As my studying continues, it seems like the days of the week are now nonexistent. I'm just happy that the library I am studying in is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Yesterday I found an amazing book, its called "How to read a book" by Adler. The title is very ironic, but I believe 100% that this book will improve my verbal reasoning skills.
As for today, I have finally finished growth and development for biology content review. The concepts seemed to be very foreign at first, so I read through the Berkeley review chapter also and I believe that it has improved my knowledge dramatically. I am starting to favor content review from Berkeley as opposed to Princeton review. The detailed chapters really help me create a mental movie of what is happening. More importantly, it explains to me "why" things happen the way they do.
For the rest of today, I have scheduled for myself 3 more physical sciences chapters. It seems like a mighty challenge to finish reading all 3 by tonight, but I will have to see what I can do. Hoping for the best!
NEW INSIGHT:
I am starting to learn more about the verbal reasoning section. The syllabus seems to be a very helpful document! The verbal reasoning section will show 3 kinds of articles: Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences.
Humanities:
Definition - basically study of things that are humane or of human elements
a. the study of classical languages and classical literature.
b. the Latin and Greek classics as a field of study.
d. the study of literature, philosophy, art, etc.
*What I've learned*
Everything in humanities passages will be very theoretical. There will be no "research" studies for these articles to base off of. These passages will be VERY opinionated, and the author will have a point of view about a certain thing. It is our job to understand his view from tone, word choice, and support from examples. Also we must understand "why" the author is writing what he is writing.
examples: architecture, art, literature, music, philosophy, popular culture, religion, and theater
Social Sciences
Definition - relationships between the individual and society as a whole
1. the study of society and social behavior.
2. a science or field of study, as history, economics, etc., dealing with an aspect of society or forms of social activity.
Social Sciences is the middle ground between Natural Sciences and Humanities. Humanities is all very theoretical while natural sciences is very practical. Humanities = no research studies; Natural Sciences = all research studies. In a natural sciences passage, there will be *some* research studies presented to us initially, and then the author will either support this research or undermine it by giving his own opinion on the matter. It is our job to understand "why" this author is supporting or refuting the scientific study or results. Again, we must use the hints given to us through word choice, examples, counter examples, and tone.
examples: anthropology, archaeology, economics,education, history, linguistics, political science, psychology, and sociology
Natural Sciences
Definition - Sciences where knowledge of processes are observable in nature
Natural sciences will have very clear support for a natural phenomenon. Information presented will be based on facts.
*What I've learned*
Figure out what facts the author is talking about ASAP and figure out whats important! Support will be very clear; UNDERSTAND the support and examples given.
examples: astronomy, botany, computer science, ecology, ethology,geology, meteorology, technology, and zoology
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From reading the first paragraph of passage, you should be able to KNOW which category the passage fits under.
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