Still studying for the GRE

Tomorrow I'm taking the GRE. I registered 1.5 weeks ago. Not really a smart way to go about it, but, applications are due Dec. 20 for the programs I'm interested in, and I just figured out I was doing this, after years of hand-wringing, so, c'est la vie.

The last time I was in a math class I was 15 or 16 and it was 1989 or 1990. It's not that the problems are difficult, it's that there are so many steps and so many opportunities (for me) to make a small error. I am trying to re-learn the formulas for geometry, as well as stuff like FOIL and PEMDAS and square root stuff and probability and complicated percentage problems.

Example:                                       

If n is                     an odd integer, which one of the following is an even integer?                                       

(A) 3n                     + 2     (B) n/4     (C)                     2n + 3     (D) n(n + 3)     (E)                     nn
                                      

We are                     told that n is an odd integer. So choose an odd integer for                     n, say, 1 and substitute it into each answer-choice. In Choice                     (A), 3(1) + 2 = 5, which is not an even integer. So eliminate                     (A). Next, n/4 = 1/4 is not an even integer--eliminate (B).                     Next, 2n + 3 = 2(1) + 3 = 5 is not an even integer--eliminate                     (C). Next, n(n + 3) = 1(1 + 3) = 4 is even and hence the answer                     is possibly (D). Finally, in Choice (E), the nn = 1(1) = 1,                     which is not even--eliminate (E). The answer is (D).

Example:                     Define x # y by the equation x # y = xy - y. Then 2 # 3 =                                       

(A) 1                         (B) 3     (C)                     12     (D) 15     (E)                     18
                                      

From the                     above definition, we know that x # y = xy - y. So all we have                     to do is replace x with 2 and y with 3 in the definition:                     2 # 3 = 2(3) - 3 = 3. Hence, the answer is (B). ------------------------
As far as reading goes...last weekend I read:

Something Special by Iris Murdoch (short story in a book format)
Rape: A Love Story by Joyce Carol Oates (novella)
Beasts by Joyce Carol Oates (novella)

I'm currently reading:

The Martyred by Richard Kim (novel)
Pregnancy and Power by Rickie Solinger (academic book)

Last night I went to Juliet Patterson's MFA class at Hamline University to be a guest artist. It was such a pleasure; it reminded me of how much I L-O-V-E poetry.

Please go read Juliet's book The Truant Lover. Beautiful, musical, refined, passionate.

Comments

[Molly]

I took the GRE a week or so ago, and I scored higher on the math than the verbal, which tends to happen. I'm not sure what programs you are applying for, but GOOD LUCK!

[Molly]

I took the GRE a week or so ago, and I scored higher on the math than the verbal, which tends to happen. I'm not sure what programs you are applying for, but GOOD LUCK!