一、内容上的变化
1·The New Verbal Reasoning Section 考试时间由原来的30分钟改为40分钟,还是2个section,题量由原来的38道变成了28道(填空和阅读各14道)。虽然令中国学生最头疼的类比反义拿掉了,但是填空变成了多选。虽然ETS一再强调了削减对考生记忆成分的考查,但是ETS强调了对词汇的理解,并且GRE没有词汇大纲,至于要求的词汇量就无法得知了。个人认为虽然类反取消,但是填空难度加大,好好背词还是有必要的。
2·The New Quantitative Reasoning Section 考试时间由原来的30分钟改为40分钟,还是2个section。这部分一直是中国学生的强项,大家可以看样题去理解,我就不罗嗦了。
3·The New Critical Thinking and Analytical Writing Section 看标题就知道,连考试的名字都改变了(多了一个Critical Thinking),考试时间由原来的45分钟(Issue)和30分钟(Argument)变为各30分钟。所以题库是绝对有变化的,而且变化会很大。
让大家看看2个例子就更容易明白:
Sample Issue Topic:
The best ideas arise from a passionate interest in commonplace things
Write an essay in which you take a position on the statement given. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true.
Sample Argument Topic :
The argument to be analyzed is as follows:
Hospital statistics regarding people who go to the emergency room after roller-skating accidents indicate the need for more protective equipment. Within that group of people, 75 percent of those who had accidents in streets or parking lots had not been wearing any protective clothing (helmets, knee pads, etc.) or any light-reflecting material (clip-on lights, glow-in-the-dark wrist pads, etc.). Clearly, the statistics indicate that by investing in high-quality protective gear and reflective equipment, roller skaters will greatly reduce their risk of being severely injured in an accident.
You will be given a short passage that presents an argument, or an argument to be completed, and specific instructions on how to respond to that passage. Plan and compose a response in which you analyze the passage according to the specific instructions. A response to any other argument will receive a score of zero. Standard timing for an argument topic is 30 minutes. Note that you are NOT being asked to present your own views on the subject.Make sure that you respond to the specific instructions and support your analysis with relevant reasons and/or examples.
二、考试方式的变化 主要体现在语文和数学上,由纸笔考试改为机考,而且和传统的机考不一样。传统的机考是基于自适应的,也就是说计算机根据你回答此题的表现给出下一道题;而新G是基于线性的,也就是说所有考生的题目都是一样的(The revised Verbal and Quantitative sections are changing from an adaptive test format, where the questions presented to each examinee vary according to his or her performance, to a linear test format, where all examinees testing at the same time receive the same questions.)。并且这样的考试方式更具人性化,考生可以回顾自己的答案,修改自己的答案(it allows test takers to review, omit, go back and change an answer, etc., which means that test takers can better allocate their time according to their personal test-taking approach.) 。由于世界各地的时区不同,所以各地开考的时间是不同的,会相应的错开(To address possible security concerns, starting times for the test will be staggered across time zones.)。具体怎么操作,只有等考前才会知道。但是有一点是明确的,每年全球会有大约35次的考试,根据该区的报考量会有差异。
三、成绩报道方式的改变
现在的语文和数学均是800的满分,但是新G的VQ可能是130到170之间的一个值(中数为150),并且分数间的最小差距是一分。作文分数区间维持不变。而ETS给出这样改革的解释是:
1·三位数更适合现在的IT系统;
2·避免了和现在分数报道方式的混淆;
3·避免和新GRE-SUB的分数重叠(avoid overlap of the new scale with the Subject Test scales难道sub要改革?);
成绩的有效期还是5年,而且百分比还是会给出,现行考试的成绩也可以换算成新GRE分数,具体见下表。
虽然改革了,但是不要惊慌,有寄托家园这个交流平台和众多的gter一起备考,我深信善于考试的中国人不久就会有相应的对策。由PBT到IBT不就是个很好的例子吗?所以我们一起联合起来接受ETS的挑战吧!