Manhattan Prep GRE Blog

The Math Beast Challenge Problem of the Week – January 28, 2013

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Math BeastEach week, we 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 two free Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides.

gre challenge problem 1

Quantity A

gre challenge problem 1

Quantity B

a + 4b

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Free GRE Events This Week: Jan 28- Feb 3

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Here are the free GRE events we’re holding this week (All times local unless otherwise specified):free

1/28/13– Chicago, IL-Free Trial Class- 6:30- 9:30 PM

1/28/13– Online- Mondays with Jen– 9:00- 10:30 PM (EST)

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

The Math Beast Challenge Problem of the Week – January 21, 2013

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Math BeastEach week, we 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 two free Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides.

How many of the integers that satisfy the inequality (x + 2)2(x + 3)(x “ 1) ≤ 0 are less than 0?

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Free GRE Events This Week: Jan 21- Jan 27

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Here are the free GRE events we’re holding this week (All times local unless otherwise specified):free

1/22/13– Los Angeles, CA-Free Trial Class- 6:30- 9:30 PM

1/22/13– New York, NY- Free Trial Class– 6:30- 9:30 PM

1/23/13– Atlanta, GA- Free Trial Class– 6:30- 9:30 PM

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

Free GRE Events This Week: Jan 14- Jan 20

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Here are the free GRE events we’re holding this week (All times local unless otherwise specified):free

1/14/13– Boston, MA- Free Trial Class– 6:30- 9:30 PM

1/14/13– Chicago, IL- Free Trial Class– 6:30- 9:30 PM

1/14/13– Online- Free Trial Class– 8:00- 11:00 PM (EST)

1/14/13– Berkeley, CA- Free Trial Class– 6:30- 9:30 PM

1/14/13– Online- Mondays with Jen– 9:00- 10:30 PM (EST)

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

This Fraction Problem Is Harder Than It Looks

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hard GRE problemI’ve spoken with multiple students lately who received a disappointing (lower than they were expecting) score on the quant section and who all said that the quant felt relatively easy or straightforward. How is that possible?

First of all, thinking that a test like the GRE is easy is actually a warning sign: unless you are poised to get a perfect score, chances are you’re missing something. Some of the questions are really very challenging and they should feel hard even to someone like me (who did get a perfect score on this test! 🙂 ).

Second, the test writers are phenomenal at writing questions that don’t seem all that complicated but are in fact your worst nightmare. My worst nightmare is not an impossible question “ I know I can’t do it, so I just pick an answer and move on. My worst nightmare is a question that I think I can do, and I spend a decent chunk of time doing it, and then I get it wrong anyway “ even though I’m sure I got it right!

The problem I’ve chosen is actually a GMAT problem; I chose it because it perfectly illustrates the point that I’m trying to make, and it is actually in the same form as GRE problems. Try this GMATPrep problem and you might see what I mean. Set your timer for 2 minutes. and GO!

*  Of the 3,600 employees of Company X, 1/3 are clerical. If the clerical staff were to be reduced by 1/3, what percent of the total number of the remaining employees would then be clerical?

 

(A) 25%

(B) 22.2%

(C) 20%

(D) 12.5%

(E) 11.1%

What’s hard about this one? It looks completely straightforward!

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The Math Beast Challenge Problem of the Week – January 7, 2013

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Math BeastEach week, we 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 two free Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides.

100 jellybeans were distributed to a group of 9 people such that the 3 people with the most jellybeans have 60 jellybeans among them, and no one has fewer than 5 jellybeans.  What is the maximum possible ratio of the number of jellybeans held by the person with the most to number of jellybeans held by the person with the least?

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The Math Beast Challenge Problem of the Week – December 17, 2012

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Math BeastEach week, we 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 two free Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides.

gre challenge problem

In the figure above, an unshaded circle with diameter x is surrounded by a shaded region with uniform width of 2.  For what values of x is the area of the unshaded circle greater than the area of the shaded region?

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The Math Beast Challenge Problem of the Week – December 3, 2012

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Math BeastEach week, we 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 two free Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides.

Two cards are drawn consecutively, without replacement, from a deck originally consisting of 4 red and 6 black cards.

Quantity A

The probability that the first card is red

Quantity B

The probability that the second card is red

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Manipulating Inequalities and Absolute Value on the GRE

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Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here.


Most people dislike absolute value, and inequalities can tie us up into knots. Put them together, and we can have some major headaches! Let’s test one out.

Set your timer for 1 minute and 15 seconds for this Quantitative Comparison problem and GO! Read more