When solving word problems (math problems in a real-world setting), make reasonable real-world assumptions. Don’t get stuck looking for subtle meanings, this is not the wrong section for test-makers try to trick you in this way.
Unless your question specifically involved Data Analysis interpretation of graphs or charts you should not rely on your eyes alone to measure angle sizes; the figures are not often drawn to scale. Know which questions you should (or must) visually estimate, and which ones you should not.
Look for the most intuitive way to get the right answer. Problem solving questions are designed to have faster and shorter ways to get the same answer, so if you’re doing a lot of pencil work, stop and take a moment to think. There is likely a quicker way.
Numerical value answer choices will increase in size as you read down the list. So if you estimate roughly the size of number the question asks for, then you can easily eliminate all but the most probable answers.
If you’re stuck, many questions allow you to work backward by assuming hypothetically that each answer choice in turn is the correct one, then testing it by “plugging it in.”
Never forget to double check your work. Wrong answers anticipate commonly made mistakes ir order to trick you. Use a pencil and scrap paper so you can briefly check your process and calculation before selecting your final answer.
GRE Problems
The Arithmetic part of the GRE exam consists of several multiple choice questions on various topics, including:
- Basic number properties
- Fractions, decimals and percentages
- Arithmetic word problems
- Algebra- equations and inequalities
- Averages, ratios, proportions
- A tiny bit of probability, permutations/combinations, etc.
- Geometry: lines, angles, triangles, squares, a tiny bit about circles, and coordinate geometry
Make sure you know all of these areas of math. They’re usually asked at an American high-school level, which isn’t very difficult to be honest.
There are approximately 10 distcrete-quantitative, or regular, math problems in the quantitative section of the GRE. You get about 1.5 minute per question, which means timing is crucial- you want to practice until you can solve these questions within the proper time limit.
Sample Problems:
On a coordinated grid with O(0,0), line AB goes from (0,3) to (3,0). Line CD goes from (0,4) to (4,0). What’s the area of ABCD?
Answer: In the GRE, you’ll likely be given a picture to help you, but here you should just draw it out yourself. The easiest way to solve this is to find the area of triangle AOB and subtract it from the area of triangle COD, as the remainder will constitute of area ABCD. Now, each perpendicular side of AOB is 3, so the area is . The area of COD is similarly . Therefore the remining area of ABCD is .
Question: , while . Find .
Answer: The trick here is to manipulate the equations you’re given to eliminate b. You can do this easily by adding two of the first equation to the second one: . Cool. Now, we know that , so . See, it’s pretty easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment