Data Sufficiency

For those of you who are unfamiliar with rephrasing the target question, it involves saying one thing a different way. For example, if a target question asks, "Can N be written as the product of 2 and some integer?" this is the same as asking "Is N an even integer?"

We have a free video that offers some tips on rephrasing the target question: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... cy?id=1100 In the video, we take several target questions and rephrase them. Of course there are many more.

I suggest that we use this thread for people to post a rephrasing each time they encounter one. With any luck, this will become a great resource for others.

Cheers,
Brent

ella willius wrote:Hey I currently am at 500 and would like to go the 550 by friday. Can you do tutoring classes with me for the next 4 days to get a grade to 550, i need it to get to my program. Patiently waiting your response.


Side note ;If you are not available do you know of any great tutor who will be willing to take on this challenge

Ella

Hi Ella,

I just sent you a private message about this.

Cheers,
Brent

There are two things to note here in general.

1/
In general, you should NOT try to rephrase most DS questions. You should leave most DS questions exactly as written, and answer the exact question that is asked.

This is really important, because one of the primary skills tested by DS questions is FOCUS-i.e., can you actually stay focused on one particular quantity of interest?
The problem here is that most people are not perfect when it comes to rephrasing questions-and, if you rephrase the question wrongly, you've just blown the whole problem. Before even starting to work on it.

For instance, if the question says "What is 3x + y?", you should NOT try to rephrase this. If someone tries to rephrase that to "I need to find x and y", then that person is dead.

2/
*IF* a question is unusually complicated- or indirect-looking, THEN you should try to rephrase or simplify. In other words, if there is a clear reason to try to rephrase, then try; otherwise, don't.

For instance, if you see "Is x + y - z < x - y + z?", then it should be clear that this is not the "real" question, and that you should simplify the algebra somewhat. (Cancel x, and bring like terms together.)
Similarly, if you get "Was Jake more than 31 years old on Jan. 1, 2010?", then you can change that to a more direct question, "Was Jake born before 1979?"

On the other hand, if the question is already easy to understand, then don't rephrase it! Just answer the exact question that is asked; that skill is way, way, way more important than rephrasing.

To add to some of Ron's examples, here are a few more target questions I've seen that have been great candidates for rephrasing:

Target question: Is it possible to assign each of the n students to one of the m classrooms so that each classroom has the same number of students assigned to it?
Rephrased target question: Is n divisible by m?
Or: Is n/m an integer?
Full question and solution: https://www.beatthegmat.com/how-to-solve ... 16932.html

Target question: x is what fraction of y?
Rephrased target question: What is the value of x/y?
Full question and solution: https://www.beatthegmat.com/help-t171077.html

Target question: Is (2+x)/(3+y) greater than (2+y)/(3+x)?
Rephrased target question: Is x > y ?
Full question and solution: https://www.beatthegmat.com/ds-t157326.html

Target question: If x is an integer, does x have a factor n such that 1 < n < x?
Rephrased target question: Is x a non-prime integer?
Or . . . Is x prime? (see the full solution for more info about this)
Full question and solution: https://www.beatthegmat.com/if-x-is-an-i ... 51346.html

Here are a few more questions that are good candidates for rephrasing the target question:
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/inequality-a ... 04745.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/calculate-th ... 99347.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/divisibility-t221510.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/more-than-le ... 32734.html

Cheers,
Brent