Descriptive items need to be next to or as close as possible to what they are intending to modify.   The following rules govern adjectival phrases and clauses:

The following is a grammar exercise from one of GMAC’s practice tests:

Introduced by Italian merchants resident in London during the sixteenth century, in England life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically being ship owners, overseas merchants, or professional moneylenders.

The sentence is rambling and awkward.   However, it is not as difficult to decipher what the correct response is if you keep in mind the idea of correct modification.   Notice the beginning phrase:  Introduced by Italian merchants resident in London during the sixteenth century.  It is descriptive and therefore needs to modify the word that immediately follows the comma.

Now look at the opening words of the answer choices:

(A) in England life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically being

(B) in England life insurance had remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, who typically were

(C) until the end of the seventeenth century life insurance in England had remained a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically

(D) life insurance remained in England until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically

(E) life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century in England a specialized contract between individual underwriters with their clients, who typically were

The first three answer choices can be eliminated:  in England and until the end of the seventeenth century were not introduced by Italian merchants.    It was life insurance that was introduced by Italian merchants.   Thus, only the final two are possible responses.

Of these two, GMAC is additionally testing the idiomatic construction: between…and.   For instance, one would say:  I cannot choose between the veal chop and the rack of lamb.   One would NOT say:  I cannot choose between the veal chop with the rack of lamb.   Thus, (E) can be eliminated.

The correct answer is (D). 

Let us look at another example from the makers of the GMAT:

Currently 26 billion barrels a year, world consumption of oil is rising at a rate of 2 percent annually.

Again, be alert to the opening descriptive phrase:  Currently 26 billion barrels a year, which needs to modify what follows the comma.   Here are the answer choices with the introductory words bolded:

(A) world consumption of oil is rising at a rate of

(B) the world is consuming oil at an increasing rate of

(C) the world’s oil is being consumed at the increasing rate of

(D) the rise in the rate of the world’s oil consumption is

(E) oil is consumed by the world at an increasing rate of

What is currently 26 billion barrels a year?  Certainly it is not the world, the world’s oil, the rise or oil.   It is the world consumption of oil.

The correct answer is (A). 

Modification is important.  It adds clarity, sensibility and specificity to ideas that a writer is attempting to convey.     When modifiers are incorrectly positioned, they create ambiguity for the reader.    Open your eyes and pay closer attention to all modifiers in a sentence to see whether they are properly placed.   With greater attentiveness and a bit of practice, you will hone your ability to recognize these types of errors.   And in return, you will see your GMAT score in the grammar improve.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have online GMAT prep courses starting all the time! And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

John Chismody is a Veritas Prep GMAT instructor based in Pittsburgh, PA. After receiving his BS in Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, he went onto Duquesne University to receive his Masters. He moved to the Big Apple for a while, then down to South Beach, but has returned to his native home of Pittsburgh and continues to teach for Veritas Prep. 

How can I tell if I’m looking at a “Parallel Reasoning” question? The question-stem will contain an argument, and the question itself will contain phrases like “method of reasoning,” “parallel reasoning,” “most similar,” “similar reasoning,” or “most closely parallel.” You’ll also see that each answer choice is its own argument, as opposed to an assumption, inference, or flaw.

Let’s look at a simply example!

Argument #1: If someone has blonde hair, then they have blue eyes. My father has blonde hair, therefore my father has blue eyes.

The reasoning here is presented as a conditional A -> B, “blonde hair” means “blue eyes.” This reasoning is then used to make a conclusion, using the exact same pattern: A -> B. Here’s an example of a simple argument that uses parallel reasoning to Argument #1:

Argument #2: The best internet cafes have free wifi. All cafes with free wifi serve unlimited coffee. Therefore, the best internet cafes serve unlimited coffee.

It’s the same reasoning because the logic moves in the same direction from A -> B , going from “wifi” to “coffee,” then “best cafes” to “wifi.” Don’t worry that this argument  is not arranged in exactly the same order as Argument #1, it’s the method of reasoning that must be similar. A correct answer choice can be a little bit different from the question-stem. It’s the LOGIC that counts!

Watch out for…

•  Answer choices that merely mimic the topic of the argument. The correct answer’s argument usually focuses on an entirely different topic. It’s not what is being discussed that matters, but how the reasoning is laid out.
• Answer choices that have the same structure as the question-stem argument, but do not have the same logic! Just because an answer choice contains similar keywords, or has a similar number of sentences, doesn’t mean its logic matches! The premises and conclusion can be rearranged, but the logic of an argument doesn’t change.
• Pacing! These question-types typically take longer than strengthen or weaken CR, because you have 6 arguments to break down, as opposed to 1 (whew!). Practice untimed at first, but as you gain more confident with this question-type, set a timer and try to do them in under 3 minutes, then under 2 minutes.

Look out for Part 2 of this series, where we’ll look at what strategies we can use to break down Parallel Reasoning questions quickly and effectively, and get them correct every time.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have GMAT prep courses starting all the time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Vivian Kerr is a regular contributor to the Veritas Prep blog, providing tips and tricks to help students better prepare for the GMAT and the SAT. 

Question: If 10, 12 and ‘x’ are sides of an acute angled triangle, how many integer values of ‘x’ are possible?

(A) 7
(B) 12
(C) 9
(D) 13
(E) 11

Solution: The question is very interesting. It asks you for an acute triangle i.e. a triangle with all angles less than 90 degrees. It’s a little hard to wrap your head around it, isn’t it? We know that the third side of a triangle can take many values. Right from a little more than the difference of the other two sides to a little less than the sum of the other two sides (Since we know that the sum of any two sides of a triangle is always greater than the third side). So x can be anything from a little more than 2 to a little less than 22. But how do we find out the values for which all the angles will be less than 90?

We want no obtuse or right angles. An obtuse angled triangle has one angle more than 90. So the thought here is that before one of the angles reaches 90, find out all the values that x can take.

Look at the figure given above. The value of x in the first figure is very small – slightly more than 2 – minimum required to make a triangle. There is an obtuse angle in that triangle. We keep making x bigger and bigger and the angle keeps becoming smaller till it reaches 90 (Fig III). We use Pythagorean theorem to get the value of x in that case:

x = √(12^2 – 10^2)
x = √44 which is 6.something
x should be greater than 6.something because the angle cannot be 90.

We further keep increasing x and all the angles are acute now. We reach Fig V where we hit another right triangle. We use Pythagorean theorem again to get the value of x (the hypotenuse) in this case:

x = √(12^2 + 10^2)
x = √244 which is 15.something
x should be less than 15.something so that the angle is not 90.

Further on, in Fig VI, we obtain an obtuse angle again.

We only need integral values of x so values that x can take range from 7 to 15 which is 9 values.

Answer (C).

Note: We made two angles 90 and found the values of x in between those two angles. The third angle cannot be 90 because that will make 10 the hypotenuse but hypotenuse is always the greatest side.

Karishma, a Computer Engineer with a keen interest in alternative Mathematical approaches, has mentored students in the continents of Asia, Europe and North America. She teaches the GMAT for Veritas Prep and regularly participates in content development projects such as this blog!

Step one: Student begins to work on problem, places scratch paper directly underneath problem covering answer choices.
Step two: Instructor slaps the note paper away and yells “no touching (the answer choices)”

Why?

Particularly on Problem Solving questions, the answer choices are often the most important assets you have in solving the problem. Some problems require you to plug in answer choices (“backsolve”) in order to solve; other problems embed clues in the answer choice (if there’s a square root of 3, you should be looking for a 30-60-90 triangle somewhere; if all the denominators in the answer choices are either 3 or 5, you should be thinking about divisibility rules). A higher-than-you’d-think percentage of Problem Solving questions reward users for glancing at the answer choices before they start their work, but a higher-than-you’d-think percentage of students never look past the question mark in the problem before they diligently start calculating. Let’s see a few examples to show you how looking at answer choices can drastically increase your efficiency and accuracy:

Which of the following is equal to 124/93?

(A) 6/5
(B) 5/4
(C) 4/3
(D) 3/2
(E) 8/9

If you were to try to factor out the common term between 124 and 93, you’d have a tough time identifying it on its own. 124 = 4(31) and 93 = 3(31), but very few people will quickly see “oh, they’re both divisible by 31″. Instead, you’re much more likely to make that determination by looking at the answer choices. Choices A, B, and D are clearly wrong because the denominator – 93 – is not divisible by 5 and not even, so it cannot factor down to have a denominator of 5, 4, or 2. And choice E should be clearly wrong because in the original, 124/93, the numerator is greater than the denominator, but choice E reverses that. So C is the only plausible choice, and if you test it it gives you a clue as to what to factor out. You’d need to divide the numerator, 124, by 4 (leaving 31) and then test the denominator to make sure it’s also divisible by 31 (and it is, producing that 3).

When you need to reduce a fraction as the last step of a problem, try looking at the answer choices for clues as to which factors to break out – after all, one of the answer choices MUST BE correct, and several should be impossible to begin to factor, thereby lightening your load.

Take a look at another example:

3^8 + 3^7 – 3^6 – 3^5 =

(A) (3^5)(2^4)
(B) (3^6)(2^5)
(C) (3^5)(2^6)
(D) 6^5
(E) none of the above

If you aren’t sure how to even start the problem, look at the answer choices – none of them has addition or subtraction, and most of them involve multiplication. So what’s your next move? Make your math look like the answer choices – you have to factor away that add/subtract to form multiplication (try it and see if you can D-termine the answer).

The takeaway – answer choices are an absolutely integral part of problem solving questions, so make sure to glance at them before you begin your work, and to lean on them if you’re struggling at any point of your calculation. Answer choices are assets!

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Veritas Prep GMAT on Demand is our  all-online GMAT course delivered in high-definition streaming video, using the same course materials and curriculum that students cover in every live Veritas Prep GMAT course. Taught by the co-author of the Veritas Prep GMAT course curriculum, Brian Galvin and co-hosted by Lissette Padilla, Dean’s Fellow at the MIT Sloan MBA program, Veritas Prep GMAT on Demand  is the most comprehensive self-study program available.

The course comes with over 20 hours of streaming video, broken down into easily digestible lessons that correspond with the Veritas Prep lesson books.  Brian and Lissette are engaging and thorough in their coverage of the course.  You’ll come to think of them as your own personal tutors who are just as invested in your success as you are.

We’re especially proud of the fact that Veritas Prep GMAT on Demand can be accessed across a host of devices, including your computer, iPad, or any other iOS device.  Our goal with Veritas Prep on Demand was to create a program as user friendly and accessible as possible.  No other self-study program is delivered across so many platforms or offers the amount of  expertise and depth as Veritas Prep GMAT on Demand.

We are so confident that you’ll love Veritas Prep GMAT on Demand that we’re making it available to everyone for free through a 7-day, no risk free trial.  You’ll get access the first full lesson and then you will be able to view selections of the remaining eleven lessons – that’s more than four hours of instruction, all in HD video!  All you need to do is provide your name and email address (no credit card  is required) and you’ll get immediate access to the program.  Try it out now!

1. Strengthening the conclusion
2. Weakening the conclusion
3. Inferring based on the conclusion
4. Method of reasoning used

As you can easily tell from the categories above, the conclusion usually plays a pivotal role in correctly answering the question at hand. Thus, identifying the author’s point is a necessary step that cannot be circumvented. In particular, let’s focus in on strengthening the argument or weakening the argument, two sides of the same coin that can often be solved the exact same way (you may need to insert the word “not” somewhere)

Within the context of a strengthening or weakening question, the three steps to correctly solving the question are always the same (and very similar to casing a joint for a heist)

1. Identify the conclusion
2. Evaluate the premise(s)
3. Find the gap between the conclusion and the premise.

Again, the conclusion is the key to everything. If you correctly identify the conclusion, you’re on the right path to success. If you misidentify the conclusion, you will likely fall into a clever trap laid out for you. Let’s look at an example:

Nate: Recently a craze has developed for home juicers, $300 machines that separate the pulp of the fruits and vegetables from the juice they contain. Outrageous claims are being made about the benefits of these devices: Drinking the juice they produce is said to help one lose weight or acquire a clear complexion, to aid in digestion, and even to prevent cancer. But there is no indication that juice separated from the pulp of the fruit or vegetable has any properties that it does not have when unseparated. Save your money, if you want carrot juice, eat a carrot.

Which of the following, if true, most calls into question Nate’s argument?

(A)  Most people find it much easier to consume a given quantity of nutrients in liquid form than to eat solid foods containing the same quantity of the same nutrients.

(B)  Drinking juice from home juicers is less healthy than is eating fruits and vegetables because such juice does not contain the fiber that is eaten if one consumes the entire fruit or vegetable.

(C)  To most people who would be tempted to buy a home juicer, $300 would not be a major expense.

(D)  Nate was a member of a panel that extensively evaluated early prototypes of home juicers

(E)  Vitamin pills that supposedly contain nutrients available elsewhere only in fruits and vegetables often contain a form of those compounds that cannot be as easily metabolized as the varieties found in fruit and vegetables.

After quickly identifying the type of question (calls into question = weaken), the next step on the road to success is to identify the conclusion. Looking over Nate’s soliloquy, the majority of it is context as to how the juicing craze came about, the positive aspects of juicers (the unexpected plot twist when the juicer was betrayed by Cobra) and the negative aspects of juicers. The conclusion, summed up in a succinct manner at the end is simply “Save your money, if you want carrot juice, eat a carrot.”

The trap that many people fall for here is that Nate’s argument is based primarily on monetary issues. Yes the juicer separates the juice from the pulp, but it’s not worth the money! (C’mon you could take that money and buy ¾ of an Apple share). If you focus in on the money aspect, you probably want to pick answer choice C, because it indicates that the money won’t be a big concern for prospective clients. However, this is a trap based on the phrasing of the conclusion.

The conclusion could have just as easily read “Don’t be a fool, if you want carrot juice, eat a carrot”. This conveys the exact same message, but answer choice C would now have to be something akin to “Most people who would buy this juicer have IQs above 114½”. The call for saving your money is simply used for emphasis; it has little bearing on the actual issue, which is that you get the same nutrients from solid foods as you would from consuming only the juice.

For strengthening/weakening questions, the third step of minding the gap between the premise and the conclusion is necessary to determine which answer choice to select. In this question, the premise is talking about the nutrients of one form versus the other, and the conclusion states that there’s no reason to ever want the juice instead of the solid. What’s the gap? Maybe there’s another reason we would want the juice! Perhaps it tastes better, or your teeth aren’t as solid as they used to be and juice is preferable to trying to bite into an apple (or perhaps you’re trying to cross a border and fruits are illegal but the juice is fine).

Upon rereading the answer choices, A is exactly what you want. The others all fall down in various ways.

(A)  Most people find it much easier to consume a given quantity of nutrients in liquid form than to eat solid foods containing the same quantity of the same nutrients.

Perfect. This gives us a valid reason to want to drink the juice.

(B)  Drinking juice from home juicers is less healthy than is eating fruits and vegetables because such juice does not contain the fiber that is eaten if one consumes the entire fruit or vegetable.

Tempting, but this strengthens the argument instead of weakening it. 180 °.

(C)  To most people who would be tempted to buy a home juicer, $300 would not be a major expense.

Trap answer based on financial considerations.

(D)  Nate was a member of a panel that extensively evaluated early prototypes of home juicers

Again, wouldn’t this make Nate an expert on the subject? Strengthener and 180 °.

(E)  Vitamin pills that supposedly contain nutrients available elsewhere only in fruits and vegetables often contain a form of those compounds that cannot be as easily metabolized as the varieties found in fruit and vegetables.

New topic. Why are we introducing vitamin pills here? Out of scope.

The correct answer is (A). 

On these types of critical reasoning questions, correctly identifying the conclusion is paramount to correctly answering the question. Hijacking the conclusion will result in an answer choice that seems correct, but doesn’t address the underlying point the author is making. And since strengthening and weakening questions make up the majority of Critical Reasoning questions on the GMAT, the only conclusion you should come to is to practice these questions regularly.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have GMAT prep courses starting all the time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Ron Awad is a GMAT instructor for Veritas Prep based in Montreal, bringing you occasional tips and tricks for success on your exam.  After graduating from McGill and receiving his MBA from Concordia, Ron started teaching GMAT prep and his Veritas Prep students have given him rave reviews ever since.

1. Don’t study where you sleep.
   We’re all guilty of studying in bed, cross-legged, furiously typing away at a last-minute Quant practice section, but studies have shown that our bodies becomes conditioned with routines. If you consistently use your bed as your office-space, it will be harder for you to mentally “switch off” once you climb under the covers. If possible, do most of your computer-work at a desk or kitchen table, away from your bedroom (or at least a few feet away from your bed).
2. Exercise, even in small bursts.
   We all KNOW we should exercise, but it can be tough to find even 30-60 minutes a day to go for a jog or take a yoga class when you’re in a 3-month GMAT study zone. Even if you have no time to get a true workout in, make yourself take at least three five minute stretch and meditation breaks – one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one before bedtime. For each break, set your phone alarm for five minutes and quickly stretch out on the floor. Stretch out your spine and listen to yourself breathe. This allows your muscles (especially those around your head and shoulders) to relax into the floor, and remove any tension you may be subconsciously “holding” in your body.
3. Fight insomnia with a total black-out.
   Noise, light, and cold are three of the most common things that can prevent us from drifting off. If you have street lights or a neighbor’s lamp shining in through your bedroom window, consider covering them up with a large blanket before you hit the hay. Try to make your bedroom as pitch-black as possible.  Buy some ear plugs, even if you don’t have noisy roommates. With them in, you’ll be able to listen to your heartbeat, which will lull you to sleep more quickly after a stressful day. Take the plugs to the library to get a more focused study-session in as well!
4. Find some inspirational quotes.
   It may sound silly, but putting up some inspirational quotes or mantras on your wall above your desk such as, “what you seek is seeking you,” or “thoroughness characterizes all great men” or even something as simple as, “I am going to ROCK my GMAT!” can create a less stressful study atmosphere.

Remember: You’ve come this far, and you know you’re going to get your MBA somewhere – all you’ve got to do is stay positive for just a few more months! Good luck!

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have GMAT prep courses starting all the time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Vivian Kerr is a regular contributor to the Veritas Prep blog, providing tips and tricks to help students better prepare for the GMAT and the SAT. 

Basic Properties

A quadrilateral, by definition, is a polygon with four sides created by four straight lines. Some common quadrilaterals are: a square, a rectangle, a parallelogram, and a trapezoid.

Need-to-know fact: The sum of the interior angles of any quadrilateral is 360.

Remember that every time you add a side to a figure, you add 180 degrees to the sum of its interior angles. That is why a triangle’s sum is 180, and any quadrilateral’s sum is 360.  Keep in mind that definition-wise, quadrilaterals are inclusive. This means that a square is ALSO a rectangle, so be aware that just because a question states that a shape is a “rectangle” doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t have four equivalent sides!

Perimeter

The perimeter of a quadrilateral is the sum of its four sides. For a rectangle, the formula is P = l + l + w + w, or P = 2l + 2w. For a square, this becomes P = 4s. For other quadrilaterals, you need to know the length of each side in order to find the perimeter, unless you are given more information about the comparative lengths of the sides. For example, for a parallelogram we know that the opposite sides are equal in value, so knowing two adjacent sides would be sufficient to find the perimeter.

Area

The area of a quadrilateral is the measurement contained within its four sides. There is no one area formula for all quadrilaterals. Instead, each one has a unique equation that must be memorized.

• To find the area of a square, we use the formula A = s², where s = side of the square.
• To find the area of a rectangle, we use the formula A = lw, where l = length and w = width.  T
• To find the area of a parallelogram, we use the formula A = bh, where b = base and h = height. We do NOT simply multiply the two side lengths. Remember the base and the height must be perpendicular.
• To find the area of a trapezoid, we use the formula A = h(b1 + b2) / 2. We essentially take the average of the two bases, and multiply it by the height. Again, the height is perpendicular to each base.

Remember to analyze your incorrect questions from Veritas Prep’s question bank. Use this data to understand your strengths and weaknesses and focus your GMAT prep on the area that need it most!

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have GMAT prep courses starting all the time. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Vivian Kerr is a regular contributor to the Veritas Prep blog, providing tips and tricks to help students better prepare for the GMAT and the SAT. 

Let me explain with the help of an official Data Sufficiency question.

Question:

In the figure above, is the area of the triangle ABC equal to the area of the triangle ADB?

Statement 1: (AC)^2=2(AD)^2

Statement 2: ∆ABC is isosceles.

Solution:

When presented with this question, people see right triangles and jump to Pythagorean theorem, isosceles triangles and then wage a war on AC, AB, CB and AD relations. Well, that is our traditional approach. But what do we do if making equations and solving for relations isn’t our style?

We make diagrams and figure out the relations! One thing that is apparent the moment we read statement 1 is that the figure is not to scale. From the figure it looks as if AD is greater than or at best, equal to AC. That itself is an indication that if you draw the figure on your own, you could see something that will make this question very simple. The question setter doesn’t want to show you that and hence he made the distorted figure.

Anyway, let’s first analyze the question. Then we will look at the statements.

We need to compare areas of ABC and ADB. Both are right angled triangles.

Area of ABC = (1/2) * AC * BC

Area of ADB = (1/2) * AD * AB

We need to figure out whether these two are the same.

Think about it this way – we are given a triangle ABC with a particular area. So the length of AD must be defined. If AD is very small, (shown by the dotted lines in the diagram given below) the area of ADB will be very close to 0. If AD is very large, the area will be much larger than the area of ABC. So for only one value of AD, the area of DAB will be equal to the area of ABC.

We need to figure out whether for the given relations, the triangles have equal area.

Statement 1: (AC)^2=2(AD)^2
This gives us AD = AC/√2. Let’s draw AC and AD such that AD is somewhat shorter than AC. Now can we say that the areas of the two triangles are the same? No. The area of ABC is decided by AC and BC both not just AC. We can vary the length of BC to see that the relation between AC and AD is not enough to say whether the areas will be the same (see the diagrams given below).

So this statement alone is not sufficient.

(2) ∆ABC is isosceles.
This means that AB = BC. Notice that the triangle is right angled so the hypotenuse must be the largest side. If ABC is isosceles, it means that the two legs of the triangle must be equal. Hence sides of ABC must be in the ratio 1:1:√2 = AC:BC:AB. Since we only need to consider relative length of the sides, let’s say that AC = 1, BC = 1 and AB = √2 or some multiple thereof.

We have no idea about the length of AD so this statement alone is also not sufficient.

Let’s consider both statements together now:

AD = AC/√2 = 1/√2 (Since AC = 1)

Area of ABC = (1/2) * AC * BC = (1/2) * 1 * 1 = 1/2

Area of ADB = (1/2) * AD * AB = (1/2) *  (1/√2 ) * √2 = 1/2

Both triangles have the same area. Sufficient!

Answer (C)

Now compare this approach with your Pythagorean approach. Is this simpler?

Karishma, a Computer Engineer with a keen interest in alternative Mathematical approaches, has mentored students in the continents of Asia, Europe and North America. She teaches the GMAT for Veritas Prep and regularly participates in content development projects such as this blog!

And at the same time as he was saving three kidnap victims, Charles Ramsey may also have been saving your GMAT verbal score.

You see, Charles’s first couple sentences were, as GMAT students like to say, “out of scope”. He began the call by talking about his meal at McDonald’s:

Hey check this out, I just came from McDonalds right? And I’m on my porch eating my little food…

Now, in the grand scope of the situation – terrified women breaking out of a house, a 911 dispatcher trying to make sense of the situation and send officers to the scene – Mr. Ramsey’s Quarter Pounder and fries has nothing to do with anything. But in the next breath he tells the whole story and gives the dispatcher exactly what he needs to alert the proper authorities and rescue the women. Which is almost exactly how many Critical Reasoning answer choices are structured – where many GMAT students would eliminate a correct answer choice by thinking “McDonald’s? Why are we talking about McDonald’s? This is out of scope!” the astute test-takers and 911 dispatchers realize that “I’d better hang on the line to see if he’s going somewhere with this.”

Simply put, in Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension answer choices, the right answer often begins with 5-10 words that seem horribly out of scope. That’s bait – the testmaker wants you to eliminate the choice without reading further, and will reward those who are patient to see what the full answer has to say. Consider this example, from the Veritas Prep Question Bank:

Asset protection manager: This year, for the fifth consecutive fiscal year, we’ve managed to reduce the number of in-store thefts by more than 20% of the previous year’s figure, evidence that our store continues to profit from our vigilance against shoplifting.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the asset protection manager’s argument?

(A) Six years ago the store had the highest number of thefts of any store in the region.
(B) The store’s gross sales dropped by nearly 8% from the previous year’s figure.
(C) By utilizing motion-controlled cameras and digital imaging software, similar stores have reduced theft by more than 50% over the same time period.
(D) As the store’s clientele has become more affluent, the dollar value of items reported stolen has more than doubled over the last five years.
(E) Punishments for shoplifters in the city in which the store is located have been steadily becoming more lenient over the last five years.

The correct answer choice begins with a phrase that looks out of scope – why should it matter that the store’s clientele has become more affluent? We’re talking about shoplifting, not about the socioeconomic status of the surrounding community. But wait – that lead-in gets to the point after the comma: the affluent clientele have led the store to stock higher-priced items, meaning that while the number of thefts has gone down the dollar value of those thefts has still risen. That directly weakens the conclusion that the store is profiting from the decrease in thefts.

The correct answer is (D).

So much like the 911 dispatcher this week could have written off Mr. Ramsey’s call as “why do I care about McDonald’s… click,” the patience to let the answer choice finish even if it takes its sweet time getting there will help you make productive decisions on test day. As you learn to Think Like the Testmaker to better avoid Critical Reasoning traps and pitfalls, you may want to think like Charles Ramsey.

Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We run a free online GMAT prep seminar every couple of weeks. And, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!