Wednesday, December 9, 2009

thinking...

...about the celebratory mood of last year. Adventing the entire month. Where and how and why did I go to there?

And I kind of miss it. But the only adventing this year is for the GRE. And I get a little giddy every time I think about it. I can't wait. Only because I want it over.

December 19

10 more days to stuff this obtuse brain of mine. (Ha! Take that verbal section. I'm throwing the vocab like a bucolic ascetic oscillating enigmatic dogma.)

And while I've been concerned about the math - last night's practice test proved that I have a few other problems.

I missed 5 out of the 10 verbal section questions. In particular - Antonyms - questions that require you to choose the opposite of a word given to you.

And I trick myself into answering incorrectly almost as often as I trick myself into the correction.

For example - let's take this little practice question (listed under easy, by the way). Okay what is the opposite of:

FRUSTRATE:

a. facilitate
b. moderate
c. climb
d. judge
e. assemble

The practice book warns to watch out for questions that are using a secondary definition of the stem word. (Frustrate is the stem here.) I was keeping that in mind when I answered this question. This. very. easy. question. Because I know what every word here means - I should have gotten it right.

I failed.

Now you try. And show me how obtuse my brain really is.

5 comments:

Anna said...

I would choose "facilitate." But I've never been good at standardized tests...

Mary said...

I always read questions like these too fast and go with my first choice then move on. I first chose moderate. But going back, I think it should be facilitate.

And your use of the word obtuse reminds me of that scene in Shawshank Redemption -- "Or am I being obtuse?"

angee said...

I choose facilitate. Please let us know the answer! :)

Sherry Carpet said...

a.

Jacks said...

Yep! You all did your job. I am beyond obtuse. Thank you for proving it.

And, might I add that you all should take the GRE...if you haven't. Because you would do really well.

My guess? (drum roll) E. assemble

I know! you're thinking what??? But see, I was thinking of to frustrate - - as in to disrupt something (like blocks). And assemble seemed really, really opposite of that....