The launch of the Integrated Reasoning (IR) section is getting close! The last administration of the old version of the GMAT will be on 2 June; the next-generation GMAT will launch on 5 June. It’s not too late to study for the old version, but it’s also not too early to start thinking about studying for the next-gen test, including IR.

So let’s talk about one of the four IR question categories: Graphics Interpretation. IR in general is a mix of quant and logical reasoning, so expect to bring your critical reasoning and reading comp skills into play on this section.

Before we dive in, just a note: a new Official Guide (13th edition!) was just published; it has an IR section along with an additional IR resource online (to which you get access if you buy the book). I would guess that most test prep companies will also be releasing their IR study materials next month (we certainly are!).

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This week, we’re going to discuss one of the most common critical reasoning problem types: Inference. (Note: our current materials call these questions Draw A Conclusion, but we’re changing the name next month!) If you haven’t yet, read this article before we try our GMATPrep problem. Then set your timer for 2 minutes and go!

* When a polygraph test is judged inconclusive, this is no reflection on the examinee. Rather, such a judgment means that the test has failed to show whether the examinee was truthful or untruthful. Nevertheless, employers will sometimes refuse to hire a job applicant because of an inconclusive polygraph test result.

Which of the following conclusions can most properly be drawn from the information above?

(A) Most examinees with inconclusive polygraph test results are in fact untruthful.

(B) Polygraph tests should not be used by employers in the consideration of job applicants.

(C) An inconclusive polygraph test result is sometimes unfairly held against the examinee.

(D) A polygraph test indicating that an examinee is untruthful can sometimes be mistaken.

(E) Some employers have refused to consider the results of polygraph tests when evaluating job applicants.

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The launch of the Integrated Reasoning (IR) section is getting close! The last administration of the old version of the GMAT will be on 2 June; the next-generation GMAT will launch on 5 June. It’s not too late to study for the old version, but it’s also not too early to start thinking about studying for the next-gen test, including IR.

So let’s talk about one of the four IR question categories: the Two-Part Analysis. IR in general is a mix of quant and logical reasoning, so expect to bring your critical reasoning and reading comp skills into play on this section.
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I don’t even need to say what the myth is! Everyone already knows—that’s how pervasive it is. Ever since the GMAT and GRE CATs launched in the 1990s people have believed that the earlier questions are worth more, that if we could get the first 7 (or 5, or 10) questions in a row right, we’d be guaranteed a really high score.

And you’ve likely also heard that this is a myth: from me, from other teachers, from Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Rudner, Chief Psychometrician of GMAC (the organization that makes the GMAT). And yet so many people still talk about it and believe it—so who should we believe?

Let’s talk about this and, hopefully, lay the myth to rest once and for all.

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What are number properties? This concept covers things that we often call basic “ topics that we learned in middle school (or earlier): divisibility, factors and multiples, odds and evens, positives and negatives, and so on. It’s also true, though, that this material can become quite complex. For example, fundamental counting principles are included in number properties, and the more complex problems of this typeare something called Combinatorics which most of us hate. = ) In addition, we’ve all come up against very challenging problems testing a supposedly “simple” concept, such as divisibility.

We face two big challenges in dealing with number properties:
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I’ve spoken with several students recently who are struggling with translating wordy quant problems into the actual math necessary to set up and solve the problem. Some people make too many mistakes when doing this, and others find that, though generally accurate, they take more time than they can afford. In the next two articles (this is part 1!), we’re going to talk about how to translate efficiently and effectively.

We’re going to do this by example: I’ll provide short excerpts from OG or GMATPrep problems, and then we’ll discuss how to know what to do, how to do the actual translation, and how to do so efficiently. Note that I’m not going to provide the full text of problems “ and, therefore, we’re not going to solve fully. That’s not our goal today.
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How can the GMAT disguise a prime number (or any other) problem? That’s exactly what we’re going to discuss today! We’re going to use the concept of prime to describe this, but the general process of disguising “ and studying how to decode “ problems is applicable to a great number of problems on the test. Pay particular attention to the end of the article; you can use these concepts when studying a number of different GMAT content areas. Read more

This week, we’re going to discuss one of the most common critical reasoning problem types: Weaken the Conclusion. If you haven’t yet, read this article before we try our GMATPrep problem. Then set your timer for 2 minutes and go!

* Tiger sharks are common in the waters surrounding Tenare Island. Usually tiger sharks feed on smaller sharks, but sometimes they have attacked tourists swimming and surfing at Tenare’s beaches. This has hurt Tenare’s tourism industry, which is second only to its fishing industry in annual revenues. In order to help the economy, therefore, the mayor of the island has proposed an ongoing program to kill any tiger sharks within a mile of the beaches.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly calls into question the likelihood that implementation of the mayor’s proposal will have the desired consequences?
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Today we’ve got an inequalities data sufficiency question on tap from GMATPrep. Set your timer for 2 minutes and go!

Is m + z > 0?

(1) m “ 3z > 0
(2) 4z “ m > 0

This is a yes/no data sufficiency question. I’m just going to remind myself of the rules: an always yes answer to a statement is sufficient, an always no answer is also sufficient, and a maybe or sometimes yes / sometimes no answer is not sufficient.
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We’ve been examining the issues of modifiers and meaning quite a bit lately because these topics are both so important on the GMAT. I’ve got another one for you today.This problem is from GMATPrep. Set your timer for 1 minute 15 seconds and go for it!

* “Recently documented examples of neurogenesis, the production of new brain cells, include the brain growing in mice when placed in a stimulating environment or neurons increasing in canaries that learn new songs.
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