760+: What GMAT Assassins Do to Score at the Highest Levels

Finding Patterns in PS Questions When You Don’t Immediately See Them

Since the GMAT is a standardized Test, all of the questions that you’ll face are designed around one or more patterns. Sometimes the patterns are obvious – such as math formulas or grammar rules. Sometimes the patterns are more subtle - such as number properties or causality arguments.

With the proper study materials and Study Plan, you can learn all of the necessary patterns and train to properly use them. However, sometimes the patterns are so rare that they’re not worth learning in advance and sometimes they are essentially ‘hidden’, meaning that you won’t immediately see the pattern involved. However, the pattern is still there – and correctly answering some of the tougher questions on the GMAT will be considerably easier IF you are comfortable with the idea that you can ‘play around’ with the prompt a bit and define what the pattern is.

“Playing around” with a GMAT question is essentially about running little ‘experiments’ on it. In basic terms, you need to ask “what if….?” and then go about determining the result.

For example, here is a question from the PS Forums here. Your immediate task is NOT to calculate the result – it’s to figure out the first 4 terms in the sequence and THEN deduce a pattern within those 4 terms….

For every integer K from 1 to 10, inclusive, the Kth term of a certain sequence is given by:

[(-1)^(K+1)] x [1/(2^K)].

If T is the sum of the first 10 terms in the sequence, then T is….

A. Greater than 2
B. Between 1 and 2
C. Between 1/2 and 1
D. Between 1/4 and 1/2
E. Less than 1/4

So… what have you deduced? The answer appears below:



Now that you recognize this pattern, you should be able to quickly determine the value of the other three ‘pairs’:



The question asks for the sum of the first 10 terms, but doesn’t provide exact answers – it provides RANGES, so you do NOT have to be exact with your math. To answer this question, you really just have to ask...



In the next post, I’ll list a few additional PS prompts for you to ‘play around’ with. Remember the immediate goal – decipher the pattern first. Then, use whatever pattern you discover to answer the question.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Test Your Pattern-Finding Skills on These 3 PS Questions

For each of these three prompts, you should attempt to ‘play around’ with the question to define the pattern(s) involved – using the same approach showcased in the prior post. An explanation for how to approach each prompt in such a way will be provided in the next post.

1) How many positive integers, from 2 to 100, inclusive, are not divisible by odd integers greater than 1?

A. 5
B. 6
C. 8
D. 10
E. 50


2) There are 20 doors marked with numbers 1 to 20 and there are 20 individuals marked 1 to 20.

An operation on a door is defined as changing the status of the door from open to closed or vice versa. All doors are closed to start with.

One at a time, one randomly picked individual goes and operates the doors. The individual operates only those doors which are a multiple of the number he/she is carrying. For example, the individual marked with the number 5 only operates the doors marked with the following numbers: 5, 10, 15 and 20.

If every individual in the group gets one turn, then how many doors are open at the end?

A. 0
B. 1
C. 2
D. 4
E. 6


3) A test has 200 questions. Each question has 5 options, but only 1 option is correct. If test-takers mark the correct option, then they are awarded 1 point. However, if an answer is incorrectly marked, the test-taker loses 0.25 points. No points are awarded or deducted if a question is not attempted. A certain group of test-takers attempted different numbers of questions, but each test-taker still received the same net score of 40. What is the maximum possible number of such test-takers?

A. 31
B. 33
C. 35
D. 40
E. 42


GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Solutions: The Patterns Behind those Prior 3 PS Questions

While each of these three prompts might look complex, you CAN get to the correct answer by defining the patterns involved.

1) How many positive integers, from 2 to 100, inclusive, are not divisible by odd integers greater than 1?

In this prompt, we're asked to think about the numbers 2 to 100, inclusive. To start, there's NO way that the GMAT would ask us to truly think about each of these numbers individually, so there MUST be a pattern involved.

Now to the specifics: which of these numbers are NOT divisible by an odd integer that is greater than 1???

Let's start at the first number and work our way "up" until the pattern becomes clear:

2 - this is NOT divisible by any odd integers, so this "fits" what we're looking for...
3 - this IS divisible by an odd integer (3), so it's out
4 - this is NOT divisible by any odd integers, so this "fits"
5 - this IS divisible by an odd integer (5), so it's out
6 - this IS divisible by an odd integer (3), so it's out
7 - this IS divisible by an odd integer (7), so it's out
8 - this is NOT divisible by any odd integers, so this "fits"

Now, looking at the numbers that "fit", we have 2, 4 and 8.....that's 2^1, 2^2 and 2^3....that MUST be the pattern involved, so we can use this knowledge against the rest of the question to find the other values that "fit":
2^4 = 16
2^5 = 32
2^6 = 64
2^7 = 128, but that's outside the range that we were given. Thus, there are 6 values that "fit" what we're looking for.


2) There are 20 doors marked with numbers 1 to 20. And there are 20 individuals marked 1 to 20. An operation on a door is defined as changing the status of the door from open to closed or vice versa. All doors are closed to start with. Now one at a time one randomly picked individual goes and operates the doors. The individual however operates only those doors which are a multiple of the number he/she is carrying. For e.g. individual marked with number 5 operates the doors marked with the following numbers: 5, 10, 15 and 20. If every individual in the group gets one turn, then how many doors are open at the end?

It would take a LOT of time to work through all 20 people and all 20 doors, so I'm going to work through the first several so that we can define the pattern involved...

Remember: All the doors start off CLOSED...
Door 1: Only Person 1 touches this door. So it IS OPEN at the end.
Door 2: Person 1 and Person 2 touch this door. So it is closed at the end.
Door 3: Person 1 and Person 3 touch this door. So it is closed at the end.
Door 4: Person 1, 2 and 4 touch this door. So it IS OPEN at the end.

Now, stop and look at the work that we've done so far... Which doors do we know for sure will be open? Door 1 and Door 4. What do those two numbers have in common? They're both PERFECT SQUARES..... Let's see if that pattern continues...

Door 5: Person 1 and 5 touch this door. CLOSED.
Door 6: Person 1, 2, 3 and 6 touch this door. CLOSED.
Door 7: Person 1 and 7. CLOSED.
Door 8: Person 1, 2, 4 and 8. CLOSED
Door 9: Person 1, 3 and 9. OPEN.

Notice how the next door that we know will be open in the end is Door 9. It is ALSO a PERFECT SQUARE. Given the work we've done so far, this MUST be the pattern, so we're ultimately looking for the number of perfect squares from 1 to 20. They are 1, 4, 9 and 16. That's a total of 4 open doors at the end.


3) A test has 200 questions. Each question has 5 options, but only 1 option is correct. If test-takers mark the correct option, then they are awarded 1 point. However, if an answer is incorrectly marked, the test-taker loses 0.25 points. No points are awarded or deducted if a question is not attempted. A certain group of test-takers attempted different numbers of questions, but each test-taker still received the same net score of 40. What is the maximum possible number of such test-takers?

From the answer choices, we can see that there are a lot of different ways to get a total of 160 points (at least 31 ways...), so there's no way that the GMAT would require that we calculate each individual option. There has to be a pattern, so let's start off with the easiest 'ways' to get 160 points and go from there... Remember - a correct answers get you 1 point, an incorrect answer gets you MINUS 1/4 point and a skipped question gets you 0 points. So, how can we get 160 points...

40 correct, 0 incorrect, 160 skipped
41 correct, 4 incorrect, 155 skipped
42 correct, 8 incorrect, 150 skipped
Etc.

To find all of the options, you can either "count up" (40+0 = 40, 41+4 =45, 42+8 = 50, etc.) OR you can "count down" from the number of skipped questions. (160, 155, 150, etc.). With either option, you'll eventually run out of questions, then you'll be done.

Counting down from 160 is probably faster, as long as you don't forget the final option - the one with 0 skipped questions). Here, there are 33 multiples of 5 (including the 0
'option').


As you continue to study, it's important to remember that most GMAT Quant questions are NOT 'testing' your knowledge of advanced math, specialty formulas or complex ideas. The 'math' behind most Quant questions is actually rather straight-forward. As such, to maximize your score, you have to be ready to 'play around' with 'tough-looking' prompts and find the simple math behind them.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Acknowledge That “Your Way” is NOT Necessarily the Fastest Way (and Then CHANGE Your Approach).

The GMAT is a remarkably consistent and predictable Exam, so improving your performance isn’t just about ‘fixing’ the things that you are doing ‘wrong’ – it’s also in developing the proper skills to improve on work that you can already do.

Consider the following question. For many “math thinkers”, the approach would be “system algebra” – write out the appropriate equations and then solve for whatever the question asks for. That approach will absolutely get you to the correct answer here – and I suggest that you try it. Make sure to time yourself though - we need to know how long it would take you to solve this question using an algebraic approach.

Andrew has a certain number of coins in his pocket. He has three times as many dimes as quarters and six times as many nickels as dimes. A nick is worth $0.05, a dime is worth $0.10 and a quarter is worth $0.25. If he has a total of $10.15, then which of the following represents the number of dimes in Andrew’s pocket?

9
10
18
20
21

Correct Answer:

How long did it take you? For most GMATers, this question would require 2-3 minutes (or more) of work. If you’re really great at algebra, it might take you less time than that.

Now, I bet that I can show you a MUCH faster way to get to the correct answer – and it’s an approach that you’ll be able to use 2-3 times on the Official GMAT. Tomorrow, I’ll show you how it works and how to use it.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Answer to the Prior Question: Long Math Approaches vs. Faster Tactical Approaches

In the prior post, I listed the following Quant PS question:

Andrew has a certain number of coins in his pocket. He has three times as many dimes as quarters and six times as many nickels as dimes. A nick is worth $0.05, a dime is worth $0.10 and a quarter is worth $0.25. If he has a total of $10.15, then which of the following represents the number of dimes in Andrew’s pocket?

9
10
18
20
21

Many GMATers will approach these types of questions algebraically, even though that type of approach often takes longer than other, faster, more strategic options.

The Long Math:

To start, here is how you can solve this algebraically. Let’s use the following variables:

N = number of nickels
D = number of dimes
Q = number of quarters

The second sentence allows us to create two equations using the above variables:

D = 3Q
N = 6D

The third and fourth sentences allow us to create a third equation:

(.05)N + (.10)D + (.25)Q = 10.15

Now we have a ‘system’ of equations – three variables and three unique equations, so we can solve for each of the individual variables. The prompt asks us to determine the number of DIMES, so I’ll focus the work on solving for D.

D = 3Q …. Q = D/3
N = 6D

Substituting in for N and Q, we end up with…

(.05)(6D) + (.10)(D) + (.25)(D/3) = 10.15

.3D + .1D + (.25D/3) = 10.15

We can now multiply everything by 3 to get rid of the fraction…

.9D + .3D + .25D = 30.45

1.45D = 30.45

D = 30.45/1.45

D = 21

Final Answer:

Now, consider ALL of the work that I just did. Even if you took a slightly different approach to the algebra, how long would all of this work take…? Two minutes? Three minutes? Longer?

Instead, let’s use the ‘design’ of the GMAT to our advantage. Here, the answer choices ARE numbers, and we’re asked to solve for just one variable (the number of dimes), so let’s TEST THE ANSWERS.

Faster Tactics:

To start, we’re told that the number of dimes is 3 TIMES the number of quarters, so the number of dimes MUST be a MULTIPLE OF 3. That helps us to immediately eliminate answers B and D (since 10 and 20 are NOT multiples of 3).

Let’s TEST Answer C: 18. If it’s the correct answer, then we’ll be done. If it’s “too high” or “too low”, then we’ll know exactly which of the remaining two answers is the correct one.

IF… there are 18 dimes
Then there are 6 quarters (since there are three times as many dimes as quarters) and there are 108 nickels (since there are 6 times as many nickels as dimes).

Given the respective values of the three coins, we would have a total of….

(108)(.05) = $5.40
(18)(.10) = $1.80
(6)(.25) = $1.50
Total = $8.70

However, we were told that the actual total value of the coins is $10.15. This total ($8.70) is TOO LOW, which means that we need there to be more nickels, dimes and quarters. There’s only one answer left that ‘fits’ what we’re looking for, so that MUST be the correct answer!

Final Answer:

At this point, you have to be honest with yourself. Which approach was faster and easier? Even if you “love” doing formal math, taking that approach can only lead to problems later on (especially if you have pacing issues or are prone to making little mistakes when you have to do a lot of work). The Tactical approach here (TESTing ANSWERS) is faster, easier and requires less overall work. GMATers who score at the highest levels know when to use this approach and how to properly use this approach (and the basic ideas behind this Tactic can also help you solve certain Verbal questions as well) so there are multiple benefits to mastering it.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Using the Answers in a PS Question to Your Advantage

In a couple of prior posts in this thread – (Here) and (Here) - we’ve discussed how to taking advantage of the answer choices (by TESTing THE ANSWERS or by thinking about what the answers choices 'mean') can be a really fast and easy way to get to the correct answer in certain Quant questions. Beyond using the answers and doing the straight-forward arithmetic though, you will sometimes be given a HUGE ‘hint’ from the GMAT question writers – the answer choices themselves will be designed in such a way that you can avoid doing a lot of math altogether. One of the ‘keys’ to spotting (and using) those shortcuts is to be on the lookout for quirky clues in the wording of the prompt.

Consider the following question:

A motorist averaged 40 miles per hour on his way to work. He averaged 70 miles per hour on his way home along the same route. Which of the following is the closest to his average speed for the round trip?

A) 40
B) 51
C) 55
D) 59
E) 59.5

Correct Answer:

If you’d like to approach this question without any hints to start, then you absolutely should – and you can post your solution here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-motorist-a ... 39589.html

Now, let’s discuss the shortcut I alluded to earlier…

This prompt is a fairly common 'design' for a Weighted Average question. Here, a motorist travels a certain distance at one speed, then travels back - the SAME distance - at a different speed. We're asked for the AVERAGE SPEED for the entire trip.

One of the key elements to these types of questions is that the answer will be closer to the slower speed than to the faster speed. The exact 'middle' between 40 and 70 is 55, BUT since the motorist spends MORE time driving 40 mph, the average would have to be closer to 40 (while not being 40 exactly). Given the available answer choices, there's only one answer that 'fits'...

Final Answer:

The 'takeaway' from all of this: when approaching GMAT questions, the best Test Takers use ALL of the information that they've been given - including whatever is in the five answer choices.

Tomorrow, I’ll provide 3 additional prompts that you can solve by taking advantage of the answer choices.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Use the Answers to Your Advantage on These 3 Questions….

Each of the three questions listed here can be solved algebraically. However, if you pay attention to the five answer choices in each question, then you can cut down on the amount of work that is needed and potentially save some time. Remember that the goal on Test Day is to be correct AND be efficient, so while a shortcut that saves 5-10 seconds might not seem like much, if you could find that type of shortcut on every question, then you would cut 3-7 minutes of work-time in each section.

1) A motorist averaged 40 miles per hour on his way to work. He averaged 70 miles per hour on his way home along the same route. Which of the following is the closest to his average speed for the round trip?

A. 40
B. 51
C. 55
D. 59
E. 59.5

Correct Answer:


2) Franny can type 80 words per minute and Matt can type 60 words per minute. If the two together must type up a 14,000-word paper and each person can type for at most 2 hours, what is the least amount of time, in hours, that Matt must type?

A. 2
B. 5/6
C. 11/12
D. 11/9
E. 35/9

Correct Answer:


3) At a company meeting, M men and W women meet in a conference room. If there are twice as many men as women at the meeting and the conference room can hold no more than 50 total people, then what is the maximum number of women who can be at that meeting?

A) 15
B) 16
C) 17
D) 18
E) 19

Correct Answer:

Tomorrow, we'll discuss explanations to these questions so that you can see how to take advantage of the answers on each.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Explanations to the Prior 3 Problem Solving Question….

1) A motorist averaged 40 miles per hour on his way to work. He averaged 70 miles per hour on his way home along the same route. Which of the following is the closest to his average speed for the round trip?

A. 40
B. 51
C. 55
D. 59
E. 59.5

Correct Answer:

The answers to this question are 'spaced out' in such a way that you don't need to do much math at all to get to the correct answer. This prompt is a fairly common 'design' for a Weighted Average question. Here, a motorist travels a certain distance at one speed, then travels back - the SAME distance - at a different speed. We're asked for the AVERAGE SPEED for the entire trip.

One of the key elements to these types of questions is that the answer will be closer to the slower speed than to the faster speed. The exact 'middle' between 40 and 70 is 55, BUT since the motorist spends MORE time driving 40 mph, the average would have to be closer to 40 (while not being 40 exactly). There's only one answer that 'fits'...

---------------

2) Franny can type 80 words per minute and Matt can type 60 words per minute. If the two together must type up a 14,000-word paper and each person can type for at most 2 hours, what is the least amount of time, in hours, that Matt must type?

A. 2
B. 5/6
C. 11/12
D. 11/9
E. 35/9

Correct Answer:

The answer choices to this question provide a really nice 'shortcut' that can help you to cut down on the amount of math that is necessary to answer this question. To start, we're told that Franny and Matt can each type UP TO 2 hours, but we're asked for the LEAST amount of time (in hours) that Matt would need to type. Thus, the answer is almost certainly going to be LESS than 2. Eliminate Answer A and Answer E (this answer is almost 4 hours, which is simply not an option based on the information in the prompt).

Given Franny's rate (80 words/minute), we know that in 2 hours she would type (2)(60)(80) = 9600 words. This leaves 14,000 - 9,600 = 4,400 words for Matt.

Given Mat's rate (60 words/minute), the 4400 words would take 4400/60 = OVER 60 minutes. You don't need to calculate the exact value - it's enough to note that Matt would need to spend MORE than 1 hour typing. Answers B and C are LESS than 1 hour, so there's only one answer that makes sense...

---------------

3) At a company meeting, M men and W women meet in a conference room. If there are twice as many men as women at the meeting and the conference room can hold no more than 50 total people, then what is the maximum number of women who can be at that meeting?

A) 15
B) 16
C) 17
D) 18
E) 19

Correct Answer:

This question can be approached Algebraically or by TESTing THE ANSWERS. Here is how you can get to the solution by TESTing THE ANSWERS.

We're given a couple of facts to work with:
1) There are TWICE as men as women in a conference room
2) The conference room can hold UP TO 50 people.

We're asked for the MAXIMUM number of WOMEN that the room can hold.

Let's TEST Answer D: 18 women
IF... there were 18 women, then there would be 2(18) = 36 men.
18 + 36 = 54, but that is TOO MANY people (the room can only hold up to 50), so this answer is TOO BIG.
Eliminate D and E (that answer would be even BIGGER).

Answer C: 17 women
IF... there were 17 women, then there would be 2(17) = 34 men.
17 + 34 = 51, but that is TOO MANY people (although it's REALLY close), so this answer is TOO BIG.
Eliminate C.

Answer B: 16 women
IF... there were 16 women, then there would be 2(16) = 32 men.
16 + 32 = 48. This is the LARGEST answer that 'fits' all of the information that we've been given, so this MUST be the answer.

---------------

As you continue to study, remember to use EVERY piece of information that each prompt gives you. This idea is relevant in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections - and is 'key' to maximizing your performance on Test Day.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Reading Comp: Learning to Read GMAT RC at the Perfect Pace

Many GMATers make the mistake of thinking that ‘skimming’ is the proper way to deal with Reading Comp passages. By its nature, skimming is often a desperate way of trying to quickly deal with a (frequently lengthy) passage. Unfortunately, it sacrifices all manner of comprehension and note-taking for speed. That is a TERRIBLE trade-off – and often causes serious problems for Test Takers as they practice RC during their studies. By extension, those same Test Takers often fail to perform at a really high level on RC on Test Day, which keeps them from scoring at a really high level overall.

Proper reading speed for GMAT Reading Comp is probably not what you think it should be. As an experiment, we’re now going to test YOUR natural reading speed.

Here is an RC passage from the Diagnostic Test of the OG, formatted in the same way that it appears in that book. We’re not going to focus on answering the questions; this is just about reading the prompt. For this exercise, I want you to keep track of how long it takes you to complete the passage (and you should try to mimic your typical reading speed when you take your practice CATs). We’re going to use that piece of information to assess your default way of dealing with RC.

All right. Ready? Start your timer and begin…

Women’s grassroots activism and their vision
of a new civic consciousness lay at the heart of
social reform in the United States throughout the
Progressive Era, the period between the depression
of 1893 and America’s entry into the Second
World War. Though largely disenfranchised except
for school elections, white middle-class women
reformers won a variety of victories, notably in
the improvement of working conditions, especially
for women and children. Ironically, though,
child labor legislation pitted women of different
classes against one another. To the reformers,
child labor and industrial home work were equally
inhumane practices that should be outlawed, but,
as a number of women historians have recently
observed, working-class mothers did not always
share this view. Given the precarious finances of
working-class families and the necessity of pooling
the wages of as many family members as possible,
working-class families viewed the passage and
enforcement of stringent child labor statutes as a
personal economic disaster and made strenuous
efforts to circumvent child labor laws. Yet
reformers rarely understood this resistance in terms
of the desperate economic situation of working-
class families, interpreting it instead as evidence
of poor parenting. This is not to dispute women
reformers’ perception of child labor as a terribly
exploitative practice, but their understanding of
child labor and their legislative solutions for ending
it failed to take account of the economic needs of
working-class families.

How much time did you spend? Be honest.

0 – 40 seconds: You’re either amazing at RC or probably really terrible at it. Since you’re reading this article, it’s probably the latter. The time that you would have spent rushing through this prompt has been wasted. You will almost certainly need to go back to reread the prompt repeatedly as you work through the questions – and that’s a big waste of overall time and effort.

41 – 65 seconds: You may have caught some of the ideas/meaningful words in the prompt, but you probably won’t be able to accurately summarize them and you’ll end up rereading the prompt each time you have to deal with a new question about it.

66 – 89 seconds: Depending on your level of comprehension, you might have absorbed some of what’s here. What’s the point of the article? What is the article really discussing? Does the author have an opinion on the subject matter? At this speed, you probably missed out on some of the relevant points that were made, so most of the questions will require that you reread the prompt.

90 - 100 seconds: Proper reading speed for Reading Comp on the GMAT is about 150 words per minute. This prompt is roughly 230 words, so if you engaged with the prompt, then this is just about the perfect amount of time for this passage. Any ‘detail’ questions will require that you reread a small section of the prompt (but that’s often the case for those types of questions regardless of the length of the prompt or the subject matter).

101 – 120 seconds: Not too bad. You might have gotten hung up on some of the vocabulary, but you didn’t let it keep you from moving on to the parts of the passage that did understand.

121 – 140 seconds: We’re now getting to a point in which you’re probably rereading small chunks of the passage. You’re allowing yourself to get distracted by dense sentences and big vocabulary – and almost none of that will be relevant when it comes time to answering the questions.

141+ seconds: You might have broader ‘comprehension issues’, or you’re reading each sentence more than once. Training to learn what ‘matters’ in a passage and what doesn’t matter will be essential for you to score at a high level in the Verbal section.

Adapting one’s reading speed and ‘default way’ of reading is one of the specific challenges that most GMATers face. Since many of those habits are ingrained – they can take some serious time and commitment to change (you’ve been reading this way for most of your life, so you have to embrace the training if you want to improve). Thankfully, the style and logic behind GMAT RC is remarkably predictable – as are the question types and common wrong answers to RC questions – so you CAN train to score at a higher level. If your current study materials aren’t helping you to make those improvements, then it might be time to invest in materials that will.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Reading Comp: Practice Your Reading Pace on 3 Passages

In the prior post, we discussed proper reading pace for when you deal with GMAT RC passages (as a reminder, that pace should be about 150 words per minute). Unfortunately, simply knowing that fact won’t necessarily lead you to adjust your reading speed. So here are three practice prompts – taken from the OG12 – for you to practice on. Use a timer and make sure to note how long it took you to read each passage. The proper (goal) amount of reading time is listed in inviso-text beneath each prompt.

Passage 1:

Traditionally, the first firm to commercialize a
new technology has benefited from the unique
opportunity to shape product definitions, forcing
followers to adapt to a standard or invest in
an unproven alternative. Today, however, the
largest payoffs may go to companies that lead in
developing integrated approaches for successful
mass production and distribution.

Producers of the Beta format for videocassette
recorders (VCRs), for example, were first to develop
the VCR commercially in 1975, but producers of the
rival VHS (Video Home System) format proved to be
more successful at forming strategic alliances with
other producers and distributors to manufacture
and market their VCR format. Seeking to maintain
exclusive control over VCR distribution, Beta
producers were reluctant to form such alliances and
eventually lost ground to VHS in the competition for
the global VCR market.

Despite Beta's substantial technological head
start and the fact that VHS was neither technically
better nor cheaper than Beta, developers of VHS
quickly turned a slight early lead in sales into a
dominant position. Strategic alignments with
producers of prerecorded tapes reinforced the VHS
advantage. The perception among consumers that
prerecorded tapes were more available in VHS
format further expanded VHS's share of the market.
By the end of the 1980s, Beta was no longer in
production.

Reading Time Goal:


Passage 2:

A recent study has provided clues to
predator-prey dynamics in the late Pleistocene
era. Researchers compared the number of tooth
fractures in present-day carnivores with tooth
fractures in carnivores that lived 36,000 to 10,000
years ago and that were preserved in the Rancho
La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. The breakage
frequencies in the extinct species were strikingly
higher than those in the present-day species.

In considering possible explanations for this
finding, the researchers dismissed demographic bias
because older individuals were not over represented
in the fossil samples. They rejected preservational
bias because a total absence of breakage in two
extinct species demonstrated that the fractures
were not the result of abrasion within the pits.
They ruled out local bias because breakage data
obtained from other Pleistocene sites were similar
to the La Brea data. The explanation they consider
most plausible is behavioral differences between
extinct and present-day carnivores—in particular,
more contact between the teeth of predators and
the bones of prey due to more thorough
consumption of carcasses by the extinct species.

Such thorough carcass consumption implies to
the researchers either that prey availability was
low, at least seasonally, or that there was intense
competition over kills and a high rate of carcass
theft due to relatively high predator densities.

Reading Time Goal:


Passage 3:

Many United States companies have,
unfortunately, made the search for legal protection
from import competition into a major line of
work. Since 1980 the United States International
Trade Commission (ITC) has received about 280
complaints alleging damage from imports that
benefit from subsidies by foreign governments.
Another 340 charge that foreign companies
“dumped” their products in the United States at
“less than fair value.” Even when no unfair practices
are alleged, the simple claim that an industry has
been injured by imports is sufficient grounds to
seek relief.

Contrary to the general impression, this quest
for import relief has hurt more companies than
it has helped. As corporations begin to function
globally, they develop an intricate web of marketing,
production, and research relationships. The complexity
of these relationships makes it unlikely that a system
of import relief laws will meet the strategic needs of
all the units under the same parent company.

Internationalization increases the danger that
foreign companies will use import relief laws against
the very companies the laws were designed to
protect. Suppose a United States-owned company
establishes an overseas plant to manufacture
a product while its competitor makes the same
product in the United States. If the competitor can
prove injury from the imports—and that the United
States company received a subsidy from a foreign
government to build its plant abroad—the United
States company’s products will be uncompetitive in
the United States, since they would be subject to
duties.

Perhaps the most brazen case occurred when
the ITC investigated allegations that Canadian
companies were injuring the United States salt
industry by dumping rock salt, used to de-ice roads.
The bizarre aspect of the complaint was that a
foreign conglomerate with United States operations
was crying for help against a United States
company with foreign operations. The “United
States” company claiming injury was a subsidiary
of a Dutch conglomerate, while the “Canadian”
companies included a subsidiary of a Chicago firm
that was the second-largest domestic producer of
rock salt.


Reading Time Goal:

Good GMAT ‘habits’ take time to hone, so you have to continue to train at this proper reading speed. Combined with the proper note-taking and Tactical knowledge about RC question types (and the types of common wrong answers that often appear), you’ll find that dealing with any passage – regardless of length or subject matter – will become a standard process.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Your Big Problem With the Verbal Section is Based on a “Probability Problem”

Many Test Takers tend to find the Quant section of the GMAT to be easier than the Verbal section. Quant is based on more ‘obvious’ rules and patterns and you can often pinpoint the correct answer without having to consider (and then eliminate) each of the other 4 incorrect answers first.

By default, many GMATers work through Verbal questions with the idea that they should eliminate the four incorrect answers… and the answer that remains will be the correct one. While you should often be able to eliminate a couple of ‘obvious’ wrong answers from each Verbal question (even if you don’t know what the correct answer actually is), if THAT is how you handle every Verbal question, then there is a BIG problem with your overall approach - and you’re probably limiting how high you will score in the Verbal section.

The big issue here is ultimately a “math” problem. If you consistently narrow the answers down to two choices (the correct one and one of the four incorrect ones), then probability dictates that you will likely answer just half of those questions correctly. While you can certainly afford to miss lots of hard/weird questions and still score at a high level, you cannot afford to miss HALF of the 41 Verbal questions and still expect to earn a high score. Without having the proper content knowledge and Tactical abilities, you’ll effectively be “winging it” through the Verbal section – and the GMAT doesn’t often reward that type of approach with a 700+ score.

Knowing all of this, you now have to define how much this issue actually applies to YOU… but you’ll have to put in the necessary work to analyze your CATs. Starting with your most recent CAT, you have to review each Verbal question AND your notes for each question. We need to know how many questions you “narrowed down to 2 choices” (ALL questions, regardless of whether you got the question correct or incorrect). You have to be honest with this assessment – if you didn’t “know” what you were looking for when you worked your way through the answers, then you were essentially trying to ‘eliminate your way’ to the correct answer.

It’s worth noting that some GMATers are naturally strong in the Verbal section – the questions just “make sense” to those Test Takers, so they don’t need a more formal process for dealing with the Verbal section. Since you’re reading this post though, then you are probably not one of those people. So, how many of the 41 questions did you deal with during your last CAT by narrowing the answers down to 2 choices?

0-10 questions: You either really know what you’re doing (and scoring at a really high level) or you have no idea what you’re doing and you’re misinterpreting most of the questions that you’re dealing with.

11-15 questions: You’re probably performing above average overall, but you’re missing out on enough points that you still have some work to do to get to the 700+ level.

16 – 20 questions: You’re unsure of how to handle almost half of the questions, which means that you’re missing serious points in at least 2 of the 3 major Verbal categories (SC, RC and CR). At this level, you might not be clear on what you actually have to do to correctly answer certain questions.

21 – 25: questions: “Your way” of dealing with the Verbal section is likely problematic and you will almost certainly need to invest in some new study materials and focus on learning/practicing proper Verbal Tactics to score higher.

26 – 30 questions: You’re almost certainly losing serious points in all 3 major Verbal categories (SC, RC and CR) and simply doing more practice questions will NOT get you to your score goal.

31 – 41 questions: Your work across most of the Verbal section is imprecise and you’ll need to invest a significant amount of time, money and energy to raise your Verbal score up to a high score level.

Regardless of how you’re performing now, it’s important to remember that the Verbal section of the GMAT is just as consistent and predictable as the Quant section is, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. The key word there is “train” – you cannot expect to just work your way through 100s of additional practice questions on your own and hope to hit your goal score. You will need help, so you have to do the necessary research and invest in some new practice materials and Tactics.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Defining Your Pacing Problem in the Quant and/or Verbal Sections (Part 1)

Over the years, one of the most common concerns that I’ve heard from GMATers is about their pacing – specifically, the fact that they have to rush through a number of questions at the end of a section just to finish on time. “How do I fix my pacing problem?” they ask (and you might be asking it too!).

First, you have to understand that a pacing problem doesn’t exist on its own – it’s the result of OTHER issues. In simple terms, something about how you handle the Quant and/or Verbal sections is CAUSING this pacing issue. To better define that cause (or causes), we have to analyze how you’re handling questions on your CATs. To properly do that, we need to look at one of your recent CATs and your NOTES for that CAT.

Certain practice CATs include information on how much time you spent on each question – and we need a CAT result that includes that information. THAT data is remarkably important, but we need more than just some numbers to solve your pacing issue. We also need to see what you wrote down, the ‘steps’ that you went through to try to answer each question, etc. For review purposes, you should always keep your notes from each CAT. At the very least, you’ll be able to reattempt questions that you originally got wrong. – which is a great way to measure your progress as you study and define how well you are improving. In addition, you can go back and see how you successfully answered certain questions (as those Tactics and patterns will likely be helpful on future questions.) At deeper levels, you can define WHY you got questions wrong in the first place – and that information can help you to change your tactics, improve your work and hone your skills.

QUANT

“On a CAT, no Quant question is worth more than 3 minutes of your time - not even the first question.”

Say that quote out loud. Right now. Then say it again. I don’t care where you are (and I don’t care if anyone looks at your strangely). Say it a third time. Now start living by that rule.

Believe it or not, 75 minutes IS enough time to work through the Quant section, but NOT if you’re making silly mistakes (that you then have to go back and fix) or wasting time by staring at the screen and hoping that an idea comes to you.

If you had to rush through even a couple of questions at the end of the Quant section, then you ‘over-committed’ to certain questions earlier on and wasted a bunch of time. If you have a pacing issue in the Quant section, then here’s what we have to specifically look for in your CAT results:

1. Count up the number of times that you spent 3 or more minutes on a question. Write all of those ‘times‘ down in a row.
2. What fraction of those questions did you get WRONG? Circle the times associated with the ones that you got wrong.

Over time, for most GMATers, the long-term fraction of wrong answers on questions that took 3+ minutes is about ½… meaning that when you spend THAT much time on a Quant question, there’s a really good chance that you’re going to get that question WRONG anyway! So in addition to getting a bunch of questions wrong, you end up wasting a bunch of time AND you end up not having enough time for the questions at the end of the section (which you mostly get wrong too). In effect, you’re getting killed twice for the same mistake… so you need to stop making that initial mistake. To figure out how to do that, we have to start with your notes…

3. Take a look at your notes for the first question from your list of “3+ minutes” questions. If you were to hand that section of your notes to someone else, would that person be able to answer the following questions:

A) What information did the prompt include?
B) What question were you attempting to answer?
C) What ‘steps’ did you go through?
D) Were the numbers that you wrote down “labeled”?

If any of those 4 questions cannot be answered, then you’ve defined the first (and probably the BIGGEST) issue – you don’t take the proper notes. The GMAT will NEVER ask you to do work ‘in your head’ – that’s why you’re given a note pad and marker to work with.

4. Now, review each question that you spent 3+ minutes on. How many of those questions had ‘insufficient’ notes attached to them? By extension, how hard would it have been to write down those notes?

5. Try redoing each question, from scratch. Write down all of the notes (as defined above). How long did it take to JUST write down the notes? Not too long, I bet. Now, try to solve the problem. If you decide it’s too hard, then that’s fine… now dump it (take a guess and move on). Physically do it. Choose an answer. Accept that making that choice is in your best interests– there are questions at the end of the section that you almost certainly CAN correctly answer if you have enough time.

With this newfound perspective, you can start making changes to how you work through practice questions and how you take your CATs. Next time, we’ll talk though how to apply similar ideas to how you handle the Verbal section.

GMAT assassins aren’t born, they’re made,
Rich

If you have any questions about anything in this thread, then you can feel free to contact me directly via email or PM.

Thank you so much @EMOWERgmatRichC for starting this thread. ALl the tips and startegies mentioned in your post have been so helpful to me in my practice. I use these startegies very often and keep revisting them after doing few questions to refresh my memory of them.