MCAT Verbal Reasoning & Writing Review (Graduate School Test Preparation)

436 Pages·2010·12.23 MB·English

by  Princeton Review

MCAT
®
Verbal Reasoning & Writing Review
The Staff of The Princeton Review
Random House, Inc. New York
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CONTRIBUTORS
Jennifer S. Wooddell
Senior Author and Editor
Edited for Production by
Judene Wright, M.S., M.A.Ed.
National Content Director, MCAT Program, The Princeton Review
Jennifer and Judene would like to thank the following people for their contributions to this book:
Elizabeth Aamot (Fatith), John Bahling, M.D., Gary Bedford, Jessica Burstrem, M.A., Alix Claps, M.A., Cynthia Cowan,
B.A., Sara Daniel, B.S., Cory Eicher, B.A., (James) Ben Gill, Jacqueline R. Giordano, Gina Granter, M.A., Corinne Harol,
Christopher Hinkle, Th.D., Alison Howard, Paul Kugelmass, Jay Lee, Rohit Madani, B.S., Mike Matera, B.A., Ashleigh Men-
hadji, Katherine Montgomery, Don Osborne, Rupal Patel, B.S., Vivek Patel, Tyler Peikes, Nadia Reynolds, M.A., Maryam
Shambayati, M.S., Angela Song, Kate Speiker, David Stoll, Jonathan Swirsky, Neil Thornton, Laura Tubelle de González,
and David Weiskopf, M.A.
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MCAT VERBAL REASONING & WRITING REVIEW
VERBAL REASONING CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 2: INTRODUCTION TO MCAT VERBAL REASONING ........................................................................... 15
2.1 The Verbal Reasoning Section ........................................................................................................ 16
2.2 Developing Your Verbal Reasoning Skills ..................................................................................... 17
2.3 Fundamentals: The Six Steps ......................................................................................................... 18
2.4 Guidelines for Using Your Review Materials ................................................................................ 20
2.5 Self Evaluation .................................................................................................................................... 21
Chapter 2 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 25
Chapter 2 Practice Passages ......................................................................................................... 26
Solutions to Chapter 2 Practice Passages ................................................................................. 30
CHAPTER 3: ACTIVE READING ................................................................................................................................. 35
3.1 Basic Approach: The Six Steps ....................................................................................................... 36
3.2 Strategies for Active Reading: Getting to the Bottom Line ................................................... 37
3.3 Passage Annotation and Mapping ................................................................................................. 38
3.4 Habits of Effective Readers ............................................................................................................ 41
3.5 Dos and Don’ts for Active Reading ................................................................................................ 42
3.6 Verbal Reading Exercises: Active Reading .................................................................................. 43
Chapter 3 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 54
Chapter 3 Practice Passages ......................................................................................................... 55
Solutions to Chapter 3 Practice Passages ................................................................................. 60
CHAPTER 4: QUESTION TYPES AND STRATEGIES .............................................................................................. 65
4.1 Review: The Six Steps ....................................................................................................................... 66
4.2 Attacking the Questions ................................................................................................................... 67
4.3 Question Types and Formats .......................................................................................................... 71
4.4 Question Types: Sample Passage and Questions ..................................................................... 72
4.5 Verbal Reasoning Exercises: Identifying Question Types ....................................................... 97
Chapter 4 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 99
Chapter 4 Practice Passages ......................................................................................................... 100
Solutions to Chapter 4 Practice Passages ................................................................................. 105
CHAPTER 5: THE PROCESS OF ELIMINATION (POE) AND ATTRACTORS ....................................................... 111
5.1 The Process of Elimination .............................................................................................................. 112
5.2 Attractors ............................................................................................................................................. 114
5.3 POE Dos and Don’ts ........................................................................................................................... 117
5.4 Stress Management .......................................................................................................................... 118
Chapter 5 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 120
Chapter 5 Practice Passages ......................................................................................................... 121
Solutions to Chapter 5 Practice Passages ................................................................................. 127
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER 6: RANKING AND ORDERING THE PASSAGES ................................................................................... 135
6.1 Why Rank the Passages? ................................................................................................................. 136
6.2 Assessing Difficulty Level: NOW, LATER, and KILLER ............................................................... 137
6.3 Ordering the Section ......................................................................................................................... 139
6.4 Verbal Reasoning Exercises: Ranking .......................................................................................... 140
Chapter 6 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 147
Chapter 6 Practice Passages ......................................................................................................... 148
Solutions to Chapter 6 Practice Passages ................................................................................. 153
CHAPTER 7: MAPS: FOCUS ON STRUCTURE ....................................................................................................... 159
7.1 The Structure of a Passage ............................................................................................................ 160
7.2 The MAPS of a Passage .................................................................................................................... 161
7.3 Verbal Reasoning Exercise: MAPS ................................................................................................. 166
7.4 Dealing with Stress ............................................................................................................................ 179
Chapter 7 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 180
Chapter 7 Practice Passages ......................................................................................................... 181
Solutions to Chapter 7 Practice Passages ................................................................................. 186
CHAPTER 8: STRATEGY AND TACTICS ................................................................................................................... 193
8.1 Maximizing Your Performance ....................................................................................................... 194
8.2 Focus on Pacing ................................................................................................................................. 197
8.3 Refining Your Pacing ......................................................................................................................... 198
8.4 Verbal Reasoning Exercises: Pacing and Self-Evaluation ...................................................... 200
Chapter 8 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 206
Chapter 8 Practice Passages ......................................................................................................... 207
Solutions to Chapter 8 Practice Passages ................................................................................. 212
CHAPTER 9: REFINING YOUR SKILLS ..................................................................................................................... 219
9.1 Continuing the Self-Evaluation Process ..................................................................................... 220
9.2 Refining Your Skills ............................................................................................................................ 221
9.3 Managing Stress: Preparing for the Day of the Test ................................................................ 239
Chapter 9 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 240
Chapter 9 Practice Passages ......................................................................................................... 241
Solutions to Chapter 9 Practice Passages ................................................................................. 246
CHAPTER 10: FINAL PREPARATION ........................................................................................................................ 251
10.1 Mental Preparation ............................................................................................................................ 252
Chapter 10 Practice Passages ....................................................................................................... 253
Solutions to Chapter 10 Practice Passages ............................................................................... 258
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MCAT VERBAL REASONING & WRITING REVIEW
WRITING SAMPLE CONTENTS
CHAPTER 11: INTRODUCTION TO THE MCAT WRITING SAMPLE ....................................................................... 263
11.1 Introduction to the MCAT Writing Sample ................................................................................... 264
11.2 The Prompt and the Tasks ............................................................................................................... 266
11.3 How to Prepare for the Essay ......................................................................................................... 268
11.4 Writing Sample Exercises ................................................................................................................ 270
Chapter 11 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 276
CHAPTER 12: THE T-A-S STRUCTURE ..................................................................................................................... 277
12.1 Options and Imperatives Prompts ................................................................................................ 278
12.2 The T-A-S Structure .......................................................................................................................... 279
12.3 Hallmarks of a Good Essay .............................................................................................................. 282
12.4 Numerical Scoring Guidelines ......................................................................................................... 284
12.5 An Essay-Writing Timetable ........................................................................................................... 285
12.6 Writing Sample Exercises ................................................................................................................ 286
Chapter 12 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 297
CHAPTER 13: PREWRITING ........................................................................................................................................ 299
13.1 Prewriting: A 4-Step Process ......................................................................................................... 300
13.2 Writing Sample Exercises ................................................................................................................ 304
13.3 Timed Essay #1 .................................................................................................................................. 308
Chapter 13 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 313
CHAPTER 14: FOCUS ON THE THESIS ...................................................................................................................... 315
14.1 Articulate the Thesis Principle ....................................................................................................... 316
14.2 A Thesis Paragraph Model ............................................................................................................... 317
14.3 Generating Strong Examples .......................................................................................................... 321
14.4 Putting It All Together ....................................................................................................................... 323
14.5 Writing Sample Exercises ................................................................................................................ 324
14.6 Timed Essay #2 .................................................................................................................................. 327
Chapter 14 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 331
CHAPTER 15: FOCUS ON THE ANTITHESIS ............................................................................................................. 333
15.1 Focus on the Antithesis .................................................................................................................... 334
15.2 An Antithesis Paragraph Model ...................................................................................................... 335
15.3 Putting It All Together ....................................................................................................................... 338
15.4 Writing Sample Exercises ................................................................................................................ 339
Chapter 15 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 344
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER 16: FOCUS ON THE SYNTHESIS .............................................................................................................. 345
16.1 The Synthesis Rule ............................................................................................................................ 346
16.2 A Synthesis Paragraph Model ......................................................................................................... 347
16.3 Putting It All Together ....................................................................................................................... 349
16.4 Using Synthesis Dichotomies ......................................................................................................... 350
16.5 Avoiding Circular Reasoning ............................................................................................................ 351
16.6 Writing Sample Exercises ................................................................................................................ 353
16.7 Timed Essay #3 .................................................................................................................................. 359
Chapter 16 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 362
CHAPTER 17: WRITING CLEARLY: PART 1 .............................................................................................................. 363
17.1 Writing Clearly: Style ......................................................................................................................... 364
17.2 Writing Sample Exercises ................................................................................................................ 371
17.3 Timed Essay #4 .................................................................................................................................. 374
Chapter 17 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 378
CHAPTER 18: WRITING CLEARLY: PART 2 .............................................................................................................. 379
18.1 Using Punctuation Wisely ................................................................................................................ 380
18.2 Eliminating Fragments and Run-Ons ........................................................................................... 383
18.3 Bringing Your Nouns and Pronouns into Agreement ................................................................ 383
18.4 Using Nonsexist Language .............................................................................................................. 384
18.5 Putting It All Together ....................................................................................................................... 384
18.6 Writing Sample Exercises ................................................................................................................ 385
18.7 Timed Essay #5 .................................................................................................................................. 388
Chapter 18 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 392
CHAPTER 19: FINAL PREPARATION ......................................................................................................................... 393
19.1 Before the Exam ................................................................................................................................. 394
19.2 Writing Sample Exercises ................................................................................................................ 395
VERBAL REASONING APPENDIX .............................................................................................................................. 397
Applying Verbal Reasoning Techniques to the Science Passages ....................................... 398
WRITING SAMPLE APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................... 411
A.1 National Council of Teachers Guidelines for Nonsexist Language ....................................... 412
A.2 Interview and Personal Statement Preparation Questions ................................................... 414
Passage Permissions Information ................................................................................................ 417
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