Math is Verbal & Verbal is Math: Interplay of GMAT Secti

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Hello everyone! One of our brightest instructors submitted an article that I think you will find extremely interesting. It illustrates how inter-related the two main sections of the GMAT are. Read on and please let me know if you have any questions about it - there are four parts, and here is the first one, so look for more next week:

At some point in the test preparation process, most GMAT test-takers will find themselves asking one of the following existential questions: "What exactly does the GMAT test?", "Why do business schools want me to take this exam?", or "How will this help prepare me for business school?"

While some would no doubt anticipate the answer to these questions to speak to the "futility of standardized tests," the real answer may lie elsewhere. In fact, one could argue that the GMAT is designed to test the very skills that one needs to excel in business school. What skills are those? Quite simply put - analytical quantitative and verbal skills. But what are analytical quantitative skills? What are analytical verbal skills? And how do the two relate? In this month's strategy series we will address the interplay of quantitative and verbal skills on the GMAT.

Analytical quantitative skills on the GMAT go beyond the ability to grasp and apply basic mathematical concepts. Doing math on the GMAT is not about regurgitating formulae or algebraic methodologies. YES, one must know all of the relevant mathematical skills inherent in a problem, but perhaps more importantly one must learn to carefully connect the pieces of information and to do so with a critical eye. It is of paramount importance to always keep the big picture in mind and to not fall prey to the many traps the test-writers set-up on the way. A large portion of these traps have to do with the wording of the question.

What is the key then to steering clear of these potholes in the road? Interestingly, one of the chief requirements for doing well on the quantitative portion of the exam is to have sharp verbal skills. READ CAREFULLY. GMAT math questions are notorious for their cryptic verbiage. In word problems, for example, seemingly benign prepositions or qualifiers are slipped in, drastically changing the meaning of the question. Let's take a look at the following illustrative example:

At his 10th birthday party, a child received 30 candies. He was then forced by his parents to give away at least 30% of those candies to his playmates, one to each playmate. If more than a third of the playmates ate the candies that he gave them while the rest gave them back to the child, what is the greatest number of candies that the child could have ended up with?

(A) 23
(B) 24
(C) 26
(D) 27
(E) 29

Reading carefully on word problems involves paying special attention to potentially tricky phrases. In our example above we have three such important phrases: at least, more than, and greatest. Let's start with the latter - "greatest." The word "greatest" here provides us with the framework for the whole question. It signifies that the question is asking us to maximize the number of candies that the child ends up with.

What about the phrase "at least?" We are told that the child was forced to give away at least 30% of his candies. 30% of his candies would be exactly 9 candies, but since it says "at least," he could have given away more! Should we consider more though? In this case the answer is no because remember we are trying to maximize the number of candies he has at the end. The fewer candies he gives away, the more he will have for himself - ask any child!

The final phrase we have to deal with is "more than." The question says that more than a third of the children ate the candy or candies that the child gave them and the rest gave the candies back. A third of the 9 is 3. Here is where we have to be careful. The question says more than a third ate the candies so at the very least 4 of the 9 ate their candy. The greatest number of candies that the child could have received back from his friends is 9 - 4 = 5. Therefore, the greatest number of candies that the child could have ended up with is 30 - 9 + 5 = 26, and the correct answer is C.

The math in this question is not difficult at all. What makes this question a GMAT question is the wording. By reading carefully and paying special attention to qualifying words like more than, at least, and greatest, we can carefully steer clear of the web that the test-writers have set-up for us in a question such as this.

Can't wait until next week to read on? Check out the entire series at the ManhattanGMAT Interact and Learn Center online:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/strategyseries12.cfm

Have a great one! Kim[/url]
Kim Watkins
Senior Director, Marketing and Student Services
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

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by 800guy » Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:06 am
hi kim--

this is AWESOME. thanks for sharing!!

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Kim wrote:Hello everyone! One of our brightest instructors submitted an article that I think you will find extremely interesting. It illustrates how inter-related the two main sections of the GMAT are. Read on and please let me know if you have any questions about it - there are four parts, and here is the first one, so look for more next week:

At some point in the test preparation process, most GMAT test-takers will find themselves asking one of the following existential questions: "What exactly does the GMAT test?", "Why do business schools want me to take this exam?", or "How will this help prepare me for business school?"

While some would no doubt anticipate the answer to these questions to speak to the "futility of standardized tests," the real answer may lie elsewhere. In fact, one could argue that the GMAT is designed to test the very skills that one needs to excel in business school. What skills are those? Quite simply put - analytical quantitative and verbal skills. But what are analytical quantitative skills? What are analytical verbal skills? And how do the two relate? In this month's strategy series we will address the interplay of quantitative and verbal skills on the GMAT.

Analytical quantitative skills on the GMAT go beyond the ability to grasp and apply basic mathematical concepts. Doing math on the GMAT is not about regurgitating formulae or algebraic methodologies. YES, one must know all of the relevant mathematical skills inherent in a problem, but perhaps more importantly one must learn to carefully connect the pieces of information and to do so with a critical eye. It is of paramount importance to always keep the big picture in mind and to not fall prey to the many traps the test-writers set-up on the way. A large portion of these traps have to do with the wording of the question.

What is the key then to steering clear of these potholes in the road? Interestingly, one of the chief requirements for doing well on the quantitative portion of the exam is to have sharp verbal skills. READ CAREFULLY. GMAT math questions are notorious for their cryptic verbiage. In word problems, for example, seemingly benign prepositions or qualifiers are slipped in, drastically changing the meaning of the question. Let's take a look at the following illustrative example:

At his 10th birthday party, a child received 30 candies. He was then forced by his parents to give away at least 30% of those candies to his playmates, one to each playmate. If more than a third of the playmates ate the candies that he gave them while the rest gave them back to the child, what is the greatest number of candies that the child could have ended up with?

(A) 23
(B) 24
(C) 26
(D) 27
(E) 29

Reading carefully on word problems involves paying special attention to potentially tricky phrases. In our example above we have three such important phrases: at least, more than, and greatest. Let's start with the latter - "greatest." The word "greatest" here provides us with the framework for the whole question. It signifies that the question is asking us to maximize the number of candies that the child ends up with.

What about the phrase "at least?" We are told that the child was forced to give away at least 30% of his candies. 30% of his candies would be exactly 9 candies, but since it says "at least," he could have given away more! Should we consider more though? In this case the answer is no because remember we are trying to maximize the number of candies he has at the end. The fewer candies he gives away, the more he will have for himself - ask any child!

The final phrase we have to deal with is "more than." The question says that more than a third of the children ate the candy or candies that the child gave them and the rest gave the candies back. A third of the 9 is 3. Here is where we have to be careful. The question says more than a third ate the candies so at the very least 4 of the 9 ate their candy. The greatest number of candies that the child could have received back from his friends is 9 - 4 = 5. Therefore, the greatest number of candies that the child could have ended up with is 30 - 9 + 5 = 26, and the correct answer is C.

The math in this question is not difficult at all. What makes this question a GMAT question is the wording. By reading carefully and paying special attention to qualifying words like more than, at least, and greatest, we can carefully steer clear of the web that the test-writers have set-up for us in a question such as this.

Can't wait until next week to read on? Check out the entire series at the ManhattanGMAT Interact and Learn Center online:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/strategyseries12.cfm

Have a great one! Kim[/url]

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:24 am
Location: Notre Dame
Thanked: 1 times
Thank you for the insight!!! Great !!

GMAT Instructor
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:15 pm

by Kim » Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:07 am
You are most welcome!

The ManhattanGMAT Interact and Learn section of our website has lots of other strategies about the test in general, math concepts, and verbal strategies. Check it out at

https://www.manhattangmat.com/gmat-prep- ... -learn.cfm

Have a great day!
Kim
Kim Watkins
Senior Director, Marketing and Student Services
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!