Hi Amit,
When it comes to TESTing VALUES/Picking Numbers, there's a bit more strategy to choosing your values than just 'randomly' doing so. Many prompts in the Quant section can be solved with this approach (or you can use that approach to define a hidden pattern in the question and then use general math to answer the question). Often, the design of the prompt (and/or the answer choices) will provide a hint as to what value(s) will make the work easy to deal with. For example, when a question deals with percents, it's often easiest to TEST the number 100.
In this prompt, the Roman Numerals themselves serve as something of a guide. Given that X > Y^2 > Z^4 and Roman Numeral 1 is X>Y>Z, can you come up with a simple example that fits both inequalities? Remember to keep things simple (eg. making Z=0 in this situation cuts the 'work' down considerably).
Learning the subtleties of this strategy takes time and effort, so you can't just boil it down to a 'list' that you'll memorize. To become efficient at all of this, you have to practice again and again.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
When it comes to TESTing VALUES/Picking Numbers, there's a bit more strategy to choosing your values than just 'randomly' doing so. Many prompts in the Quant section can be solved with this approach (or you can use that approach to define a hidden pattern in the question and then use general math to answer the question). Often, the design of the prompt (and/or the answer choices) will provide a hint as to what value(s) will make the work easy to deal with. For example, when a question deals with percents, it's often easiest to TEST the number 100.
In this prompt, the Roman Numerals themselves serve as something of a guide. Given that X > Y^2 > Z^4 and Roman Numeral 1 is X>Y>Z, can you come up with a simple example that fits both inequalities? Remember to keep things simple (eg. making Z=0 in this situation cuts the 'work' down considerably).
Learning the subtleties of this strategy takes time and effort, so you can't just boil it down to a 'list' that you'll memorize. To become efficient at all of this, you have to practice again and again.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
