I’ve got a fascinating (and infuriating!) GMATPrep problem for you today; this comes from the free problem set included in the new GMATPrep 2.0 version of the software. Try it out (1 minute 15 seconds) and then we’ll talk about it!

*  Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, there is a disinclination on the part of many people to recognize the degree to which their analytical skills are weak.

 

(A) Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, there is a disinclination on the part of many people to recognize the degree to which their analytical skills are weak.

(B) Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, which they admit they lack, many people are disinclined to recognize that their analytical skills are weak.

(C) Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, analytical skills bring out a disinclination in many people to recognize that they are weak to a degree.

(D) Many people, willing to admit that they lack computer skills or other technical skills, are disinclined to recognize that their analytical skills are weak.

(E) Many people have a disinclination to recognize the weakness of their analytical skills while willing to admit their lack of computer skills or other technical skills.

 

I chose this problem because I thought the official explanation fell short; specifically, there are multiple declarations that something is wordy or awkward. While I agree with those characterizations, they aren’t particularly useful as teaching tools “ how can we tell that something is wordy or awkward? There isn’t an absolute way to rule; it’s a judgment call.

Now, I can understand why whoever wrote this explanation struggled to do so; this is an extremely difficult problem to explain. And that’s exactly why I wanted to have a crack at it “ I like a challenge. : )

Okay, let’s talk about the problem. My first reaction to the original sentence was: nope, that’s definitely wrong. When you think that, your next thought should be, Why? Which part, specifically? This allows you to know that you have a valid reason for eliminating an answer and it also allows you to figure out what you should examine in other answers.

Before you read my next paragraph, answer that question for yourself. What, specifically, doesn’t sound good or doesn’t work in the original sentence?
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We invite you to test your GMAT knowledge for a chance to win! Each week, we will post a new Challenge Problem for you to attempt. If you submit the correct answer, you will be entered into that week’s drawing for a free Manhattan GMAT Prep item. Tell your friends to get out their scrap paper and start solving!
Here is this week’s problem:

If n is a prime number greater than 2, is 1/x > 1?

(1) xⁿ < x < x^(1/n)

(2) x^(n“1) > x^(2n“2)

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Here are the free GMAT events we’re holding this week. There are only a few, due to the holiday. All times listed are local unless otherwise specified. Happy Thanksgiving!

11/19/12 – London, England – Free Trial Class – 7:00-10:00 PM

11/19/12 – New York (Wall Street), NY – Free Trial Class – 6:30-9:30 PM

11/19/12 – Online – Free Trial Class – 9:00 PM – 12:00 AM

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listings Page.

Image via xkcd.com

Over the past several days, Nate Silver has gone from baseball and political forecasting guru to full-blown media darling. Since correctly forecasting the winning presidential candidate in 49 and 50 states in the last two elections, Silver has been seen everywhere from NBC to Comedy Central. All of this culminated Wednesday when Silver won the ultimate modern-day achievement: trending Twitter topic. And while #DrunkNateSilver has already predicted the next two presidential elections and the ending to Star Wars 7, his sober counterpart has lessons that we can apply to our GMAT studying.

The PECOTA System- Finding historical similarities

Nate Silver first became famous outside of his consulting job when he developed PECOTA, which sought to predict the statistics and career arc of major league baseball players, as well as projected team win totals. PECOTA wasn’t the first projection system for baseball, but it was the first to use other players’ previous performances instead of that player’s trends. By comparing each player with 20,000+ player’s seasons since World War II, Silver was able to make a probabilistic distribution for individual players and their teams.
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We invite you to test your GMAT knowledge for a chance to win! Each week, we will post a new Challenge Problem for you to attempt. If you submit the correct answer, you will be entered into that week’s drawing for a free Manhattan GMAT Prep item. Tell your friends to get out their scrap paper and start solving!
Here is this week’s problem:

5/6 of the population of the country of Venezia lives in Montague Province, while the rest lives in Capulet Province. In the upcoming election, 80% of Montague residents support Romeo, while 70% of Capulet residents support Juliet; each resident of Venezia supports exactly one of these two candidates. Rounded if necessary to the nearest percent, the probability that a Juliet supporter chosen at random resides in Capulet is

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Here are the free GMAT events we’re holding this week. All times listed are local unless otherwise specified.

11/12/12 – Evanston, IL – Free Trial Class – 6:30-9:30 PM

11/12/12 – San Francisco, CA – Free Trial Class – 6:30-9:30 PM

11/13/12 – Chicago, IL – Free Trial Class – 6:30-9:30 PM

11/13/12 – Bellevue, WA – Free Trial Class – 6:30-9:30 PM

11/13/12 – Santa Clara, CA – Free Trial Class – 6:30-9:30 PM

11/13/12 – Online – Free Accelerated Class Trial – 8:00-11:00 PM

11/14/12 – West Hollywood, CA – Free Trial Class – 6:30-9:30 PM

11/14/12 – Online – GMAT Preview – 8:00-9:30

11/15/12 – Boston, MA – Free Trial Class – 6:30-9:30 PM

11/15/12 – Online – Thursdays With Ron – 7:00-8:30 PM

11/16/12 – Online – Free Trial Class – 8:00-11:00 PM

11/17/12 – Washington, D.C. – Free Trial Class – 2:00-5:00 PM

11/18/12 – Mumbai, India – Learn To Think Like An Expert – 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

11/18/12 – Boston, MA – Free Trial Class – 5:30-8:30 PM

11/18/12 – Toronto, ON – Free Trial Class – 5:30-8:30 PM

11/18/12 – Chicago, IL – Free Trial Class – 2:00-5:00 PM

11/18/12 – San Francisco, CA – Free Trial Class – 5:30-8:30 PM

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listings Page.

This week, we’re going to analyze a particularly tough GMATPrepSentence Correction question.

First, set your timer for 1 minute and 15 seconds and try the problem!

Research has shown that when speaking, individuals who have been blind from birth and have thus never seen anyone gesture nonetheless make hand motions just as frequently and in the same way as sighted people do, and that they will gesture even when conversing with another blind person.

A) have thus never seen anyone gesture nonetheless make hand motions just as frequently and in the same way as sighted people do, and that

B) have thus never seen anyone gesture but nonetheless make hand motions just as frequently and in the same way that sighted people do, and

C) have thus never seen anyone gesture, that they nonetheless make hand motions just as frequently and in the same way as sighted people do, and

D) thus they have never seen anyone gesture, but nonetheless they make hand motions just as frequently and in the same way that sighted people do, and that

E) thus they have never seen anyone gesture nonetheless make hand motions just as frequently and in the same way that sighted people do, and

Okay, have you got your answer? Now, let’s dive into this thing! What did you think when you read the original sentence?

This is a very tough problem; when I read the sentence the first time, I actually had to stop and try to strip the sentence down to its basic core, then figure out how the modifiers fit. Until I did that, I couldn’t go any further.
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Most people don’t like weighted averages, and for good reason. The formula is complicated, and these often come in the form of story problems, which are hard to set up. We’re going to talk today about a couple of great little techniques to make these fast and easy well, easier anyway!

First, try this GMATPrep problem. Set your timer for 2 minutes. and GO!

*  A rabbit on a controlled diet is fed daily 300 grams of a mixture of two foods, food X and food Y. Food X contains 10 percent protein and food Y contains 15 percent protein. If the rabbit’s diet provides exactly 38 grams of protein daily, how many grams of food X are in the mixture?

 

(A) 100

(B) 140

(C) 150

(D) 160

(E) 200

Wow. I’m glad I don’t have to feed this rabbit. This sounds annoying. : )
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We invite you to test your GMAT knowledge for a chance to win! Each week, we will post a new Challenge Problem for you to attempt. If you submit the correct answer, you will be entered into that week’s drawing for a free Manhattan GMAT Prep item. Tell your friends to get out their scrap paper and start solving!
Here is this week’s problem:

The positive difference of the fourth powers of two consecutive positive integers must be divisible by…

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On October 13, 2012, one of the major sports books in Las Vegas said that there was a 108.8% chance of one of the four teams left in the baseball postseason would win the World Series. Of course it didn’t actually say there was a 108.8% chance of this happening, but the odds that they released to bettors did and helped ensure that over the long run, Vegas wins and we, as a whole, lose.

If you haven’t already, check out Part 1 for a review of AND vs OR probability. Now let’s imagine that instead of betting on outcomes, like we did in the previous article, you’ve wised up and decided to open your own sports book, gMATH. You decide to start simple and offer bettors a chance to bet on which number, 1-4, randomly rolls out of a bingo cage. You realize that the probability of each number being selected is 25%, but you need a way to translate this for paying bettors. In a scenario where four different people each put down $1 on each of the four numbers, one person would win $3 ($4 total – $1 they bet). So you place the very first odds at gMATH’s number guessing game at 3 to 1.

In the long run, gMATH’s inaugural betting event may attract a clientele of people who enjoy watching ping pong balls with painted numbers roll around, but it won’t be bringing you the fortunes that you passed up on business school for. You realize that you need a new betting game that will attract more than just the bingo-loving crowd, involves a small amount of luck, and allow you to make a profit no matter which team wins. As there are exactly four teams left in the postseason, you decide that baseball would make a perfect switch.
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