Changes to SC / GMAC conference

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi, all

Sorry I've been neglecting your posts here - as you can probably guess from the article I wrote earlier this week, things have been a bit crazy since the GMAC conference last week.

If you want to discuss any of this, do so in the comments of the various blog posts or here in this sticky - we'll try to keep it all in one place.

The below has been edited from the initial post, as more information has become available

Here's the main article on our blog:

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmac/

Keep checking the blog for updates; I just submitted another one to our editor a few minutes ago, so it should post later today.

Two things:

(1) The downplaying of AMERICAN-CENTRIC idioms is great news; you don't have to worry about American-centric language. (Initially, we were told that idioms in general were being phased out, but this info was later clarified - only american-centric language is being phased out.)

(2) The increased emphasis on meaning is not a major change IF you were already studying meaning / addressing meaning in your question analysis. A lot of students, though, try to approach SC in the same way they approach math - give me the rules and I'll apply them. That's a more mechanical approach to grammar and will get you into trouble when the problem is really testing meaning.

Note that some topics we think of as grammar are really meaning issues in disguise - this applies to almost all of modifiers, for example. (Really, what's the most common way to make a modifier mistake? Refer to the wrong thing - that is, mess up the meaning!) So you have already been studying this "meaning" stuff but (a) you may not have thought of it in that way, and (b) you may not have emphasized it enough in your study.

[messi10]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for the info.

Regarding the meaning issue, am I correct in assuming that answer choice A, which is the original sentence, does not always convey the correct meaning? My understanding is that we need to ascertain the intended meaning of the sentence

There has been some debate about this on various forums in the past and given the current news about more emphasis on meaning, it will be useful to get this clarified.

Thanks

Sunil

[rishisbook]

Hey Stacey,

Thanks for the update..We await your update on the GMAC summit on your blog..

Apart from that, i have the same point as Sunil here..

Normally we do consider A) as true intended meaning of the sentence..So, meaning wise it is not advisable to tamper too much with the original..Is that understanding correct?Or do we look out for correct contextual meaning in all 5 choices every time there is apparent meaning issue..

Regards,
Rishi

[StaceyKoprince]

It is possible that the original sentence does NOT contain the correct meaning. The meaning of the original sentence could be illogical or ambiguous in some way; if so, we would need to pick an answer that conveys a logical, consistent meaning.

I just posted another couple of articles about the meaning issue today - check out the blog. Read the article that was posted this morning first, then check out the table of examples from the OG. :)

[nuwalt]

Stacey,

Is MGMAT developing new questions or strategy guide to address the changes made in the GMAT SC questions (that focusses more on meaning rather than grammer). Where can we find more practice questions in addition to the OG?

Also, I was a MGAT student before but didnt take the exam. Right now I am preparing by watching the Class Recordings. Are you new classes focusing more on practicing "meaning" type SCs? How can I catch up to make sure I am on the victim of these new style SCs in the exam? Your help is much appreciated.

Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

We were always teaching meaning and the OG already has tons of questions that touch on meaning - it has always been an issue - so you can still use the materials to help you with that. A lot of times we can "get away with" using only grammar and ignoring meaning, so you need to go back over those questions again while paying attention to meaning this time (if you weren't before).

Take a look at our blog (all last week) for a list of OG12 questions and discussion of meaning issues - but everything's already out there. They're just increasing the proportion of Qs that deal with this issue. (It'd be like saying they're going to test geometry more in future. You already have what you need - there'll just be more proportionally.)

[gmatwork]

Hello Stacey,

Two questions for you -

a) How much should we study for Idioms. I guess we can't completely ignore them since there is a good chance we will see some of them on the exam. Do you think covering up basic idioms discussed in MGMAT SC Guide will be enough?

b) Usage of 'that' and 'which' in the clause that acts as a modifier - 'which' clause modifies the noun right before (in some exceptions modifies noun + prepositional phrase)

Does the essential modifier starting with 'that' also modify the noun right before in all instances or it can modify modify the whole clause/phrase before the essential modifier?

In one of your posts you had mentioned that 'that' has some flexibility and 'which' does not?

[StaceyKoprince]

I'll cover your first question here because it's a strategy question that is directly relevant to the topic of this thread.

For your second question, you're getting into grammar details - you'll have to ask that in the "general verbal" folder. :)

Do still study idioms - and, yes, you should study any idioms you see in our book or in OG12. If you are studying elsewhere and see things that could be considered American-centric idioms (things that are different in British English for example), then you can ignore those things.