Arguably the toughest GMAT Critical Reasoning question-type, the boldfaced question is feared by many GMAT test-takers. In fact many test-takers feel very good if they encounter a boldfaced question on test-day since they link it to having performed well on the test — if it is the toughest question type then getting a boldfaced question means that one has successfully answered the medium-level questions.
In the previous Quantitative post , we saw how seemingly tough and time-consuming Data Sufficiency problems usually require a certain amount of pre-work. In most cases if the pre-work is done properly, you will precisely know what information is required to answer the question even before you go to the statements. The GMAT question below is another one of such problems.
In a few previous posts, this and this, we had discussed the importance of identifying the 3/2 Split as a way of really crashing the solving time on Sentence Correction. Strategically this is crucial since the average time available per question on the Verbal Section is only 1 min 49 sec. Since most Indian test-takers end up taking at least 2 min. per question on Reading Comprehension questions (including passage reading time), it is imperative that they solve SC and CR in under 1:49 sec per question. Between Critical Reasoning and Sentence Correction questions, the former will take longer purely because the amount of new information that one has to process in each option, both in terms of length and logic, is greater than it is for the latter.
The toughest GMAT Quant problems are usually Data Sufficiency questions involving numbers systems and inequalities. These problems tend to pose a lot of difficulties for test-takers because they seem to invite test-takers to plug in numbers and once they take that road, test-takers find themselves taking an inordinate amount of time. Once test-takers become aware of the of the ticking of the timer, panic sets in and even if they do manage to solve it, test-takers are still unsure of their answer. Answering these type of questions correctly is key to moving from a scaled score of 48 to a scaled score of 50 on the Quant.
While most test-takers prepping for the Sentence Correction questions on the GMAT® are aware of the Subject-Verb Error, very few are aware of the importance of identifying the subject as a standalone error. The GMAT® question below best illustrates how identifying the subject can reduce the time taken to solve some Sentence Correction question. Turning away from literary realism to write about the peasant life and landscape of Northern Sweden, in 1909 Selma Lagerlof was the novelist who became the first woman and was also the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
The Evaluate Question Type on the GMAT® is perhaps the question type that best tests your technique on Critical Reasoning questions. Whatever the question type there two things that are a must-do if you want to develop a flawless technique to answer GMAT® Critical Reasoning Questions: • Precisely Identify The Argument • Clearly Define What The Right Option Should Do The answer options on this question type are always framed in the form of questions. So the best way to tackle this question is to evaluate the argument with respect to answer to each question.
Parallelism is an error-type that anyone who has ever prepped for GMAT® Sentence Correction will know. It is a very popular error type with test-takers since it is easy to spot and eliminate incorrect answer options. But there is a specific kind of parallel structure that the GMAT® test-makers disguise so well that it is almost impossible to pick! The GMAT® question below is the perfect example.
In the previous post on Critical Reasoning we looked at the method of tackling statistics-based CR questions on the GMAT®. Let us look at another statistics-based questions to reinforce our learning. As discussed in the previous post, the answer to a statistics-based question will either be a statistic or an interpretation of the stat being discussed in the argument. More often than not, test-takers answer these questions incorrectly because they do not take time out to understand the stat being discussed. The GMAT® question below is the best example.
One of the biggest challenges on the GMAT® is the battle against the timer. But the first thing that test-takers have to realize that it is not a test where a section cannot be completed in 75 minutes. Even the seemingly time-taking problems or calculations always have a straightforward solution provided you pause to think about the best way of going about solving a problem rather than jump into it. Usually the speed-breakers are Data Sufficiency questions involving inequalities. The first reaction of test-takers is to randomly plug numbers and see how things will pan out. Since they have not taken the time to first define the problem well, plugging numbers tends to become a trial and error process in the hope of hitting upon the answer rather than a process of testing the inequality! Over the next few Quantitative posts we will look at methods to effectively tackle Data Sufficiency problems involving inequalities. One of the first methods of decreasing the solving time required on these problems is to test the converse of the …
The GMAT Official Guide is probably one of the most important components of any GMAT Prep. But more often than not test-takers do not really use it in a way that will maximize their learning and take them to their dream score.
The GMAT Writer 