Verbal Section 1. B 2. C 3. B 4. D 5. B 6. D 7. E 8. C 9. D 10. E 11. A 12. A 13. E 14. A 15. C 16. E 17. D 18. C 19. E 20. A 21. A 22. E 23. E 24. A 25. B 26. C 27. D 28. B 29. E 30. A 31. B 32. D 33. B 34. D 35. E 36. A 37. D 38. B 39. C 40. C 41. C 1. The correct answer is (B). The original version is faulty in two respects. First, the plural subject benefits is followed by the singular verb is. Second, the preposition by is not idiomatic in this context. Choice (B) remedies both problems with the original sentence—by using the plural are, which agrees with benefits, and by replacing by with from (which is idiomatic here). 2. The correct answer is (C). The original statement includes an ambiguous pronoun reference. It is unclear whether they refers to the bounty hunters, their captives, or the authorities. Choice (C) remedies the original sentence’s ambiguous pronoun reference by reconstructing the sentence. 3. The correct answer is (B). The original sentence suffers from faulty parallelism. Each of the three items in the underlined clause should be similar in grammatical construction. While actors and musicians both describe the celebrities themselves, some other high-profile vocation does not. Choice (B) establishes a consistent (parallel) grammatical construction among the three items in the series; each of the three items refers clearly to a vocation. 4. The correct answer is (D). The claim (in the second sentence) relies on the assumption that all other factors in weight loss—such as exercise and dietary habits—remained unchanged from prior to the two-week period through the two-week period. 5. The correct answer is (B). The passage draws the general conclusion that home buyers should “always” buy a new house based on a few specific advantages that new houses offer. Choice (B) is the best criticism of the argument because it suggests that these factors are not necessarily the only factors, or the most important ones, in the home-buying decision. 6. The correct answer is (D). In the first paragraph, the author cites certain erroneous assumptions upon which the U.S. New Town concept was based. Then, in the next two paragraphs, the author describes how and why New Towns in the United States failed to solve urban problems and to provide the sort of social environment hoped for. Choice (D) provides a good recapitulation of this entire discussion. answers diagnostic test Chapter 3: Practice Test 1: Diagnostic 93 www.petersons.com 7. The correct answer is (E). In the second paragraph, the author states that one of the effects of New Towns was to draw high-income citizens away from the cities— essentially what choice (E) indicates. 8. The correct answer is (C). According to the first sentence of the passage, New Towns were originally conceptualized as a way to absorb growth. Based on other information in the passage, it appears that U.S. New Towns achieved this objective—at least to some extent—since city residents who could afford to move away from urban centers did so. At the same time, however, the cities were left with new problems, such as an insufficient tax base to support themselves and to retain businesses. Thus, like the phenomenon that choice (C) describes, New Towns were an innovation that served to solve one problem but created another along the way. 9. The correct answer is (D). The original sentence suffers from faulty parallelism. The second occurrence of from should be deleted to restore the proper parallelism between the phrases the host and the diplomat’s. At the same time, the word both is redundant in light of the words the other at the end of the sentence, thereby confusing the meaning of the sentence. Choice (D) remedies the original sentence’s faulty parallelism by reconstructing the phrase, using the subjunctive form (that be). 10. The correct answer is (E). If the statement in choice (E) is true, it suggests that Company X’s experience is comparable to that of other merging companies, and therefore it is unlikely that many more Company X workers will leave as a result of the merger. 11. The correct answer is (A). Gwen’s argument relies on the assumption that expensive restaurants are not as popular among the college students as inexpensive restaurants. Jose provides one reason why expensive restaurants are not necessarily less popular among the college students, suggesting that the disagreement is about whether expensive restaurants are in fact less popular among the college students than inexpensive ones. 12. The correct answer is (A). The original version is the best one. The noun clause whether the universe is bound is properly considered the subject of the sentence. 13. The correct answer is (E). The original sentence improperly uses less instead of fewer in reference to a numerical quantity (the number of chemicals tested). Also, the modifier most of which is separated from its antecedent (thirty), resulting in confusion as to whether most of which refers to the thirty chemicals tested or the tests themselves. Choice (E) remedies both problems in the original sentence. 14. The correct answer is (A). The original sentence correctly uses the singular pronoun its in referring to the singular bureaucracy. Also, Choice (A) is consistent in its use of the future tense. 15. The correct answer is (C). The passage describes an imaginary debate over the American democratic ideal among the writers of the American Renaissance, in which Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman are grouped together in one school of thought while Hawthorne and Melville are paired in another. Choice (C) nicely matches this recap. 94 PART II: Diagnosing Strengths and Weaknesses www.petersons.com 16. The correct answer is (E). The passage is clear throughout that Emerson is an idealist, which is just the opposite of a pragmatist. 17. The correct answer is (D). According to the passage, Melville, through his story Pierre, conveyed the notion that democratic idealism was based on “misguided assumptions.” Although the author is not as explicit that Hawthorne also believed idealists to be misguided, Hawthorne’s conclusion that transcendental freedom leads to moral anarchy can reasonably be interpreted this way. 18. The correct answer is (C). The argument’s conclusion is that the new lifeguard was not a factor in the declining number of deaths from last year to this year. Choice (C) rules out one other possible explanation for the decline in the number of drownings, in turn rendering it more likely that the additional lifeguard did contribute to the decline. 19. The correct answer is (E). The conclusion in choice (E) is logically inferable from two premises given in the passage: (1) If MetaCorp continues to show a profit, then analysts will continue to recommend it (in symbolic form: If A, then B), and (2) if analysts recommend MetaCorp stock, then the stock’s price will at least remain at its current level—in other words, either remain the same or increase (in symbolic form: If B, then C). From these two premises, choice (E) is logically inferable (in symbolic form: If A, then C). 20. The correct answer is (A). The argument that the public is interested in high culture relies on the assumption that opera, ballet, and classical music are considered “high culture.” Choice (A) provides some evidence that this necessary assumption is a questionable one. 21. The correct answer is (A). The discrepancy among the cited studies involves the increase in the level of violence in television programming over the last twenty years. One possible explanation for the discrepancy is that the recent studies relied on different previous studies, which disagreed as to what the level was twenty years ago. 22. The correct answer is (E). The original version improperly uses derive instead of the proper idiom are derived from. Choice (E) corrects this diction error. 23. The correct answer is (E). The original sentence is faulty in its use of the pronoun them instead of the possessive their where the object of a verb (opposed) is a gerund (trivializing). Choice (E) corrects the improper use of them, replacing it with the possessive their, which properly precedes the gerund trivializing. 24. The correct answer is (A). The original sentence is correct in its use of the idiomatic phrase have yet to. 25. The correct answer is (B). The factual information cited in the passage suggests that eating high-fat foods does not cause obesity. However, that information is no help in determining the real cause. By showing that the rise in obesity has coincided with an increase in the sales of high-sugar foods, choice (B) suggests that excessive sugar consumption might be the cause. Although this correlation in itself does not irrefutably prove that sugar is the culprit, it nevertheless helps strengthen the case. answers diagnostic test Chapter 3: Practice Test 1: Diagnostic 95 www.petersons.com 26. The correct answer is (C). The argument’s first sentence suggests that the supply- demand ratio for rental apartments with two or more bedrooms is decreasing at a faster rate than the supply-demand ratio of rental apartments with one or fewer bedrooms. One possible explanation for the difference is the one that choice (C) provides. 27. The correct answer is (D). The original version is faulty in two respects. First, the placement of the commas sets up a flawed parallel structure between the progressive verbs was considered and will be considered. Second, the phrase considered as is idiomatically questionable here. A person is considered or considered to be, not considered as, at least in the broader context of this sentence. Choice (D) remedies both problems with the original sentence. 28. The correct answer is (B). According to the passage, all cells of an organism contain the same genotype as the fertilized egg (lines 14–16). Thus, choice (B) contradicts the information in the passage. 29. The correct answer is (E). According to the passage, the maternal programming of early development and the genomic control of later differentiation are “especially well documented” (line 46). 30. The correct answer is (A). In the first two paragraphs, the author discusses the process of cell differentiation in embryonic development. While the author is particularly concerned with examining the mechanisms involved, no specific type of organism (animal) is discussed as an illustration until the final paragraph (which focuses on the sea urchin). Accordingly, choice (A) properly reflects the flow of the author’s discussion. 31. The correct answer is (B). The passage allows you to confidently conclude that biotechnology firms will in fact continue to replace equipment more frequently than other businesses, and therefore will stand to benefit from the proposed law more than other businesses. It would make sense, then, that the biotechnology lobbyists might be behind the proposal. 32. The correct answer is (D). Higher admission standards would reduce the number of options available to new college graduates, thereby increasing the likelihood that a new college graduate would enter one of the lower-paying professions that requires only a four-year degree. 33. The correct answer is (B). The original sentence awkwardly mixes the active voice (first clause) and the passive voice (second clause). It also includes the unnecessarily wordy by way of. Choice (B) corrects both problems with a concise second clause in the active voice. 34. The correct answer is (D). The original sentence misplaces the phrase Even for high school freshmen and sophomores. This phrase is intended to modify many students; therefore, the author should reconstruct the sentence so that the two phrases appear nearer to each other. Choice (D) moves the initial phrase to the end of the sentence, clarifying the sentence’s meaning. 96 PART II: Diagnosing Strengths and Weaknesses www.petersons.com 35. The correct answer is (E). The argument suggests that the key to a third-world country’s political stability is to afford its citizens certain powers. However, the argument relies entirely on one observed case (Country X) in which both characteristics are present. To be convincing, the argument must at least show that these powers actually contributed to Country X’s political stability. Choice (E) provides one plausible scenario in which these powers could have nothing to do with the country’s political stability. 36. The correct answer is (A). It is reasonably inferable from the first paragraph as a whole that the “standard repertory” mentioned in line 15 refers to the music of Bach and Telemann as well as to other (“modern”) music from their time (first half of the eighteenth century). In the second paragraph, the author mentions that the music of Bach, Telemann, and their contemporaries called for obsolete instruments (lines 33–36). Thus, the standard repertory might have included music that called for the use of obsolete instruments, as choice (A) indicates. 37. The correct answer is (D). Although the passage does indicate that early music often called for the use of obsolete instruments, the passage does not state explicitly that performance practice involved determining which musical instrument to use. 38. The correct answer is (B). According to the passage, the German musicologists did not study the music of Mozart and Haydn (post-1750 music) because, among other reasons, their music, “having never ceased to be performed, had maintained some kind of oral tradition of performance practice” (lines 51–54). Unannotated music is music that is not written, but strictly oral. Choice (B) restates the author’s point in these lines. 39. The correct answer is (C). According to the passage, performance practice was developed alongside the modern (early twentieth-century) collegium musicum, which was part of the German university. While the modern collegium musicum performed music from before the time of Bach and Handel, scholars in the field of performance practice studied certain aspects (e.g., choice of instruments, deciphering notation) of music from the same time period. 40. The correct answer is (C). If there are other ways to prevent one’s cat from accumulating hairballs, then there is no reason to risk the cat’s developing an allergic reaction (and in turn a harmful infection) by feeding it the medicated food. 41. The correct answer is (C). The original sentence contains a misplaced modifying phrase (following the comma). The sentence’s construction suggests that it is the electorate that cannot reasonably be disputed, although this makes little sense in the context of the sentence as a whole. Choice (C) remedies the underlined phrase’s faulty construction by rephrasing it as a noun clause. answers diagnostic test Chapter 3: Practice Test 1: Diagnostic 97 www.petersons.com P ART III GMAT ANALYTICAL WRITING ASSESSMENT CHAPTER 4 Issue Analysis CHAPTER 5 Argument Analysis CHAPTER 6 Writing Style and Mechanics . writing a successful GMAT issue analysis essay • Summing it up THE 7-STEP PLAN In this part of the book, you’ll learn the basics and some advanced techniques for writing effective GMAT Issue Analysis. examples. Just let all your ideas flow onto your scratch paper, in no particular order. (You can sort through them 102 PART III: GMAT Analytical Writing Assessment NOTE These suggested time limits. scoring higher with your essays than most GMAT test takers • Useful tips for writing mechanics and for developing a writing style that’s appropriate for the GMAT For a high-scoring Issue Analysis