L e a r n i n g E x p r e s s®’ s GMAT® EXAM SUCCESS In Only 4 Steps! L e a r n i n g E x p r e s s®’ s GMAT® EXAM SUCCESS In Only 4 Steps! Elizabeth Chesla and Colleen Schultz ® NEW YORK Copyright © 2003 LearningExpress, LLC All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions Published in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Chesla, Elizabeth L GMAT exam success in only 4 steps / Elizabeth Chesla and Colleen Schultz—1st ed p cm Includes bibliographical references ISBN 1-57685-472-8 1 Graduate Management Admission Test—Study guides 2 Management—Examinations, questions, etc I Schultz, Colleen II Title HF1118.C44 2003 650'.076—dc21 2003009065 Printed in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition ISBN 1-57685-472-8 For more information or to place an order, contact LearningExpress at: 55 Broadway 8th Floor New York, NY 10006 Or visit us at: www.learnatest.com About the Authors Elizabeth Chesla is the author of TOEFL Exam Success, ACT Exam Success, GED Success, Reading Compre- hension Success, Write Better Essays, and many other writing and reading guides and test preparation books She lives in South Orange, New Jersey Colleen Schultz is a math teacher from Binghamton, New York She is a contributing writer for 501 Math Word Problems, 501 Quantitative Comparison Questions, and an item writer for several high-stakes math tests Contents PART I Preparing for the GMAT 1 Chapter 1 About the GMAT 3 Overview of the GMAT 4 Computer-Adaptive Test 6 Preparing for the Computer-Based GMAT Exam 7 How the GMAT Is Scored 9 Getting Your Scores to Schools 12 Retaking the Exam 12 GMAT Testing Center Rules and Regulations 13 Registering for the GMAT Exam 16 Paying for the GMAT 20 Chapter 2 GMAT Study Skills 21 Where Do I Start? 21 I Need a Plan 23 I Need a Place 26 The Right Tools 30 The Study Plan 31 You Are Worth It: Motivational and Relaxation Techniques that Work 34 Learning Strategies and Test-Taking Techniques 37 Testing Psychology 40 vii –CONTENTS– How to De-Stress 41 Stay Healthy 43 Multiple-Choice Strategies 44 The Endgame 45 PART II The GMAT Verbal Section 49 Chapter 3 Verbal Pretest 51 Questions 52 Answer Explanations 58 Chapter 4 What to Expect on the GMAT Verbal Section 63 Reading Comprehension Questions 64 Critical Reasoning Questions 65 Sentence Correction Questions 66 Chapter 5 Reading Comprehension 69 Active Reading 69 Finding the Main Idea 72 Distinguishing between Fact and Opinion 76 Identifying Specific Facts and Details 78 Essay Types and Organizational Patterns 79 Making Inferences 83 Chapter 6 Critical Reasoning 87 Elements of an Argument 87 Complicating Arguments 89 Evaluating Arguments 93 Chapter 7 Sentence Correction 109 24 Rules for Grammar and Style 110 Sentence Structure 111 Grammar and Usage 119 Style 128 Chapter 8 Tips and Strategies for the Verbal Section 137 Reading Comprehension Questions 138 Critical Reasoning Questions 139 Sentence Correction Questions 141 viii –CONTENTS– Chapter 9 Verb Forms 143 Regular Verbs 145 Irregular Verbs 146 Helping Verbs 150 Subjunctive Mood 150 Troublesome Verbs 151 Gerunds and Infinitives 152 Chapter 10 Prefixes, Suffixes, and Word Roots 155 Prefixes 155 Suffixes 160 Common Latin Word Roots 162 Common Greek Word Roots 164 Chapter 11 Verbal Section Practice Test 169 Questions 170 Answer Explanations 193 Chapter 12 Verbal Section Glossary 207 PART III The GMAT Analytical Writing Assessment 211 Chapter 13 Pretest 213 Questions 214 Answer Explanations 218 Chapter 14 About the Analytical Writing Assessment 221 Analysis of an Issue 221 Analysis of an Argument 223 How the Essays Are Scored 225 Chapter 15 Guide to Effective Writing 231 The Writing Process 231 Seven Steps for Writing a Strong AWA Essay 236 Writing with Style 248 Writing Correctly: The Conventions of Standard Written English 252 150 Most Commonly Misspelled Words 265 ix –CONTENTS– Chapter 16 Tips and Strategies for the AWA 267 General Writing Strategies 267 Analyzing the Issue 269 Analyzing the Argument 269 Chapter 17 AWA Practice 271 Analysis of an Issue Sample Prompts 272 Analysis of an Argument Sample Prompts 282 Answers and Explanations 292 PART IV The GMAT Quantitative Section 305 Chapter 18 Quantitative Pretest 307 Problem Solving Questions 308 Data Sufficiency Questions 310 Answer Explanations 312 Chapter 19 About the Quantitative Section 317 About the Types of Questions 318 Chapter 20 Arithmetic 321 Types of Numbers 321 Properties of Numbers 322 Order of Operations 323 Special Types of Defined Operations 324 Factors, Multiples, and Divisibility 325 Prime and Composite Numbers 327 Even and Odd Numbers 327 Consecutive Integers 328 Absolute Value 328 Operations with Real Numbers 328 Chapter 21 Algebra 339 Translating Expressions and Equations 339 Combining Like Terms and Polynomials 340 Laws of Exponents 341 Solving Linear Equations of One Variable 341 Solving Literal Equations 342 Solving Inequalities 343 x –CONTENTS– Multiplying and Factoring Polynomials 344 Solving Quadratic Equations 344 Rational Expressions and Equations: 347 Coordinate Graphing 349 Systems of Equations with Two Variables 350 Problem Solving with Word Problems 352 Functions 355 Chapter 22 Geometry 357 Angles 358 Polygons 359 Triangles 360 Quadrilaterals 363 Circles 364 Measurement and Geometry 365 Chapter 23 Tips and Strategies for the Quantitative Section 367 Chapter 24 Quantitative Practice Test 369 Questions 370 Answer Explanations 387 Chapter 25 Quantitative Section Glossary 397 Appendix A GMAT Online Resources 401 Appendix B GMAT Print Resources 403 xi GMAT Exam Facts • Over 1,700 schools/programs use GMAT scores in the admissions process • The first GMAT exam was developed and administered nearly 50 years ago • In 2002, over 150,000 people took the GMAT exam in the United States • In 2002, over 75,000 people took the GMAT exam in locations outside the United States • Nearly 7% more GMAT exams were given in 2002 than in 2001 in the United States • Over 4% more GMAT exams were given elsewhere in the world in 2002 than in 2001 • Approximately 20% of people who take the GMAT exam take it more than once Most repeat testers take the test two or three times algebra, geometry, word problems, and interpreting charts and graphs These questions will emphasize your understanding of mathematical concepts, although you will also need to know basic math procedures in order to select the correct answer The data sufficiency questions constitute the remaining 40% of the test and are quite different in nature For these questions, you do not actually need to solve a problem or make a calculation Instead, you will be presented with two items of information and a question You must determine whether the information pre- sented is sufficient to accurately answer the question or if you need more data to solve the problem The answer choices will ask you to identify which item of information is insufficient if more data is indeed required The Verbal Section The third and final part of the GMAT exam is the Verbal section You will have another 75 minutes to answer 41 multiple-choice questions These questions cover three areas: reading comprehension, critical reasoning, and sentence correction Approximately one-third of the questions will fall into each category The reading comprehension questions will be based on short passages (150 to 350 words) about top- ics ranging from the social sciences to the physical and biological sciences to business, the arts, and human- ities You may be asked about the main idea of the passage, the author’s support for that main idea, argumentative strategies, specific facts and details in the text, and inferences that can be drawn from the pas- sage You can expect the passages to be rather sophisticated, much like the reading material you will be exposed to in business school The critical reasoning questions present you with a short reading passage (50 to 100 words) that makes an argument about a general topic You will be asked about the structure of the argument, including its conclusion and assumptions; about the quality of the argument, including its strengths and weaknesses; and about plans of action based upon the argument, including what actions are appropriate and effective based on the text Again, this is great training for the business world The sentence correction questions present you with a sentence with part or all of the sentence under- lined You must choose the answer that best expresses the idea of the sentence To determine the best answer, you will need to consider the grammar and usage, diction, sentence structure, sentence logic, and tone 5 Practice Your Computer Skills On the GMAT computer-based test, you will need to know the following: • how to use a mouse • how to enter an answer • how to move to the next question • how to use a word processor (for typing your AWA essays) • how to use the HELP function The GMAC offers a free tutorial to help you become comfortable with the computer skills you will need for the GMAT exam You can download this software from the GMAT website at www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT/ ToolsToHelpYouPrepare/GMATPrepProducts/GMATTutorialsSoftware.htm NOTE: The tutorial is not compatible with Macintosh® computers AWA essays You are already under enough pressure to try to write two essays in an hour If you are not com- fortable typing, and if you do not know basic word-processing functions such as how to delete or move text, you may have a difficult time writing a successful essay If you are not experienced with computers, then part of your GMAT exam preparation time must include learning computer skills Here are some specific tips to help you improve your computer skills to reach peak performance on the GMAT exam: ■ Practice using a mouse Get comfortable with the movement of the arrow and clicking around on the computer screen ■ Learn how to move up and down a page Practice using the scroll bar and the arrow keys ■ Get a typing tutorial You can learn proper hand and finger positions that will help you type faster One website that offers help is www.typing-tutorial.com ■ Learn to highlight, delete, and copy and paste text within a document Get comfortable with the back- space, delete, and arrow keys so you can move around quickly within a document Practice typing and changing text so that you can be sure not to delete text that you want to keep ■ Practice typing your essay on the computer Use the sample topics listed in Part III and on the GMAT website at www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT/Tools/AWATopics2001.htm Set a timer so you get used to the 30-minute time limit The GMAC offers its own GMAT computer tutorials to help you develop the computer skills you need for the exam You can download these tutorials at www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT/ToolsToHelpYouPre- pare/GMATPrepProducts/GMATTutorialsSoftware.htm 8 ... 12 Retaking the Exam 12 GMAT Testing Center Rules and Regulations 13 Registering for the GMAT Exam 16 Paying for the GMAT 20 Chapter GMAT Study... Correction 10 9 24 Rules for Grammar and Style 11 0 Sentence Structure 11 1 Grammar and Usage 11 9 Style 12 8 Chapter Tips and Strategies for the Verbal Section 13 7 Reading... 17 0 Answer Explanations 19 3 Chapter 12 Verbal Section Glossary 207 PART III The GMAT Analytical Writing Assessment 211 Chapter 13 Pretest 213 Questions