Transcription
GM AT Te st St u dyGu ideCopyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.1
Table of Cont ent sGM AT TEST RESOURCES. 5GM AT OVERVI EW . 6TESTI N G AN D AN ALYSI S . 8I N TROD UCTI ON TO TH E GM AT . 10TH E GM AT SCORI N G SCALE . 11QUAN TI TATI VE TEST . 13PROBLEM- SOLVI NG QUESTI ONS . 13D ATA- SUFFI CI ENCY QUESTI ONS . 13QUESTI ON TYPES . 15ARI THMETI C . 16D I VI SI BI LI TY . 17MULTI PLI CATI ON . 18ADDI TI ON . 19SUBTRACTI ON . 19EVENS AND ODDS . 21PRI ME NUMBERS . 22PERCENTS . 24SQUARE OF A NUMBER . 28EXPONENTS . 30ROOTS . 32AVERAGES . 32VERBAL TEST . 34READI NG COMPREHENSI ON QUESTI ONS . 34What I s Measured . 35CRI TI CAL REASONI NG QUESTI ONS . 35What I s Measured . 36SENTENCE CORRECTI ON QUESTI ONS . 36What I s Measured . 37READI NG COMPREHENSI ON . 38Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.2
FLYI NG OVER THE PASSAGE . 38CREATI NG A TENTATI VE SUMMARY . 39OPENI NGS AND ENDI NGS . 40EXTRANEOUS I NFORMATI ON . 40USI NG KI TCHEN LOGI C . 41GETTI NG I NTO THE AUTHOR’ S MI ND . 41EMOTI ONAL W ORDS . 42FI NDI NG THE KEY W ORDS . 43MAKI NG PROPER I NFERENCES . 44APPLYI NG I DEAS FOR GENERALI ZATI ONS . 45USI NG CONTEXT CLUES . 45BREAKI NG D OWN PASSAGE ORGANI ZATI ON . 47FI RST W ORD ANALYSI S . 48UNDERSTANDI NG THE I NTI MI DATI ON . 49FI NDI NG YOUR OPTI MAL PACE . 50D ON’ T BE A PERFECTI ONI ST . 51FACTUALLY CORRECT,BUTACTUALLY W RONG . 52D I FFERENT VI EWPOI NTS . 53SENTENCE CORRECTI ON . 54TRY EVERY CHOI CE . 54READ CAREFULLY. 54APOSTROPHES . 55Possessive Nouns . 55Possessive Personal Pronouns vs. Cont ract ions . 55COMMA ERRORS . 56PROBLEMS W I TH REFERENCES . 58PROBLEMS W I TH AGREEMENT . 60LACKOFPARALLELI SM . 63MI SCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS . 64CRI TI CAL REASONI NG . 68I DENTI FYI NG PREMI SES AND CONCLUSI ONS . 70D I AGRAMMI NG CONDI TI ONAL STATEMENTS . 74CLASSI FI CATI ON . 77SEVEN COMMON FALLACI ES . 83AN ALYTI CAL W RI TI N G TEST. 86Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.3
ANALYSI S OF AN I SSUE . 86What I s Measured . 86ANALYSI S OF AN ARGUMENT . 86What I s Measured . 87PLANNI NG STAGE . 87STI CKI NG TO THE PLAN . 88REVI EWI NG THE PLAN . 88BRAI NSTORMI NG SMART . 88MAKI NG THE CUTS . 91ENDI NG AT THE START . 91STAYI NG CONSI STENT . 93MAI NTAI NI NG THE FLOW . 93BACKI NG UP YOUR POI NTS . 94USI NG PROPER GRAMMAR . 95W ATCHI NG YOUR VOCABULARY . 96AVOI DI NG TUNNEL VI SI ON . 96JUST D O I T . 97CONCLUSI ONISREVI EW . 98COMMUNI CATI NG REASON,NOTPASSI ON . 99ANSWERI NG THE W HY? . 100GETTI N G READ Y FOR TEST D AY . 101POST GM AT . 103Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.4
GM AT Te st Re sour ce sFr e e GM AT Pr a ct ice Te st sht t p: / / www.t est prepreview.com / gm at pract ice.ht mFin a n cia l Aid Fa ct sht t p: / / www.finaidfact s.orgSch ola r sh ip H e lpht t p: / / www.scholarshiphelp.orgSt u dy Tips a n d I n for m a t ionht t p: / / www.st udyguidezone.com / resource t ips.ht mCopyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.5
GM AT Ove r vie wThe Graduat e Managem ent Adm ission Test ( GMAT) is indeed a difficultexam inat ion, and as such, it was required t hat m edia be chosen bywhich int ellect ual abilit y could be m easured. I n t he case of t he GMAT,m at h, verbal, and writ ing were t he select ed m edia. While t here is anongoing, low- profile cont roversy about whet her or not t his t est t rulym easure’s your abilit ies wit h regards t o what you’ll need for graduat eschool, t hat is not t he purpose of t his book. The purpose is, however,t o m ake sure t hat you’re able t o achieve t he best possible st at e ofpreparat ion, allowing you t o m axim ize your score pot ent ial - no m at t erif your act ual apt it ude has been m easured.As no t est can m easure all aspect s of a person’s int elligence, t he GMATm easures t hose skills deem ed m ost crit ical t o a new graduat e st udent .Then again, if any adm ission t est , no m at t er how cleverly assem bles,is inherent ly inadequat e, why perform t his t ype of t est ing at all? Thisis a quest ion posed by every st udent who sees t he GMAT loom ingahead of him / her. Nevert heless, t he answer t o t his quest ion is quit esim ple, and quit e reasonable; t o m ake graduat e school accept ance am ore fair experience, by expanding t he basis approval beyond yourgrades.Your GMAT score is one of t he m ost crit ical elem ent s t o yourqualificat ion for graduat e school, so it is nat urally m uch t oo im port antfor you t o t ake t his t est unprepared. The higher your GMAT score, t hebet t er your chances of adm ission will be for a respect ed, com pet it ivegraduat e program .Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.6
While different graduat e program s assign a different weight orim port ance t o your GMAT scores, it is safe t o assum e t hat your GMATwill be a m aj or det erm ining fact or when it com es t o t he final adm issiondecision m ade by each graduat e school t o which you’ve applied.Careful preparat ion, as described in t his expert guide, along wit h hardwork, will dram at ically enhance your probabilit y of success. I n fact , itis wise t o apply t his philosophy not only t o your graduat e schoolapplicat ions, but t o ot her elem ent s of your life as well, t o raise youabove t he com pet it ion. Your GMAT score is one of t he areas in t hegraduat e adm ission process over which you have a subst ant ial am ountof cont rol; t his opport unit y should not be t aken light ly. Hence, arat ional, prepared approach t o your GMAT t est as well as t he rest oft he adm ission process will cont ribut e considerably t o t he likelihood ofaccept ance.Keep in m ind, t hat alt hough it is possible t o t ake a GMAT t est m oret han once, you should never t ake t he t est as an “ experim ent ” j ust t osee how well you do. I t is of ext rem e im port ance t hat you always beprepared t o do your best when t aking t he GMAT.Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.7
Te st in g a n d An a lysisI t won’t t ake you long t o discover t hat t he GMAT is unlike any t estyou’ve t aken before, and it is probably unlike any t est you will evert ake again in your academ ic career. The t ypical high school or colleget est is a knowledge- based t est . The GMAT, however, is skills- based.What does t his m ean t o you? I t m eans t hat you’ll have t o prepareyourself in a com plet ely different way! You won’t sim ply be recit ingm em orized fact s as t hey were phrased in som e t ext book.The GMAT requires you t o t hink in a t horough, quick and st rat egicm anner and st ill be accurat e, logical and wise.This t est is designed t o j udge your writ ing, verbal and m at hem at icalabilit y in t he ways t hat graduat e schools feel is vit al t o t he success offirst year graduat e st udent s.To som e ext ent , you have already gradually obt ained t hese abilit iesover t he lengt h of your academ ic career. However, what you probablyhave not yet becom e fam iliar wit h is t he capabilit y t o use t heseabilit ies for t he purpose of m axim izing perform ance wit hin t he com plexand profound environm ent of a st andardized, skills- based exam inat ion.There are different st rat egies, m indset s and perspect ives t hat you willbe required t o apply t hroughout t he GMAT. You’ll need t o be preparedt o use your whole brain as far as t hinking and assessm ent isconcerned, and you’ll need t o do t his in a t im ely m anner. This is notCopyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.8
som et hing you can learn from t aking a course or reading a book, but itis som et hing you can develop t hrough pract ice and concent rat ion.This guide provides you wit h t he professional inst ruct ion you requirefor underst anding t he t radit ional GMAT t est . Covered are all aspect sof t he t est and preparat ion procedures t hat you will require t hroughoutt he process. Upon com plet ion of t his guide, you’ll have t he confidenceand knowledge you need for m axim izing your perform ance on yourGMAT.Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.9
I n t r odu ct ion t o t h e GM ATThe purpose of t he GMAT is t o est ablish a st andard m et hod ofm easurem ent for t he skills t hat have been acquired by graduat e schoolapplicant s. These skills are considered crit ical t o graduat e schools fora first - year st udent t o be able t o succeed. The principle behind t heGMAT is sim ilar t o t he SAT’s t hat are required for applicat ion t oAm erican colleges. Alt hough t hese t est s are sim ilar experiences, t heGMAT is m uch m ore challenging and com plex.Fort unat ely, t he GMAT does not change very dram at ically from year t oyear. What t his m eans t o you, is t hat it has becom e possible forqualit y pract ice t est s t o be produced, and if you should t ake enough oft hese t est s, in addit ion t o learning t he correct st rat egies, you will beable t o prepare for t he t est in an effect ive m anner.Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.10
Th e GM AT Scor in g Sca leGMAT scoring is not hard t o com prehend when it is properly explained.There is no “ passing” score t o t he GMAT, but you will need t o knowwhat t he cut off average score is for t he graduat e schools t o whichyou’re looking t o apply. For t his inform at ion, check t heir w ebsit e, orcall, and t hey’ll t ell you t he average score of st udent s who areaccept ed.Each graduat e school has a different policy for weighing GMAT scoreswit h your GPA. The m aj orit y of graduat e schools will weigh your GMATscore m ore heavily t han your GPA. I n fact , som e schools will weighyour GMAT at 70% and your GPA at 30% , which m eans t hat t his oneexam inat ion is wort h m ore t han your 4 years of undergraduat e work.I t ’s up t o you t o look int o t he graduat e schools t o which you’ll beapplying, so t hat you’ll have t his inform at ion, and know t he exactvalue of your GMAT. Many schools will m ake t heir calculat ionst ruct ure for t he com binat ion of GMAT and GPA available t o t he public.Knowing t his inform at ion before you ent er t he GMAT exam inat ionm eans t hat you know exact ly what you’re facing t hat day. You willhave a realist ic percept ion of t he wort h of t he t est , and you will havet he proper m ot ivat ion t o fully apply yourself t o reach your m axim umpot ent ial.Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.11
You’ll also be able t o realist ically j udge t he t ype of school t o which youshould be applying, and you can bet t er set out your fut ure plans inyour m ind.Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.12
Qu a n t it a t ive Te stThe Quant it at ive sect ion of t he Graduat e Managem ent Adm ission Test( GMAT) m easures basic m at hem at ical skills, underst anding ofelem ent ary concept s, and t he abilit y t o reason quant it at ively, solvequant it at ive problem s, and int erpret graphic dat a. Two t ypes ofm ult iple- choice quest ions are used in t he Quant it at ive sect ion of t heGMAT: Problem Solving and Dat a Sufficiency.Problem - Solving and Dat a- Sufficiency quest ions are int erm ingledt hroughout t he sect ion. Bot h t ypes of quest ions require knowledge of:- arit hm et ic- elem ent ary algebra- com m only known concept s of geom et ryPr oble m - Solvin g Qu e st ion sProblem - Solving quest ions are designed t o t est :- basic m at hem at ical skills- underst anding of elem ent ary m at hem at ical concept s- t he abilit y t o reason quant it at ively and solve quant it at ive problem sD a t a - Su fficie n cy Qu e st ion sDat a- Sufficiency quest ions are designed t o m easure your abilit y t o:- analyze a quant it at ive problem- recognize which inform at ion is relevantCopyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.13
- det erm ine at what point t here is sufficient inform at ion t o solve aproblemDat a- Sufficiency quest ions are accom panied by som e init ialinform at ion and t wo st at em ent s, labeled ( 1) and ( 2) . You m ust decidewhet her t he st at em ent s given offer enough dat a t o enable you t oanswer t he quest ion. You m ay answer t hat :- St at em ent ( 1) ALONE is sufficient , but st at em ent ( 2) is not sufficient .- St at em ent ( 2) ALONE is sufficient , but st at em ent ( 1) is not sufficient .- BOTH st at em ent s TOGETHER are sufficient , but NEI THER st at em entALONE is sufficient .- EACH st at em ent ALONE is sufficient .- St at em ent s ( 1) and ( 2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient .To ident ify t he skills t hat need ext ra w ork, com plet e a pract ice t estt hat gives addit ional inform at ion, or, com plet e a pract ice t est and lookfor yourself at t he areas where you excelled, and t he areas wherest ruggle was apparent .Your “ crit ical” m at h skills will be in t he areas where you have m ade t hem ost wrong answers on your pract ice t est .Those will be t he m at hskills t hat will best help your score in t he short est period of t im e, ifyou m anage t o pract ice and bet t er t hese skills. This is t he area inwhich you can m axim ize your score increase pot ent ial.To m ast er your crit ical m at h skills, t here are cert ain st eps you m ayt ake:Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.14
yRead over t he skill lesson in t his book, very carefullyyFind som e pract ice t est s and work specifically on t he quest ions t hatt est your crit ical m at h skills, pract icing t he new skills t hat you havelearned in t hrough your review.yUse t ext books for increased det ail, assist ance, and quest ionexam ples for t he areas in which you are st ruggling t he m ost .yPract ice, pract ice, pract ice!The best way t o get t o learn your m at h skills is t o rehearse t hem wit has m any new sam ple quest ions as you can get your hands on. Thequest ions you do, t he m ore you will becom e fam iliar and com fort ablewit h t hat t ype of quest ion, so t hat you can m ove on and concent rat eon ot her areas for perfect ion.Qu e st ion Type sThe t est is very consist ent wit h t he t ype of m at hem at ics quest ions t hatit uses, year aft er year. The following are t he t ypes of m at hem at icalquest ions t hat you are likely t o encount er:yArit hm et icyDivisibilit yyMult iplicat ionyAddit ionySubt ract ionyEvens and OddsyPrim e Num bersyPercent sySquare of a Num berCopyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.15
yExponent syRoot syAveragesAr it h m e t icArit hm et ic skills refer t o t he quest ions t hat can be solved by usingaddit ion, subt ract ion, m ult iplicat ion and/ or division.Since calculat ors are perm it t ed in t he t est , t he quest ions will obviouslynot be purely arit hm et ic - t hey’re not out t o m easure your abilit y wit ha calculat or. So in t his st yle of quest ion, you’ll need t o recall yourorder of operat ions. A good t rick t o recall your order of operat ions is“ Please Excuse M y D ear Aunt Sally” before you say “ huh?” recognizet he first let t ers in t his phrase:yWork wit hin Parent hesisySim plify Exponent syM ult iplicat ion and D ivisionyAddit ion and Subt ract ionThe m aj orit y of arit hm et ic quest ions will require you t o t ake m ult iplest eps, and will likely t est ot her skills as well, inst ead of being purelyarit hm et ic. Oft en, t he quest ions will be present ed in t he form of w ordproblem s, where you will need t o decide when t o add, subt ract ,m ult iply and divide.For exam ple:Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.16
How m any egg cart ons are needed t o hold 300 eggs, if each cart oncan hold one dozen ( 1 dozen 12)A. 15B. 18C. 22D. 25E. 28Not e: t he answer is 25D ivisibilit yThe fact ors of int eger X are t he int egers by which X can be dividedwit hout leaving a rem ainder. Thus, X is divisible by it s fact ors.For exam ple:The num ber 10 is divisible by bot h 5 and 2. 10 can be divided by bot hof t hese int egers wit hout leaving a rem ainder.To review t he rules of divisibilit y, have a look at t he following:1. Num bers divisible by 2 end in even num bers.2. Num bers divisible by 3 can be det erm ined by adding t he sum oft heir digit s and checking if t hat num ber is divisible by 3 ( for exam plet he num ber 123: 1 2 3 6, 6 is divisible by 3 wit h no rem ainder) .Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.17
3. Num bers divisible by 4 can be ident ified if t heir last t wo digit s willdivide by 4 wit hout a rem ainder ( for exam ple, t he num ber 624: t helast t wo digit s are 24, which are divisible by 4 wit h no rem ainder) .4. Num bers divisible by 5 end only in 5 or 0.5. Num bers divisible by 9 occur when t he sum of it s t heir digit s aredivisible by 9 ( for exam ple, t he num ber 639: 6 3 9 18, which isdivisible by 9) .6. A num ber is only divisible by 10 if it ends in 0The following is an exam ple of a divisibilit y quest ion:Which of t he following int egers divides int o bot h 200 and 150?A. 3B. 7C. 30D. 50E. 300Not e: The correct answer is ( D)M u lt iplica t ionThe following are a few sim ple rules t o keep your m ult iplicat ions ont rack:Posit ive x Posit ive Posit iveNegat ive x Negat ive Posit iveCopyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.18
Negat ive x Posit ive Negat iveAddit ionHere are som e rules t o be cert ain t hat t here are no slips while doingaddit ion:Posit ive Posit ive Posit iveNegat ive Negat ive Negat iveNegat ive Posit ive eit her posit ive or negat ive ( you m ust use t heabsolut e value of bot h: subt ract t he sm aller from t he larger and keept he sign of whichever absolut e value was larger)Su bt r a ct ionThe definit ion of subt ract ion is: A - B A ( - B)A m inus B is t he sam e as A plus ( t he opposit e of B)X 0, m eans t hat X is a posit ive num berX 0, m eans t hat X is a negat ive num ber- ( A - B) - A B B - A( - X) 2 X2I f X - 0, X2 0Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.19
I f, on t he num ber line, one num ber occurs t o t he left of anot hernum ber, t he num ber on t he left is t he sm allest num ber.Therefore, when st udying t he line above, you w ill know t hat X Y andY Z.For exam ple:Use t he num ber line t o m ake conclusions wit h regards t o whet her eachnum ber is posit ive or negat ive.I n t his sit uat ion, you will have an easier t im e if you im plem ent specificnum bers t o fit t he problem . For exam ple, let X - 7, Y - 2, and Z 3. Be cert ain t o ut ilize som e negat ive num bers while subst it ut ing.The following is an exam ple of a subt ract ion quest ion:Y- XSolut ion: Posit ive Y is great er t han X.- 2 - ( - 7) - 2 7 5Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.20
Eve n s a n d OddsAn even num ber is any word t hat is divisible by 2: num bers t hat arewit hin t he set { - 6, - 4, - 2, 0, 2, 4, 6, } . Rem em ber, t hough, t hat aneven num ber is divisible by 2 and not have any rem ainder. Keep inm ind also t hat 0 is an even num ber. Consecut ive even num bers are alllocat ed 2 unit s apart . For exam ple, if x is an even num ber, t hen t henext consecut ive even num ber would be represent ed as X 2.Odd num bers, on t he ot her hand, are num bers wit hin t he set { - 5, - 3,- 1, 1, 3, 5, } .The following chart s dem onst rat e t he propert ies of odd and evennum bers. To check t he propert y of a num ber, you can sim plysubst it ut e t he appropriat e num bers.Propert ies of odd and even num bers wit h Addit ionPr ope r t yEx a m pleEven Even Even2 8 10Odd Odd Even3 9 12Odd Even Odd3 8 11Propert ies of odd and even num bers wit h Addit ionPr ope r t yEx a m pleEven x Even Even4 x 6 24Even x Odd Even4 x 5 20Copyright StudyGuideZone.com. All rights reserved.21
Odd x Odd Odd3 x 9 27Consider t he following exam ple:I f R is an odd int eger, what are t he next t wo consecut ive odd int egers?A) T and VB) R and R 1C) R 1 and R 2D) R 2 and R 4E) R 1 and R 3Not
Each graduate school has a different policy for weighing GMAT scores with your GPA. The majority of graduate schools will weigh your GMAT score more heavily than your GPA. In fact, some schools will weigh your GMAT at 70% and your GPA at 30%, which means that this one examination is worth more than your 4 years of undergraduate work.
