This is the latest in a series of “How To Analyze” articles that began with the general “How To Analyze A Practice Problem” article (click on the link to read the original article). This week, we’re going to analyze a specific Data Sufficiency question. The GMATPrep® problem we’re using this week is one that we’ve already discussed how to solve in a previous article; click here to read that article and try the problem first.

Here’s the problem again; if you didn’t read the first article and try the problem already, then try this problem now (2 minutes):

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Welcome back to this week’s Challenge Problem! As always, the problem and solution below were written by one of our fantastic instructors. Each challenge problem represents a 700+ level question. If you are up for the challenge, however, set your timer for 2 mins and go!

Question

A circle is inscribed in an equilateral triangle, such that the two figures touch at exactly 3 points, one on each side of the triangle. Which of the following is closest to the percent of the area of the triangle that lies within the circle?

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This week, we have another great article from Chris Ryan, Manhattan GMAT’s Director of Instructor and Product Development. Chris has some really interesting stuff for us this week on “layering” in Sentence Correction questions. Layering is a technique used by a test writer to make a question more difficult. Take it away, Chris!

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Welcome back to this week’s Challenge Problem! As always, the problem and solution below were written by one of our fantastic instructors. Each challenge problem represents a 700+ level question. If you are up for the challenge, however, set your timer for 2 mins and go!

Question

Skier Lindsey Vonn completes a straight 300-meter downhill run in t seconds and at an average speed of (x + 10) meters per second. She then rides a chairlift back up the mountain the same distance at an average speed of (x – 8 ) meters per second. If the ride up the mountain took 135 seconds longer than her run down the mountain, what was her average speed, in meters per second, during her downhill run?

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Welcome back to this week’s Challenge Problem! As always, the problem and solution below were written by one of our fantastic instructors. Each challenge problem represents a 700+ level question. If you are up for the challenge, however, set your timer for 2 minutes and go!

Question

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In recent weeks, we’ve been examining how to analyze specific questions using the system described in the original How To Analyze A Practice Problem article. We’re continuing the series this week with a look at an Inference question from a Reading Comprehension passage.

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Welcome back to this week’s Challenge Problem! As always, the problem and solution below were written by one of our fantastic instructors. Each challenge problem represents a 700+ level question. If you are up for the challenge, however, set your timer for 2 minutes and go!

Question

Set S consists of 5 values, not necessarily in ascending order: {4, 8, 12, 16, x}. For how many values of x does the mean of set S equal the median of set S?

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A few weeks ago, we covered the topic of Math in Critical Reasoning Questions (click on the link to read the article), brought to us by Chris Ryan, Manhattan GMAT’s Director of Instructor and Product Development (not to mention one of the people I admire most in the GMAT world). We’ve got another great installment from him this week, this time on the concept of causation in Critical Reasoning questions.

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Welcome back to this week’s Challenge Problem! As always, the problem and solution below were written by one of our fantastic instructors. Each challenge problem represents a 700+ level question. If you are up for the challenge, however, set your timer for 2 minutes and go!

Question

If n is a positive integer greater than 1, then p(n) represents the product of all the prime numbers less than or equal to n. The second smallest prime factor of p(12) + 11 is

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Just starting out? Or maybe you’ve been studying for weeks already? Perhaps you’ve already taken the official test once but want another crack at it? Whatever stage you’re at, you need a plan, so that’s what we’re going to talk about this week: how to develop your own personalized study plan. Get a notebook, open up a file on your computer, or start a blog. Record everything.

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Welcome back to this week’s Challenge Problem! As always, the problem and solution below were written by one of our fantastic instructors. Each challenge problem represents a 700+ level question. If you are up for the challenge, however, set your timer for 2 minutes and go!

Question

Two different primes may be said to “rhyme” around an integer if they are the same distance from the integer on the number line. For instance, 3 and 7 rhyme around 5. What integer between 1 and 20, inclusive, has the greatest number of distinct rhyming primes around it?

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We have a guest-author this week: Chris Ryan, Manhattan GMAT’s intrepid Director of Instructor and Product Development. If you’ve used any Manhattan GMAT material in your prep, Chris is the man to thank: he may have written it, proofed it, managed it – somehow, he has touched everything that Manhattan GMAT publishes. This week, Chris is giving us some pointers on how to deal with math (math?) in Critical Reasoning questions. (There’s math on Critical Reasoning?!?) Without further ado, here’s Chris:

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Last week, we took a look at how to analyze a Critical Reasoning question. This week, we’re going to do the same with a Problem Solving question. The GMATPrep® problem we’re using this week is one that we’ve already discussed how to solve in a previous article; click here to read that article and try the problem first.

Here’s the problem again; if you didn’t read the first article and try the problem already, then try this problem now:

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Welcome back to this week’s Challenge Problem! As always, the problem and solution below were written by one of our fantastic instructors. Each challenge problem represents a 700+ level question. If you are up for the challenge, however, set your timer for 2 minutes and go!

Question

The consumer price index in Zeropia in 2009 relative to the year 2000 was 1.75, meaning that for every Zeropian dollar spent on consumer goods in 2000, $1.75 on average had to be spent in 2009. In Zeropian dollars, what was the increase in the price of Brand Z running shoes from 2000 to 2009, if these shoes’ price increased precisely according to the consumer price index?

(1) The price of Brand Z running shoes was $91 in 2009.

(2) The ratio of the dollar increase in the price of Brand Z running shoes to the price of the shoes in 2009 was 3:7.

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Last year, we discussed how to study individual practice problems in the article How to Analyze a Practice Problem. Someone recently asked me to demonstrate this process via an actual Critical Reasoning problem, so that’s what we’re going to do this week: discuss how to analyze and master a particular GMATPrep® CR problem.

First, set your timer for 2 minutes and try this GMATPrep® problem:

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