New Oriental Postgraduate Entrance Exam English Vocabulary Roots + Association Memory Method

Author: Yu Minhong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2009-01-01
Features: Every year, tens of thousands of postgraduate entrance exam candidates from all over the country enter New Oriental classrooms. Although they come from different life backgrounds and have diverse life experiences, their expressions are the same—filled with despair and confusion, yet also brimming with hope and longing for the future. Through their own efforts, they strive to change their destinies and achieve a lifetime of success. It is almost a shared belief among all postgraduate entrance exam candidates that hard work can alter their fate and that one can shape a lifetime. Facing these young people who trade their youth for a better future, I always wish I could help them in some way, even a small bit of encouragement could become the final spiritual strength they need to overcome life's challenges. Therefore, I have traveled to many cities and given many speeches. In each city, I share my own story, the pain and sorrow, struggles and efforts, perseverance and determination, growth and joy from my life's journey. I tell them that failure and success are equally close to us—stay stagnant, and you will fail; take a step forward, and you will succeed. Failure is like a hazy veil before our eyes, seemingly endless, but if we bravely tear it open, we will find the blue sky and vast seas of our lives behind it. While giving speeches to the students, I have also strived to do practical things that can help them with their studies and exams. So, in the midst of my busy schedule, I worked with my colleagues to compile some English learning books to assist the students. The postgraduate entrance exam vocabulary book now presented before you is one of our efforts. In English teaching, I have always favored etymology. Many years ago, I wrote a book titled Selected GRE Vocabulary, which introduced the "root + association" word memorization method. This method was well-received by many students, and the book was affectionately called the "Red Treasure Book" by many classmates. The vocabulary memorization method used in the book has been referenced by many other publications and has helped students memorize words more quickly. Now, I am introducing this proven effective memorization method again in the Postgraduate Entrance Exam Vocabulary book to help you overcome the vocabulary hurdle on your path to success in the fastest possible way. This book starts from a practical perspective, not only helping you memorize words quickly through effective methods but also emphasizing the meaning and usage of words in the postgraduate entrance exam, complemented by engaging images to enhance memory. This book removes words like "apple, news, university" that you have already mastered in high school, focusing on the more than 3,500 core words that appear in the postgraduate entrance exam. It provides in-depth analysis of the common usage and collocations of these words. Through computer statistics, some rarely used meanings that appear in the syllabus but never in exams have been simplified to improve the quality and efficiency of memorization. Additionally, we have identified nearly 500 "off-syllabus" words that frequently appear in the past ten years' exams but are not listed in the syllabus. These words are categorized and organized, including vocabulary encountered in reading comprehension and the notoriously difficult homophones in cloze tests, to clear obstacles and help you achieve high scores. The postgraduate entrance exam is not only a competition of knowledge and skills but also a test of psychological resilience and endurance. Only those who can endure solitude and make the most of their time can ultimately succeed. When you have endured those sleepless nights and overcome the constant temptation to give up, and finally achieve success, what you gain is not just a graduate school admission notice but also confidence in yourself and a firmer step forward on the path of your future life. Special thanks are due to the editors of Century Friendship for the completion of this book. Jin Li, Yingwei, Wang Minxian, and Huang Bingqi have done a great deal of research and proofreading. The layout staff, Wang Ke, Liu Xiaoguang, and Zhan Ping, have also put in significant effort. My heartfelt gratitude goes to all of them.