong language.

Wrong Question

As you’vediscovered, many types of CR questions are closely related. Strengthen andweaken, for instance, are opposites, but the strategies you’ll use to answer thosequestions are very similar. Frequently,at least one wrong answer choice is on topic, comparing the right things, butanswers the wrong question! It sounds simple, but beware of choices thatstrengthen the argument on a weaken question, and vice versa.

killerluo

2013.10.4  (2.5h)
Practice正确率：
Weaken：2对2错  正确率：50％
Explanation: 2对2错  正确率：50％
Evidence: 2对  正确率：100％
Inference: 3对   正确率：100％
Fill-in-the-blank: 2对1错    正确率：66.7％
Boldface: 2错  正确率：0％
有个奇怪的现象，100％区域的题目平均用时1分钟，错的题都是用时多的（2分钟）。

发现个背单词的好东东分享给大家：http://wordpress.lixiaolai.com/archives/8079.html  背了6个unit.

killerluo

2013.10.5 (2.5h)

今天发现了一个强帖，学习了一下。

http://forum.chasedream.com/thread-571267-1-1.html

【逻辑入门】（一）Arguments

每个句子包括前提、连接词、结论，但往往在argument中是没有连接词，且需要自己识别哪些是前提，哪些是结论，之间的连接词又应该是什么。

【逻辑入门】（二）More about Argument Components

有时候一个argument中有几个前提和几个结论，要做的是要找到那个总结论，不要被子结论误导。一般的模板应该是这样的：

1)   Opinionof someone else

2) The author’s conclusion(usually introduced with words such as but or however to highlight the contrast)
3) Premise(s) to support the author’s conclusion

Asto examples of such opinions:
Manyscholars believe that . . .
A few committee members argue that . . .
The defendant claimed that . . .
The classical theory holds that . . .
Hui’s recent research found that. . .
Most CDers voted [the posts by Zeros as their favorites]

       It iscommonly assumed that . . .
       It is very documented that . . .
       It is widely agreed that . . .

【逻辑入门】（三）Main Point

在main point问题时，先问自己，作者想要证明什么？结论是什么？一般结论会在结尾，但有的时候也会在段首或段中，结构往往是这样的：

Opinion. However, conclusion. Premise.
Opinion. Although concession, conclusion. Premise.

Look for the answerchoice which most accurately restates the main conclusion you found in thepassage. Possible wrong answers include 1) restating a premise; 2) listing anintermediate conclusion; 3) giving you something, which with a NEW assumption, could be inferred from the passage (thecardinal sin for Must-be-true type questions).

【逻辑入门】（四）Role (Boldface)

Common prompts for role or boldface:
Which one of the following most accuratelydescribes the role played in the argument by the claim that . . .?
The statement that . . . serves which one of the following functions in the argument?
The claim that . . . figures in the economist’s argument in which one of the following ways?
In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
The first boldface statementhas what relationship to thesecond boldface statement?

Before you look at the answers:
这几点讲的太好了～～
1. Pinpoint the mainconclusion in the passage.
2. Separate the premises from everything else.After finding the main conclusion, don’t assume that all the other statements are premises; they might include opposing viewpoints, background information, orconcession.
3. Analyze the structure of the argument. In other words, figure out how thevarious pieces of an argument or a passage fit together logically.
4. Then, in your own words, describe what role the statement mentioned in theprompt plays. Is it the main conclusion, an intermediate conclusion, a premise, an opposing viewpoint, a view that author is trying to support, aconcession? Avoid looking at the answers until you have forced yourself todescribe the statement’s role.

Then look for the answer that most accurately describes what you just described:

1. Focus on the active clause of each answer tohelp yourself move through the answers faster.
2. The correct answer must describe exactly what ishappening in the passage. Make sure every word of that answer correlates with some part of thepassage. In other words, translate the abstract terms into concrete terms fromthe passage. If the statement is the argument’s main conclusion, for example,but the argument also has an intermediate conclusion, then the answer that thestatement “is the author’s only conclusion” would be wrong; it is not the only conclusion, even though it is the main conclusion.

killerluo

2013.10.6 (1.5h)

今天看到一个强帖，收获很大，http://forum.chasedream.com/thread-543843-1-1.html  

语法，首先第一条是语法基础必不可少，其次是语法题其实是考逻辑，是要求最高的一项，语法中的逻辑是关键，第三是千万不要只看划线句。

复习资料：

·       曼哈顿的SC、CR和RC就是三本语文部分

·       GWD/TN24套

·       做了模考笔记，也看了无数遍

·       数学部分：陈向东的数学

逻辑部分，我总结一下：

1.    读懂段落，多半就会做。

2.    熟悉题型，随着问题找读题的重点，

3.    达到标准的方法是突然发现lawyer经典的帖子字字珠玑。四大经典题型是假设、支持、削弱和找主题。

lawyer的经典逻辑帖：
http://forum.chasedream.com/GMAT_CR/thread-74525-1-1.html

另一个强帖：

http://forum.chasedream.com/thread-531893-1-1.html

打算调整一下步调，觉得应该从语法上开始，因为阅读能力和单词是基础，在语法方面可以总结出来。接下来的计划是Bible/Mahattan/OG/Prep08.07

Bible: 语法的选项A／B／C／D／E有可能是平均分配的。最难的语法题是选项都是读起来不顺的，但是要选最好的。下面是 hierarchy of errors:

Category 1: Technical grammar rules 铁定错的

These include most of what the following chapters discuss: incorrect verb tense,subject/verb disagreement, misplaced modifiers, lists that don’t use parallelconstruction, comparisons that don’t compare like things, and incorrect pronounusage. These are the sorts of things that show up in grammar books.

When you find an error that falls into one of these categories, it is wrong. There’s noambiguity--a choice thatbreaks one of these fundamental grammar rules will never be right.

Category 2: Idioms and Mood 与第一条比有可能对

Part ofthe problem with idioms, as I alluded to in the previous chapter, is that thereis almost an infinite number of idioms in English. Some of them, such as therule that determines using "less" and "fewer," areunambiguous. Many more of them, like the hundreds of guidelines that pair verbsand prepositions ("concernedwith," "concerned for," "concerned about") are notnearly as clear. In the Idioms chapter below, you’ll find the unambiguous ones. Thosegenerally belong in Category 1. However, everything else belongs here. If youthink you’ve found an obscure idiom problem, you might be right...or the testmight be using another obscure idiom that you aren’t familiar with.

The otherissue in this category is the passive mood, or as it is more commonly known,"passive voice." In general terms, a sentence uses passive voice whenthe object precedes the subject. ("John was complimented by Kim" is passive,while "Kim complimented John" is active.) The GMAT prefers active voice. That said,long sentences can be passive without the mood causing many problems, and somesentences are active but are still awkward. Passive voice just isn’t asclear-cut as the technical rules in Category 1.

When you identify an error in Category2, you can probably eliminate the choice, but be careful. A choice with aCategory 2 error will, in rare cases, be correct. Such a choice is correct ifand only if all four of the other choices have Category 1 errors.

Category 3: Clarity (and everything else) 与前两条比有可能对

If youread through the explanations in The Official Guide to GMAT Review, you’ll find frustratingly vague descriptions of grammatical errors. Terms like "clarity of expression," "elegance of expression," and "rhetorical construction" appear again and again.

In general,those terms refer to the efficiency with which a sentence is written.

All else equal, a short sentence is better than a long one. Active voice is one way to achieve that, but sometimes it’s just a matter of rearranging phrases. The

GMATwould prefer that no sentence ever be awkward, redundant, inelegant, orunnecessarily long. However, lots of correct SC answers have some of thosecharacteristics. This occurs more often on harder questions and on items wherethe entire sentence is underlined. When you encounter these Category 3 errors, be very careful:

Lots of choices with Category 3 errorsend up being correct. As with choices that contain Category 2 errors, choiceswith Category 3 errors could be right or wrong. It depends on the otheranswers. A Category 3 choice will probably be wrong more often than it isright, but it can be right—if and only if the other four choices have Category1 and/or Category 2 errors.

错误分为三个category，所以作总结的时候每一个选项按照优先级区分。

下面分别说明：

名词：thedistinction between plural nouns and singular nouns.

代词：When apronoun is used, it should be clear what it refers to.

形容词：基本只修饰名词，GMAT中很少出现大量形容词修饰成分。

动词：后面会提到，很复杂。

副词：基本只修饰动词，可在动词前，也可在动词后。

介词：focuson the precise meaning of these words. E.g. “before” will always be used whencomparing times; “Toward” appears when one thing is moving in the direction ofanother.

在看选项之前，focus on exactly what the words mean, and whether the sentence structure makes sense.在做阅读和逻辑的时候，我们要培养读句子的时候不是只看作者写了什么，而是要思考他要表达什么。然而语法正好相反，我们要找的是句子用词imprecision和nonsensical phrasings.

动词时态：

一般我们有past,present, and future tenses; 我们更要注意的是进行时和完成时。E.g.

"He was writing an essay."

"He is writing an essay."

"He will be writing anessay."

"Before the economy’s recentrecovery, it had had made investors nervous."

"The economy is recovering, but ithas made investors nervous."

"By the time the economy recovers,it will have made investors nervous."

规律：

1. Verbtenses must make logical sense. If the meaning of the sentence indicates theorder in which two events occur, the earlier event must be described using anearlier tense than the later event.

2.Progressive tenses are generally not desirable. Use of a progressive tense isdefinitely a Category 3 error; you will see correct answers using progressivetenses. However, just about any "ing" verbs can be improved, andoften the GMAT gives you a better option.

3. In general, perfect tensescannot be used unless the corresponding simple tense is also present in the sentence.For instance, it wouldn’t be grammatically correct to say, "The economyhad been slumping." The past perfect tense implies that it had beenslumping before some other event occurred. To be correct, the sentence needs to include something in the past tense. For example, "The economy had beenslumping before legislators passed a comprehensive aid package." The eventdescribed using past perfect precedes the event described using simple past.

4. The one exception to theprevious rule is present perfect. It is acceptable to use the present perfectwithout also describing an event using simple present. For instance,"The economy has been slumping" could be correct.

一般来讲，完成时要有前因后果，如使用过去完成时就要有过去时，但是4中讲到，现在完成时是特例，可单独在句中使用。

主谓一致：

一般来说，主语为名词，当然很多情况下会有很多修饰成分。另外，每个句子都要有一个动词，且这个动词要根据主语的单复数形式而定。但需要注意的是动词的形式不是根据临近名词的。GMAT出题时会把主语和动词离得很远来误导我们。

虚拟语气：

1.If a sentenceexpresses a hypothetical, use the verb "were" instead of"was." Forinstance, this is correct: If I were to apply to an MBA program, I might beaccepted.

The keyword is "if," which signals the hypothetical.

2. Mandatingsubjunctive: 用强制性的动词做虚拟语气，如request, demand, command...E.g. "You should finish yourwork." "I think you need to decide."è"I request that you finish your work." "He demanded that thedecision be made."

我们需要注意的是： First, the mandatingsubjunctive applies to any tense. ("Request" is present, while"demanded" is past.) Second, the words "should" and"need" are gone altogether. Requesting and demanding imply that thework should be done and that the decision be made. Finally, note in the secondsentence the use of the word "be." It might feel more natural to write,"He demanded that the decision should be made," but as I’ve pointedout, the word "demanded" implies that it "should" be made.The word "should," then, is redundant.

killerluo

2013.10.8 (2h)

做了几道语法题，很不得要领，决定还是先看大家的总结，然后再做题总结。我看的是Tonytong的个人语法笔记。把like的部分看了，后面的练习题总结了。

在itunes上看到一下关于GMAT的视频，挺好的，GMATPrep Now，对于刚接触的同学们有些帮助。

killerluo

2013.10.13 （2h）

在此期间做了Bible的语法，看了相关解释，有些不太理解，觉得Bible上讲的规律很基础，收获不大。。因人而异吧。。
今天我毅然决然的转向OG了，做了20道语法，错了3个，正确的题看了一下解释都和自己想的差不多。错的三道题是OG-SC-9，OG-SC-15，OG-SC-20

第9题，一看见percent还有比较词(than), 就基本晕了。。薄弱环节。。
第15题，把not...but和not only...but also弄混了。。。前者是转折，后者是递进。。但是解释中关于confident修饰households的解释没有看明白，A选项和C选项怎么就没有表现出修饰关系了？
第20题，这道题方向从一开始就错了，我以为是和第9题一样了，但是看了解释才知道是因为expectation而导致的动词形式错误。

觉得看解释的收获在于知道错误的优先顺序（解释错误选项时第一个指出的）和绝对错误是哪些，这个很重要，需要不断总结。