Posted by Clear Admit on January 29, 2011, at 9:00 am
Posted in:  GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from Veritas Prep. To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:
Set A consists of integers -9, 8, 3, 10, and J; Set B consists of integers -2, 5, 0, 7, -6, and T. If R is the median of Set A and W is the mode of set B, and R^W is a factor of 34, what is the value of T if J is negative?
(A) -2 (B) 0 (C) 1 (D) 2 (E) 5
This problem demonstrates a helpful note about statistics problems –often the key to solving a stats problem is something other than stats: divisibility, number properties, algebra, etc. The statistics nature of these problems is often just a way to make a simpler problem look more difficult.
Posted by Clear Admit on January 15, 2011, at 9:00 am
Posted in: GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from ManhattanGMAT. To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:
Problem
If m is the square of integer n and m is divisible by 98, m must also be divisible by:
I. 28
II. 196
III. 343
A) I only
B) II only
C) I & II only
D) II & III only
E) I, II, and III
Posted by Clear Admit on December 22, 2010, at 8:00 pm
Posted in: GMAT - Verbal , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT Tip comes from our friends at Knewton. In this post, they share helpful advice on answering sentence correction questions that feature prepositional phrases in the middle of sentences. Read on to see what they have to say!
On GMAT Sentence Correction section, watch out for prepositional phrases in the middle of sentences, especially those bracketed by commas. They often can refer to either the first or second half of the sentence, creating ambiguity.
Take a look at this GMATPrep® question:
Although various eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American poets had professed an interest in Native American poetry and had pretended to imitate Native American forms in their own works, until almost 1900, scholars and critics did not begin seriously to study traditional Native American poetry in native languages.
(A) until almost 1900, scholars and critics did not begin seriously to study (B) until almost 1900 scholars and critics had not begun seriously studying (C) not until almost 1900 were scholars and critics to begin seriously to study (D) it was not almost until 1900 when scholars and critics began to seriously study (E) it was not until almost 1900 that scholars and critics seriously began studying
. . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 15, 2010, at 8:00 pm
Posted in: GMAT - Verbal , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT Tip comes from our friends at Knewton. In this post, they share helpful advice on answering tricky modifier placement questions that come up on the test. Read on to see what they have to say!
Placing modifiers correctly is one of the greatest challenges on the Sentence Correction portion of the GMAT. Different rules apply to different types of modifiers, whether they are participial phrases, adjective clauses, or appositives.
To see when modifiers get tricky, take a look at this GMATPrep® question:
Originally developed for detecting air pollutants, a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it, is finding uses in medicine, archaeology, and criminology.
(A) Originally developed for detecting air pollutants, a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it, (B) Originally developed for detecting air pollutants, having the ability to analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it, a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission (C) A technique originally developed for detecting air pollutants, called proton-induced x-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it, (D) A technique originally developed for detecting air pollutants, called proton-induced x-ray emission, which has the ability to analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance quickly and without destroying it, (E) A technique that was originally developed for detecting air pollutants and has the ability to analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance quickly and without destroying the substance, called proton-induced x-ray
When dealing with modifiers, be careful to identify what modifiers the sentence is throwing at you, and make sure they are placed properly. If you’re choosing between two options that seem to shuffle modifying clauses or phrases around, think to yourself: What is the clearest and most logical sequence of modifiers?
In the sentence above, the most important point is the placement of the participial phrase “called proton-induced X-ray emission.” Normally, participial phrases set off by commas are very flexible modifiers. However, when a participial phrase NAMES the noun it describes, it must directly follow that noun (much like an appositive must directly follow the noun that it renames).
For example:
A boy ran down the street, named John.
This is incorrect, even though participial phrases set off by commas at the end of sentences can usually refer back to the subject of the sentence. Because “named John” NAMES the noun “boy,” it must follow directly after “boy,” as in:
A boy named John ran down the street.
We have the same situation in this SC problem. “Called proton-induced X-ray emission” is a participial phrase that NAMES the noun “a technique,” so it must directly follow “technique.” In C, D, and E, it does not follow “a technique,” so we can eliminate these answer choices. This leaves choices B and A.
A is preferable to B because it is poor style to stack two . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 4, 2010, at 9:00 am
Posted in: GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from ManhattanGMAT. To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:
Problem
A rectangular solid has side lengths 3, 4, and z, where z is an integer. The total surface area of this solid is the same as that of a cube with side length s, where s is an integer. If z is the lowest possible integer that fits these conditions, what is s?
(A) 3
(B) 5
(C) 6
(D) 7
(E) 9
Posted by Clear Admit on October 31, 2010, at 9:00 am
Posted in: GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from ManhattanGMAT. To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:
Problem
Every trading day, the price of CF Corp stock either goes up by $1 or goes down by $1 with equal likelihood. At the end of 5 trading days, what is the probability that the price of CF Corp stock is up by exactly $3 from its initial price?
(A) 1/16
(B) 1/8
(C) 5/32
(D) 9/32
(E) 3/8
Posted by Clear Admit on October 16, 2010, at 9:00 am
Posted in: GMAT - Verbal , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT tip comes from our friends at Veritas Prep. In today’s article, they present another installment of their “Think Like the Testmaker Series”:
Brian Galvin is the Director of Academic Programs at Veritas Prep, where he oversees all of the company’s GMAT prep courses.
Boldfaced Critical Reasoning questions have taken on an identity as being difficult questions. This perceived difficulty only serves to fuel the fire, as students actively look for the “trick” embedded within the question, often eliminating answer choices simply because they may “seem too obvious.” These questions then become self-fulfilling prophecies, difficult not because they are difficult, but because they’re supposed to be.
With that in mind, recognize that the authors of the GMAT, while incredibly clever, are bound by the rules of the game. Each question must have four incorrect answers and one correct one, and on boldfaced questions the descriptions must exactly match the portions that they describe. If you can find a fatal flaw in an answer choice, it’s incorrect. Once you’ve eliminated the four flawed choices, even if the remaining answer seems “obvious” or even bland, it must be correct.
. . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on October 13, 2010, at 8:00 pm
Posted in: GMAT - Verbal , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today we have another GMAT Tip from our friends at Knewton. In this week’s article, they address idiom errors in sentence corrections questions!
In our GMAT Case Study series, we’ll take a close look at the key concepts behind GMAT practice questions. This week: idiom errors.
Even the most diligent students occasionally have nightmares about GMAT sentence correction grammar. SC can be particularly frustrating if you are not a native English speaker and have trouble just understanding what the sentence is saying. Luckily, there are plenty of strategies to help test-takers – both native and non-native speakers – succeed! Before we get into too many details, let’s try an example:
In the last few decades, physicists have identified the existence of different “flavors” of subatomic particles called quarks, most of them as small or smaller than the electron, which display a property known as color charge.
(A) most of them as small or smaller than the electron, which display
(B) most of them as small or smaller than the electron and displaying
(C) mostly as small or smaller than the electron, displaying
(D) mostly at least as small as the electron, which display
(E) most of them at least as small as the electron, displaying
Give it a shot, then read on for the explanation and more SC strategy tips.
. . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on October 9, 2010, at 9:00 am
Posted in: GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from ManhattanGMAT. To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:
Problem
The harmonic mean of two numbers x and y, symbolized as h(x, y), is defined as 2 divided by the sum of the reciprocals of x and y, whereas the geometric mean g(x, y) is defined as the square root of the product of x and y (when this square root exists), and the arithmetic mean m(x, y) is defined as (x + y)/2. For which of the following pairs of values for x and y is g(x, y) equal to the arithmetic mean of h(x, y) and m(x, y)?
(A) x = -2, y = -1
(B) x = -1, y = 2
(C) x = 2, y = 8
(D) x = 8, y = 8
(E) x = 8, y = 64
Posted by Clear Admit on September 1, 2010, at 8:00 pm
Posted in: GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT Tip has been provided by our friends at the test prep firm Knewton. In this article, they share advice on how remembering that you can’t divide by zero can help you solve GMAT problems. Read on to see what they say!
We all know not to divide by zero. It is a rule from middle school—if not earlier—and the reasons for it are pretty straightforward.
If you look at the graph of y = 1/x, the y value approaches +∞ as x approaches zero from the right, and the y value approaches –∞ as x approaches zero from the left. But the graph never reaches x = 0, because you cannot divide by zero. Dividing 1 by smaller and smaller fractions results in larger and larger quotients, because many tiny bits can fit into one whole. But you can’t answer the question of how many zeros fit into 1; the question doesn’t make sense conceptually.
All this is interesting, and the history of zero is at least a little bit interesting, too. But for the purposes of the GMAT, we have already thought much more about zero than we have to. If we remember not to divide by zero, we have remembered everything we need to know for test day. Or have we?
. . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on August 14, 2010, at 9:00 am
Posted in: GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from our friends at ManhattanGMAT. To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:
Problem
A “Sophie Germain” prime is any positive prime number p for which 2p + 1 is also prime. The product of all the possible units digits of Sophie Germain primes greater than 5 is
(A) 3
(B) 7
(C) 21
(D) 27
(E) 189
. . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 7, 2010, at 4:00 pm
Posted in: GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT math tip comes from our friends at Beat The GMAT–they are launching their new Smart GMAT Practice product today!
Turning complex problems into simpler ones is a key to success on the GMAT. Often, you will be confronted with a time-consuming difficult problem. If you can find a way to break it down, you will not only get the right answer, but you will also save time. In the video and example below, we look at the “Something Method”, which helps you with complex math problems.
Let’s take a look at an example in which the Something Method can help:
If (12z)/(5 – 6y/x) = 4z then which of the following is true?
(A) 2x = 3y (B) 3x = 2y (C) x = 3y (D) 3x = y (E) 2x = y
This problem could involve a lot of algebra that would be time consuming. Note that you could re-write the problem replace the complex denominator as something.
12z/something = 4z something = 3
We now know that the complex denominator = 3.
5 – 6y/x = 3
Now we can substitute something for 6y/x, such that we are left with:
5 – something = 3 something = 2
This leave us with our fraction = 2. With some simple algebra we can now solve for the relationship between x and y.
6y/x = 2 6y = 2x 3y = x
The answer is C.
Today’s math tip was brought to you by Beat The GMAT. To try more practice questions with similar video explanations, check out Smart GMAT Practice.
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Posted by Clear Admit on June 2, 2010, at 4:00 pm
Posted in: GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from our friends at ManhattanGMAT. To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:
Problem
Positive integer n leaves a remainder of 4 after division by 6 and a remainder of 3 after division by 5. If n is greater than 30, what is the remainder that n leaves after division by 30?
(A) 3 (B) 12 (C) 18 (D) 22 (E) 28
Solution
The simplest way to approach this problem is to work backwards from the answer choices. Let’s construct a possible value of n for each choice, and then test those values against the given constraints.
Since we are asked for the remainder after division by 30, the easiest possible value of n for each choice is 30 more than the choice.
(A) 3 + 30 gives us n = 33
(B) 12 + 30 gives us n = 42
(C) 18 + 30 gives us n = 48
(D) 22 + 30 gives us n = 52
(E) 28 + 30 gives us n = 58
Now test those values of n against the constraints.
(A) n = 33 divided by 6 gives remainder 3 – FAIL
(B) n = 42 divided by 6 gives remainder 0 – FAIL
(C) n = 48 divided by 6 gives remainder 0 – FAIL
(D) n = 52 divided by 6 gives remainder 4 – PASS
(E) n = 58 divided by 6 gives remainder 4 – PASS
We can now just test the surviving choices for how they behave upon division by 5. To leave remainder 3 after division by 5, a number must end in either 3 or 5:
(D) n = 52 divided by 5 gives remainder 2 – FAIL
(E) n = 58 divided by 5 gives remainder 3 – PASS
The correct answer is therefore (E).
Another way to approach this problem is to translate the given language of remainders into the language of multiples. If n leaves a remainder of 4 after division by 6, then n is 4 more than a multiple of 6. Leaving aside the size requirement for a moment, we can see that n could be 4, 10, 16, 22, 28, 34, etc.
Likewise, if n leaves a remainder of 3 after division by 5, then n is 3 more than a multiple of 5. Again leaving aside the size requirement, we can see that n could be 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, etc. As we noted earlier, n must end in 3 or 8.
We might now spot 28 on both lists. Although n is not actually allowed to be 28 (because n must be larger than 30), we might try adding 30 to it to get 58. Since 30 is a multiple of 6, adding 30 to 28 won’t change the fact that after division by 6, we’ll get 4 as the . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on May 29, 2010, at 9:00 am
Posted in: GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from our friends at ManhattanGMAT. To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:
Problem
If x and y are integers and x < y, what is the value of x + y?
(1) xy = 4
(2) |x| = |y|
A: Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient.
B: Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient.
C: BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient.
D: EACH statement ALONE is sufficient.
E: Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data are needed.
Solution
The question cannot be easily rephrased to incorporate the particular information given. However, of course we should take note that both variables are integers and that x is less than y. We are looking for the value of x + y.
Statement (1): SUFFICIENT. First, we should list out all the possible scenarios in which integers x and y fit the equation xy = 4.
There are three possibilities, as we can find by trial and error: 22 = 4, (-2)2 = 4, and 41 = 4. However, of these possibilities, there is only one for which x is less than y, namely (-2)2 = 4. Thus, we can find the value of x + y, which is -2 + 2 = 0.
Statement (2): SUFFICIENT. Knowing that |x| = |y| does not tell us the values of the integers. However, since they have the same absolute value, but x is less than y, it must be the case that y is a positive integer and x is the negative of that integer. For instance, if y is 5, then x is -5. The sum of x and y must therefore be 0, no matter what.
The correct answer is (D).
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