LearningExpress - GED® Test Skill Builder: Language Arts, Reading

CHAPTER 1

The LearningExpress Test Preparation System

T aking any written exam can be tough. It demands a lot of preparation if you want to achieve the best pos sible score. The LearningExpress Test Preparation System, developed exclusively for LearningExpress by leading test experts, gives you the discipline and attitude you need to be a winner.

Taking the GED Reasoning through Language Arts test is no picnic, and neither is getting ready for it. You want to earn the highest possible score, but there are all sorts of pitfalls that can keep you from doing your best on this all-important exam. Here are some of the obstacles that can stand in the way of your success:

being unfamiliar with the format of the exam

being paralyzed by test anxiety

leaving your preparation until the last minute or not preparing at all

not knowing vital test-taking skills: how to pace yourself through the exam, how to use the process of elimination, and when to guess

not being in tip-top mental and physical shape

messing up on exam day by having to work on an empty stomach or shivering through the exam because the room is cold

Whats the common denominator in all these test-taking pitfalls? One word: control . Whos in control, you or the exam? The LearningExpress Test Preparation System puts you in control. In just nine easy-to-follow steps, you will learn everything you need to know to make sure that you are in charge of your preparation and your performance on this GED test. Other test takers may let the exam get the better of them; other test takers may be unprepared or out of shape, but not you. After completing this chapter, you will have taken all the steps you need to get a high score on the GED Reasoning through Language Arts test.

Heres how the LearningExpress Test Preparation System works: Nine easy steps lead you through everything you need to know and do to get ready for this exam. Each of the steps listed here and discussed in detail on the following pages includes both reading about the step and one or more activities. Its important that you do the activities along with the reading, or you wont be getting the full benefit of the system. Each step tells you approximately how much time that step will take you to complete.

Step 1. Get Information 30 minutes

Step 2. Conquer Test Anxiety 20 minutes

Step 3. Make a Plan 50 minutes

Step 4. Learn to Manage Your Time 10 minutes

Step 5. Learn to Use the Process of Elimination 20 minutes

Step 6. Know When to Guess 20 minutes

Step 7. Reach Your Peak Performance Zone 10 minutes

Step 8. Get Your Act Together 10 minutes

Step 9. Do It! 10 minutes

Total time for complete system: 180 minutes 3 hours

We estimate that working through the entire system will take you approximately three hours. Its perfectly okay if you work at a faster or slower pace. If you can take a whole afternoon or evening, you can work through the whole LearningExpress Test Preparation System in one sitting. Otherwise, you can break it up and do just one or two steps a day for the next several days. Its up to youremember, you are in control.

Step 1: Get Information

Time to complete: 30 minutes

Activity: Read the Introduction to This Book

Knowledge is power. The first step in the LearningExpress Test Preparation System is finding out everything you can about the types of information you will be expected to know and how this knowledge will be assessed.

What You Should Find Out

The more details you can find out about the exam, the more efficiently you will be able to study. Heres a list of some things you might want to find out:

What skills are tested?

How many sections are on the exam?

How many questions are in each section?

How much time is allotted for each section?

How is the exam scored, and is there a penalty for wrong answers?

Can you write in the exam booklet, or will you be given scratch paper?

Step 2: Conquer Test Anxiety

Time to complete: 20 minutes

Activity: Take the Test Anxiety Quiz (later in this chapter)

Having complete information about the GED Reasoning through Language Arts test is the first step in getting control of it. next, you have to overcome one of the biggest obstacles to test success: test anxiety . Test anxiety can not only impair your performance on the exam itself, but it can even keep you from preparing properly. In Step 2, you will learn stress management techniques that will help you succeed on your exam. Learn these strategies now, and practice them as you work through the activities in this book so that theyll be second nature to you by exam day.

Combating Test Anxiety

The first thing you need to know is that a little test anxiety is a good thing. Everyone gets nervous before a big examand if that nervousness motivates you to prepare thoroughly, so much the better. Its said that Sir Laurence Olivier, one of the foremost British actors of the twentieth century, threw up before every performance. His stage fright didnt impair his performance; in fact, it probably gave him a little extra edgejust the kind of edge you need to do well, whether on a stage or in an examination room. At the end of this section is the Test Anxiety Quiz . Stop here and answer the questions on that page to find out whether your level of test anxiety is something you should worry about.

Stress Management before the Exam

If you feel your level of anxiety is getting the best of you in the weeks before the exam, here is what you need to do to bring that level down again:

Get prepared. Theres nothing like knowing what to expect and being prepared for it to put you in control of test anxiety. Thats why youre reading this book. Use it faithfully, and remind yourself that youre better prepared than most of the people taking the exam.

Practice self-confidence. A positive attitude is a great way to combat test anxiety. This is no time to be humble or shy. Stand in front of the mirror and say to your reflection, Im prepared. Im full of self-confidence. Im going to ace this exam. I know I can do it. Say it into a recorder and play it back once a day. If you hear it often enough, you will believe it.

Fight negative messages. Every time someone starts telling you how hard the exam is or how difficult it is to get a high score, start reciting your self-confidence messages to that person. If the someone with the negative messages is you
telling yourself you dont do well on exams, that you just cant do thisdont listen. Turn on your recorder and listen to your self-confidence messages.

Visualize . Imagine yourself sitting in your first day of college classes or beginning the first day of your dream job because you have earned your GED test credential. Visualizing success can help make it happenand it reminds you of why youre doing all this work in preparing for the exam.

Exercise. Physical activity helps calm down your body and focus your mind. Besides, being in good physical shape can actually help you do well on the exam. Go for a run, lift weights, go swimmingand do it regularly.

Stress Management on Test Day

There are several ways you can bring down your level of test stress and anxiety on test day. Theyll work best if you practice them in the weeks before the exam, so you know which ones work best for you.

TEST ANXIETY QUIZ

You need to worry about test anxiety only if it is extreme enough to impair your performance. The following questionnaire will provide a diagnosis of your level of test anxiety. In the blank before each statement, write the number that most accurately describes your experience.

0 = Never

1 = Once or twice

2 = Sometimes

3 = Often

___ I have gotten so nervous before an exam that I simply put down the books and didnt study for it.