What to target - Strengths or Weaknesses?

A student once came up to me with an interesting problem - she said she was very good at Critical Reasoning and rather weak in Reading Comprehension so she had devised a strategy in which she spent a lot more time on her strength, which was CR, and comparatively lesser time on RC, which was her weakness.

In fact she said she had been practicing the most difficult of CR questions and getting them correct in quick time, yet her scores were not improving. She wanted to know why this was the case and whether there was some problem with the testing software.

The answer is actually very simple - the strategy of concentrating on your strengths and ignoring your weaknesses would work very well on a paper-based test such as the Common Admission Test in India.

BUT the GMAT is a Computer Adaptive test!

What this means is that even though this student was very good at CR the fact that she was doing badly on RC meant that RC kept pulling her score down as she never got to see the difficult CR questions and as you must already be aware how high you score on the GMAT is actually a function of the difficulty level of the questions and not how many you get correct or incorrect.

To Sum it Up:

1. In case you are strong in one area and weak in another ideally try to concentrate equally on both of these areas.
   
   
2. In case you are short of time and must decide between the two, it makes much more sense to concentrate on your weaker area.

When to Guess - GMAC's view

These lines are straight from official GMAC literature and might be of some help in deciding when to guess and when to not. I'll post my own thoughts/suggestions on 'Guessing' in a subsequent post. Until then, read on!

"Based on an analysis of thousands of actual GMAT records, the question of whether to guess or leave questions blank (at the end) depends on the number of items you have left, the section you are on (Verbal or Quantitative), and your relative ability. Here is how it breaks down:

• If you only have 1 or 2 items left in either section, it doesn’t make much difference if you guess or omit the question. You should finish the item you are on to the best of your ability and not worry about the others.
  
  
• If you are on the Verbal section, it doesn’t make much difference if you guess when you have up to about 5 questions left. You should finish the item you are on to the best of your ability and not worry about the others.
  
  
• In the Quantitative section, your odds improve if you guess and complete all the questions rather leave the final questions unanswered. After all, there are fewer questions in this section, so each item left blank in this section comprises a higher proportion of the test than in the verbal section. Guess as smartly as you can, but guess nonetheless—do not leave items blank.
  
  
• If you have an idea what your relative ability is ahead of time (i.e., you’ve taken a practice test or diagnostic test), then your guess versus omit strategy differs based on where you think you would fall. If your scores tend to be relatively low on the section, leaving the questions blank may actually result in a higher score than getting even the easy questions wrong by guessing. If you are near the top of the scale, you have farther to fall if you omit the items and therefore you should guess. Low ability—omit; high ability—guess; medium ability—see above."

'That' and 'Which'

On GMAT Sentence Correction questions, you will frequently be asked to chose between 'that' and 'which'. For knowledge's sake remember that both of these belong to a small group of words known as relative pronouns, so called because they are used to relate parts of a sentence to one another.

Consider these 2 sentences:

1. The fifth car, which is black in color, belongs to Jack.
   
   
2. The fifth car that is black in color belongs to Jack.

Are both of these sentences referring to the same car? Not necessarily.

The first sentence is definitely referring to the fifth car and we are provided with the additional information that it is black in color but even without this information we can easily identify the car because it has to be car number five.

The second sentence just takes you to the fifth black car; now this car could be the fifth car (in case the first four cars are also black) or it could be the tenth car or the twentieth car, in fact it can be at any number as long as it satisfies the criterion of being the fifth black car.

Thus remember that on the GMAT 'which' is only explanatory and is not needed to identify the subject of the sentence; in fact you can easily remove the phrase starting with 'which' and yet the meaning of the sentence would remain unchanged whereas 'that' is necessary to identify the subject of the sentence and cannot be done away with.

To make it even easier, remember the following 2 rules for 'which' to be correct on the GMAT:

1. It should always come after a comma
2. It must refer to the noun that comes immediately before the comma.

In case either of these conditions is not satisfied there's a pronoun error in the sentence and needs to be corrected.

For example let's modify the above example a little:

The fifth car in the row, which is black in color, belongs to Jack.

Now even though 'which' is coming after a comma the noun immediately before the comma is 'row' but 'which' is referring to the 'black car' and not to the 'black row'. Hence there is a pronoun error in the sentence since 'which' has an incorrect referent.

The only exception to the above rule is when 'which' is preceded by a preposition such as 'in which', 'of which', 'from which', etc. in which case you do not need a comma before 'which'.

For example consider this sentence:

The group of which I am a member has been dissolved

In this sentence even though there is no comma the use of 'which' is correct since it follows the preposition 'of'.

The other important relative pronouns are Who, Whom and Whose, all of which also cause a lot of confusion on the GMAT but we'll discuss these in a subsequent post.

To Sum it up:

1. 'That' & 'Which' are relative pronouns
   
   
2. 'That' is needed to identify the subject of the sentence
   
   
3. 'Which' is correct only if it comes after a comma and refers to the noun that comes immediately before the comma
   
   
4. Exception to the above rule - when which comes after a preposition (of which, in which, etc.)

Video of a GMAT Testing Center

This is really interesting and was much needed!

For those of you who keep fretting about how a testing centre looks and what formalities need to be completed before you get to take the test, the GMAC has uploaded a video of an actual testing center along with the details of the entire registration process.

Check it out here.

Strategy for Assumption Questions

Assumption questions, as I always tell my students in class, are possibly the trickiest questions on the entire Critical Reasoning section primarily because you tend to get so used to strengthening arguments that you invariably end up either strengthening the argument or inferring something from the argument whereas all you have to do is mention the assumption on which the argument is based.

Consider the following example:

A recent study of some of the most popular models of refrigerators has revealed that the bigger the size of the refrigerator the more electricity it consumes. Thus, the researchers concluded that to minimise the consumption of electricity, one step that the government could take is to immediately impose a higher sales tax on large sized refrigerators.

Which of the following is assumed in the argument above?

(A) There are no other methods of reducing power consumption available to the government.

(B) The bigger the size of the refrigerator the more powerful is its compressor and as a rule the more powerful the compressor the more electricity it consumes.

(C) Large sized refrigerators emit very high levels of CFC, chemicals that accelerate the rate of depletion of the ozone layer.

(D) The refrigerator models considered by the study are representative of all refrigerator models sold within the country.

(E) Consumers actually prefer smaller sized refrigerators because they are cheaper to purchase and also more portable

The argument states as evidence the results of a recent study that bigger refrigerators consume more electricity and, based on this evidence, it goes on to conclude that to reduce the consumption of electricity the government should increase the sales tax on these refrigerators.

Now, before you start evaluating the options, get one thing absolutely clear – in assumption questions you start off by accepting that the conclusion, no matter how absurd it may sound, is absolutely, completely true. Do not start questioning the conclusion or weakening it, which is what most students do.

Lets evaluate the options one by one:

(A) – The argument says that 'one step that the government could take' and not 'the only step', so this cannot be an ssumption.

(B) – This option provides extra information to explain why bigger refrigerators consume more electricity but that is outside our scope. If anything, it strengthens the argument but that's not what we are required to do. A trap!

(C) – Another option that strengthens the argument by providing additional information, but is not an assumption.

(D) – The correct option. If you notice the entire argument is based around the results of a study. Now what if there are other large sized refrigerators, not considered by the study, available in the market which actually consume less electricity. If this were true the argument would fall apart; hence, this must be an assumption (remember the 'Negation rule')

(E) Partly out of scope and partly a strengthener but nowhere close to being an assumption.

To Sum it up:

1. In Assumption questions the conclusion, no matter how absurd, is always true.
   
   
2. Avoid options that provide extra information to strengthen or explain the argument.
   
   
3. Eliminate options that just restate/rephrase what is already mentioned in the argument. An assumption is always 'assumed' and never 'stated'.
   
   
4. If you are confused between 2 options apply the 'Negation Rule' – try negating both the options and the one that cannot be negated for the conclusion to be true is your answer

Ia 'And' Singular or Plural?

Read the 2 sentences that follow and tell me which one is correct?

1. Mercury, as well as Jupiter, are equidistant from the earth.
   
   
2. Mercury, as well as Jupiter, is equidistant from the earth.
   
   

For all those of you who think the 1st option sounds correct, it's actually the 2nd option that is the correct one.

In case you are wondering why the singular 'is' is correct even though the sentence talks about 2 planets - Mercury and Jupiter - it's because of the use of 'as well as'.

Remember that in the English language, as a rule, only the word 'and' can be used to make compund or plural subjects. Any other word/phrase(called Additives), even if it refers to more than 1 subject, will still be considered a singular subject.

Here are some common additive phrases that do not make compound/plural subjects:

• as well as
• along with
• in addition to
• together with
• accompanied by, etc.
  
  

So,

John, along with his friends, 'is coming for dinner' and not 'are coming for dinner'.

Exception:

When the two parts joined by 'and' are meant to refer to the same person or thing, then go with the singular verb.

Example:

1. Cereal and milk are/is the most common breakfast choice in America.
   
   
2. John's friend and mentor, Jack, is/are coming for tea.
   

In both of the above sentences the correct verb will be the singular 'is' since both 'cereal and milk' and 'friend and mentor' refer to the same thing or person respectively.

To Sum it up:

1. Only the word 'and' can be used to make plural subjects.
   
   
2. All other words/phrases (called additive phrases) will always make singular subjects.
   
   
3. Examples of additive phrases - as well as, along with, in addition to, etc.

'Has had' and 'Had had'

Students often ask me when to use 'has/have had' and 'had had' constructions. The answer is really quite simple - both of these are nothing but the present perfect and past perfect forms of the verb 'to have'.

• Has/Have had - Present perfect of 'to have'
  
  
• Had had - Past perfect of 'to have'

Consider the following sentence as an example:

- John travels to many different countries.

The verb in the above sentence is 'travels' which is in the simple present tense. Now if we were to convert this sentence into the Present perfect tense (which basically signifies an action that started in the past and continues into the present), we need to add 'has/have' followed by the past participle form of the verb (in most cases just add the words '-ed' to the verb, like 'traveled' in the above sentence).

The final sentence would read something like this:

- John has traveled to many different countries.

Similarly to convert this same sentence into the Past perfect tense (two actions happening in the past - the earlier action takes the past perfect and the latter action takes the simple past tense), we need to add 'had' followed by the past participle form of the verb.

The final sentence would read something like this:

- John had traveled to many different countries before he decided to settle down in New Zealand.

Sounds fairly simple, but the problem starts when the verb in question happens to be 'to have/has' instead of say 'travels' in the above example.

For example, consider the following sentence:

Tim has several passenger cars.

The verb in the above sentence is 'has' and it is in the simple present tense. Now to convert this into the present perfect tense apply the rule as discussed above - 'has' followed by the past participle of 'has' which is 'had'. The final sentence reads:

Tim has had several passenger cars.

Similarly the past perfect tense will read - 'had'

followed by the past participle of 'has', so you get:

Tim had had several passenger cars before he decided to buy a sports car.

So 2 things happening the past - Tim had several passenger cars first, which takes the past perfect tense with the extra 'had and he 'decided' (simple past tense) to buy a sports car later.

To Sum it up:

• 'Has/have had' and 'Had had' are present perfect and past perfect forms of the verb 'to have'.
  
  
• To convert a sentence into the Present perfect tense - Add 'Has/have' + past participle form of the verb (usually add '-ed')
  
  
• To convert a sentence into the Past perfect tense - Add 'Had' + past participle form of the verb (usually add '-ed')

SC Question of the Day

Came across this interesting SC question on some website:

In a leveraged buyout, investors borrow huge sums of money to buy companies, hoping to pay off the debt by using the company's earnings and to profit richly by the later resale of the companies or their divisions.

(A) by using the company's earnings and to profit
(B) by using the companies' earnings and by profiting
(C) using the companies' earnings and profiting
(D) with the company's earnings, profiting
(E) with the companies' earnings and to profit

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ANSWER

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ANSWER

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ANSWER

Original Answer - E

EXPLANATION:

A - 'by using' is not as good an option as 'with' in E; it also helps avoid the undesirable '-ing' construction. Also 'company's earnings' refers to the earnings of a specific company, the correct option should read 'companies' earnings' to refer to all companies in general.

B - Incorrectly makes 'using' parallel with 'profiting'. Investors are hoping for 2 things - 'to pay off the debt' and 'to profit richly' and it is these 2 things that should be parallel.

C - Same as B

D - Incomplete sentence - you need a connector between 'earnings' and 'profiting'.

E - The correct option - makes 'to pay' parallel with 'to profit' and also avoids 'using'.

Strategy for Initial Questions on the GMAT

Should you spend more time on the first Ten Questions on the GMAT?

Probably the the biggest myth about the GMAT, one that is even supported by most coaches and coaching institutes, is that if you get some of the first few questions wrong you cannot get a high score.

Absolute rubbish!

Yesterday one of my students told me that in one of the practice tests he scored a 26 in verbal, getting 6 of the first 10 questions wrong which he claimed was the reason for this low score. I asked him whether he had checked how many of the remaining 31 questions he got correct, and he hadn't, so we checked it and guess what, he had got 19 of the remaining 31 questions incorrect.

So basically out of the total 41 questions he only got 16 correct, which is why he got a 26 and not because he got 6 of the first 10 wrong.

It's actually common sense – however you perform on the first 10 questions, that performance will pretty much be reflected in the rest of the test as well. So if you are getting 50% of the first 10 questions incorrect you are a mid-level student who will most likely also get 50% of the remaining 31 questions incorrect and if you are getting 80% of the first 10 correct you are a good student who will again most likely continue to get 80% of the remaining questions incorrect.

So not rocket science, just plain and simple common sense, but consider this scenario:

Say you are a good student who has been scoring well on the practice tests but when you sit for the actual test, owing to nerves/stress whatever, you get 50% of the first 10 questions wrong but then you settle down, get your act together and perform at your normal level and get 75-80% of the remaining 31 questions correct. In this case there is no way you will get a low score in this section. And similarly even if you get 90% of the first 10 questions right and then go on to get 50-60% of the remaining questions incorrect there is no way you are going to get a high score.

So please do not make the mistake of spending too much time on the first 10 questions because you will most probably still get a few of these wrong and what's even worse, you will run out of time towards the end and end up getting those last few questions wrong as well.

Trust me I have seen enough scores to say this, or better still try these experiments with the GMATPrep and see what happens. You will be surprised!!

As a final point, consider these lines from the official GMAT Blog that is maintained by the GMAC itself - "Don’t be fooled by the rumors you may hear about CATs. On the GMAT, all the questions are important, not just the first few."

To Sum it up:

1. Initial questions are not as important as they are made out to be; even if you get the first few questions wrong you can still get a good score on that section.

2. Do not make the mistake of spending extra time on the first 10 questions and then running out of time towards the end.

GMAT Idiom List

What are Idioms??

In simple language an Idiom is the commonly and universally accepted usage of a group of words which could actually have different meanings when used individually.

For example, is the following sentence correct?

Shahrukh Khan is considered to be the best actor in India. (incidentally, I don't agree with this:)

Those of you who've been preparing for the GMAT would've immediately spotted the error – 'considered to be'. So the correct sentence will read:

Shahrukh Khan is considered the best actor in india.

If you ask me why is 'considered to be' incorrect I don't have any grammatical or logical explanation for that except to say that it is the correct idiom and the only thing you can do is memorise it.

While there are over 15000 Idioms in the English language the GMAT, thankfully, tends to favour only a fraction of these. I have compiled a list of Idioms that are commonly tested on the GMAT; you can download the list here.

Hello!

The idea behind this blog is to disseminate information pertaining to the GMAT. Since I am a GMAT Verbal instructor the emphasis will, of course, be on the Verbal section, which in any case tends to be the problem area for most students.

I'll try to put up posts on most of the common areas that I've seen my students struggle with such as the Strategy for initial questions on the test, Timing, Difficulty level, Short-cuts, Guesswork, Books to refer to, etc. etc. and some not so common ones such as whether you'll score higher if you take the test towards the end of a month or whether its possible for someone else to take the test for you (in case you are wondering the answer to both the last questions is NO).