Peterson’s M ASTER THE GMAT T 2010 Peterson’s M ASTER THE GMAT T 2010 Mark Alan Stewart About Peterson’s To succeed on your lifelong educational journey, you will need accurate, dependable, and practical tools and resources. That is why Peterson’s is everywhere education happens. Because whenever and however you need education content delivered, you can rely on Peterson’s to provide the information, know-how, and guidance to help you reach your goals. Tools to match the right students with the right school. It’s here. Personalized resources and expert guidance. It’s here. Comprehensive and dependable education content—delivered whenever and however you need it. It’s all here. Credits “The American Renaissance,” by James S. Turner, Humanities, Vol.13, No. 2 (March/April 1992). Published by The National Endowment for the Humanities. “Arnold’s Double-Sided Culture,” by John P. Farrell, Humanities, Vol. 12, No. 3 (May/June1991), pp. 26–30. Published by The National Endowment for the Humanities. “The Artful Encounter,” by Richard Wendorf, Humanities, Vol. 14, No. 4 (July/August 1993), pp. 9–12. Published by The National Endowment for the Humanities. “The Debate Over Mozart’s Music,” by Neal Zaslaw, Humanities, Vol. 14, No. 5 (September/October 1993), pp. 26–27. Published by The National Endowment for the Humanities. “‘I Am Christina Rossetti,’” by Antony H. Harrison, Humanities, Vol. 14, No. 4 (July/August 1993), pp. 33–37. Published by The National Endowment for the Humanities. “Images of Dorothea Lange,” by Therese Thau Heyman, Humanities, Vol. 14, No. 5 (September/October 1993), pp. 6, 8–10. Published by The National Endowment for the Humanities. “Large Format Expands Little Buddha,” by Bob Fisher, American Cinematographer, Vol. 75, No. 5 (May 1994), p. 41. Reprinted by permission of American Cinematographer. GMATT is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). 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OTHER RECOMMENDED TITLES Peterson’s 30 Days to the GMAT ® Peterson’s GMAT ® Answers to the REAL Essay Questions Peterson’s GRE ® /GMAT ® Math Review Peterson’s MBA Programs Peterson’s Writing Skills for the GRE ® /GMAT ® Contents Before You Begin xiii How This Book Is Organized xiii Special Study Features xiv About the CD xv You’re Well on Your Way to Success xv Give Us Your Feedback xv Top 10 Strategies to Raise Your Score xvi PART I: GMAT BASICS 1 All About the GMAT 3 The GMAT at a Glance 3 How the Computer-Adaptive GMAT Works 7 The GMAT CAT Interface 8 The GMAT CAT Test-Taking Experience 13 Your GMAT Scores 17 Score Reporting 19 How Business Schools Evaluate GMAT Scores 20 Top 10 Tips for GMAT Prep 20 Summing It Up 23 2 GMAT Questions: A First Look 25 Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) 25 The Quantitative Section 31 TheVerbalSection 40 Summing It Up 50 PART II: DIAGNOSING STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES 3 Practice Test 1: Diagnostic 59 Analytical Writing Assessment 59 Quantitative Section 61 VerbalSection 68 Answer Key and Explanations 82 PART III: GMAT ANALYTICAL WRITING ASSESSMENT 4 Issue Analysis 101 The7-StepPlan 101 “Qualifying” Your Viewpoint 108 Debating a Statement’s Pros and Cons 109 Developing Rhetorical Arguments 110 Putting It All Together 112 Rhetorical Effectiveness and Your Essay’s Structure 114 Keys to Writing a Successful GMAT Issue Analysis Essay 115 Summing It Up 118 5 Argument Analysis 119 The7-StepPlan 119 Common Reasoning Flaws and How to Handle Them 126 Adding Optional Elements to Your Essay 134 Keys to Writing a Successful GMAT Argument Analysis Essay 135 Summing It Up 139 6 Writing Style and Mechanics 141 The Basics 141 Advanced Techniques 146 Summing It Up 153 PART IV: GMAT QUANTITATIVE SECTION 7 Problem Solving 157 The5-StepPlanforProblemSolving 158 Some Advanced Techniques 165 Use Commonsense “Guesstimates” to Narrow the Field 166 When to Plug In Numbers for Variables 167 When—and When Not—to Work Backward from Numerical Answer Choices 168 Find the Easiest Route to the Answer 169 Search Geometry Figures for Clues 170 Sketch a Geometry Figure to Solve a Problem 171 Plug In Numbers for “Defined Operation” Questions 173 Keys to Successful GMAT Problem Solving 173 Summing It Up 179 8 Data Sufficiency and Analysis 181 The 5-Step Plan for Data Sufficiency Problems 182 Data Sufficiency Strategies 189 Keys to Successful GMAT Data Sufficiency 193 viii Contents www.petersons.com The 5-Step Plan for Data Analysis Problems 196 Keys to Successful GMAT Data Analysis 200 Summing It Up 202 9 Math Review: Number Forms, Relationships, and Sets 203 Percents, Fractions, and Decimals 204 Simplifying and Combining Fractions 206 Decimal Place Values and Operations 209 Simple Percent Problems 211 Percent Increase and Decrease 212 Ratios and Proportion 214 AlteringFractionsandRatios 216 Ratios with More Than Two Quantities 217 Proportion Problems with Variables 218 Arithmetic Mean, Median, Mode, and Range 219 Standard Deviation 222 Geometric Sequences 223 Arithmetic Sequences 225 Permutations 226 Combinations 227 Probability 228 Summing It Up 232 10 Math Review: Number Theory and Algebra 233 Basic Properties of Numbers 234 Factors, Multiples, and Divisibility 237 Prime Numbers and Prime Factorization 238 Exponents (Powers) 239 Exponents and the Real Number Line 241 Roots and Radicals 243 Roots and the Real Number Line 246 Linear Equations with One Variable 247 Linear Equations with Two Variables 250 Linear Equations That Cannot Be Solved 255 Factorable Quadratic Expressions with One Variable 256 The Quadratic Formula 259 Nonlinear Equations with Two Variables 260 Solving Algebraic Inequalities 261 Weighted Average Problems 262 Currency Problems 263 MixtureProblems 264 Investment Problems 265 Problems of Rate of Production or Work 266 Problems of Rate of Travel (Speed) 267 Problems Involving Overlapping Sets 269 Summing It Up 271 Contents ix www.petersons.com 11 Math Review: Geometry 273 Lines and Angles 274 Triangles 277 Isosceles and Equilateral Triangles 281 Rectangles, Squares, and Parallelograms 283 Circles 288 Advanced Circle Problems 289 Polygons 295 Cubes and Other Rectangular Solids 297 Cylinders 299 Coordinate Signs and the Four Quadrants 300 Defining a Line on the Coordinate Plane 301 Graphing a Line on the Coordinate Plane 304 Midpoint and Distance Formulas 306 Coordinate Geometry 307 Summing It Up 311 PART V: GMAT VERBAL SECTION 12 Critical Reasoning 315 The6-StepPlan 315 Assumption Questions 319 Additional Evidence Questions 322 Inference Questions 329 StrategyQuestions 332 Hypothesis Questions 336 Necessary Inference Questions 340 Parallel Argument Questions 346 Summing It Up 349 13 Sentence Correction 351 The4-StepPlan 352 Grammatical Errors Involving Parts of Speech 353 Problems with a Sentence’s Structural Elements 360 Redundancy, Wordiness, Awkwardness, and Omissions 364 Errors in Parts of Speech 369 Problems in Tense, Voice, and Mood 373 Sentence Structure and Sense 377 Summing It Up 385 14 Reading Comprehension 387 “Interactive” Reading: The Key to Reading Comprehension 388 The7-StepPlan 388 Techniques for Interactive Reading 393 Sample Reading Passages and Question Types 397 x Contents www.petersons.com . Together 11 2 Rhetorical Effectiveness and Your Essay’s Structure 11 4 Keys to Writing a Successful GMAT Issue Analysis Essay 11 5 Summing It Up 11 8 5 Argument Analysis 11 9 The7-StepPlan 11 9 Common. PART III: GMAT ANALYTICAL WRITING ASSESSMENT 4 Issue Analysis 10 1 The7-StepPlan 10 1 “Qualifying” Your Viewpoint 10 8 Debating a Statement’s Pros and Cons 10 9 Developing Rhetorical Arguments 11 0 Putting. Feedback xv Top 10 Strategies to Raise Your Score xvi PART I: GMAT BASICS 1 All About the GMAT 3 The GMAT at a Glance 3 How the Computer-Adaptive GMAT Works 7 The GMAT CAT Interface 8 The GMAT CAT Test-Taking