Vocabulary for Postgraduate Entrance Examination English - Must-Know 2006

Author: Ma Degao, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: In 2005, the postgraduate entrance exam English syllabus underwent significant changes, adding 482 new words. The importance of vocabulary learning in postgraduate entrance exam English review became more prominent. This book keeps up with the new syllabus, fully incorporating the 482 new words, and still creatively divides postgraduate entrance exam vocabulary into six categories based on different levels and stages of learning needs, aligning with the syllabus's varying requirements for vocabulary assessment. This helps readers differentiate and target their learning effectively. After explaining the six categories, the book also lists the newly integrated words separately in the appendix in the form of a "2005 Postgraduate Entrance Exam Syllabus New Word Overview."
1. Familiar Words with New Meanings
You may often encounter situations where you recognize individual words but still struggle to understand the entire sentence. One reason is the lack of comprehensive understanding of the multiple meanings of words, turning familiar words into unfamiliar ones, which affects reading speed and quality. In recent years' postgraduate entrance exam papers, setters have significantly strengthened the assessment of this aspect, causing many candidates to suffer. Particularly in reading and translation sections, misunderstanding the meaning of a single word often leads to substantial score loss. Given this, we have focused on addressing readers' learning difficulties, dedicating significant time and effort to selecting all familiar words with new meanings from the syllabus for readers to study, helping them overcome the pitfalls of familiar words.
2. Gap Words between CET and Postgraduate Entrance Exam
The compilers of this book have shown great ingenuity by comparing the CET and postgraduate entrance exam syllabi, specifically identifying the words present in the postgraduate entrance exam syllabus but absent in the CET syllabus. This has formed a "Gap Word List." When learning vocabulary, it's essential to start with the unfamiliar. Readers should target and focus on memorizing this part of the vocabulary, using the CET and CET-6 ladder to quickly reach the summit of the postgraduate entrance exam!
3. Core Vocabulary
According to surveys by English and American vocabulary experts, the most commonly used words (core vocabulary) in daily life in English and American countries are only around 2,500. The compilers of this book have utilized advanced computer statistics technology to analyze all vocabulary that appeared in past postgraduate entrance exam papers and specifically referenced the latest authoritative statistics from the Oxford Dictionary and the Longman Dictionary. They have selected and compiled vocabulary that frequently appeared in past exam papers and is highly frequently used in daily life. This section of postgraduate entrance exam core vocabulary requires candidates to truly master the various usages of these words, improving practical application skills and achieving fluency in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translation.
4. Less Commonly Used Vocabulary
Reading comprehension has always been a crucial component of postgraduate entrance exam papers, and this section of vocabulary is key to mastering it. Many readers report that despite doing countless questions and reading numerous articles, their scores remain unchanged. We can use various techniques to overcome this challenge, such as analyzing complex sentences, grasping the structure of passages, and analyzing question stems. However, all of this relies on a solid foundation of knowledge, and the foundation of reading is vocabulary. The compilers of this book deeply understand the importance of vocabulary for reading comprehension. Through dedicated research on past exam papers and efficient computer frequency analysis, they have selected the "Less Commonly Used Vocabulary" from the latest postgraduate entrance exam syllabus as a must-learn vocabulary for tackling postgraduate entrance exam reading comprehension. Combined with the "Categorized Reading Comprehension Vocabulary from Current Affairs" and "Vocabulary Beyond the Syllabus" discussed below, readers are expected to successfully pass the reading section and overcome a major hurdle on the path to the postgraduate entrance exam.
5. Vocabulary Beyond the Syllabus
The syllabus requires that 3% of the exam paper include words beyond the syllabus. Based on past experience and an understanding of the direction of postgraduate entrance exam setting, we have carefully selected this section of vocabulary beyond the syllabus from recent English and American periodicals with themes similar to those of past postgraduate entrance exam papers. This aims to ensure that the 3% of words beyond the syllabus in the postgraduate entrance exam do not fall outside this section. By mastering this part, candidates not only grasp the syllabus vocabulary but also acquire some vocabulary beyond the syllabus, truly outperforming others in terms of vocabulary. Familiarity with this section will not only allow readers to read articles smoothly but also enable them to directly answer questions that solely test vocabulary meanings.
6. Categorized Current Affairs Reading Vocabulary
Readers should be aware that all past postgraduate entrance exam reading comprehension passages are sourced from English and American databases and are almost entirely highly topical documents. Given that reading comprehension is a major obstacle for readers, the best approach is to "enter the tiger's den to catch the tiger." By memorizing the frequently occurring unfamiliar, difficult, and new words in English and American periodicals, readers can achieve a basic mastery of the common vocabulary used in postgraduate entrance exam reading comprehension. Moreover, mastering the common words of English and American periodicals is also beneficial for tackling English-to-Chinese translation questions. Expanding vocabulary is also advantageous for writing tasks. This section of categorized current affairs reading vocabulary is selected from recent English and American journals and magazines, with some sourced from online articles in English and American periodicals. These periodicals mainly include Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, and others. To facilitate concentrated memorization, the compilers have categorized them into different fields, including economics, technology, music, mass media, and sports.