<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>larry rudner – GMAT</title> <atom:link href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/tag/larry-rudner/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat</link> <description>GMAT Prep Course, Best GMAT Class & Study Books | Manhattan Prep GMAT</description> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 05 Sep 2019 16:21:45 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2</generator> <item> <title>Meaning Issues in Sentence Correction (part 2)</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/meaning-issues-in-sentence-correction-part-2/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stacey Koprince]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:17:40 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Sentence Correction]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[larry rudner]]></category> <category><![CDATA[meaning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[OG]]></category> <category><![CDATA[sc]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/?p=2111</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Last week, I wrote about meaning issues in sentence correction, and there’s more to say “ so here’s part two of this topic. We’ll keep going till we don’t have anything else to discuss! First and foremost, I want to address something that I keep seeing everywhere “ on the forums, in the comments sections […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/meaning-issues-in-sentence-correction-part-2/">Meaning Issues in Sentence Correction (part 2)</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" style="float: left;margin-right: 10px" src="//cdn.manhattanprep.com/images/gmat/grammar-correction-lolcat.jpg" alt="Out of My Way! This is a Grammar Correction Emergency! lolcat" />Last week, I wrote about <a href="/gmat/blog/2011/09/26/meaning-issues-in-sentence-correction/">meaning issues in sentence correction</a>, and there’s more to say “ so here’s part two of this topic. We’ll keep going till we don’t have anything else to discuss!</p> <p>First and foremost, I want to address something that I keep seeing everywhere “ on the forums, in the comments sections of my articles and blog posts, and so on. People keep saying, But how are we going to study now? Are you going to publish a new book? What can we do? I’m taking the test soon!</p> <p>I’m going to reiterate what I’ve been saying (and forgive me if you already heard this and got the message!): meaning issues have always existed, and there is plenty of existing material from which to study. We just didn’t <em>concentrate</em> as much on meaning before, because we were able to do more simply with grammar. They aren’t putting totally new kinds of SC questions out there “ they’re just increasing the proportion of an already-existing issue.</p> <p>Now, because in the old days, the proportion was skewed more towards pure grammar, we were often able to get away with just studying grammar and not worrying so much about meaning. We can’t get away with that now “ we have to study the meaning as well.<span id="more-2111"></span> Luckily, the existing questions are already FULL of meaning issues, so we have plenty from which to study. Just make sure that you aren’t ignoring the meaning in favor of the grammar. <strong>When you’re studying, make sure you review every issue that you see in the problem in front of you, including any meaning problems “ even if you can get to the answer (on this one) without actually having to use that meaning issue.</strong></p> <p>In last week’s article, I showed six specific examples from OG12 (<em>The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12<sup>th</sup> Edition)</em> and categorized these questions into three broad categories:</p> <p>(1) Meaning is logical and clear in the original but changes in a wrong answer (becomes somehow illogical or unclear or unacceptably changes the meaning of the original)</p> <p>(2) Meaning is <em>incorrect or illogical</em> in the original and is fixed in the correct answer</p> <p>(3) Meaning is ambiguous or unclear in the original and is made clear in the correct answer</p> <p>So these are the three main cases we can have when doing these questions, from a question structure point of view. What else can we generalize here?</p> <h3>Where Do Meaning and Grammar Overlap?</h3> <p>There are a number of places, actually. In fact, I think there would probably be a way to create a meaning error using just about any grammar rule out there “ but there are some grammar rules that fundamentally overlap with meaning quite frequently. In some instances, you could even say the grammar rule is really all about meaning in the first place. Here are the main ones.</p> <p><strong>Modifiers</strong></p> <p>The whole purpose of a modifier is to provide extra information about something else in the sentence “ and the placement of the modifier is usually a key factor in telling us what that modifier is modifying. In fact, there’s a whole category of modifier errors “ misplaced modifiers “ that is all about messing up the meaning of the sentence by placing a modifier next to the wrong thing. Why is a misplaced modifier incorrect? Because it doesn’t make sense! Here’s an example of a misplaced modifier:</p> <blockquote><p>Bob walked around the block, who was exhausted after a long day at work.</p></blockquote> <p>Wow, I wonder what the block does for a living? Oh, right “ Bob was the one who was working, of course, not the block! Okay, so modifiers are one major source of potential meaning errors.</p> <p><strong>Pronouns</strong></p> <p>How about pronouns? Pronouns can be a major source of illogical or ambiguous meaning. Take a look at this:</p> <blockquote><p>Bob walked his dog, Joe, until he was exhausted.</p></blockquote> <p>Who was exhausted “ Bob or the dog? It’s possible for a dog or a person to become exhausted, so the meaning here is ambiguous. It doesn’t say until <em>they</em> were exhausted, so the sentence is only pointing to one of them, Bob or the dog. But which one?</p> <p><strong>Verb Tense</strong></p> <p>Verb tenses are also a significant potential source of meaning error. It turns out that we know what verb tense to use based upon the <em>meaning</em> of whatever we’re trying to convey. Can I say, Yesterday, I will go to the store? No, of course not, because yesterday indicates that I am giving information in the past tense.</p> <p>How about this? Put some form of the verb to travel in the blank in the next sentence:</p> <blockquote><p>By 2003, she __________ out of the country three times.</p></blockquote> <p>She travels? She will travel? She traveled? Getting closer, but still not quite there. We want to say had traveled (past perfect). Why? How did we know that? I didn’t even give you any multiple choice options.</p> <p>The meaning of the sentence tells us. By 2003 indicates that we’re talking about something that happened before 2003 “ that is, in the past. Further, we’re talking about two different times in the past here “ 2003 and whatever happened before 2003. That’s a classic setup for the past-perfect tense, which indicates the earlier of two past actions. By 2003, she had traveled out of the country three times.</p> <p><strong>Comparisons</strong></p> <p>One particular type of comparison error is all about meaning:</p> <blockquote><p>My hair is longer than my sister.</p></blockquote> <p>Um. Wow. Either your hair is really long or your sister is really short. J When we compare two things that aren’t really comparable, that’s called an apples-to-oranges comparison “ and the whole problem with such comparisons is that it just <em>doesn’t make sense</em> to compare those two things. As with the previous categories we discussed, there are a ton of these examples in the OG. They’re not quite so obvious as my little example above, but this is a very common error type on official questions.</p> <p>Those are the four main ones that I identified as I was going through OG12 last week. There are all kinds of ways to toss in meaning problems, though, so do look through the <a href="/gmat/blog/2011/09/26/list-of-official-guide-problems-that-deal-with-meaning/">list I posted on this blog</a> if you haven’t already. Ideally, you’d want to look through the questions yourself before you then read what I’ve written about them “ just to see whether you can identify the same issues that I did. (Note, also, that the list is not completely comprehensive. Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of ambiguity surrounding what constitutes a meaning issue, so I tried to make the list as clean as I could and didn’t include things that I felt weren’t very strong or might be arguable.)</p> <h3>Key Takeaways:</h3> <p>(1) Meaning issues already exist in many official problems, so we have lots of study material. In problems where you can get away with answering without having to address a meaning issue, don’t be lazy. Still make yourself study the meaning issue in case you see a different problem that doesn’t offer you a more straightforward grammar reason for eliminating a wrong answer.</p> <p>(2) Grammar and meaning overlap quite a bit “ there are certain common grammar categories that are really about meaning. Examples include many types of modifiers (especially noun modifiers), pronouns, verb tenses, and apples-to-oranges comparisons.</p> <p>(3) Because we don’t have a huge number of examples of wrong answers that are grammatically okay but have a faulty meaning, try doing some drills where you look first for meaning issues and only deal with grammar after that. On the real test, you can still look for grammar issues first, if you’re more comfortable with those, but when you hit a wall and need to switch to meaning, you’ll know what to do.</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/meaning-issues-in-sentence-correction-part-2/">Meaning Issues in Sentence Correction (part 2)</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Update from Larry Rudner on Idioms, etc.</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/update-from-larry-rudner-on-idioms-etc/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[cclay]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:41:27 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sentence Correction]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAC]]></category> <category><![CDATA[idioms]]></category> <category><![CDATA[larry rudner]]></category> <category><![CDATA[meaning]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/?p=2103</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Since the GMAT Prep summit, we have been covering what the changes that were described there mean based on what Larry Rudner, GMAC vice president of research and development and chief psychometrician, has told us. Now he has written an official response, which we have re-posted below. Hopefully this will further clarify what those differences […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/update-from-larry-rudner-on-idioms-etc/">Update from Larry Rudner on Idioms, etc.</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" style="float: right" src="//cdn.manhattanprep.com/images/gmat/rudner-gmac.jpg" alt="Larry Rudner, GMAC R and D VP" />Since the GMAT Prep summit, we have been covering what the changes that were described there mean based on what Larry Rudner, GMAC vice president of research and development and chief psychometrician, has told us. Now he has written an official response, which we have re-posted below. Hopefully this will further clarify what those differences consist of and how you can study for the GMAT successfully. You can find the original posting <a title="Idioms, Sentence Correction, and the GMAT Exam" href="//www.mba.com/mbacommunity/MBA_com/b/officialgmat/archive/2011/09/29/idioms-sentence-correction-and-the-gmat-exam.aspx" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> <blockquote> <h3>Idioms, Sentence Correction, and the GMAT Exam</h3> <p>Recently there has been some discussion and questioning about the role and place of idioms and sentence correction as they apply to the skills tested in the GMAT exam. Much of what has been written has been well reasoned but some of what has been written is only partially accurate or reflects some misconceptions. With this posting I hope to put these two important pieces of the GMAT exam in their proper place within the context of what the exam measures and how.</p> <p><strong><span id="more-2103"></span>Idioms:</strong></p> <p>The general categories of language-use skill tested in GMAT Sentence Correction items haven’t changed, and test takers do not need to do anything different to prepare for the Verbal section of the GMAT.</p> <p>For years, GMAC has paid close attention to the growing international make up of GMAT test takers and has worked to assure that the exam is not viewed as “ nor is it actually –an American test. As the GMAT exam has expanded globally and been taken by more students from around the world, GMAC has continually made extra efforts to ensure that newly introduced GMAT items do not depend on familiarity with distinctively American expressions and usages. We have taken steps all along the way to ensure global fairness and appropriateness.</p> <p>Still, every language everywhere in the world consists of idioms, or standard constructions that are not literally derived from the most basic rules of grammar and vocabulary. Some Sentence Correction items continue to pose reasoning tasks that incorporate English language, NOT American, idioms. These are not intended to test specialized knowledge of colloquialisms and regionalisms.</p> <p><strong>Grammar in Sentence Correction:<br /> </strong></p> <p>In recent years, GMAT item writers have been concentrating on the reasoning aspects rather than the purely grammatical aspects of Sentence Correction skills. As always, test takers need to carefully read the prompt in order to choose the answer that produces the most effective sentence. This means that while two sentences may both be grammatically appropriate, the correct answer is the sentence that is most effective, the sentence that better expresses the idea.</p> <p>The end result is a GMAT exam that doesn’t test simply a person’s ability to memorize grammatical rules or recognize idioms for their colloquial meanings but a test that rewards reasoning regardless of the test takers background.</p> <p>The recent back and forth around whether idioms are in or out or how sentence correction works, ignores the fact that the core purpose of the exam hasn’t ever changed, even as the way we treat certain categories of questions in order to meet the needs of our ever expanding marketplace may have. The GMAT exam tests higher order reasoning and preparing for the exam remains an exercise in developing and exercising those skills.</p></blockquote> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/update-from-larry-rudner-on-idioms-etc/">Update from Larry Rudner on Idioms, etc.</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Update on Idioms on the GMAT</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/update-on-idioms-on-the-gmat/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stacey Koprince]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:34:08 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[idioms]]></category> <category><![CDATA[larry rudner]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/?p=2064</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>This is an update on Stacey’s previous articles, posted earlier this week. Two very important things: (1) Larry just got back into the office and was able to check on some of these idiom issues (he was traveling earlier this week). He was able to clarify that American-centric idioms and expressions are the ones that […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/update-on-idioms-on-the-gmat/">Update on Idioms on the GMAT</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>This is an update on Stacey’s previous articles, posted earlier this week.</em></p> <p>Two very important things:</p> <p>(1) Larry just got back into the office and was able to check on some of these idiom issues (he was traveling earlier this week). He was able to clarify that <strong>American-centric</strong> idioms and expressions are the ones that they have dropped / been dropping. Idioms that are <em>not</em> American-centric are <em>still in</em>. That’s all he’s told me so far – he said “more to come” in his email. I’ll let you know when I have more.</p> <p>This, of course, begs the question: which ones are American-centric and which ones aren’t? Unfortunately, there isn’t a definitive list of the idioms which do get tested (and there are thousands of idioms in the language), so we can’t just point and say “study this, don’t study that.” My guess is that the ones that we see in OG12 have probably already been mostly stripped of American-centric idioms, because they published that after they decided to start getting rid of the American-centric stuff.</p> <p>So the lesson there is to study what you see in official questions (which, interestingly, was what we already said before because there are, as we’ve noted, so many idioms in the language). Also – if you have learned non-American English (British English, for example) and see something where you think “really? I thought that was <something else that you learned>” – then ignore that one.</p> <p>(2) I want to reiterate something else: <strong>these aren’t major changes</strong>, though they are news and we do want to take action. In particular, meaning has always been there – it’s just that there are proportionally more questions now. If you have been studying meaning, then you should be okay whether you have to answer 3 or 5 or 8 questions that hinge on meaning. (Note – I’m making those numbers up – we don’t know how many questions will test meaning.) And meaning has been on GMATPrep CATs and other CATs as well, so you have been seeing meaning issues when you take CATs.</p> <p>If you have been neglecting meaning… then you have some work to do. But that would’ve been the case even if they hadn’t said they’ve got more questions that revolve around meaning now. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p> <p>And re: the idioms, see above.</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/update-on-idioms-on-the-gmat/">Update on Idioms on the GMAT</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Update on the GMAT Changes: From Larry Rudner</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/update-on-the-gmat-changes-from-larry-rudner/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stacey Koprince]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:53:43 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Announcements]]></category> <category><![CDATA[News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAC]]></category> <category><![CDATA[larry rudner]]></category> <category><![CDATA[news from the summit]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/?p=2048</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>This article is an update from Stacey Koprince’s Monday article. I received a reply from Larry (Dr. Rudner – whom I quote in the article). He’s traveling right now, so can’t check specific details of problems and what is or isn’t included idiom-wise, but he did have this to say (quotes from him): “I had […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/update-on-the-gmat-changes-from-larry-rudner/">Update on the GMAT Changes: From Larry Rudner</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>This article is an update from Stacey Koprince’s <a href="/gmat/blog/2011/09/19/idioms-myths-and-more-news-from-the-gmac/">Monday article</a>.</em></p> <p>I received a reply from Larry (Dr. Rudner – whom I quote in <a href="/gmat/blog/2011/09/19/idioms-myths-and-more-news-from-the-gmac/">the article</a>). He’s traveling right now, so can’t check specific details of problems and what is or isn’t included idiom-wise, but he did have this to say (quotes from him):</p> <blockquote><p>“I had no idea that students were studying idioms in preparation for the GMAT and that this is a big deal.”</p></blockquote> <p>–>So it’s good that we told him! I think this is a to-be-expected disconnect between the publicly-released – and by definition older – materials that we all see, such as the OG, and the new materials – but super-secret and not released – that he works with now. We have to go by the older stuff, of course, but he and his team are working exclusively with the newer stuff and don’t necessarily realize what we don’t know.<span id="more-2048"></span></p> <blockquote><p>“We have been phasing them [idioms] out ever since our transition to truly managing the test ourselves in 2006. Idioms of all forms, as well as anything that is unnecessarily US centric, do not belong on any test that is used globally, and certainly not on a test designed to measure reasoning skills as opposed to basic skills.”</p></blockquote> <p>–> So, yes, they really are trying to minimize bias against non-native speakers / international testers.</p> <p>Larry writes a column once every – I forget, either every month or every 2 months – and he’s going to put idioms on his topic list. He may not be able to address this topic in his very next article, but he does want to address idioms when he can. Once he does, I’ll get a copy and tell you what I think of what he says (much as I did for the conference).</p> <p>I also suggested to him that a great theme in general for an article or ongoing series would be “Don’t stress about X” where X = things that either aren’t tested or aren’t very commonly tested. He does like that idea and hopes to do something like that in future as well. If he does, I’ll make sure to distribute a link so you can all read it! (And maybe there should be another one called “DO stress about Y!”)</p> <p>Okay, so what does this mean? First, on the idiom issue, put these much lower on your priority list. They should be at the level of “if I want a REALLY high score or if I have extra time, I’ll look at this stuff, although I may not actually see any of it on test day.” Other things on this list: super-convoluted combinatorics problems, 3-D geometry, coordinate geometry that goes beyond lines, some of the very minor / uncommon CR question types, etc.</p> <p>IF, though, you are a non-native speaker who really struggles with idioms and you plan to go to an English-speaking business school, then you may want to study that stuff (over a longer period of time and even while in business school) in order to improve your English language skills in general.</p> <p>On the meaning issue, you should already – hopefully – have been studying meaning anyway. It was always a significant test component; it has just been increasing in prominence over the last few years. Also, just be aware that some things you may currently think of as grammar alone are also meaning issues – for example, misplaced modifiers. Why are they misplaced? How do you know? Because, for example, they refer to the wrong thing – that is, they mess up the meaning. You could argue that modifiers in general are really all about meaning, and you’ve already been studying those, right? (I hope so!)</p> <p>So for the meaning stuff, this isn’t a totally bizarre, radical change. It’s mostly more of the same. Do make sure that you are thinking about these sentences from the point of view of both grammar and meaning. Many students will zero in so much on grammar / construction that they try to make it very mechanical, almost like math… and then meaning will trip you up. You might be able to get away with that on a lot of current OG problems, but you’ll get tripped up on others – and those others are the ones that are becoming more common today.</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/update-on-the-gmat-changes-from-larry-rudner/">Update on the GMAT Changes: From Larry Rudner</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Idioms, Myths and More: News from the GMAC</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/idioms-myths-and-more-news-from-the-gmac/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stacey Koprince]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:57:55 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Announcements]]></category> <category><![CDATA[News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAC]]></category> <category><![CDATA[larry rudner]]></category> <category><![CDATA[news from the summit]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/?p=2003</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>by Stacey Koprince, Manhattan GMAT Instructor I just got back from the biennial GMAC Test Prep Summit. (Quick: what does biennial mean? Just in case you see the word in a question!) We discussed a number of very interesting things. Don’t worry “ I won’t totally geek out on you “ but some of what […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/idioms-myths-and-more-news-from-the-gmac/">Idioms, Myths and More: News from the GMAC</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>by <a href="/gmat-prep-gmat-instructor-koprince.cfm">Stacey Koprince</a>, Manhattan GMAT Instructor</em></p> <p><img decoding="async" style="float: left;margin-right: 10px" src="//cdn.manhattanprep.com/images/gmat/gmac_logo.gif" alt="GMAC Logo" />I just got back from the biennial GMAC Test Prep Summit. (Quick: what does biennial mean? Just in case you see the word in a question!) We discussed a number of very interesting things. Don’t worry “ I won’t totally geek out on you “ but some of what we discussed will be useful for you even if you don’t make your career in test prep. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p> <p>In this article, we’re going to discuss information from the conference that is relevant to everyone taking the test right now (or soon). Most of the key bits were gleaned from the presentations of Dr. Lawrence M. Rudner, Chief Psychometrician of GMAC. All quotes and statistics throughout this article are courtesy of Larry. Keep an eye out for a future article in which we’ll dive a bit more deeply into the Next Generation GMAT, which will launch in June of 2012. (Oh “ and biennial means every 2 years.)<span id="more-2003"></span></p> <h3> The myths are still myths</h3> <p>The earlier questions are not worth more. Accuracy is not more important than timing. We knew that already. Larry specifically made a point of reiterating these messages and asking for our help in disseminating the information “ it really bothers him that the myths are still floating around out there, and it bothers me, too. This misinformation can cause students to receive lower scores than they might have otherwise. The whole point of my job as a teacher is to help people get better scores “ so I definitely don’t want to see anyone fall short of a goal because he believed a myth that we could have dispelled.</p> <p>Also, I know you’ve heard this before, but it bears repeating:</p> <p>There is a severe penalty for not completing the GMAT test.</p> <p align="right">“ Larry Rudner</p> <p>For those who may not have seen the data before, Larry again showed us real data showing how a 70<sup>th</sup> percentile test taker would drop if she left the last five questions blank. Assuming that she was at the 70<sup>th</sup> percentile when she ran out of time, that student would end up with a 55<sup>th</sup> percentile score “ a 15-percentile-point drop! (Note: the magnitude of the drop can change depending upon the scoring level. As a general rule, the higher the score, the more of a drop if you leave questions blank or have a string of wrong answers at the end.)</p> <h3>Sentence Correction is more and more about meaning rather than grammar</h3> <p>We’ve already been speculating about this and other Sentence Correction changes on the forums, and Larry confirmed this one. GMAC has asked ACT (the people who write the actual test questions for GMAC) to emphasize meaning more on SC questions. There are an increasing number of questions in which <em>two</em> or more answer choices are grammatically correct and the key distinction rests upon maintaining the meaning from the question stem. If you’re concentrating solely on the grammar and haven’t learned how to incorporate meaning into your assessment, you’re going to find the real GMAT harder.</p> <p>If you’d like to see some examples of what I’m talking about, crack open your Official Guide Verbal Supplement 2<sup>nd</sup> Edition and take a look at question 37. Answer choices B and E are both grammatically correct, but only one maintains the original meaning of the question stem. Which one? (I think this is a great study question for multiple reasons, actually “ more on that in a minute.)</p> <p>While there are several superficial differences between the two answers, the major difference is in the placement of the phrase last year. Last year is a modifier that tells us when a specific action or event occurred. What happened last year?</p> <p>According to the original sentence, the earthquake occurred last year. Do both answer choices B and E maintain that meaning? Nope. Only B does. E says that the buildings had been constructed last year. How do we know that?</p> <p><Last year> some <of the buildings> <that were destroyed or heavily damaged> <in the earthquake> had been constructed</p> <p>The stuff in brackets is all modifiers. The word some is the subject and the verb is had been constructed. Of the buildings modifies some. that were destroyed modifies buildings and in the earthquake modifies destroyed or damaged. In other words, the subject some has a bunch of modifiers following it, but the modifier last year precedes the subject. Last year has to modify some kind of an action or event. The subject some isn’t an event or action, so last year can’t modify that. The next core part of the sentence is had been constructed, which is an action, so last year modifies that action. Note that, in the original sentence, the modifier last year appears as part of the prepositional phrase in the earthquake last year “ that is, in the original sentence, last year is part of the nested modifiers for the subject, while in answer E, last year has been sort of pulled up to the level of the core sentence. And, voila, the meaning has been changed.</p> <p>The other reason I really love this problem: it also illustrates a case of when we should <em>change</em> the original meaning of the sentence. Most of the time, we’re going to be maintaining the original meaning but sometimes there’s something illogical about that meaning. In question 37, the problem says that some buildings were destroyed and heavily damaged but that doesn’t actually make sense! A building is <em>either</em> destroyed <em>or</em> heavily damaged, but it can’t be both simultaneously because these are two different states on the same continuum. The correct answer, B, switches that and to the more logical or. (Note that answers B and E both make this switch “ they’re both completely grammatically and logically correct, so this one really does come down to the ability to maintain the original meaning of the sentence.)</p> <h3> Stop stressing about idioms</h3> <p><em>Note: a few days after this was originally published, GMAC clarified that only American-centric idioms and expressions have been stripped out of the exam. We have edited the below accordingly so as not to leave any misinformation to confuse other students in the future. (30 Sep 2011)</em></p> <p>When we asked Larry about the relative importance of idioms on the SC section, he said basically zero! They’ve asked ACT to phase these kinds of idioms out completely and, ideally, there <em>already</em> aren’t any more questions that hinge on knowledge of American-centric idioms. (Though he doesn’t guarantee that, yet “ there may still be some.) There are still many regular idioms that apply across all variations of the English language, however, and those idioms are still fair game.</p> <p>That’s really good news, and I applaud GMAC for making this change. The only good reason to test American idioms is when you are specifically trying to test someone’s advanced English-language skills “ for a translation or editing job for the American market, for example. Business is international and business schools care about your ability to communicate and make yourself understood, not whether you have 100% perfect American-based grammar.</p> <h3>More To Come</h3> <p>We’re still parsing through a lot of the data that we received at the Summit; for instance, we’d like to know whether the currently released materials (OG12, etc.) have already been stripped of American-centric language. If so, we can confidently study anything we see in those sources, knowing that we’re not wasting time. As we have more for you, we will definitely share! And, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, we’ll have another article soon with details about the Next Generation GMAT.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 10px">Rudner, Lawrence M. (2011). <em>GMAT Psychometrics</em>. Materials presented at the 2011 GMAC Test Preparation Summit, New York, NY. 15 Sept 2011.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10px">* The text excerpted above from The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2<sup>nd</sup> Edition is copyright GMAC (the Graduate Management Admissions Council). The short excerpts are quoted under fair-use statutes for scholarly or journalistic work; use of these excerpts does not imply endorsement of this article by GMAC.</span></p> <p><em>Update: Please see more in our most recent blog post <a href="/gmat/blog/2011/09/21/update-on-the-gmat-changes-from-larry-rudner/">here.</a></em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/idioms-myths-and-more-news-from-the-gmac/">Idioms, Myths and More: News from the GMAC</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>