SAT Stuff and Other Stuff

Self-explanatory.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Cool New Vocabs

purblind: dim-sighted: having greatly reduced vision

veriest
flippancy: inappropriate levity; "her mood changed and she was all lightness and joy"

clandestine: kept or done in secret, often in order to conceal an illicit or improper purpose.

deftness: adeptness: skillful performance or ability without difficulty; "his quick adeptness was a product of good design"; "he was famous for his facility as an archer"

alacrity: liveliness and eagerness; "he accepted with alacrity"; "the smartness of the pace soon exhausted him"

prognosticates: predict: make a prediction about; tell in advance; "Call the outcome of an election"

fickle: marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments; "fickle friends"; "a flirt's volatile affections"

iota: shred: a tiny or scarcely detectable amount

askance: (used especially of glances) directed to one side with or as if with doubt or suspicion or envy; "her eyes with their misted askance look"- Elizabeth Bowen; "sidelong glances"; with a side or oblique glance; "did not quite turn all the way back but looked askance at me with her dark eyes"

upbraids: reproach: express criticism towards; "The president reproached the general for his irresponsible behavior"

boon: a favour, a blessing, something fervently wished for.

bane:
something causes misery or death; "the bane of my life"

dissemblance:
supra-mundane
lambent
vestal
tacitly extol
mutatis mutandis
finesse
acumen
paltry
ineffable
impalpable
recondite
effluence or influence
wiles nor artifice
purport
It innervates; it exhaults
au pied de la letter
fervid
per saltum
ex officio
coquettish
diablerie
trite
extrication
cozen
obduracy
multifarious
bravado
peccadilloes
Abashment
objurgation
Ardor
amatory
consummate
veritably
recondite
efficacious
ensnares
infinitesimal

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

WikiHow: How to Score High on the SAT or PSAT

How to Score High on the SAT or PSAT

The SAT is a test that you take at the end of high school that determines what university you get into. Some university require the SAT and some require a similar test called the ACT. There is no way to guarantee a great score on the SAT, but these tips can help.

[edit] Steps

  1. Give yourself a good block of time each day to prepare for it by doing practice problems, starting at least a month in advance. Also do SAT Tips of the Day.
  2. Read constantly. You should always be reading a piece of non-fiction or fiction literature. This will help your vocabulary and general knowledge.
  3. Read the paper, stay informed, look for interesting news topics and read editorials. Being informed about common events will give you more material to work with on the essay portion, if you are taking the new SAT. Especially read The New York Times. It has many vocabulary words.
  4. Buy an SAT book. SAT classes are also worth it now that the new SAT has come out. Although classes are expensive, they give you much to think about and have a significant impact on your score.
  5. Look into SAT preparation programs for your calculator. They are a little known resource that can provide a quick score boost. Some programs can be used during the math section of the test (one example featured by The New York Times can be found at http://www.HigherSAT.com) and others can be used in place of verbal flashcards.
  6. Practice one section every night. Every week, set aside some time to take a full-length practice test. Start by practicing untimed, and then, once you get the hang of the stratagies required to ace the exam, start timing it.
  7. A few days before the test, slow your review down. Don't do any work the two days before the test, just read and relax.
  8. The night before the test gather all the things you will need for the next day and work out how you are going to get to the testing center. Relax, watch some TV, get a healthy dose of Def Lep, see a movie and have herbal tea. Make sure to have directions as getting lost on the way to the testing center will cause your mind to lose focus and stress you out.
  9. Get a full night's sleep.
  10. Eat a light breakfast(eggs work really well) the day of the test and bring a small snack or water bottle to the test with you. Almonds are also great.


[edit] Tips

  • Take the test two times or more, even if you scored well the first. Colleges only count your highest score and you almost always score higher every time you take it because you are familiar with it and are not as nervous.
  • Take the SAT for the first time in 10th or 11th grade so that you are familiar with it when you take it during your senior year.
  • Consider taking the ACT as well as the SAT. Many students find that they score much better on one test as opposed to the other. The trap almost every person falls into, however, is thinking that the ACT is easier. In fact, most who take both consider it the harder of the two. This is because the ACT may not have writing, but it has an extended science section, which most people have never prepared for in their lives. In addition, there are just three main sections to the ACT, while in the SATs, there are 9.
  • When you do the Critical Reading sections, read the questions first
  • Familiarize yourself with the type of grammatical errors SAT wants you to be aware of (eg. parallelism, subject-verb agreement, etc.)
  • Practice writing the 25-minute essay and have it graded by a teacher.
  • If you do not have much time and feel that your vocabulary is not good enough, consider memorising SAT vocabulary using flash cards.
  • Take it from someone who has gotten a perfect score on the New SAT's. The SAT's are just a system, they ask the same questions over and over just with different words, be able to identify the ten or fifteen different types there are.
  • The most important piece of advice that can be given is to recognize that once you get into a philisophical discussion with yourself regarding the question, you've gone way too far. Go back and re-read the question and answer it using only the information that has been presented to you.


[edit] Warnings

  • Do not freak out during the test.
  • Do not wait until the last month or so to start preparing for the SAT, PSAT, or ACT.


[edit] Things You'll Need

  • Practice books
  • Brains
  • Persistence


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AP Literature & AP Language Books I've Read...

This will help when I cite these as literary sources...

AP Language:
1. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
2. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

AP Literature:
1. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
2. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
3. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
4. 1984 by George Orwell

Others On the Lit List I Remember Reading:
1. The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger
2.

WHAT ELSE??? Harumphy-dumph-umph... I'm suppressed in a quandary... I seek asylum from this mental blitzkrieg!

Monday, September 3, 2007

Lost Words: Letter "A"

acrasial adj 1851 -1851
ill-regulated; ill-tempered
The acrasial judge was known for her rants against younger lawyers.
addecimate v 1612 -1755
to tithe
They addecimated regularly but were not otherwise known for their charity.
adimpleate v 1657 -1657
to fill up
The new technique adimpleates the cans with milk through injection.
adnascentia npl 1706 -1731
root-like branches that sprout into the earth from a plant's stem
Every winter, the adnascentia would shift around, destroying the lawn's even texture.
aeipathy n 1847 -1853
continued passion; an unyielding disease
Her aeipathy for stamp collecting bordered at times on the pathological.
affictitious adj 1656 -1656
feigned; counterfeit
The forger was caught despite his masterfully-crafted affictitious signatures.
affuage n 1753 -1847
right to cut wood in a forest for family fire
The family's right of affuage ensured they would have enough wood for winter.
agonarch n 1656 -1656
judge of a contest or activity
Our competition will require six agonarchs to ensure fairness.
agonyclite n 1710 -1710
member of a heretical sect that stood rather than kneeled while praying
Agonyclites must have had hardy feet to endure their services.
airgonaut n 1784 -1784
one who journeys through the air
Balloonists, skydivers and other airgonauts are all a little mad, if you ask me.
alabandical adj 1656 -1775
barbarous; stupefied from drink
His behaviour after the party was positively alabandical.
albedineity n 1652 -1652
whiteness
The monotonous albedineity of the snow-covered field was blinding.
alogotrophy n 1753 -1853
excessive nutrition of part of body resulting in deformity
Was he born with that huge head, or is it the result of alogotrophy?
amandation n 1656 -1755
act of sending away or dismissing
His rude amandation of his guests earned him a reputation for curtness.
amarulence n 1731 -1755
bitterness; spite
After losing her job to a less qualified man, she was full of amarulence.
amorevolous adj 1670 -1670
affectionate; loving
Our father, though amorevolous, could be a strict taskmaster at times.
antipelargy n 1656 -1731
reciprocal or mutual kindness; love and care of children for their parents
Having never received any antipelargy, they wrote their daughter out of the will.
apanthropinization n 1880 -1880
withdrawal from human concerns or the human world
His life as a hermit in the woods was characterized by apanthropinization.
aporrhoea n 1646 -1880
a bodily emanation; an effluvium
The evening's revelries were followed by an unfortunate episode of aporrhoea.
aquabib n 1731 -1883
water-drinker
I was never much of an aquabib, and always preferred harder libations.
archigrapher n 1656 -1656
principal or head secretary or clerk
The archigrapher efficiently designated transcription duties to her underlings.
archiloquy n 1656- 1656
first part of a speech
We stopped paying attention during his talk due to his monotonous archiloquy.
aretaloger n 1623 -1656
braggart; one who boasts about his own accomplishments
While he seemed nice at first, he turned out to be a loudmouthed aretaloger.
artigrapher n 1753 -1753
writer or composer of a grammar; a grammarian
Today's prescriptivists are no better than the artigraphers of the Renaissance.
ascoliasm n 1706 -1753
boys' game of beating each other with gloves or leather while hopping
If you think bullies are bad today, look at brutal games of the past like ascoliasm.
assectation n 1656 -1656
act of following after something else
She stood in the on-deck circle, her assectation virtually guaranteed.
austerulous adj 1731 -1731
somewhat or slightly harsh
The austerulous monks were rarely lenient with their pupils.
autexousious adj 1678 -1678
exercising or possessing free will
If we are truly autexousious, then why do we so often feel powerless?
auturgy n 1651 -1656
self-action; independent activity
The film director's legendary auturgy frustrated editors and producers alike.
avunculize v 1662 -1662
to act as an uncle; to behave like an uncle
I often avunculize to my younger friends, which no doubt annoys them.