GMAT (Fach) / Economist Prep - Verbal (Lektion)

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• Type of Critical Reasoning Questions Inference questions Conclusion Strengthening questions Boldface Type questions Conclusion Weakening questions Investigation questions Argument Flaw questions Assumption questions Paradox questions Dialog Analysis questions
• The frog is a small green amphibian that is characterized by long hind legs, a short body, webbed digits, protruding eyes, and the absence of a tail "That is" = redundancy, cross out!
• Work Order Sentence Correction You may find it easier to remember the work order according to the acronym  ROG'S Mean & Fit Read and eliminate: Original mistake Grammatical errors - Logic Style - Redundancy Meaning Fit
• Stop Sign 1 A long, complex subject or a great distance between subject and verb by the time you have reached the verb of the sentence, you have forgotten what is the subject This stop sign is an indication that you should go back, find the subject, and see if it agrees with the verb Long, complex sentences is a common tool used by the GMAT question writers to confuse and hide SVA errors.
• Stop Sign 2  A plural subject made up of singular nouns that are connected by and  Subject Verb Agreement - make sure that the verb is plural. !  
• Stop Sign 3 A pseudo-plural singular subject collective nouns: audience, committee, congregation, family, flock, group, staff, team, police Plural - Singular Writing = hypotheses, crises, 
• "News of John's IQ test results has quickly spread in the company for which John works" News= Singular
• "Despite all attempts to curb the damages, the long-foreseen water and oil crises are about to bring the country's economy to its knees." crisis ---> crises
• Stop Sign 5 The verb precedes (comes before) the subject Example: There is a boy in the playground. Normally, the subject is what comes BEFORE the verb, but in this case the subject is a boy, not There. In order to further identify the problem, turn this sentence into plural: There are boys in the playground. Beneath the tree sleeps a child --> Beneath the tree sleep children. In the shadows lurks a dangerous animal --> In the shadows lurk dangerous animals. Crucial to health is avoiding smoking ---> Crucial to health are avoiding smoking and exercising regularly.
• "Philippines from which comes 75% of the country's timber" This answer choice corrects the original Subject Verb Agreement mistake, by changing the plural verb come to the singular verb comes, to match the singular subject timber
• Vegetarians believe that there is, without a doubt, a wealth of good reasons to stop eating meat X of Y A WEALTH of GOOD REASONG => Singular
• Reading Comprehension Topics Popular disciplines from reading passages can be roughly categorized into five main groups: Business - usually at least one passage per test. Humanities - mainly history and archaeology Life sciences - mainly biology, marine biology, zoology and botany Exact sciences - mainly chemistry and astronomy Minorities - mainly about women, Native Americans, African Americans. Online magazines, E-journals, Wikipedia The first paragraph is more or less a summary of the entire passage, kind of like the abstract of a scientific journal article. All the other paragraphs are structured in the same way. They go into a certain point, issue or aspect pertaining to the main idea of the passage in depth. The beginning of each paragraph announces the topic of the paragraph and is kind of a summary of or introduction to the rest of the paragraph.
• Reading Comprehension: Identify Inference Questions Examples: conclude, conclusion, infer or inference. The statements above, if true, best support which of the following as a conclusion? Which of the following inferences is best supported by the statement made above? Which of the following conclusions can most properly be drawn from the information above? Which of the following can properly be inferred from the statement above? If the statements above are correct, they most strongly support which of the following?  If the statements above are true, which of the following must be true?
• Inference Questions This is an Inference question, so the argument is comprised of premises only, on which basis you are asked to draw a conclusion: Premise A: Winfra promotes books on her radio show     +Premise B: she reads the first chapter at the beginning of every show     +Premise C: every book she promotes this way becomes a bestseller     +Premise D: Winfra's show also pays royalties to the author of the book being promoted     =Conclusion:  ? The premises in the argument definitely provide a logical basis for the conclusion that a promotional spot on Winfra's show is likely to boost a book to bestseller status.
• Reading Comprehension: Assumption Questions We can find the hidden assumption in several ways: 1. The assumption is what the argument's author would say if asked "How did you get to that conclusion? Why?" 2. The assumption is the completion of the sentence "The conclusion is true only if we assume that..." 3. Premise + Assumption = Conclusion    Assumption = Conclusion - Premise 4. Premise --> Assumption --> Conclusion
• Identify Assumption Questions: 1. Which of the following is an assumption underlying the conclusion? 2. The author's conclusion relies on which of the following assumptions? 3. The argument above is based on which of the following assumptions?
• Reading Comprehension: Common Traps in Assumption Questions 1. The most common distractor for Assumption Questions is an answer choice that introduces a new premiserather than links the existing premise to the conclusion. Usually such premises will be somehow connected to the topic. 2. Note that the assumption isn't necessarily valid or logical. Some assumptions are quite dodgy and questionable.
• Critical Reasoning: How to weaken a Conclusion 1. Questioning or invalidating an assumption underlying the conclusion. 2. Questioning or invalidating the conclusion itself 3. Providing an alternative explanation. This explanation does not challenge the argument's premise(s) - it just offers an alternative explanation to what happened that replaces the author's conclusion. 4. Citing similar cases in which the conclusion does not hold. Let's illustrate this way through example 1:
• Critical Reasoning: Identifying a Weakening-Question weaken, call into question, cast doubt, undermine Examples: Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the argument's conclusion? Which of the following, if true, undermines the author's conclusion? Which of the following, if true, calls the argument's conclusion into question?  
• Critical Reasoning: Conclusion Weakening Questions Find a new premise which weakens the argument's conclusion by: 1. Questioning or invalidating an assumption underlying the conclusion2. Questioning or invalidating the conclusion itself3. Providing an alternative explanation4. Citing similar cases in which the conclusion does not hold Beware of answer choices that (a) strengthen the conclusion rather than weaken it; or (b) are irrelevant and neither strengthen nor weaken the conclusion. Identify these questions by the use of words such as weaken, call into question, cast doubt,
• Critical Reasoning: How to Identify a Strengthen-Question Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the author's conclusion? Which of the following, if true, supports the argument's conclusion?
• Distractors of Strengthen-Questions Common Distractors 1. Answer choices that weaken the conclusion rather than strengthen it. 2. Answer choices that neither strengthen nor weaken the conclusion.
• Critical Reasoning: Strengthen-Questions Find a new premise which strengthens the argument's conclusion by: 1. Identifying and strengthening an assumption underlying the conclusion2. Strengthening or validating the conclusion itself3. Ruling out alternative explanations - an answer choice can strengthen by saying that a potential "weakener" is NOT true4. Citing similar cases in which the conclusion holds Beware of answer choices that (a) weaken the conclusion rather than strengthen it; or (b) are irrelevant and neither strengthen nor weaken the conclusion.
• Critical Reasoning: Boldface Questions Two parts of the argument are in boldface type. You are asked to make out which function they serve in the argument (premise, conclusion, assumption) and\or what is the relationship between them. Remember! To save time, eliminate answer choices that incorrectly define the first boldface type part. There is no need to continue reading them. These questions are easy to identify by their boldface type formatting.
• Reading Comprehension 1) Focus on logic, structure and function rather than on content 2) Focus on meaning of expressions rather than on similar wording
• Fine-tuning: Last words of wisdom (Guidelines) for Initial Reading 1. Long first paragraph: Read the entire first paragraph sentence by sentence. Exception: a very long first paragraph. If the first paragraph consists of more than four sentences, it means that the paragraph does not contain only the gist of the passage, i.e., not just the main idea, but also starts going into detail.  In this case, stop reading the first paragraph as soon as you realize that the information you are reading is no longer general. 2. Short/friendly Reading passage: Even if you come across a reading passage which is short and is taken from the field you’re an expert in, do not be tempted to do what you would intuitively do when you see a reading passage. That is, do not read the entire passage. If you read the entire passage, you'll end up remembering bits and pieces from its content rather than its main idea and structure.
• Reading Comprehension: Work Order 1. Start with an Initial reading of the passage. 2. Read the question stem. STOP! paraphrase the question in your own words and understand  3. Diagnose the question type (general or specific, based on what is stated or implied) General: the answer is in your initial reading notes. No need to go back to the passage.   Specific: Go back to the passage: find the necessary sentence in the passage part (more on that later) and read around it. Do not rely on your memory - go back to the passage.  Important - whether you're referring to your initial reading notes or the passage itself - STOP! Paraphrasethe answer to the question in your own words before moving on to the next phase: 5. Scan the answer choices, looking for one that is similar to the one you found. 6. Go over the remaining answer choices to make sure they're not better.
• Conclusion Weakening question Premise A: a report compared today's crime figures with those of 200 years ago      +Premise B:  today, fewer people break the law than did people 200 years ago      =Conclusion: people today are more moralistic than people were 200 years ago Possible assumption: the law is in direct correlation with the peoples' morals  Weakening Data:         
• Main Idea Questions: Identify 1. The primary purpose of the passage is to... 2. Which of the following most accurately states the main idea/point of the passage? 3. The author/passage is chiefly/primarily concerned with which of the following? 4. Which of the following best summarizes the contents of the passage?
• Initial Reading - Short and Long Paragraphs The Initial Reading in each case is different although the principles are similar. In both Initial Reading processes we wish to save time and read only what is necessary in order to: 1) Get the main idea of the passage2) Map the passage so we can later locate information within it When facing multi-paragraph reading passages, the Initial Reading includes: - Reading the first few sentences of the first paragraph and extracting the main idea- Reading the first sentence of each following paragraph However, the Initial Reading of passages which are made of one paragraph only includes: - Reading the first few sentences of the passage and extracting the main idea - Scanning the passage for structural words/phrases which will indicate the beginning of a subsection within the passage
• Sign: much, (a) little, less, the amount of.. (non-count nouns) count noun            non-count nounmany                     mucha few                     a littlefew                        littlefewer                     less the number of        the amount ofseveral                    - count nouns: the cat Non-count nouns: air, milk
• Adverb The main function of an adverb is to describe a verb. An adverb indicates the manner of or the degree to which an action was performed and answers questions such as: how? and how much? Examples:1. John drives fast.2. John works hard.3. John drives very carefully. 4. John speaks French well. 
• Stop Signs : Present Simple always, all the time, usually, generally, regularly, often, sometimes, rarely, seldom, hardly ever, never every (second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, evening, morning, winter, etc.) once (a day, a week, in a lifetime, etc.)
• Stop Sign: Present Progession now, right now, at the moment, currently, presently
• Stop Sign: Simple Past yesterday, the day before yesterday last (Friday, week, month, year, winter, etc.) (a second, a minute, an hour, a day, 400 years) ago during (the summer, the exam period, World War II, the celebrations) in (835 A.D, the past, the 1860s) when (followed by another sentence in the past simple tense: when he met her, when the custom was common, when they were married, when she sliced the onion)
• Stop Signs: Past Progressive while, as (followed by Past Progressive) Last night at 20:00 John and Jane were having dinner.John almost fell asleep while he was drivinghome.John almost fell asleep as he was drivinghome.John was watchingTV while Jane was workingout.
• Stop Signs : Present Perfect for, since, already, just, yet, recently, lately, so far, ever, never, several times
• Stop Signs: Past Perfect The following time expressions indicate that the sentence is in the Past Perfect tense (underlined in the above examples): before, after, by the time, until Examples: John and Jane had met two years before they got married. John and Jane got married two years after they had met.
• Two-Part Analysis Some Two-Part Analysis questions will be purely verbal based. When solving these questions, first try to determine whether the answer choices are interdependent (i.e., they rely on each other) or independent (i.e., each answer can be found independently).  Interdependent questions may include answer choices that reflect a cause/effect, a precondition/condition, an if/then, an assumption/supporting fact, or a true/false dichotomy. Independent questions may include dichotomies involving increases/decreases, strengthening/weakening, sacrifices/gains, or what is true/false.  The naturalist makes a prediction based on a characteristic of the new white deer population. This characteristic must be something about which a prediction can be based. Given the information provided, it is not immediately observable that a white deer has two white deer parents. You can use strategies that you have already learned from the Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension sections.
• The Factor Chart The technique goes as follows: 1) Write the original integer on top of the table. 2) Divide the original Integer by the smallest possible factor: 1. Write "1" in the left column, and the result of the division in the right column. 3) Divide the original integer by the next higher factor: 2. Write "2" in the left column, and the result of the division in the right column. If the original integer is not divisible by 2, skip 2 and move on to higher possible factors: 3, 4, 5, etc. 4) Continue the process until the factors repeat themselves - stop when you're trying to divide the original integer by a factor that's already on the right side of the table. 5) You're done - the table now holds the factors (prime and not prime) of the original intege
• Reading Comprehension: Detail Function QuestionsExplain the function of a specific detail in the passage. Specific: Locate the detail in the passage, using the Initial Reading to point to the paragraph/sentence in which the detail is most likely to be found. Implied: Explain how the author uses this detail to deliver an idea, that is, describe the detail's function, the purpose it serves. Beware of answer choices which copy the information stated about the detail in the passage, but do not explain its function. Common phrasing: 1. The author of the passage most probably discusses X in order to...2. The author uses the word X most probably to emphasize that...3. The author refers to X in order to point out...
• Reading Comprehension: Detail Function QuestionsExplain the function of a specific detail in the passage. Specific: Locate the detail in the passage, using the Initial Reading to point to the paragraph/sentence in which the detail is most likely to be found. Implied: Explain how the author uses this detail to deliver an idea, that is, describe the detail's function, the purpose it serves. Beware of answer choices which copy the information stated about the detail in the passage, but do not explain its function. Common phrasing: 1. The author of the passage most probably discusses X in order to...2. The author uses the word X most probably to emphasize that...3. The author refers to X in order to point out...
• Stop Sign: Reported Speech  Stop Sign to look out for is: Reported Speech with a reporting verb in Past tense When you spot a question with this Stop Sign, make sure that the following verbs are in the Past Tense. Incorrect: Jane said that she will arrive at noon.Correct: Jane said that she would arrive at noon. Incorrect: The taxi driver asked the man where he wants to go.Correct: The taxi driver asked the man where he wanted to go. Here are some commonly used reporting verbs in GMAT Sentence Correction Reported Speech questions: announced  maintained claimed argued
• Long after Galileo Galilei's death in 1642, the advocation of heliocentrism was still prohibited. Once in the Past, always in the Past. If a sentence is anchored in the past (i.e., the first verb is in the past or there's a time expression indicating past) it cannot include verbs in Present or Future tense. Incorrect: As a child, John used to hate snakes and scream when he sees them. Correct: As a child, John used to hate snakes and scream when he saw them. The exception to this is if the sentence gives us a clear indication that the tense should change:
• STOP SIGN: Any pronoun in the underlined part of the sentence or after the underlined part. e.g. Since stock exchange indexes fluctuate unexpectedly, every buyer should be aware of the dangers of disappointing investments and its consequences.
• Pronoun Doing So Using the pronoun it to refer to a verb is incorrect (it may only refer to a noun).Instead, use the phrase to do so or doing so. Incorrect: John is playing tennis. He enjoys it.Correct: John is playing tennis. He enjoys doing so.
• Pronoun This This is a unique pronoun in that it can do more than just refer to a noun (as in example 1 below). This can also refer to a previously described situation (as in example 2 below). Examples:1. Jane tried on several outfits before she picked this dress.2. Jane is always trying on several outfits before she finally picks one while John waits for her impatiently and tells her to make up her mind already or they will be late. This is becoming a problem in their relationship. In example 1, this fulfills the traditional pronoun function: referring to a noun (dress). In example 2, on the other hand, this does not refer to any specific noun. It refers to the general situationthat was described in the previous sentence.
• While the relative costs of concrete and steel are a predominant consideration in the design of a skyscraper, of no less importance to civil engineers ARE the time needed to fabricate the structural elements and the distance of the project site from the production sites of the raw materials. This answer choice is grammatically incorrect. The singular verb is does not agree with the plural subject the time needed...and the distance, etc. What helps us identify this question as a Subject Verb Agreement question as well as identify the mistake are the following Stop Signs: verb precedes subject and plural subject built of singular nouns connected by and
• Passive Voice: Characterization Actually, this sentence is TRUE. Passive sentences can be identified by the combination of BE + V3 which is unique to them. All passive sentences are characterized by this combination, and only passive sentences are characterized by it.
• Any fairly experienced espionage agent knows that a good vodka martini should not be stirred, but shaken. However, it is the only grammatically correct one as it uses the V3 verb forms shaken and stirred correctly. Remember that on the GMAT, grammar overrides style. The correct answer can be stylistically flawed (i.e., redundant or ambiguous), but it can never be grammatically incorrect.

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