Sylvan (n)
Silk van goes to jungle to get silk. Pertaining to woods.
Silk van goes to jungle to get silk. Pertaining to woods.
Usage:
A shady, sylvan glade.
Sylvan (Antonym)
a) urbane
b) bucolic
c) idyllic
d) verdant
e) agrarian
Popularity: 27% [?]
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Written by GRE Word of The Day Team on October 14th, 2007 with 8 comments.
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GRE halts complete makeover
By Kelly Conniff, copy editor
Posted on September 10, 2007
The GRE has canceled its total makeover, choosing instead to roll out changes in a more gradual fashion.
The Educational Testing Service had previously announced plans for a complete overhaul of the test in 2006, arranging for a revised version to premiere in 2007.
However, as of April 2, ETS canceled plans for the revised version, saying that they will instead incorporate gradual changes into the test.
“The proposed changes had no effect on my decision to take the test the first time,” senior Ruth Martini said. “But for my second test I am going to try my hardest to avoid the revised version.”
The Graduate Record Examination is a standardized test required for admission by many graduate schools across the United States. Like the SATs, the test is developed, administered and scored by the Educational Testing Service, a nonprofit institution. The test is focused on several areas and provides math and verbal scores as a means of ranking students applying to graduate schools.
Many JMU students getting ready to apply to graduate schools have prepared themselves to take the test, changes or not.
“I’m hoping to go to graduate school after graduation,” senior Erin Bennett said. “Whether it’s right away or in a few years, I want to get the test out of the way now.”
Originally, ETS planned to completely scrap the old version and launch a new version of the test that would be longer in length, formatted differently and contain more difficult question content and types.
However, the nonprofit decided not to implement the overall changes because they feared that the new Internet-based test would not be available to test-takers in all areas.
Students seem apprehensive about the changes and were previously anxious to avoid the more difficult version of the test.
“I even thought about taking it in the summer before the new test was available,” Bennett said. “It seemed like the new test would be longer and more difficult and I didn’t want to deal with that.”
The ETS Web site reports that the nonprofit organization is still committed to excellence in providing a comprehensive exam, and plans to add revisions gradually over the next few years.
The first of these revisions will occur on the Nov. computer-based version of the test, which will include new questions in the Verbal Reasoning or Quantitative Reasoning sections of the computer-based GRE General Test. As a means of preparation, ETS has offered practice question on its Web sites.
The confusion surrounding the prolonged changes raises questions to students about the necessity of the test in evaluating students’ abilities before applying to graduate school.
“I do think that tests like the GRE are necessary because they provide an objective means of evaluating students from different schools,” Martini said. “On the other hand, it can be frustrating to have your intellectual ability reduced to a number.”
Others find the test unnecessary, but have resigned themselves to taking it.
“I don’t think I should have to take them because I feel like it’s not an accurate depiction of my abilities,” said Bennett. “But I understand that they use it as one more way to narrow down.”
(Source: thebreeze.org )
Popularity: 5% [?]
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Written by GRE Word of The Day Team on September 12th, 2007 with no comments.
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Change in GRE Syllabus from November 2007
http://www.takegre.com/index.php/change-in-gre-syllabus-from-november-2007/
Press Releases
GRE® General Test to Include New Question Types in November
Contact:
Tom Ewing
1-609-683-2899
mediacontacts@ets.org
Princeton, N.J. (July 20, 2007) —
Educational Testing Service® (ETS®), in consultation with the Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®) Board, announced today plans to include two new question types in the computer-based GRE General Test beginning in November.
The new question types are part of the first phase of improvements endorsed by graduate school educators. Plans for launching an entirely new test all at once were dropped, and ETS decided to introduce new question types and improvements gradually over time.
“These question types have already been through extensive field trials, and the results indicate that the questions are functioning as intended,” explains David Payne, Associate Vice President of Higher Education at ETS. “We will begin counting these question types toward examinee scores as soon as we have an adequate sample of data from the operational testing environment.”
Test takers may encounter one of these new questions in the Verbal Reasoning or Quantitative Reasoning sections of the computer-based GRE General Test. The new Verbal question type is a text completion question that requires the test taker to fill in two or three blanks within a passage from separate multiple-choice lists. Currently, the Verbal section contains text completion questions that require test takers to fill in one blank within a passage from a single multiple-choice list. The new Quantitative question type will be a numeric entry question that requires test takers to type their answer as a number in a box, or as a fraction in two boxes. Test takers can review sample questions and additional information about the new question types on the GRE website.
“This is an important step towards revising the General Test to offer improved measurement of the skills and knowledge required for graduate study,” says Suzanne Ortega, Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost, University of Washington, Seattle, and Chair of the GRE Board.
For more information about the GRE General Test, visit www.ets.org/gre. Test takers can e-mail questions to gre-info@ets.org or call (609) 771-7670.
About ETS
ETS celebrates a 60-year history of advancing quality and equity in education by providing fair and valid assessments, research and related services for all people worldwide. In serving individuals, educational institutions and government agencies around the world, ETS customizes solutions to meet the need for teacher professional development products and services, classroom and end-of-course assessments, and research-based teaching and learning tools. In 2006, ETS developed, administered and scored more than 50 million assessments in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide and had consolidated revenues of $836 million.
Popularity: 7% [?]
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Written by GRE Word of The Day Team on July 26th, 2007 with 1 comment.
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