Well, I’m back with another one in the series. This problem is a bit different though: it’s from our Challenge Problem archive, a question bank consisting of what we call 800+ level problems. (Some might qualify as 750+ but most are harder than anything you’ll ever see on the real test.)

Do you need to be able to answer a question like this in order to score 750+? Absolutely not. (In fact, after my colleague Ron Purewal submitted this question, I tested it out on several of my fellow instructors, all of whom have scored 760+ on the test. Not everyone answered correctly.) Mostly, I’m offering this to stretch your brains, drive you a little crazy, and make one important point (see my second takeaway at the end).

If, however, quant is your strength and you’re hoping to score 51 in that section—you can certainly score 51 without getting this one right, but if you do get this one right in 2 minutes, then you know you’re ready for the quant section.

One more tidbit before we dive in. I chose this question because it is SO very hard. As of right now (as I’m typing this), 254 people have tried this problem and 44 have answered it correctly.

Do a little math here. What percentage of people answered the question correctly?

17%. Random guess position is 20%. Wow.

All right, enough with the build up. Are you ready to try? The below problem is copyright ManhattanGMAT, originally published in April 2013. Kudos to Ron for thinking up this devilish problem!

* ” If x is positive, what is the value of |x - 3| – 2|x - 4| + 2|x - 6| – |x - 7|?

“(1) x is an odd integer

“(2) x > 6

I’m not listing the five data sufficiency answer choices here. If you don’t already have them memorized, then put this article away and come back to it when you’re further along in your studies.

Okay, so what did you get? I’m going to share two solutions with you. One is the official solution published with the problem. The other is the way that I did the problem when I first saw it. My solution method is faster and mostly only involves thinking about the problem—but I chose not to write that up as the official solution because I think most people will have trouble following it, even those who are going for a 51 on quant. I have more room here, though, so I’ll show you that method too.

Here’s the official solution:

(1) SUFFICIENT: It’s impractical to take an algebraic approach to this statement; doing so would entail a large number of cases. For instance, |x - 3| is equal to 3 - x if x < 3, but is equal to x- 3 if x > 3; similarly, the other three absolute-value expressions switch at x = 4, 6, and 7, respectively.

Instead, it’s more efficient to consider the first three positive odd integers (1, 3, and 5) individually and then to consider only one algebraic case, the case in which x >7 (because when x > 7, all values are positive so we can ignore the absolute value symbols).

If x = 1, then the value is (2) – 2(3) + 2(5) – (6) = 0.
If x = 3, then the value is (0) – 2(1) + 2(3) – (4) = 0.
If x = 5, then the value is (2) – 2(1) + 2(1) – (2) = 0.

If x > 7, then drop the absolute value symbols and simplify:
(x - 3) – 2(x - 4) + 2(x - 6) – (x - 7) =
x - 3 – 2x + 8 + 2x - 12 - x + 7 =
(x - 2x + 2x - x) + (-3 + 8 – 12 + 7) =
0

Therefore, the value of the expression is also 0 for all values of x greater than or equal to 7, including the odd integers 7, 9, 11, and so on. The value of the expression is thus 0 for all positive odd integers. The statement is sufficient.

(2) NOT SUFFICIENT: As determined during the discussion of statement 1, the expression is equal to 0 when x > 7(whether odd integer, even integer, or non-integer). We still need to test the non-integer values of x between 6 and 7.

If x = 6.5, then the value is (3.5) – 2(2.5) + 2(0.5) – 0.5 = –1, which is not equal to 0. The expression can thus have multiple values, so the statement is insufficient.

The correct answer is A.

Wow. Some serious work there. Take your time and go over it carefully—it might help to write out the steps yourself. You’ll find it easier to understand my “thinking” solution below if you understand how things worked above. (Though you still won’t find it easy!)

Alright, are you ready? The first thing I noticed was some interesting symmetry in the expression |x - 3| – 2|x - 4| + 2|x - 6| – |x - 7|. The problem uses four terms but skips the “middle” term x - 5. The other terms are all symmetrical around this middle term: x - 4 is one more and x - 6 is one less, for example.

Further, the pairs we’re discussing have constant relationships. The term x - 3 is always 4 larger than x - 7. This four-units-apart relationship will always be true, no matter the value of x.

Likewise, the term x - 4 is 2 larger than x - 6; these two terms are always 2 units apart. Also note that, in the expression given in the problem, these two terms are both multiplied by 2. This multiplication will actually preserve the symmetry and the two terms will be 4 apart rather than 2 apart.

Finally, notice the relationships between the addition and subtraction in the given expression. We add the largest term (x - 3) and subtract the smallest (x - 7). Conversely, of the other pair, we add the smaller term (x - 6) and subtract the larger (x - 4). In other words, even though the problem at first makes everything positive using those absolute value symbols, it then turns two of the terms negative again (by subtracting them instead of adding them).

Basically, everything’s symmetrical! Wait, so does that mean that the value will always be zero no matter what? Not quite (if that were the case, we wouldn’t need any statements at all to answer the question and that’s not how data sufficiency works). Everything looks symmetrical so far, but there’s still some key info missing.

Let’s go back to that “missing middle” term: x - 5. If x equals 5, then this term would equal 0. The values of the two terms x - 3 and x - 7 would be symmetrical about zero (one positive and one negative). Likewise, the two terms x - 4 and x - 6 would be symmetrical about zero (one positive and one negative). (Again, the absolute value signs make all of these values positive at first, but then the x - 4 and x - 7 terms turn negative again.)

Not sure about the above case? Write out the real numbers to see how it works.

With a starting point of x = 5, then, the value of the expression has to be zero. This won’t work the same way for every possible value for x, though—those absolute value symbols do mess things up. We need symmetry.

Either the terms need to balance perfectly (in the case x = 5), or the values of the four terms need to be all non-negative (0 or positive) or all non-positive (0 or negative). The four values can’t cross the positive / negative barrier (except in the one perfectly balanced case, x = 5) or the symmetry will be messed up.

The problem told us x is positive. Any value of x < 3 would make all of the terms (x - 3, x - 4, x - 6, and x - 7) zero or negative. Therefore, those ones will return a final result of zero.

For 3 < x < 7, the only number that provides perfect symmetry is x = 5. The others mess up the symmetry and therefore won’t provide a final value of zero.

For all x > 7, all of the terms (x - 3, x - 4, x - 6, and x - 7) will be zero or positive. Therefore, those ones will also return a final result of zero.

Take a look at the statements. Statement 1 says that x is odd. We know that all odd integers 3 and below will result in a final value of 0. The same is true for 5 and for all odd integers 7 and above. Statement 1 is sufficient.

Statement 2 says that x < 6. Anything 7 or above will result in a final value of zero—but this statement doesn’t say that x is an integer! Any decimal between 6 and 7 will not result in a final value of zero. Statement 2 is not sufficient.

Whew. We’re done. If you find that second explanation way too crazy to follow, don’t worry about it. In fact, even if you think you’d never get the first solution, that’s okay, too. As I said, this problem is harder than anything you’d see on the real test—it’s one of the hardest in our Challenge Problem pool, and every question there is already really hard!

Key Takeaways

(1) You don’t really need a 99^th percentile score. (Well… not unless you want to work for us!) I’m offering the above in the spirit of fun and intellectual curiosity; please don’t feel that you really need to know this for the GMAT!

(2) If you are going for a super-high score, the take-away isn’t that you need to be able to do problems just like this one. You should, though, be able to think or theorize your way through some problems—in a similar fashion to what I did in the second solution above, but for easier (though still hard!) problems.

* Challenge Problem ©ManhattanGMAT 2013

The octagon in the diagram above is regular: all of its sides are of equal length, and all of its angles are of equal measure. If the octagon’s perimeter is 8 inches, and every other vertex of the octagon is connected to create a square as shown above, what is the area of the square?

To see the answer choices, and to submit your answer, visit our Challenge Problem Showdown page on our site.

Discuss this week’s problem with like-minded GMAT takers on our Facebook page.

The weekly winner, drawn from among all the correct submissions, will receive One Year of Access to our Challenge Problem Archive, AND the OG Archer, AND Our Six Computer Adaptive Tests ($92 value).

Which leads to the problem of what solution is the BEST solution. Any student who has worked with me over the years has heard me say the following- “I don’t care what method you use to solve a problem. But I do care that you get great at that method.” It’s the reason why the Official Guide has an explanation for each quant problem and Manhattan has an OG Companion with different explanations, along with online video explanations that will sometimes differ from either of those methods. With so many different ways of solving a question, it’s important to not get bogged down finding the best way to solve a problem, but instead focus on finding the fastest way from start to submit.

So with that said, over the next few months, I’d like to share a few methods that I personally use when solving a few different types of GMAT questions. Some of these methods might click for you, and I hope you practice them. Some of them won’t and I hope you stick with a method that works better for you. So without further ado- let’s take a look at a fairly straightforward GMATPrep® problem and think about how you would attack this question:

A sum of $200,000 from a certain estate was divided among a spouse and three children. How much of the estate did the youngest child receive?

(1)  The spouse received 1/2 of the sum from the estate, and the oldest child received 1/4 of the remainder.

(2)  Each of the two younger children received $12,500 more than the oldest child and $62,500 less than the spouse.

The first two things that I notice about this problem is that it is a word problem, giving us a real-world scenario, and a value Data Sufficiency question, asking us to find a single value for the amount that the youngest child received. And if I wanted to set this up algebraically, I could assign variables (s = spouse, x, y, z = oldest, middle, youngest child), write out several equations (s + x + y + z = 200,000. (1) s = 1/2*200,000; x = 1/4 * (1/2*200,000); y + z = 75,000. (2) y = z; z = x + 12,500; z = s − 62,500), and eventually solve for z using Statement 2: the correct answer is (B). Different students at different levels of comfort with Data Sufficiency will be able to stop at different points after realizing that there either will or will not be a single variable in the equation that they’ve set up.

On my scratch paper though, you’ll find no equations. What you will find are the letters S, O, M, & Y representing the four people in the problem, and a circle around Y to remind me which value I’m trying to find. For the first statement, I would have numbers written under the variables I could solve for: S = 100K, O = 25K, or maybe even just a check mark to represent that I COULD solve for those variables. And at that point, I’d be finished with Statement 1, because it’s clear that I can’t find the amount of money that the youngest child received. It could be as much as $75K or as little as $0.

But the real speed trick for me with this question is in the second statement. At first, this might seem less helpful than the first statement because there are no obvious amounts that I can solve for. So I try the Goldilocks method: I try to find a number that’s too small, one that’s too big, and think if there’s just one number in the middle that would be just right. I would start in this case by finding who gets the least amount of money in this problem: the oldest child. Let’s say that oldest child got nothing. This would mean that the middle and youngest children received $12.5K and the spouse received $62.5K. Without adding these four numbers up, I can tell that they will not add up to the $200,000 that was left from the estate. I could then add an extra, let’s say, $100K to everyone and those same relationships would still hold true: O = $100K, M = $112.5K, Y = $112.5K, and S = $162.5K. Now the numbers are much larger than $200,000. But the trick with this method is to recognize that somewhere between the oldest child receiving $0 and $100K, there must be some number that would allow this equation to perfectly add up to $200K. The great thing about Data Sufficiency is that I don’t have to actually find that number.

In this particular problem, the reason why Statement 2 is sufficient is because there is a cap on the total amount and a relationship between each of the variables. In other words, this is a four variable equation and the second statement allows us to put all variables in terms of the youngest child. But for me, being able to come up with one set of numbers that fit Statement 2 allows me to more quickly understand that those numbers can all go up or down. But only one set of numbers will be just right.

This method doesn’t work well for quadratic equations where there can be two different answers to a problem or with values that don’t have any restrictions to how large or small they can be. But most problems in the real world don’t involve multiple right answers. It’s the same reason why someone on the Price is Right bids $1 on a prize package when he or she thinks that the other contestants have all over-bid. That person doesn’t think the prize is worth $1, but thinks that the right number is some number in between the values that have already been selected. And just like on the GMAT, your job isn’t to guess that number, but to hope that somewhere in the middle lies the correct value.

* GMATPrep® text courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.

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Introductory Note: Typically, Harvard Business School launches the MBA application season and then other business schools quickly follow suit. Earlier this week, HBS admissions director, Dee Leopold, announced that HBS would be releasing its essays during the final week of May. Meanwhile, Columbia Business School’s Admissions Director, Amanda Carlson, sent a message that she waits for no one. CBS officially released its essay questions today – you will find the questions and our analysis below.

This year, Columbia Business School (CBS) continues a trend that has developed over the past three seasons, once again reducing the number of words applicants can use to tell their story. Last year, CBS allowed applicants 200 characters with which to respond to its short-answer question and 1,250 words total for its three essays—not much room to showcase one’s strongest attributes and set oneself apart from the pack. Now, CBS candidates have a mere 100 characters for the short-answer question and 1,000 words for the three essays.

Unfortunately, this reduced word count does not make your task as an applicant any easier—especially when you have only one essay (Essay 3) in which to discuss something outside the professional/academic realm and reveal your more personal side. Hopefully, our essay analysis can help you strategize…

Short Answer Question: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (100 characters maximum)

Do not pretend to be anything you are not. Reveal honest, ambitious goals that are also realistic.

These two sentences are 98 characters long. You can now see just how brief you need to be with CBS’s short-answer question. Yet you must still demonstrate that you can convey a point within such strict limits. So, we are sticking with the advice in our example. Do not misguidedly believe that admissions officers have a preference for specific professions or industries—they do not. Think about what you truly want to do with your career and state it directly. Then, be sure that the rest of your application provides evidence that this goal connects to your existing skills and profound interests, making your professed goal achievable and lending credibility to your statement here. If you can do this in 100 characters—and remember that we are talking about characters, not words—you will have answered this question quite well.

Essay 1: Given your individual background, why are you pursuing a Columbia MBA at this time? (Maximum 500 words)

Because the CBS admissions committee is asking “why” you have chosen to pursue an MBA, you can justifiably delve into your professional career and explain how you identified your need for this particular advanced degree. However, take care not to overwhelm the admissions committee with an unnecessary level of detail about your career history. We cannot emphasize this strongly enough—the admissions committee does not want a recap of your entire resume—moreover, such detail would use up valuable word count. Approximately 100–150 words on your past should be enough to provide appropriate context.

You could perhaps offer an anecdote that reveals an academic or experiential void on your part, or explain that now is the right time for you because you have just completed a lengthy assignment and are ready to transition to the next phase of your career. A number of good reasons exist for wanting to earn your MBA now—just make sure that in your essay, the story of your progression is clear and you demonstrate the momentum and advancement that have brought you to this point. You will then need to explain how and why an MBA will serve as a bridge to the next level of your career. Notice that the school very specifically asks why you wish to earn a “Columbia MBA,” so you absolutely must incorporate into your essay elements of the CBS experience that are pertinent to your candidacy. Do not just list classes, but give a reasoned argument that explains how your goals, timing and CBS all intersect to make this the right time and the right experience for you.

Because personal statements are similar from one application to the next, we have produced thembaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge. Please feel free to download your copy today.

For a thorough exploration of CBS’s academic program/merits, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, academic environment and more, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to Columbia Business School. We also suggest that you visit the campus (a must if you live anywhere near New York) and use your network to connect with students to gain a firsthand understanding of the CBS experience.

Essay 2: Columbia Business School is located in the heart of the world’s business capital – Manhattan. How do you anticipate that New York City will impact your experience at Columbia? (Maximum 250 words)

Please view the videos below:

New York City – limitless possibilities

New York City – fast paced and adaptable

This question may seem challenging, but the key here is not to consider what New York City offers in general, but to instead focus on what you need from your educational experience and then address how this will be fulfilled or enhanced by the school’s location. We strongly encourage you to develop your core ideas before you watch the two videos the school provides as context for this question. Watching these videos first might lead you to deliver a canned or clichéd response, rather than honestly contemplating your needs and New York City’s ability to respond to them.

If you find that your sincere reasons for wanting to study in New York City are ones that others can also claim—such as proximity to Wall Street—you will need to do your homework and take your research a step further. Offering proximity to Wall Street alone would constitute a clichéd response, but taking your essay to a more granular level and discussing how specific experiential opportunities speak directly to your niche interests will allow you to “own” those resources and really personalize this brief, 250-word essay.

Essay 3: What will the people in your Cluster be pleasantly surprised to learn about you? (Maximum 250 words)

Stop now and consider what the admissions officers will know about you at this point from the other elements of your application they have already reviewed. They will probably have read your resume and thus gotten a sense of your career path to date. Your other essays should have provided an understanding of your goals and why you want to be at CBS and in New York City. They may have had some brief glimpses into your personality through these avenues, but this essay is your overt opportunity—albeit brief—to give the admissions committee a sense of your true character.

The key words in this question are “pleasantly surprised.” Although you certainly want to offer something surprising, you obviously do not want that surprise to be unpleasant. “Surprise” does not need to be understood as “shocked.” Do not think you need to totally revolutionize their understanding of you in a mere 250 words (though if you can, that is fine). Our point is that you should not worry if you have not climbed Mount Everest or launched a $50M venture capital–backed start-up. You are not expected to have spectacular achievement to share—CBS just wants to get to know you better by learning about an interesting aspect of your life. Whether you spent a month volunteering in Peru, helped put your sister through school or are passionate about flamenco dancing, these are all suitable stories, and one is not necessarily better than the other. What is important is that you show how what you do is manifest. You must offer a narrative that engages the reader in your actions and emphasizes how you conduct yourself.

We should note that you do not need to answer a question that was not asked. So in this case, you do not need to tie your response to CBS and explain how this aspect of your life will allow you to contribute to the school or your cluster. Not only is this unnecessary, but such attempts are also often transparent and cloying. If the school wanted you to include such information, it would have asked for it.

Optional Essay: An optional third essay will allow you to discuss any issues that do not fall within the purview of the required essays.

However tempted you might be, this is not the place to paste in a strong essay from another school or to offer a few anecdotes that you were unable to use in any of your other essays. Instead, this is your opportunity, if needed, to address any lingering questions that an admissions officer may have about your candidacy, such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT score, a gap in your work experience, etc. In our mbaMission Optional Statement Guide, we offer detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay, with multiple examples, to help you mitigate any problem areas in your profile.

Great Problem to Have: I’m In…Now What? (Poets & Quants)

After getting into business school, you enter a unique phase of your life. Here’s how one accepted MBA student spent the 7 months prior to the start of b-school.

What Don’t They Teach You At Business School? (Forbes)

Brian Kane, who holds a BBA and an MBA in marketing, shares some valuable “real world” skills that he didn’t learn in business school.

Does An MBA Make You Happy? The MBA Happiness Index 2013 (Forbes)

The results from a recent survey deliver an overwhelming message that the MBA itself is a considerable source of happiness.

Joseph Stiglitz on What Business Schools Teach That’s Wrong (The Motley Fool)

Nobel Prize-winning economist answers the question, “What is something that is taught in the modern business school that gives a flawed sense of how risk and financial markets work?”

Did we miss your favorite article from the week? Let us know what you have been reading in the comments below or tweet @ManhattanGMAT

When you arrive

There will be some kind of outer waiting area, followed by an inner office containing the biometric equipment and finally the “inner sanctum”: the testing room.

When you first arrive, you’ll be asked to read (and digitally sign) a bunch of legalese. Basically, you’ll promise not to share anything that you see with anyone else and you affirm that you’re only taking the test for the purposes of applying to business school. You have to sign this document or you won’t be allowed to take the test.

You’ll also be asked for your ID. Check the guidelines to determine what kind of ID you must bring. Further, when you’re registering for the test, make sure that the name and birthdate you enter into the registration system match exactly what’s written on the piece of ID you’ll use to enter the test center.

But wait! You’re not done with security yet. They’ll take a digital photo of you. You’ll also have the veins in your palm digitally scanned—turns out our palm veins are even more unique than fingerprints. Who knew?

Finally, before you enter the inner sanctum, you’ll be asked to place all of your belongings (except for your ID) into a locker to which you will have the key. Everything goes in this locker: your wallet or purse, your money, your mobile phone, your keys, everything. Do not bring any study notes into the test center with you; your test will be cancelled immediately even if you simply leave these in your locker! Don’t use any electronic devices at any time—not your phone, not your iPod, nothing. Do not write anything down during the breaks, even if you’re just writing down your grocery list. Don’t give them any reason to think that you might be cheating.

Starting the test

You’ll be given a 5-page booklet of laminated paper on which to take notes. If you use up the booklet, raise your hand and a proctor will come to see what you need. He or she will give you a new booklet in place of the used one.

If at all possible, try to plan your scrap work such that you need no more than those 5 pages during one section. Then, ask for a new booklet at the end and you’ll start the Quant and Verbal sections with a fresh booklet each time.

During the test, you are allowed to request a new note booklet at any time, even if you haven’t finished using up the last one. I have heard reports of some proctors refusing such requests; if this happens, ask again (politely). Tell them that you specifically asked ahead of time and that GMAC (the organization that owns the GMAT) confirmed that you do not need to use up a test booklet in order to request a new one. They know that it’s an advantage to be able to switch the booklets at the breaks rather than in the middle of a section and they don’t want to prevent you from having that advantage.

You’ll also be allowed to take some tissues into the room with you, but not your own tissues. You’ll have to use the tissues provided by the test center. If you need more, raise your hand and the proctor will bring you more. Note that you aren’t allowed to have an unlimited supply; someone could conceivably write information on tissues and conceal them.

If you’re concerned about noise, you’ll also have the option to use earplugs or noise-cancellation headphones. You can’t bring your own; the test center will provide these.

Now, here’s one of the things that I’ve heard surprised some recent test-takers: you are not permitted to write down notes or set up your scrap paper before the test starts. When you sit down, the proctor will start up the test. There is a short sequence at the beginning where you read some test instructions and select the schools to which you plan to send your scores.

You can try to jot down some timing benchmarks or a few formulas while these pre-test sections are up, but the proctors may tell you to stop. If so, listen to what they say. Don’t plan to be able to spend any time at all writing things down ahead of time. Strip your desired notes down to the bare minimum needed—and practice writing efficiently!

Breaks

When break-time rolls around, you have a choice: you can take the break or you can continue on with the test. (I strongly recommend that you take the break.) And here’s the second item that I’ve heard people express a lot of surprise about lately: you cannot stay in your seat during the break. You either take the break, in which case you must leave the room, or you keep going with the test.

The break is 8 minutes long—but, wait, you don’t have your watch! It’s in your locker. The testing center is required to have a clock on the wall in every room; when you first arrive, check for a clock in the outer waiting area. If no clock is visible or if the clock has stopped working, say something to the proctors right away!

As soon as you get out to the waiting room, look at the clock. Plan for about 6 minutes (because it takes about a minute to get out of the room and another minute to get back in).

Then open up your locker and have something to eat and drink. Walk around. Stretch. Touch your toes and do a few jumping jacks. Use the restroom. Don’t sit down, don’t start reading a magazine, and don’t start thinking about… well, anything really. Not the test, or how you’re doing on the test, or what you’re going to do after the test is over. Just try to empty your brain and think only about what you’re actually doing: stretching, eating, drinking. If you have a favorite song, play it in your head.

When you head back into the testing center, they’ll scan your palm again and also match you against your digital photo. This takes a minute—plan for it.

How else can I get ready?

GMAC has posted a short video showing how the test center works; I highly recommend watching this video ahead of your test date. The mba.com site also contains other resources about what to expect on test day (follow the link in the previous sentence). If you are even a little bit nervous about the test (and most of us are!), read through everything. The more you know about what to expect, the better prepared you’ll be to handle your nerves on test day.

At the event, Gina finds herself liking every guy that she meets: “Guy #1 is smart and successful, so it makes sense that he’s proud of his accomplishments. Guy #2 is really funny and clever. The waiter just didn’t understand his jokes.” Tina, on the other hand, has a very different impression of these guys: “Guy 1 has been bragging about himself the whole time, and seems arrogant. Guy 2 thinks he’s funny, but he’s actually being cruel and making fun of people.”

At the end of the event, Gina can’t decide which of the guys she likes best, because she’s found reasons to like all of them… and she’s overlooked any reasons not to like them. Tina, however, was looking for reasons not to date these guys, so she noticed the dealbreaker flaws. She manages to whittle the list down to one guy whose personality matched hers.

Of course, dating is subjective, and what might be a dealbreaker for one person might be fine for someone else. On the GMAT, though, there are definitive right and wrong answers, and we have to learn how to spot the wrong ones.

Look for Dealbreakers

When it comes to Reading Comprehension on the GMAT, you want to act like Tina, not Gina! You will often be presented with questions whose answer choices all seem to have appealing qualities. If you’re looking for what makes an answer right, you may overlook certain critical flaws, and talk yourself into a wrong answer. If you’re looking for what makes an answer wrong, though, you’re a lot more likely to notice those deal-breaking flaws!

Take a moment to read the following passage from GMATPrep®:

The professionalization of the study of history in the second half on the nineteenth century, including history’s transformations from a literary genre to a scientific discipline, had important consequences not only for historians’ perceptions of women but also for women as historians. The disappearance of women as objects of historical studies during this period has elements of irony to it. On the one hand, in writing about women, earlier historians had relied not on firsthand sources but rather on secondary sources; the shift to more rigorous research methods required that secondary sources be disregarded. On the other hand, the development of archival research and the critical editing of collections of documents began to reveal significant new historical evidence concerning women, yet this evidence was perceived as substantially irrelevant: historians saw political history as the general framework for historical writing. Because women were seen as belonging to the private rather than to the public sphere, the discovery of documents about them, or by them, did not, by itself, produce history acknowledging the contributions of women. In addition, genres such as biography and memoir, those forms of “particular history” that women had traditionally authored, fell into disrepute. The dividing line between “particular history” and general history was redefined in stronger terms, widening the gulf between amateur and professional practices of historical research.

Now take a look at the following question, and ask yourself what you like about each answer choice:

Which of the following best describes one of the “elements of irony” referred to in the highlighted text?

A.      Although the more scientific-minded historians of the second half of the nineteenth century considered women appropriate subjects for historical writing, earlier historians did not.

B.      Although archival research uncovered documentary evidence of women’s role in history, historians continued to rely on secondary sources for information about women.

C.      Although historians were primarily concerned with writing about the public sphere, they generally relegated women to the private sphere.

D.      The scientific approach to history revealed more information about women, but that information was ignored.

E.      The professionalization of history, while marginalizing much of women’s writing about history, enhanced the importance of women as historical subjects.

There were definitely things to like about each answer choice, right?

• In A, the historians of the late 19^th century were more scientific-minded, and there was a contrast to earlier historians.
• In B, it’s true that they uncovered documentary evidence of women’s role in history.
• C is totally true – the passage says, “women were seen as belonging to the private rather than to the public sphere.”
• D is also true – the documents revealed new information about women, but it was “perceived as irrelevant.
• In E, I agree that history was being professionalized, and that women’s writing was marginalized.

So, how do we choose which answer we like best? Well… we don’t! Instead of looking for what you like, look for what you don’t like – the dealbreakers.

A.      Although the more scientific-minded historians of the second half of the nineteenth century considered women appropriate subjects for historical writing, earlier historians did not.

It was actually the earlier historians who considered women appropriate subjects. The late-19^th-century historians didn’t. A is out.

 B.      Although archival research uncovered documentary evidence of women’s role in history, historians continued to rely on secondary sources for information about women.

These historians used new methods that “required that secondary sources be disregarded.” B is out.

C.      Although historians were primarily concerned with writing about the public sphere, they generally relegated women to the private sphere.

This one still seems to be true. “Historians saw political history as the general framework,” etc.

D.      The scientific approach to history revealed more information about women, but that information was ignored.

This one also still seems to be true. We’ll come back to these.

E.      The professionalization of history, while marginalizing much of women’s writing about history, enhanced the importance of women as historical subjects.

Women’s writing was marginalized, but women were not considered important subjects: “disappearance of women as objects of historical studies…”, etc. So, E is out.

So we’re down to C and D, both of which seem to be true. Let’s check back in with Gina and Tina…

The difference between “true” and “correct”

When Gina spoke with Guy #3, she asked him, “Is there anything in your life that you regret, or that you’re not proud of?” He answered, “Well, when I was back in college… wait, did I tell you that I went to Princeton? I majored in econ, and graduated cum laude…” and then he went on to tell her all about his college experience. She walked away thinking, “wow, that’s really impressive!”

Tina later asked him the same question, and got the same response. Because she was looking for dealbreakers, though, her reaction was very different from Tina’s. “He said some interesting things, but he didn’t answer the question that I asked. He must have something to hide, or he’s not a good listener.”

On RC, you’ll often encounter answers that sound good – they might even be completely true – but they don’t answer the question. Here, our question was to find an “element of irony.” We’ve already determined that answer choices C and D are both true, but do they depict irony?

In C, the fact that historians write about the public sphere and relegate women to the private sphere is true, but it’s not ironic. In fact, it’s perfectly expected. C doesn’t answer the right question, so it’s a wrong answer – even though it’s factually true!

In D, the fact that changing historical methods both uncovered more information about women, but also shifted focus away from women as historical subjects is ironic. D is the correct answer – not because we like it the best, but because we had strong reasons to get rid of all of the other answers.

I’m sure you’ve heard people say, “don’t be negative! Look for the positive in every situation.” That may be good advice in life, but you actually want to do the opposite on the GMAT! Focusing on the negative – what’s wrong, questionable, not provable, etc. – will help you to move more quickly and effectively through the answer choices.

* GMATPrep® text courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.

If 5a + 7b = k, where a and b are positive integers, what is the largest possible value of k for which exactly one pair of integers (a, b) makes the equation true?

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