Verbal Strategies

Question 1

”, + who/where/which/with” =

Answer 1

NOUN modifier and only modifies the main noun before the comma

Question 2

”, + ING verb” =

Answer 2

CLAUSE modifier and modifies the entire clause (Subject + verb) before the comma. Think about which one you need by looking at the context.

Question 3

, + AND

Answer 3

must either connect two independent clauses or finish off a 3-part list.

Question 4

FANBOYS

Answer 4

conjunctions (FANBOYS = For And Nor But Or Yet So)

Question 5

Dependent clauses are introduced by

Answer 5

a subordinating word (who, that, which, etc

Question 6

4-step RC Process

Answer 6

1. ID the Question (one of 4 types - see below)
2. Find the Support (For main idea/primary purpose, just use your passage map or in your head)
3. Predict an Answer (Don’t let the answer choices convince you - head into them with a firm grasp of what you’re looking for!)
4. Eliminate & Find a Match (Remember EACH word in answer must be justifiable)

Question 7

SC 4-step process

Answer 7

1. Take your First Glance (check length of underline, and take a quick look at beginning and ending splits)
2. Read the sentence FOR MEANING (think “What’s the author trying to say here? What’s the intended meaning”)
3. Find a starting point (i.e. a “split” between the answer choices)
4. Eliminate & Repeat (Remember - you want to find 4 wrong answer choices, not just 1 right one.

Question 8

FOUR types of questions you’ll see in Reading Comp

Answer 8

(Primary Purpose/Main Idea, Specific Detail, Inference/assumption, and Explain the Role of a word or paragraph)

Question 9

main idea questions

Answer 9

Correct answers for main idea questions will connect to EACH paragraph, and remember - you should also be able to justify EVERY word in the correct answer.

Question 10

extreme language

Answer 10

Be wary of extreme language like “call into question” - check the tone of passage!

Question 11

Parallelism

Answer 11

Parts of a list need to be STRUCTURALLY and LOGICALLY comparable (ie all adjectives or all prepositional phrases)

Question 12

Placeholder “it”

Answer 12

is always wrong: you must be able to point to a specific antecedent that each pronoun is referring to.

Question 13

”, + where”

Answer 13

must refer to an actual place

Question 14

X rather than Y

Answer 14

(X and Y are called “parallel elements,” and the “rather than” is the parallelism marker - it tells you that parallelism pieces are coming

Question 15

Need parallel parts of speech in a list X, Y, and Z

Answer 15

(i.e. adj, adj, adj)

Question 16

For specific detail questions (i.e. “According to the passage…”)

Answer 16

you should be able to point to a particular sentence or two that directly support the correct answer choice

Question 17

For inference questions (i.e. “The passage suggests…”)

Answer 17

The “inferences” you are making are facts that MUST be true given the statements in the passage. (ie if the passage says “over time women lost autonomy in the economic sphere”, we can “infer” that the 18th century women were more economically independent than the 19th century women.).

Question 18

4-step process for Critical Reasoning

Answer 18

1. ID the question. Are you being asked to find an assumption? To strengthen/weaken? Knowing what you’re being asked to do is a crucial first step.
2. Deconstruct the Argument. As you read the argument, focus on finding the conclusion and the premises that support it, then jot them down in shorthand.
3. Pause & State Your Goal. Take 5-10 seconds to pause and state in your own words what the correct answer will look like or do. Predict!
4. Work From Wrong to Right. Go through each answer and eliminate ones that are wrong, keeping track on your notepad so you don’t accidentally reread eliminated answers.

Question 19

For plan/proposal type “arguments,” the conclusion is

Answer 19

the ultimate goal of the proposer

Question 20

Therefore test:

Answer 20

Add “therefore” to a sentence to see what’s coming last in the logical chain (that will be the argument’s conclusion!) Should follow a nice If…Then structure.

Question 21

The Structure Based Family - CR

Answer 21

Question 22

The Assumption Based Family - CR

Answer 22

Question 23

The Evidence Based Family - CR

Answer 23

Question 24

CR - Describe the role

Answer 24

premise, conclusion, counterpremise, intermediate conclusion, background

Question 25

Describe the Role - Primary Method

Answer 25

Classify ea. statement in boldface as one of the following:

1. C - conclusion
2. P - premise (supports C)
3. Something else (counterpremise, background, acknowledging weakness)

Question 26

Describe the Role - Secondary Method

Answer 26

1. Is the staement a fact or opinion?
2. Is the statement for or against the conclusion?
3. If there are two statements, are the on the same side or opposite sides?

Question 27

Parallelism Common Structures

Answer 27

“both X and Y”, “neither X nor Y”, “Not only X but also Y”, “None of X, Y, or Z”, “(Not) X, but Y”, “X rather than Y”, “X instead of Y”, “X, Y, and Z”, etc

Question 28

The elements of a parallel structure (the X and Y pieces above)

Answer 28

must be both logically and structurally parallel. Logically = It makes sense in the context of the sentence to compare these two things. Structurally = These are the same parts of speech (ie both nouns, both verbs, both prepositional phrases, etc).

Question 29

Idioms

Answer 29

Correct idioms are “X had admiration FOR Y” and “X is an admirer OF Y”

Question 30

If a problem leads off with an opening modifying clause

Answer 30

make sure that the first noun after that modifier is what the author intends to modify.

Question 31

Wrong answers in Strengthen/Weaken questions will often do

Answer 31

OPPOSITE of the task of the problem (i.e. you’re trying to strengthen and one of the answer choices weakens). Another common wrong answer type is one where there’s no tie (i.e. out of scope of the argument)

Question 32

Since + Fill in the blank questions are typically strengtheners. If a question is asking what is “required,”

Answer 32

that’s really an assumption question, not a strengthener question.

Question 33

The antecedent is the noun that the pronoun is standing in for.

Answer 33

Ex: “I love playing on my Nintendo Switch; it is an excellent gaming system!” The antecedent of the pronoun “it” is the Nintendo Switch.

Question 34

There are THREE rules that the GMAT tests regarding pronouns & antecedents:

Answer 34

o The antecedent must be actually PRESENT somewhere in the sentence (often tested through placeholder “it”)

o The antecedent must AGREE in number (plural nouns take on plural pronouns and singular nouns take on singular pronouns)

o The antecedent must be CLEAR (it should not be ambiguous what noun the pronoun is referring to).

Question 35

, + -ING must have an entire clause

Answer 35

(subject + verb) before the comma that it is modifying

Question 36

Not sure what the antecedent is?

Answer 36

Think about the author’s intended MEANING to give you a hint. Try replacing the noun directly in.

Question 37

We saw some common idiom structures: “Both X and Y” (check the words right after the “BOTH” and the “AND”),

Answer 37

Distinguish between X and Y.”

Question 38

Placeholder “it”s such as in the sentence “It is raining outside”

Answer 38

are always wrong on the GMAT.

Question 39

Adverbs such as “sometimes” should be placed

Answer 39

as close as possible to the verb they are modifying.

Question 40

Pay attention to redundancy

Answer 40

(“at least one percent or more”)

Question 41

It’s possible to have , + ADVERB + -ING to

Answer 41

modify clause

Question 42

Evaluate questions will be of one of three forms:

Answer 42

Questions, Whether statements, and Quantity investigations

Question 43

Eliminate out of scope answer choices,

Answer 43

which tend to have the word “other” in them.

Question 44

Since ____ =

Answer 44

= Strengthen question. Essentially you need to find the missing premise that will help draw us more reasonably draw the conclusion.

Question 45

For evaluate questions, ask yourself if the criterion you are considering could BOTH strengthen AND weaken the argument depending on the answer to the research.

Answer 45

Think about what will help make and break the argument (usually they hint at a missing assumption).

Question 46

To use the past perfect (i.e. HAD + Landed) we need either

Answer 46

another simple past verb somewhere in the sentence, or a past time marker such as a year, month, or day.

Question 47

Common Traps CR

Answer 47

Question 48

Describe the Argument - CR

Answer 48