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Even distribution of diagnostic questions?

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Even distribution of diagnostic questions?

by arora007 » Sat Aug 14, 2010 2:18 am
The other day I was discussing how RC can be a real pain for a non-native, whose English reading speed is slow and comprehension even slower.

And that a 25 line complex RC is more easy than a 65 line easy RC. Aneways... coming to the question I want to put to the experts.

Many of us know that 11 of the 41 questions are diagnostic (they don't count while scoring).
Some prep cos. have even predicted the number of questions for each question type.

Are we sure that these 11 questions are evenly distributed among SC RC and CR ?

Even more importantly, are the diagnostic questions spread out in all 4 RC passages or is it that 1 complete RC is diagnostic?
Last edited by arora007 on Sat Aug 14, 2010 11:20 am, edited 3 times in total.
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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Aug 14, 2010 10:54 am
arora007 wrote:The other day I was discussing how RC can be a real pain for a non-native, whose English reading speed is slow and comprehension even slower.

And that a 25 line complex RC is more easy than a 65 line easy RC. Aneways... coming to the question I want to put to the experts.

Many of us know that 11 of the 41 questions are diagnostic (they don't count while scoring).
Some prep cos. have even predicted the number of questions for each question type.

Are we sure that these 11 questions are evenly distributed among SC RC and CR ?

Even more importantly, are the diagnostic questions spread out in all 4 RC passages or is it that 1 complete RC is diagnostic?
One RC passage will be experimental.

You can expect that approximately a quarter of the questions will be experimental. I wouldn't worry about how they will be distributed among SC, RC and CR. When you take the GMAT, you should assume that each question counts because there will be no way to determine whether any particular question or passage is experimental.
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by grockit_andrea » Sat Aug 14, 2010 3:43 pm
I'm responding to a PM about this query, and seconding what Mitch wrote: one entire set of passage + questions will be experimental. It's not only the questions that are being checked out for future use-- it's also the passage itself, since the length, subject matter, and writing style are critical in determining the speed and accuracy with which you can answer the questions. And whatever you do, DON'T try to figure out what's experimental. That's a dangerous road to go down, since it can encourage you to treat certain questions that don't seem "real" cavalierly (even if you don't mean to), and can have dire consequences for your score if you're wrong about whether the question counts in your score. Go through the entire section as though every question counts.
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