November 11, 2009 – 5:47 PM
How shocking the vivid argot of young people today! Imagine our befuddlement when recently accosted by the indelicate language of the street corner in what was unfolding as an otherwise proper conversation with one of our well-bred and punctilious students. Though this would not be the first time we have been waylaid by the urban patois of our young charges, we were, nevertheless, sufficiently bemused that we paused to consider how we might intervene so as to take full advantage of the teachable moment that had presented itself. Here, after all, was one of our ambitious young students in the midst of a conversation about his summer employment with his SAT/ACT Grammar, Reading, and Essay instructor. As we have stated on previous occasions, our effort to expand the active vocabulary of America’s youth by shepherding them away from the slippery slopes of indolent locution is part and parcel of our ongoing quest to elevate and instruct these lexically challenged youths in the more subtle expressions found in the educated citizen’s vocabulary. Here is the expression that so took us aback:
October 28, 2009 – 2:07 AM
One of my favorite movies is The Three Amigos. Like many of the movies I dragged my father to see when I was little vehement boy, it attracted a dozen patrons. To this day I cannot figure out why that movie bombed at the box office—it was pure genius from beginning to end and so, so funny.
But that’s not my point. I bring this film up because two classic scenes in this film illustrate how important it is to have a comprehensive vocabulary.
October 14, 2009 – 8:54 AM
In working with young people, we often overhear the colorful patois of their generation. Though we are occasionally flummoxed by their exotic teen argot, we are sometimes nimble enough to discern and exploit such teachable moments when they present themselves. As part of our ongoing mission to encourage our students to expand their active vocabularies by renouncing their slothful locutions and supplanting them with the more nuanced phrasings afforded by sophisticated diction, we offer the following example from a conversation we recently overheard.
“My ACT tutor is one of the most brilliant educators I have ever met, but, when I saw him in the park the other day playing basketball, I realized that he’s really a ‘wack buster.’”
October 7, 2009 – 11:51 PM
Last week, Chicago found out that the 2016 Olympics will not be held within city limits. The games will be held outside of Chicago – and by “outside of Chicago” I mean “take a left, then another left, then go straight for five thousand miles.”
October 5, 2009 – 1:54 PM
As part of our ongoing effort to educate and elevate, we encourage our students to expand their active vocabularies by cultivating their own speech and, rather than unimaginatively following the herd, forsaking their teen argot with nuanced diction that will, no doubt, impress their friends and enemies alike.
October 1, 2009 – 1:49 PM
Suppose that you are concerned about your test average in your biology class. Imagine that you have received scores of 91, 92, and 95. One test remains, and you want to be sure that your overall test average is greater than 90. What must you score on the final test?
September 29, 2009 – 4:07 PM
There’s little doubt that taking standardized tests can be stressful. I myself chewed through five pieces of leather when taking my SAT. There’s the time pressure. There are the other students scribbling away feverishly. There’s that annoying sound emanating from somewhere in the room bothering the living pachouli out of you. Above all, though, there is the weight of knowing that the test is important.
September 16, 2009 – 6:33 AM
As I wrote in my last post, I am very much a sports fan – and a Chicago one at that. Though very much dispirited today after watching my Chicago Bears give away their game last night (gift wrapped, actually) to the Green Bay Packers – a team famous for its nearby dairy processing facilities more than anything else – I still think there’s value in using sports as a metaphor for some of the challenges you’ll face on standardized tests.
September 10, 2009 – 11:39 PM
Why are you not scoring in the 30s on the ACT English section? Inexcusable! I declare that the Gods of Standardized Testing — Erudition and Neuroses — have given high school mortals a gift when it included the English section on the ACT. Yes, a gift. It is the first section, and it is the easiest section (and also arguably the most important college readiness skill). It is based on rules you can memorize, and it’s as predictable as a series on the CW. So brace yourselves for another exclamatory tirade from the Vehement Tutor (that’s me) as I remind you of timeless tips on the English section that never fail.
August 27, 2009 – 8:01 PM
One recent summer day, Mike and Nick found themselves at an ice cream stand with time on their hands. Each wanted a sundae, and after a casual challenge was put forward by Mike, it was understood that Nick would indeed like to “make things a little more interesting.”
Please know: neither Nick nor Mike is interested in gambling; rather it is the study of probability that fascinates them, and they are both SAT and ACT Math enthusiasts.