® GMAT verbal review Anyone preparing for the GMAT knows it’s important to study with the experts With The Official Guide for GMAT ® Verbal Review, 2nd Edition, you’ll get questions, answers, and explanations straight from the source An excellent supplement to The Official Guide for GMAT ® Review, 12th Edition, this book helps you target your study and further hone your written and verbal skills Inside you’ll find: • 300 actual questions from past GMAT tests—including more than 75 questions new to this edition • Sections on Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction • Questions organized in order of difficulty to save study time ® 2nd EDITION GMAT VERBAL REVIEW The Official GUIDE FOR The ~ ~ IAL OFFIC e Guid REVIEW 2ND EDITION The only study guide with 300 past GMAT questions 2ND eDITION • Get free downloadable tests and practice questions • Sign up for the GMAT Teasers, a weekly practice question • Register to take the GMAT exam GMAT ® and THE OFFICIAL GUIDE FOR GMAT® VERBAL REVIEW are products of Graduate Management Admission Council ® $17.95 US/$21.95 CAN ® —and their answers— by the creators of the test Visit www.mba.com to: Creating Access to Graduate Business Education TM VERBAL GMAT Trust the only official verbal review for the gmat from the creators of the test! ® Study Aids/GMAT THE OFFICIAL GUIDE FOR GMAT ® VERBAL REVIEW ND EDITION The ~ ~ IAL FIC OF uide G • Actual questions from past GMAT tests, including more than 75 questions new to this edition • 300 past questions, answers, and explanations in Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction • Questions organized in order of difficulty to save study time From the Graduate Management Admission Council 9780470449752_RB.pdf ® 03_449752-ch01.indd 7/9/09 6:21:26 PM GMAT ® VERBAL REVIEW 2ND EDITION The only study guide with 300 past GMAT questions ® —and their answers— by the creators of the test THE OFFICIAL GUIDE FOR GMAT ® VERBAL REVIEW ND EDITION The ~ ~ IAL FFIC e O uid G • Actual questions from past GMAT tests, including more than 75 questions new to this edition • 300 past questions, answers, and explanations in Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction • Questions organized in order of difficulty to save study time ® From the Graduate Management Admission Council 01_449752-ffirs.indd 7/9/09 6:10:22 PM THE OFFICIAL GUIDE FOR GMATđ VERBAL REVIEW, 2ND EDITION Copyright â 2009 by the Graduate Management Admission Council All rights reserved Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate percopy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 7508400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/ go/permissions The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising here from The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, and related trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc and/or its affiliates Creating Access to Graduate Business Education®, GMAC®, GMAT®, GMAT CAT®, Graduate Management Admission Council®, and Graduate Management Admission Test® are registered trademarks of the Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®) All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners Wiley Publishing, Inc is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S at (877) 762-2974, outside the U.S at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002 Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books For more information about Wiley products, please visit our Web site at www.wiley.com Library of Congress Control Number: 2009922580 ISBN: 978-0-470-44975-2 Printed in the United States of America 10 Book production by Wiley Publishing, Inc Composition Services Charles Forster, Designer Mike Wilson, Production Designer 01_449752-ffirs.indd 7/9/09 6:10:22 PM Table of Contents What Is the GMAT®? Why Take the GMAT® Test? GMAT® Test Format What Is the Content of the Test Like? Quantitative Section Verbal Section What Computer Skills Will I Need? What Are the Test Centers Like? How Are Scores Calculated? Analytical Writing Assessment Scores Test Development Process 8 9 10 10 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 How to Prepare How Can I Best Prepare to Take the Test? What About Practice Tests? Where Can I Get Additional Practice? General Test-Taking Suggestions 12 13 13 14 14 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Reading Comprehension What Is Measured Test-Taking Strategies The Directions Sample Questions Answer Key Answer Explanations 16 18 20 21 22 59 60 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Critical Reasoning What Is Measured Test-Taking Strategies The Directions Sample Questions Answer Key Answer Explanations 112 114 114 115 116 152 153 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Sentence Correction Basic English Grammar Rules Study Suggestions What Is Measured Test-Taking Strategies The Directions Sample Questions Answer Key Answer Explanations 236 237 242 242 242 243 244 268 269 Appendix A Percentile Ranking Tables 324 Appendix B 02_449752-ftoc.indd 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 Answer Sheets Reading Comprehension Answer Sheet Critical Reasoning Answer Sheet Sentence Correction Answer Sheet 330 331 332 333 7/9/09 6:21:05 PM 1.0 What Is the GMAT®? 03_449752-ch01.indd 7/9/09 6:21:26 PM 1.0 What Is the GMAT®? 1.0 What Is the GMAT®? The Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®) is a standardized, three-part test delivered in English The test was designed to help admissions officers evaluate how suitable individual applicants are for their graduate business and management programs It measures basic verbal, mathematical, and analytical writing skills that a test taker has developed over a long period of time through education and work The GMAT test does not measure a person’s knowledge of specific fields of study Graduate business and management programs enroll people from many different undergraduate and work backgrounds, so rather than test your mastery of any particular subject area, the GMAT test will assess your acquired skills Your GMAT score will give admissions officers a statistically reliable measure of how well you are likely to perform academically in the core curriculum of a graduate business program Of course, there are many other qualifications that can help people succeed in business school and in their careers—for instance, job experience, leadership ability, motivation, and interpersonal skills The GMAT test does not gauge these qualities That is why your GMAT score is intended to be used as one standard admissions criterion among other, more subjective, criteria, such as admissions essays and interviews 1.1 Why Take the GMAT® Test? GMAT scores are used by admissions officers in roughly 1,800 graduate business and management programs worldwide Schools that require prospective students to submit GMAT scores in the application process are generally interested in admitting the best-qualified applicants for their programs, which means that you may find a more beneficial learning environment at schools that require GMAT scores as part of your application Because the GMAT test gauges skills that are important to successful study of business and management at the graduate level, your scores will give you a good indication of how well prepared you are to succeed academically in a graduate management program; how well you on the test may also help you choose the business schools to which you apply Furthermore, the percentile table you receive with your scores will tell you how your performance on the test compares to the performance of other test takers, giving you one way to gauge your competition for admission to business school Myth -vs- FACT – If I don’t score in the 90th percentile, I won’t get into any school I choose F – Very few people get very high scores Fewer than 50 of the more than 200,000 people taking the GMAT test each year get a perfect score of 800 Thus, while you may be exceptionally capable, the odds are against your achieving a perfect score Also, the GMAT test is just one piece of your application packet Admissions officers use GMAT scores in conjunction with undergraduate records, application essays, interviews, letters of recommendation, and other information when deciding whom to accept into their programs 03_449752-ch01.indd 7/9/09 6:21:27 PM The Official Guide for GMAT® Verbal Review 2nd Edition Schools consider many different aspects of an application before making an admissions decision, so even if you score well on the GMAT test, you should contact the schools that interest you to learn more about them and to ask about how they use GMAT scores and other admissions criteria (such as your undergraduate grades, essays, and letters of recommendation) to evaluate candidates for admission School admissions offices, school Web sites, and materials published by the school are the best sources for you to tap when you are doing research about where you might want to go to business school For more information about how schools should use GMAT scores in admissions decisions, please read Appendix A of this book For more information on the GMAT, registering to take the test, sending your scores to schools, and applying to business school, please visit our Web site at www.mba.com 1.2 GMAT® Test Format The GMAT test consists of four separately timed sections (see the table on the next page) You start the test with two 30-minute Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) questions that require you to type your responses using the computer keyboard The writing section is followed by two 75-minute, multiple-choice sections: the Quantitative and Verbal sections of the test The GMAT is a computer-adaptive test (CAT), which means that in the multiple-choice sections of the test, the computer constantly gauges how well you are doing on the test and presents you with questions that are appropriate to your ability level These questions are drawn from a huge pool of possible test questions So, although we talk about the GMAT as one test, the GMAT test you take may be completely different from the test of the person sitting next to you Here’s how it works At the start of each GMAT multiple-choice section (Verbal and Quantitative), you will be presented with a question of moderate difficulty The computer uses your response to that first question to determine which question to present next If you respond correctly, the test usually will give you questions of increasing difficulty If you respond incorrectly, the next question you see usually will be easier than the one you answered incorrectly As you continue to respond to the questions presented, the computer will narrow your score to the number that best characterizes your ability When you complete each section, the computer will have an accurate assessment of your ability Myth -vs- FACT – Getting an easier question means I answered the last one wrong F – Getting an easier question does not necessarily mean you got the previous question wrong To ensure that everyone receives the same content, the test selects a specific number of questions of each type The test may call for your next question to be a relatively hard problem-solving item involving arithmetic operations But, if there are no more relatively difficult problem-solving items involving arithmetic, you might be given an easier item Most people are not skilled at estimating item difficulty, so don’t worry when taking the test or waste valuable time trying to determine the difficulty of the questions you are answering 03_449752-ch01.indd 7/9/09 6:21:27 PM 1.2 What Is the GMAT®? GMAT® Test Format Because each question is presented on the basis of your answers to all previous questions, you must answer each question as it appears You may not skip, return to, or change your responses to previous questions Random guessing can significantly lower your scores If you not know the answer to a question, you should try to eliminate as many choices as possible, then select the answer you think is best If you answer a question incorrectly by mistake—or correctly by lucky guess— your answers to subsequent questions will lead you back to questions that are at the appropriate level of difficulty for you Each multiple-choice question used in the GMAT test has been thoroughly reviewed by professional test developers New multiple-choice questions are tested each time the test is administered Answers to trial questions are not counted in the scoring of your test, but the trial questions are not identified and could appear anywhere in the test Therefore, you should try to your best on every question The test includes the types of questions found in this guide, but the format and presentation of the questions are different on the computer When you take the test: • Only one question at a time is presented on the computer screen • The answer choices for the multiple-choice questions will be preceded by circles, rather than by letters • Different question types appear in random order in the multiple-choice sections of the test • You must select your answer using the computer • You must choose an answer and confirm your choice before moving on to the next question • You may not go back to change answers to previous questions Format of the GMAT® Questions Analytical Writing Analysis of an Argument Analysis of an Issue Timing 1 30 30 37 75 41 75 Optional break Quantitative Problem Solving Data Sufficiency Optional break Verbal Reading Comprehension Critical Reasoning Sentence Correction Total Time: 210 03_449752-ch01.indd 7/9/09 6:21:27 PM The Official Guide for GMAT® Verbal Review 2nd Edition 1.3 What Is the Content of the Test Like? It is important to recognize that the GMAT test evaluates skills and abilities developed over a relatively long period of time Although the sections contain questions that are basically verbal and mathematical, the complete test provides one method of measuring overall ability Keep in mind that although the questions in this guide are arranged by question type and ordered from easy to difficult, the test is organized differently When you take the test, you may see different types of questions in any order 1.4 Quantitative Section The GMAT Quantitative section measures your ability to reason quantitatively, solve quantitative problems, and interpret graphic data Two types of multiple-choice questions are used in the Quantitative section: • Problem solving • Data sufficiency Problem solving and data sufficiency questions are intermingled throughout the Quantitative section Both types of questions require basic knowledge of: • Arithmetic • Elementary algebra • Commonly known concepts of geometry To review the basic mathematical concepts that will be tested in the GMAT Quantitative questions and for test-taking tips specific to the question types in the Quantitative section of the GMAT test, sample questions, and answer explanations, see The Official Guide for GMAT® Review, 12th Edition, or The Official Guide for GMAT® Quantitative Review, 2nd Edition; both are available for purchase at www.mba.com 1.5 Verbal Section The GMAT Verbal section measures your ability to read and comprehend written material, to reason and evaluate arguments, and to correct written material to conform to standard written English Because the Verbal section includes reading sections from several different content areas, you may be generally familiar with some of the material; however, neither the reading passages nor the questions assume detailed knowledge of the topics discussed Three types of multiple-choice questions are used in the Verbal section: • Reading comprehension • Critical reasoning • Sentence correction 03_449752-ch01.indd 7/9/09 6:21:27 PM 5.8 Sentence Correction Answer Explanations To register for the GMAT test go to www.mba.com 323 07_449752-ch05.indd 323 7/9/09 6:23:28 PM Appendix A Percentile Ranking Tables 324 08_449752-bapp01.indd 324 7/9/09 6:25:14 PM Appendix A Percentile Ranking Tables Table Percentages of Examinees Tested from January 2005 through December 2007 (including Repeaters) Who Scored Below Specified Verbal Scores Verbal Scaled Score Percentage Below Verbal Scaled Score Percentage Below 46–60 99 26 40 45 98 25 36 43 96 24 33 42 95 23 29 41 92 22 27 40 89 21 23 39 87 20 19 38 83 19 16 37 81 18 15 36 78 17 12 35 74 16 10 34 69 15 33 66 14 32 64 13 31 58 12 30 56 11 29 53 10 28 48 7–9 27 43 0–6 Number of Candidates = 650,395 Mean = 27.8 Standard deviation = 9.1 325 08_449752-bapp01.indd 325 7/9/09 6:25:14 PM The Official Guide for GMAT® Verbal Review 2nd Edition Table Percentages of Examinees Tested from January 2005 through December 2007 (including Repeaters) Who Scored Below Specified Quantitative Scores Quantitative Scaled Score Percentage Below Quantitative Scaled Score Percentage Below 51–60 99 30 29 50 94 29 25 49 88 28 24 48 84 27 20 47 79 26 19 46 77 25 16 45 75 24 15 44 70 23 13 43 68 22 11 42 63 21 10 41 61 20 40 59 19 39 55 18 38 53 17 37 51 16 36 46 15 35 42 14 34 40 13 33 38 11–12 32 34 7–10 31 30 0–6 Number of Candidates = 650,395 Mean = 35.6 Standard deviation = 10.7 326 08_449752-bapp01.indd 326 7/9/09 6:25:14 PM Appendix A Percentile Ranking Tables Table Percentages of Examinees Tested from January 2005 through December 2007 (including Repeaters) Who Scored Below Specified Total Scores Total Scaled Score Percentage Below Total Scaled Score Percentage Below 760–800 99 500 36 750 98 490 34 740 97 480 31 730 96 470 29 720 95 460 25 710 92 450 23 700 90 440 21 690 88 430 19 680 86 420 17 670 85 410 15 660 83 400 13 650 80 390 12 640 76 380 10 630 75 370 620 72 360 610 69 350 600 66 340 590 63 330 580 60 320 570 58 310 560 54 300 550 51 290 540 48 280 530 44 270 520 42 230–250 510 39 200–220 Number of Candidates = 650,395 Mean = 535.2 Standard deviation = 120.1 327 08_449752-bapp01.indd 327 7/9/09 6:25:14 PM The Official Guide for GMAT® Verbal Review 2nd Edition Table Percentages of Examinees Tested from January 2005 through December 2007 (including Repeaters) Who Scored Below Specified AWA Scores AWA Scaled Score Percentage Below 6.0 87 5.5 80 5.0 55 4.5 42 4.0 21 3.5 13 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 Number of Candidates = 650,395 Mean = 4.4 Standard deviation = 1.2 328 08_449752-bapp01.indd 328 7/9/09 6:25:14 PM Appendix A Percentile Ranking Tables To register for the GMAT test go to www.mba.com 329 08_449752-bapp01.indd 329 7/9/09 6:25:14 PM Appendix B Answer Sheets 330 09_449752-bapp02.indd 330 7/9/09 6:25:34 PM Appendix B Answer Sheets Reading Comprehension Answer Sheet 27 53 79 28 54 80 29 55 81 30 56 82 31 57 83 32 58 84 33 59 85 34 60 86 35 61 87 10 36 62 88 11 37 63 89 12 38 64 90 13 39 65 91 14 40 66 92 15 41 67 93 16 42 68 94 17 43 69 95 18 44 70 96 19 45 71 97 20 46 72 98 21 47 73 99 22 48 74 100 23 49 75 101 24 50 76 102 25 51 77 103 26 52 78 104 331 09_449752-bapp02.indd 331 7/9/09 6:25:34 PM The Official Guide for GMAT® Verbal Review 2nd Edition Critical Reasoning Answer Sheet 22 43 64 23 44 65 24 45 66 25 46 67 26 47 68 27 48 69 28 49 70 29 50 71 30 51 72 10 31 52 73 11 32 53 74 12 33 54 75 13 34 55 76 14 35 56 77 15 36 57 78 16 37 58 79 17 38 59 80 18 39 60 81 19 40 61 82 20 41 62 83 21 42 63 332 09_449752-bapp02.indd 332 7/9/09 6:25:34 PM Appendix B Answer Sheets Sentence Correction Answer Sheet 30 59 88 31 60 89 32 61 90 33 62 91 34 63 92 35 64 93 36 65 94 37 66 95 38 67 96 10 39 68 97 11 40 69 98 12 41 70 99 13 42 71 100 14 43 72 101 15 44 73 102 16 45 74 103 17 46 75 104 18 47 76 105 19 48 77 106 20 49 78 107 21 50 79 108 22 51 80 109 23 52 81 110 24 53 82 111 25 54 83 112 26 55 84 113 27 56 85 28 57 86 29 58 87 333 09_449752-bapp02.indd 333 7/9/09 6:25:34 PM The Official Guide for GMAT® Verbal Review 2nd Edition To register for the GMAT test go to www.mba.com 334 09_449752-bapp02.indd 334 7/9/09 6:25:34 PM Appendix B Answer Sheets To register for the GMAT test go to www.mba.com 335 09_449752-bapp02.indd 335 7/9/09 6:25:34 PM Get MORE— More practice, more questions, and more answers! 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A nyone preparing for the Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®) knows it’s important to study with the experts With The Official Guide for GMAT® Quantitative Review, 2nd Edition, you’ll get more questions, answers, and explanations straight from the source The only official quantitative review for the GMAT exam, this book targets your study and helps you improve your quantitative skills by focusing on your ability to solve equations, interpret data, and determine probability with assurance and ease Also Available! 978-0-470-44976-9 • 216 pages • $17.95 978-0-470-44974-5 840 pages • $36.95 Available wherever books are sold Wiley and the Wiley logo are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc © 2009 Graduate Management Admission Council GMAT®, Graduate Management Admission Council®, and Graduate Management Admission Test® are registered trademarks of the Graduate Management Admission Council in the United States and other countries 10_449752-badvert01.indd 336 7/9/09 6:25:54 PM ® GMAT verbal review Anyone preparing for the GMAT knows it’s important to study with the experts With The Official Guide for GMAT ® Verbal Review, 2nd Edition, you’ll get questions, answers, and explanations straight from the source An excellent supplement to The Official Guide for GMAT ® Review, 12th Edition, this book helps you target your study and further hone your written and verbal skills Inside you’ll find: • 300 actual questions from past GMAT tests—including more than 75 questions new to this edition • Sections on Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction • Questions organized in order of difficulty to save study time ® 2nd EDITION GMAT VERBAL REVIEW The Official GUIDE FOR The ~ ~ IAL OFFIC e Guid REVIEW 2ND EDITION The only study guide with 300 past GMAT questions 2ND eDITION • Get free downloadable tests and practice questions • Sign up for the GMAT Teasers, a weekly practice question ã Register to take the GMAT exam GMAT đ and THE OFFICIAL GUIDE FOR GMAT® VERBAL REVIEW are products of Graduate Management Admission Council ® $17.95 US/$21.95 CAN ® —and their answers— by the creators of the test Visit www.mba.com to: Creating Access to Graduate Business Education TM VERBAL GMAT Trust the only official verbal review for the gmat from the creators of the test! ® Study Aids/GMAT THE OFFICIAL GUIDE FOR GMAT ® VERBAL REVIEW ND EDITION The ~ ~ IAL FIC OF uide G • Actual questions from past GMAT tests, including more than 75 questions new to this edition • 300 past questions, answers, and explanations in Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction • Questions organized in order of difficulty to save study time From the Graduate Management Admission Council 9780470449752_RB.pdf ® ... PM GMAT ® VERBAL REVIEW 2ND EDITION The only study guide with 300 past GMAT questions ® —and their answers— by the creators of the test THE OFFICIAL GUIDE FOR GMAT ® VERBAL REVIEW ND EDITION The. .. see The Official Guide for GMAT? ? Review, 12th Edition, or The Official Guide for GMAT? ? Quantitative Review, 2nd Edition; both are available for purchase at www.mba.com 1.5 Verbal Section The GMAT Verbal. .. presented in both The Official Guide for GMAT? ? Review, 12th Edition and The Official Guide for GMAT? ? Quantitative Review, 2nd Edition, but the required skill level is low The difficulty of GMAT Quantitative