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Gold Collection: GMAT Pill Free Articles & Questions

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Below are 3 Articles and 7 Questions That Will Help You On GMAT Verbal

The break down is as follows:

cr-strengthen


2 SC
3 Articles

  • 1 CR

7 Questions

  • 2 SC
  • 5 CR

1. "To do x" vs "doing x," a secret idiomatic best practice

This article describes how to handle situations in which you've narrowed it down to 2 choices and you need to choose the correct one. Knowing this strategy and idiomatic best practice will be extremely beneficial when you need to make a quick decision between these two choices.

Who this is for:  Test takers who do not want to bother with complex grammar terminology. Simple rule of thumbs that work almost all of the time are presented with examples from OG and GMATPrep.

2. Using structure and meaning to decipher modifiers

This article covers the 3 possible sentence structures involving modifiers. It tells you how to know which word or phrase is being modified by a descriptive phrase. Is the descriptive phrase describing the word closest to the comma? What if that word closest to the comma is part of a larger phrase? And  how do we know when that descriptive phrase actually describes the subject of the sentence - rather than the word closest to the comma?

All the answers are in this article.

Who this is for: Test takers who are recognizing patterns in sentences but do not necessarily want to deal with the fancy terms of labeling each grammatical concept. Focus, is on identifying structure - then making sure the meaning matches the structure in order for the sentence to make sense.

3. How to Visualize/Prethink "Strengthens" Questions (Part 1)

This article talks about how important "Strengthens" questions are for the GMAT. After all, they account for the largest percentage of CR questions. Strengthen questions are questions that ask you to pick an answer choice that supports the conclusion. There are various ways in which the GMAT folks can present a strengthen question. Sometimes you may see a fill in the blank in which they suggest a conclusion and then end it with the word "since" followed by a blank underline. Other times they may straight up ask you which of the following would strengthen/support the author's argument.

Who this is for:  Test takers who are visually inclined  and want to have something in mind before looking at the answer choices. This way, they will be better able to eliminate answers quickly if what they see in an answer choice does not match what they are looking for. This is the pre-thinking & visualization strategy we teach at GMAT Pill.

 

Below are 7 GMAT Verbal Questions (5 Critical Reasoning Questions + 2 Sentence Correction Questions)

The critical reasoning questions cover frameworks including:

  • Strengthen/Support Conclusion
  • Most Useful to Establish / Evaluate
  • Argument Depends / Assumption

The sentence correction questions cover frameworks including:

  • Meaning/Phrasing

Verbal Question #1: SC - Floating Pollutants (Meaning/Phrasing)

Floating in the upper layer of the atmosphere, a group of scientifically made particles collects and transmits data on the interactions between cosmic rays and man-made pollutants, interactions that affect the climate throughout the world.

(A) pollutants, interactions that affect
(B) pollutants, with interactions affecting
(C) pollutants that affects
(D) pollutants that is affecting
(E) pollutants as affects

See Discussion

Verbal Question #2: CR Phorid Flies (Strengthen/Support Conclusion)

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

In their quest to store food for the winter, harvester ants compete with squirrels for plant seeds, limiting the growth of Farmville’s squirrels, which are a public health risk since one in 4 squirrels has been found to carry ticks and fleas. However, the red fire ant, which has recently invaded Farmville, has a venomous sting that can cause severe allergic reactions in humans that can result in suffocation and death. Therefore, the planned introduction into Farmville of phorid flies, a natural ant parasite that kills its host by laying eggs into its thorax, would benefit public health, since _______.

(A) phorid flies are not parasitic to ants other than the red fire ant
(B) red fire ants are less effective than many bird species in competing with squirrels for seeds
(C) certain other species of harvester ants are more effective than red fire ants in competing with squirrels for seeds
(D) the sting of red fire ants can also be fatal to squirrels
(E) some pesticides that could be used to control red fire ants are harmful to the environment

Verbal Question #3 - CR Violin Makers (Most Useful to Establish / Evaluate)

The antique violins found in the man's attic in northern France were made using the same craftsmanship techniques as those used by Italian violin makers in the 16th century. These techniques are sufficiently complex to make their independent development in both areas unlikely. Since the people of these two areas were in cultural contact, historians hypothesize that the craftsmanship techniques used to make the violin found in the French man's attic were learned by French violin makers from Italian counterparts.

Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in order to evaluate the historians' hypothesis?

(A) Whether violins were traded from Italy to northern France during the sixteenth century
(B) Whether travel between northern France and Italy in the sixteenth century would have been primarily by land or by sea
(C) Whether violin makers from northern France could have learned complex craftsmanship techniques from their Italian counterparts without actually leaving northern France
(D) Whether wood-making tools were used in the sixteenth century villages in northern France
(E) Whether any of the techniques used in the manufacture of the violins found in the northern French man's attic are still practiced among violin makers in Italy today

Sourced from GMAT Pill Platform CR Question

Verbal Question #4 - CR Galapagos (Argument Depends / Assumption)

The Galapagos Islands formed at least 8 million years ago and a tortoise population from the South American mainland was estimated to have found its way to the island at least 5,000 years ago. A small isolated population of Galapagos Tortoises emerged. Based on a sample, this population's descendants can grow to be on average, 25 kilograms heavier than similar tortoises found on the South American mainland. The Galapagos Islands are drier than the South American mainland. Thus, the current average weight of Galapagos Tortoises is undoubtedly at least partially attributable to changes associated with the Galapagos' environmental conditions.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

(A) There are no types of vegetation on the Galapagos Islands that are known to benefit from dry conditions.
(B) There were about as many tortoises on the mainland five thousand years ago as there are on the Galapagos Islands today.
(C) The mainland's environment has not changed in ways that have resulted in tortoises on the mainland growing to be 25 kilograms lighter than they were five thousand ago.
(D) The soil on the South American mainland, unlike that on the islands, lacks important nutrients that help tortoises survive and grow heavy in a dry environment.
(E) The 25-kilogram weight difference between the tortoises on the Galapagos Islands and those on the mainland is the only difference between the two populations.

Sourced from GMAT Pill Platform CR Question

Verbal Question #5 - CR - Las Vegas Night Club (Strengthens)

A nightclub manager in Las Vegas noticed that his beer cooler at the bar was half empty by the end of the night while his energy drink cooler at the bar was 90% empty. As a result, the manager reasoned that he should increase the amount of energy drinks and decrease the amount of beer he ordered from the distributor each week.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the manager's rationale for ordering more energy drinks and less beer?

(A) The two coolers at the bar in question are the only place in the nightclub where the energy drinks and beer are stored.
(B) On that day, a summer-special competition began that rewarded any nighclubber able to drink 5 energy drink vodkas in 5 minutes with $100 in prize money.
(C) During that week, a special "New Year's Special" sale was in effect for the beer.
(D) On the subsequent day, the remaining 10% of energy drinks all sold within the first hour after the nightclub reopened.
(E) At the beginning of the day, the energy drink cooler was stocked with at least as many drinks as in the beer cooler.

The original source is from the GMATPill Practice Pill Platform.

Verbal Question #6 - CR - Chema Emissions (Argument Depends/Assumption)

Chema is a factory that creates plastics and plastic related products for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. It has two options to reduce harmful emissions from its factory - installing scrubbers in its smokestacks and switching to cleaner-burning fuel. Since scrubbers can reduce more harmful emissions than cleaner-burning fuels can, Chema is doing the most it can do to reduce harmful emissions from its factory by installing scrubbers.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

(A) Switching to cleaner-burning fuel will not be more expensive than installing scrubbers.
(B) Chema is not necessarily committed to reducing harmful emissions from its factories.
(C) Harmful emissions from Chema's factories cannot be reduced more by using both methods together than by the installation of scrubbers alone.
(D) Aside from harmful emissions from the smokestacks of its factories, the activities of Chema do not cause significant air pollution.
(E) Chema can choose from various kinds of scrubbers, some of which are more effective than others.

Sourced from GMAT Pill Platform CR Question

Verbal Question #7 - SC Cultural Philsophy (Meaning/Phrasing)

 

A prominent figure in the Upetan history, Kalida's Abhigyanshakuntlam and Vikramorvasiya are two books to cultural philosophy what Tulsidas’ Ram Charita Manas is to classics.

(A) Kalida's Abhigyanshakuntlam and Vikramorvasiya are two books to cultural philosophy what

(B) Kalida's Abhigyanshakuntlam and Vikramorvasiya are two books to cultural philosophy like

(C) Kalida's Abhigyanshakuntlam and Vikramorvasiya are two books to cultural philosophy just as

(D) Kalida wrote Abhigyanshakuntlam and Vikramorvasiya, two books that are to cultural philosophy similar to

(E) Kalida wrote Abhigyanshakuntlam and Vikramorvasiya, two books that are to cultural philosophy what

Sourced from GMATPill Practice Questions - SC Question

  1. Penny Falbrow Penny Falbrow

    thank you!

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