"The decision to cancel the revised GRE General Test best serves the interests of test takers and the graduate institutions that use those scores to make admissions decisions," says David Payne, Executive Director of the GRE Program at ETS. "After much debate and evaluation, it became clear that the current format offers students more convenient and flexible opportunities to test when and where they choose, while still providing score users with valid predictors of test takers' preparedness for graduate school study."
With all the speculations and ETS canceling further registrations for the exam , on 2nd April ETS and the other GRE committee decided not to scrap away the old format. According to the reports, they found the old format to be more convenient for the users. Also in terms of students it was more Student Friendly than the new format which was supposed to be implemented.
This would definitely be a relief for the students who have been preparing for the same for the last 1 year and who were planning to take up date later this year.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Some Grammar Tips
Among and Between
"Distribute these chocolates among yourselves"
"Distribute these chocolates between yourselves"
What is the similarity between the two statements above, what we observe here, is that even though the statements may look to be the same, the number of people involved is different. In the first statement the number of people involved are more than 2 and in the second statement the number of people 'between whom the chocolates are to be distributed are 2.
However in the first statement clearly the number of people involved are more than 2. Hence what we observe here is that,use between for two things, among for more than two.
Normally what happens is that its good to avoid using like as a conjunction. In other words, something can be like something else (there it's a preposition), but avoid "It tastes good like a cigarette should" — it should be "as a cigarette should." Quickie test: there should be no verb in the phrase right after like. Even in phrases such as "It looks like it's going to rain" or "It sounds like the motor's broken," as if is usually more appropriate than like .
Apostrophe
The most common way to form a possessive in English is with apostrophe and s: "a hard day's night." After a plural noun ending in s, put just an apostrophe: "two hours' work" (i.e., "the work of two hours"). If a plural doesn't end in s — children, men, people — plain old apostrophe-s: "children's," "men's," "people's." It's never "mens'" or "childrens'."
There's also the opposite case: when a singular noun ends in s. That's a little trickier. Most style guides prefer s's: James's house. Plain old s-apostrophe (as in James' house) is common in journalism, but most other publishers prefer James's. It's a matter of house style.
Note that, with the exception of the little-used one, the possessives of pronouns never get apostrophes: theirs, not their's; hers, not her's; its, not it's. See It's versus Its.
Apostrophes are sometimes used to make acronyms or other abbreviations plural (another matter of a local house style). My preference: don't use apostrophes to make abbreviations plural — not "They took their SAT's," but "They took their SATs." The only exception is when having no apostrophe might be confusing: "Two As" is ambiguous (it might be read as the word as); make it "Two A's." Never use apostrophes as single quotation marks to set off words or phrases (unless you need a quotation within a quotation).
Using an apostrophe to refer to a decade — the 1960's versus the 1960s — is another matter of house style; again, journalists tend to use the apostrophe, and most other publishers don't. I prefer to omit it: refer to the 1960s or the '60s (the apostrophe indicates that "19" has been omitted), not the 1960's or (worse) the '60's.
"Distribute these chocolates among yourselves"
"Distribute these chocolates between yourselves"
What is the similarity between the two statements above, what we observe here, is that even though the statements may look to be the same, the number of people involved is different. In the first statement the number of people involved are more than 2 and in the second statement the number of people 'between whom the chocolates are to be distributed are 2.
However in the first statement clearly the number of people involved are more than 2. Hence what we observe here is that,use between for two things, among for more than two.
- Anxious versus Eager.
- "Am too anxious about my results which are to be announced today"
- "Am also eager on meeting you over this weekend"
- Anxious is related to the word anxiety; it traditionally means "worried, uneasy." It's often used, though, where eager or keen would be more appropriate.
Normally what happens is that its good to avoid using like as a conjunction. In other words, something can be like something else (there it's a preposition), but avoid "It tastes good like a cigarette should" — it should be "as a cigarette should." Quickie test: there should be no verb in the phrase right after like. Even in phrases such as "It looks like it's going to rain" or "It sounds like the motor's broken," as if is usually more appropriate than like .
Apostrophe
The most common way to form a possessive in English is with apostrophe and s: "a hard day's night." After a plural noun ending in s, put just an apostrophe: "two hours' work" (i.e., "the work of two hours"). If a plural doesn't end in s — children, men, people — plain old apostrophe-s: "children's," "men's," "people's." It's never "mens'" or "childrens'."
There's also the opposite case: when a singular noun ends in s. That's a little trickier. Most style guides prefer s's: James's house. Plain old s-apostrophe (as in James' house) is common in journalism, but most other publishers prefer James's. It's a matter of house style.
Note that, with the exception of the little-used one, the possessives of pronouns never get apostrophes: theirs, not their's; hers, not her's; its, not it's. See It's versus Its.
Apostrophes are sometimes used to make acronyms or other abbreviations plural (another matter of a local house style). My preference: don't use apostrophes to make abbreviations plural — not "They took their SAT's," but "They took their SATs." The only exception is when having no apostrophe might be confusing: "Two As" is ambiguous (it might be read as the word as); make it "Two A's." Never use apostrophes as single quotation marks to set off words or phrases (unless you need a quotation within a quotation).
Using an apostrophe to refer to a decade — the 1960's versus the 1960s — is another matter of house style; again, journalists tend to use the apostrophe, and most other publishers don't. I prefer to omit it: refer to the 1960s or the '60s (the apostrophe indicates that "19" has been omitted), not the 1960's or (worse) the '60's.
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