Word to learn, remember and use! - BLEAK

Bleak

Meaning:
[COD]

• If a place is bleak, it is empty and not welcoming or attractive. For example. The house stands on a bleak, windswept moor.  
•  
  
• If a situation is bleak, there is little or no hope for the future. For example, The economic outlook is bleak. 
  

[Wordnik.com]

adjective, gloomy and somber
Life in the Aran islands has always been bleak and difficult (John Millington Synge)

 
adjective, providing no encouragement; depressing. A bleak prospect.  

adjective, Exposed to the elements; unsheltered and barren: the bleak, treeless regions of the high Andes 

adjective, Cold and cutting. Bleak winds of North Atlantic.

noun,  A small European freshwater fish of the genus Alburnus that is related to the carp and has silvery scales used in the manufacture of artificial pearls.

Word to learn, remember and use! - DEMURE

Demure

Meaning:

adjective, (especially of a woman) to be modest, Reserved and shy

Usage:

adverb, She sat with her hands folded demurely in her lap

adjective, She gave him a demure smile 

"Demure" and "submissive" were not words in her vocabulary, thus making her nearly opposite of the feminite ideal of her day. 

She looked too demure ever to do such a bold thing. 

 

GRE Roots (Verbal)

Today's word list

Passage to read:

"Is the GRE important?", this is a very interesting question, and one with diametrically opposed answers, depending how one interprets the question. One common answer is that the GRE is not important at all, and it is an arbitrary test that purports to measure some elusive concept known as intelligence, or, more pejoratively, IQ. It is at best a rite of passage—much like ritual scarring—one must suffer if they are to ascend to the rarefied realm of grad school. 

Words to learn:

Diametrical  :  
(adjective) Exactly opposite; contrary.
(adverb) completely; utterly (esp in the phrase diametrically opposed)

Purport :  
(verb) to pretend to be or to do something, especially in a way that is not easy to believe  
Example sentences:

• They purport to represent the wishes of the majority of parents at the school.
• The study purports to show an increase in the incidence of the disease.
• The tape recording purports to be of a conversation between the princess and a secret admirer. 

 Elusive :
(adjective) difficult to describe, find, achieve or remember.
Example sentences:

 

• An elusive image (as above)
• The answers to these questions remain as elusive as ever.
• Success, however, remained elusive for her.
• Elusive memories  
• Failures are more finely etched in our minds than triumphs, and success is an elusive, if not mythic, goal in our demanding society - Hugh Drummond. [TFD]
  
• A haunting elusive odor - (difficult to describe, impossible to identify) [TFD] 

 Pejoratively :
(adjective)  

• disapproving or suggesting that something is not good or is of no importance  
• Tending to make or become worse.
  Disparaging; belittling.

(noun)

• A disparaging or belittling word or expression

 Example sentences:

• Make sure students realise that 'fat' is an unflattering or pejorative word.
• It comes as quite a shock to still hear a judge describing a child as 'illegitimate', with all the pejorative overtones of that word. 

 

Indian Chaos - Reading Comprehension

Passage to read:

Delhi plunged into darkness and subsequent chaos since the wee hours of Monday following a disturbance in the Northern Grid that resulted in a blackout across eight northern States. Essential services like train, metro and water supply were affected due to the outage. A collection of images of the harrowed times Delhi residents went through several hours before power supply was restored.

Words to learn and use:

Plunged:

verb. to (cause someone or something to) move or fall suddenly and often a long way forward, down or into something.
example.
We ran down to the beach and plunged into the sea.
The car went out of control and plunged over the cliff.
Cook the peas by plunging them into boiling water
Niagara Falls plunges 55.5 meters.
The fall in demand caused share prices to plunge.
Our income has plunged dramatically. 

 Over there are the fish ponds, you'll have plenty of opportunity to catch a mess of trout, or brass, or even catfish. I'm a miser. I love to make things work. The ponds are in series, according to the nature of the fish. But the water starts working up in the mountains. It irrigates a score of mountain meadows before it makes the plunge and is clarified to crystal clearness in the next few rugged miles; and at the plunge from the highlands it generates half the power and all the lighting used on the ranch. Then it sub-irrigates lower levels, flows in here to the fish ponds, and runs out irrigates miles farther on.

Explanations from 'Wordnik.com'

verb. to thrust or throw forcefully into a substance or place.
example. Plunge the lobsters, head first, into the large pot of rapidly boiling salted water. 

verb. to cast suddenly, violently or deeply into a given state or situation.
example. The street was plunged in cool shadow

verb. to fall or throw oneself into a substance or place.
example. we plunged into the icy mountain lake.

verb. to throw oneself earnestly or wholeheartedly into an activity or situation.
example. I plunged into my studies

verb. to enter or move headlong through something.
example. The hunting dogs plunged into the forest.

verb. to descend steeply, fall precipitously.
example. a cliff that plunges to the sea.

verb. to move forward and downward violently.
example. the rider plunged from the bucking horse.

verb. to become suddenly lower, decrease dramatically.
example. Stock prices plunged during the banking crisis.

verb. to speculate or gamble extravagantly.

noun. to act or an instance of plunging

noun. a place or area, such as a swimming pool, for diving or plunging.

noun. a swim, a dip.
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Wee

adjective. small, little
example.
There's a wee cottage inside the grounds.
Would you care for a wee bit more to eat?
adjective. Very early,
example, the wee hours of the morning

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Harrowed

adjective. looking as if you have suffered
example. His face was harrowed.

The Impact of Conversion Technologies - Reading Comprehension

Passage to read:

Contemporary users choosing a technology platform often run the risk of being stranded with a technology that becomes incompatible with a future dominant technology. The widely observed presence of network effects tends to exacerbate this consumer dilemma, as markets tend to “tip” towards a single, winner-take-all standard. This study seeks to show that such a dilemma can be solved in some circumstances for digital goods when conversion technologies are present.

Words to learn and use:

Contemporary - 
adj. existing now / happening now.
example, Contemporary music/literature/art/fashion

adj. belonging to the same period of time/age
example, a fact documented by two contemporary sources.

The Huffington Post: "In the world of competitive dance conventions and, more recently, shows like 'So You Think You Can Dance', the word 'contemporary' has morphed from a simple descriptor to its own unique and potentially limiting dance form" 

Read The Huffington's post from the url below:
www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-younkin/so-you-think-you-can-dance-culture_b_1084452.html
 
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Stranded - 
adj. unable to leave somewhere because of a problem such as not having any transport or money
example, If the tide comes in, we'll be stranded on these rocks.


adj. abandoned or marooned, run aground on a shore or reef, cut-off or lefr behind



Voice of America: "Meanwhile, hundreds of supply trucks remain stranded at the closed Torkhum border crossing in the Khyber tribal region, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from Talibal insurgents"
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Exacerbate - 
verb. to make something which is already bad worse.
example, This attack will exacerbate the already tense relations between the two communities.

verb. to increase the severity, violence, or bitterness of, aggravate
example, a speech that exacerbated racial tensions
example, a heavy rainfall that exacerbated the flood problems

Happy Schools Blog Speaks about GRE

Why Studying Abroad is 100 Folds Better Than Studying in India?
http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/why-study-abroad/

GRE Preparation Time Table: (1 month)
http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/gre-study-plan-for-1-month/


20 Step GRE Exam Study Plan:
http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/gre-test-study-plan/