GREPracticeTest1WritingResponses.docx

GREPracticeTest1WritingResponses.docx

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GREPracticeTest1WritingResponses

GRADUATERECORDEXAMINATIONS®

PracticeGeneralTest#1

AnalyticalWritingSampleEssaysandCommentaries

Copyright©2010byEducationalTestingService.Allrightsreserved.E T S,theE T Slogo,GRADUATERECORDEXAMINATIONS,andGREareregisteredtrademarksofEducationalTestingService（E T S）intheUnitedStates

andothercountries.

RevisedGRE®PracticeTest1.

AnalyticalWritingSampleEssayswithCommentaries.

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TheAnalyticalWritingportionoftheGREconsistsoftwowritingtopics,anIssuetopicandanArgumenttopic.

AnalyzeanIssue

SampleIssueTopicDirections

Directions:

TheAnalyticalWritingportionoftheGREconsistsoftwowritingtopics:

AnalyzeanIssueandAnalyzeanArgument.Forthissection,AnalyzeanIssuewillbethewritingtopic.

Youwillbegivenabriefquotationthatstatesorimpliesanissueofgeneralinterestandspecificinstructionsonhowtorespondtothatissue.Planandcomposearesponseinwhichyoudevelopapositionontheissueaccordingtothespecificinstructions.Aresponsetoanyotherissuewillreceiveascoreofzero.Standardtimingforanissuetopicis30minutes.

Makesurethatyourespondtothespecificinstructionsandsupportyourpositionontheissuewithreasonsandexamplesdrawnfromsuchareasasyourreading,experience,observations,and/oracademicstudies.

TrainedGREreaderswillreadyourresponseandevaluateitsoverallqualityaccordingtohowwellyoudoeachofthefollowing:

∙Respondtothespecificinstructionsontheissue

∙Considerthecomplexitiesoftheissue

∙Organize,develop,andexpressyourideas

∙Supportyourpositionwithrelevantreasonsand/orexamples

∙ControltheelementsofstandardwrittenEnglish

Beforeyoubeginwriting,youmaywanttothinkforafewminutesabouttheissueandtheinstructionsandthenplanyourresponse.Besuretodevelopyourpositionfullyandorganizeitcoherently,butleavetimetorereadwhatyouhavewrittenandmakeanyrevisionsyouthinkarenecessary.

SampleIssueTopic:

Thebestideasarisefromapassionateinterestincommonplacethings.

Discusstheextenttowhichyouagreeordisagreewiththestatementaboveandexplainyourreasoningforthepositionyoutake.Indevelopingandsupportingyourposition,youshouldconsiderwaysinwhichthestatementmightormightnotholdtrueandexplainhowthoseconsiderationsshapeyourposition.

Thefollowingaresampleresponsesandcommentaryonthoseresponses,whichexplainhowtheresponsewasscored.Thereareresponsesandscoringcommentsforessayswithscoresof6,5,4,3,2,and1.

Note:

Sampleresponsesarereproducedexactlyaswritten,includingmisspellings,wrongchoiceofwords,typographicalandgrammaticalerrors,etc.,ifany.

Thefollowingsampleissueresponsereceivedascoreof6:

Passionisclearlynecessaryforatrulygreatideatotakeholdamongapeople—passioneitheronthepartoftheoriginalthinker,theaudience,orideallyboth.Theclaimthatthemostlucrativesubjectmatterforinspiringgreatideasis“commonplacethings”mayseeminitiallytobecounterintuitive.Afterall,aren'tgreatideasusuallymarkedbytheirextraordinarycharacter?

Whilethisistrue,theirextraordinarycharacterisasoftenasnotdirectlyderivedfromtheirinsightintothingsthathadtheretoforegoneunquestioned.Whilegreatideascertainlycanarisethroughseeminglypureinnovation...say,forexample,BigBangcosmology,whichdevelopednearlyallofitsownscientificandphilosophicalpreceptsthroughitsownprocessofformation,itisneverthelessequallytruethatsuchgroundbreakingthoughtwas,andis,stilllargelyareevaluationofpreviousassumptionstoaradicaldegree...afterall,thequestionoftheultimatenatureoftheuniverse,andman'splaceinit,hasbeencentraltohumanthoughtsincethedawnoftime.Commonplacethingsare,additionally,necessaryasmaterialforthegenerationof“thebestideas”sincecertainlythesuccessamonganaudiencemustbeconsideredinevaluatingthesignificanceandqualityofanidea.

TheadventofBigBangcosmology,whichoccuredinrudimentaryformalmostimmediatelyuponEdwinHubble'sfirstobservationsattheHookertelescopeinCaliforniaduringtheearly20thcentury,wasthemostsignificantadvanceinmankind'sunderstandingoftheuniverseinover400years.Theseeminglysimplefactthateverythingintheuniverse,ontheverylargescale,ismovingawayfromeverythingelseinfactbetraysnearlyallofourscientificknowledgeoftheoriginsandmechanicsoftheuniverse.Thisslight,onemightevensaycommonplace,distortionoftintonahandfulofphotographicplatescarriedwithitthegreatestchallengetoMan'sgeneral,oftenreligiouslyreinforced,conceptionofthenatureoftheworldtoanextentnotseensincethedaysofGalileo.NotevenCharlesDarwin'stheory,thoughitcreatedmoreofastirthanBigBangcosmology,hadsuchshatteringimplicationsforourconceptionsofthenatureofourreality.YetitisnotsignificantbecauseitintroducedthequestionofthenatureofwhatliesbeyondMan'sgrasp.Atremendousnumberofmegalithicruins,includingthePyramidsbothofMexicoandEgypt,Stonehenge,andothers,indicatethatthisquestionhasbeenforemostonhumankind'scollectivemindsincetimeimmemorial.BigBangcosmologyissoincrediblysignificantinthislineofreasoningexactlybecauseofthedegreetowhichitchangedthedirectionofthisgenerallyheld,constantlypondered,andveryancienttrainofthought.

Additionally,thereisadiachronicsignificancetotheadventofBigBangcosmology,whichisthat,disregardinglimitationssuchasthequalityofopticaldevicesavailableandthestateoftheoreticalmath,itcouldhavehappenedatanypointintime.Thatistosay,allevidencepointstoroughlythesamerawintellectualcapacityforhomosapiensthroughoutourhistory,ourprogresshasmerelydependeduponthedegreeofitthatapersonhappenstoinherit,apacethathasbeenincreasingrapidlysincetheindustrialrevolution.Yetthisdiscoveryhadtohappenatacertainpointintimeoranother—itcannothavebeenhappeningconstantlyorhaveneverhappenedyetstillbepresent—andthispointintimedoeshaveitsownsignificance.Thatsignificanceispreciselythefactthattheaforementionedadventmusthaveoccurredatpreciselythepointintimeatwhichittrulycouldhaveoccured—thatistosay,itmarksthepointinourhistorywhenwehadprogressedsufficientlytobeginexamining,withremarkablesubstantiatedacuity,theworkingsoftheuniverseacrossdistancesthatwouldtakemillionsofhumanlifetimestoreachortotraverse.Thepointforthesuccessofthisadventmustnecessarilyhavebeen,additionally,thepointatwhichtheaudienceconcernedwascapableandpreparedtoacceptsucharadicallineofreasoning.

Bothfactors,aradical,passionateinterpretationofthecommonplaceandthepreparednesstoacceptsuchaninterpretation,arenecessaryfortheformulationofatrulygreatidea.Ifthepassionisabsentfromaninquirybythethinkerorbythebulkofanaudience,theideawilldieoutifitcomestofruitionatall.Ifthematerialisnotsufficientlycommonplacetobeconsideredbyaninformedaudienceofsufficientsize,thesametwohazardsexist.Giventhesetwofactors,theideamuststillbefoundpalatableandinterestingbytheaudienceifitistohopetogainafootholdandeventuallyestablishitselfinasignificantfashion.

Commentsonsampleessayreceivingscoreof6:

Thisoutstandingresponsepresentsacogent,well-articulatedanalysisofthecomplexitiesoftheissuebyarguingthat

（1）greatideasdevelopfromcommonplaceobservationsthatareinterpretedinaradicalway;and

（2）passionisrequiredofboththinkersandtheaudienceinorderforgreatideastotakehold.

Theargumentisbasedonanextendedexample（BigBangcosmology）andhastwoparts.Thefirstpartdefines“commonplacethings”asuniversalquestions（i.e.,thequesttounderstandthecosmosiscommonplace,thoughcomplex,becauseitisanancientanduniversalquestion）andplacesBigBangcosmologyincontextwiththescientificbreakthroughsofGalileoandthePyramidsofancientMexicoandEgypt.ThesecondpartexplainsBigBangastheresultofaconvergenceoffactors:

boththinkersandtheaudiencemustbereadytoreevaluate“previousassumptions”andaccept“radical,passionateinterpretations.”

Theargument’scarefullineofreasoningisstrengthenedbyappropriatetransitionsbetweenparagraphs（“Additionally,”“Bothfactors,aradical,passionateinterpretationofthecommonplaceandthepreparednesstoacceptsuchaninterpretation,arenecessaryfortheformulationofatrulygreatidea,”etc.）andwithinparagraphs（“NotevenCharlesDarwin’s,”“Yet,”“thatistosay,”etc.）.Fluentandpreciselanguage—advent,rudimentary,diachronic,shatteringimplications,megalithicruins—andeffectivesentencevarietyalsocharacterizethisresponseasoutstanding.Finally,despitethepresenceofminorerrors（overuseofcommaandinconsistentuseofellipsesinparagraph1）,thisresponsedemonstratesfacilitywiththeconventionsofstandardwrittenEnglish.

Thefollowingsampleissueresponsereceivedascoreof5:

Thestatementabovecomesfromtheperspectivethatthebestthinkers,inventors,an