Day 2

Word: intrigue ( fascinate, arouse the interest of ) 

Sentence: What intrigued me is the way he was talking.

Synonyms: (trickery, fraud, maneuver )

Antonym: (honesty, truthfulness)

Day 1

Word: affluent (having a great deal of money; wealthy) 

Sentence: The philanthropist uses his affluence to help people in need. 

Synonyms: money , prosperous , rich , flush , opulent 

Antonym: destitute , unsuccessful , impoverished , penniless , poor

Essay Writing

"An essay is a piece of writing that methodically analyses and evaluates a topic or issue. Fundamentally, an essay is designed to get your academic opinion on a particular matter."

Rules for essay Writing

Always use 3rd person pronouns like he,she,they,him,her,them.If you have copied something from some other source then cite your sources, for this use quotes and names of the sources. Use correct grammar and punctuation.

Different kinds of Essays

Descriptive essays
Cause Effect Essays
Argumented Essays
compare contrast essays

Essays should have introduction with a thesis statement.There should be atleast three body paragraphs that support the thesis statement

Introduction Part

Use hooks and funnels in the intro part of the essay.Hooks(from the name its meaning is clear "HOOK" that is used to catch something) are used to attaract the attention of the reader.To create interest in the reading and making the reader to be continue.We can use surprising statement, an anecdote as a hook.Or we can ask a question but make sure the question should be relevant to your essay and reader has not heared it before.Or we can use a statistics as a hook but it sometimes may be a boring hook.For example "Researchers have found that there are 1.22% more deaths from car accidents in rural areas than in urban areas in US."

Funnel is like a physical funnel that is wider at the top but as we go down it becomes narrower. Similarly in your essay first there should be general statement then more specific statement and last is the thesis statement.

Thesis statement

It has two parts viz. Topic+Controlling idea.There are certain things that we must avoid while using thesis statement.First is do not announce your thesis statement that is do not say "i would write about..." "this essay says about.....".Second is do not write a fact.Your thesis statement should be your own opinion and it should not be an obvious opinion or popular opinion.You need to say something fresh.There are some sample thesis statements.

Iceland is a beautiful country to visit to learn about a new culture

Eating a vegetarian diet improves health and extends life

The American government should provide health care to all of its citizens

In the first thesis statement "Iceland is a beautiful country" is the topic and "to visit to learn about a new culture" is the controlling idea.

What's wrong with these thesis statements--

It's important to change it because it will protect the environment
(In this statements too much pronouns are used, what's it?)

I will give four reasons why Germany won the world cup
("I will give" is an announcement So do not use)

People should stop smoking because it is dangerous for health and is dirty habit
(This statement is an obvious opinion)

Saving money is important
(This statement has no controlling idea.Saving money is important for whom and for what purpose?)

Body Statements

For developing body paragraphs after introduction part there are certain basic rules.Topic Sentence--->Supporting Idea#1---->Details and examples.Similarly there may be three or four supporting statements for the same topic sentence. And at last there will be a conclusion of the topic sentence.Topic sentence also has two parts topic and controlling idea.And topic sentence must support thesis statement.For Example

------------------Topic Sentence----------------

Thesis::                  Every citizen should learn to speak a second language

Topic Sentence#1:: First speaking another language broadens a person's viwe of the world.

Topic Sentence#2:: Another reason is that learning a second language opens job opportunities

Topic Sentence#2:: Finally learning a new language improves mental function

-----------------Supporting idea----------------

Topic Sentence:: First speaking another language broadens a person's viwe of the world.

Support#1:: They become aware of different cultures

Support#2:: They think about subjects they have never thought about

Support#3:: They learn about different countries

----------------Details nd Examples-------------

Support::       They think about subjects they have never thought about

Detail::       New vocabulary gives insight into the country that speaks that country

Example::       A language spoken only in hot climates may not even have a word for snow

Example::       The vocabulary also teaches the learner aboutnew foods of the related culture


Sample essay is attached herewith

How to prepare Math for GATE?

1.Read any local author book first(GATE gives much importance on topics like calculus,linear algebra which we have learnt in our higher secondary.So refer these topics in NCERT 12th maths book) 2.Another suggestion is Erwin Krezig but it focuses too much on conceptual understanding.
3.Refer 'Higher engineering mathematics' by B S Grewal.

Helpful websites for practising GATE

http://www.gyanpal.com
http://www.satishkashyap.com
http://www.gatepaper.in
http://nptel.ac.in
http://www.gatemitra.com/

मुझे धक्का किसने दिया था…

एक बार की बात है , किसी शहर में एक बहुत अमीर आदमी रहता था. उसे एक अजीब शौक था , वो अपने घर के अन्दर बने एक बड़े से स्विमिंग पूल में बड़े-बड़े रेप्टाइल्स पाले हुए था ; जिसमे एक से बढ़कर एक सांप, मगरमच्छ ,घड़ियाल ,आदि शामिल थे . एक बार वो अपने घर पर एक पार्टी देता है .बहुत से लोग उस पार्टी में आते हैं. खाने-पीने के बाद वो सभी मेहमानों को स्विमिंग पूल के पास ले जाता है और कहता है - ” दोस्तों, आप इस पूल को देख रहे हैं, इसमें एक से एक खतरनाक जीव हैं , अगर आपमें से कोई इसे तैर कर पार कर ले तो मैं उसे १ करोड़ रुपये या अपनी बेटी का हाथ दूंगा…” सभी लोग पूल की तरफ देखते हैं पर किसी की भी हिम्मत नहीं होती है कि उसे पार करे….लेकिन तभी छपाक से आवाज होती है और एक लड़का उसमे कूद जाता है ,और मगरमच्छों , साँपों, इत्यादि से बचता हुआ पूल पार कर जाता है. सभी लोग उसकी इस बहादुरी को देख हैरत में पड़ जाते हैं. अमीर आदमी को भी यकीन नहीं होता है कि कोई ऐसा कर सकता है ; इतने सालों में किसी ने पूल पार करना तो दूर उसका पानी छूने तक की हिम्मत नहीं की ! वो उस लड़के को बुलाता है , ” लड़के , आज तुमने बहुत ही हिम्मत का काम किया है , तुम सच- मुच बहादुर हो बताओ तुम कौन सा इनाम चाहते हो। ” अरे , इनाम-विनाम तो मैं लेता रहूँगा , पहले ये बताओ कि मुझे धक्का किसने दिया था….!” , लड़का बोला. मित्रों ये एक छोटा सा जोके था। पर इसमें एक बहुत बड़ा सन्देश छुपा हुआ है – उस लड़के में तैर कर स्विमिंग पूल पार करने की काबीलियत तो थी पर वो अपने आप नहीं कूदा , जब किसी ने धक्का दिया तो वो कूद गया और पार भी कर गया . अगर कोई उसे धक्का नहीं देता तो वो कभी न कूदने की सोचता और न पूल पार कर पाता , पर अब उसकी ज़िन्दगी हमेशा के लिए बदल चुकी थी … ऐसे ही हमारे अन्दर कई टैलेंट छुपे होते हैं जब तक हमारे अन्दर कॉन्फिडेंस और रिस्क उठाने की हिम्मत नहीं होती तब तक हम लाइफ के ऐसे कई चैलेंजेज में कूदे बगैर ही हार मान लेते हैं , हमें चाहिए कि हम अपनी काबीलियत पर विश्वास करें और ज़िन्दगी में मिले अवसरों का लाभ उठाएं।

Thirsty don't fall prey to negativity

When the train stopped on a railway platform, a boy, who was selling water, passed by. A man sitting by a window called him, "Come here boy." The boy came running. He filled a glass from crock, served it to the man. The man asked," What is the price?" "25 paisa", the boy replied. The man inquired, "Will you give it to me in 15 paisa? Listening to this, the boy smiled lightly, poured water back into his crock and walked away. A saint, observing this incident was perturbed by the boy's enigmatic smile. He was rattled and felt rustled. He got down and started walking towards the boy. He asked, “Hey boy! Wait. Tell me why did you smile?” The boy replied," That man was not thirsty. He just wanted to know the price of one glass water. I couldn't suppress my smile" "But what makes you say so that he wasn't.” The boy calmly replied, “O sire, those who are thirsty don't negotiate for rate. They take glass first, drink water and later ask how much to pay? If they ask rate first, they aren't thirsty." Those who are thirsty don't fall prey to negativity or absurd questions. If you don't trust something don't talk about it. And if you trust it, there is no reason for absurdity.