Critical Reasoning

EES GMAT Tip: Always read the CR stimulus first

Every GMAT Critical reasoning question consists of three components: the stimulus, the question stem and the answer choices.

Many of the test preparation books will tell you to read the question stem first. This misguided advice may work for easy, low value questions; however, for complex high value questions this technique will waste valuable time. For top scores there is not sufficient time to read the stem, read the stimulus and read the stem again.

Why not read the question stem first?

• Complex questions may add information and conditions to the stimulus, thus reading the stem offers little value and may be confusing.
• Complex, high value questions will often pose two questions this may lead to looking for specific information for one and having to go back for the second. There simply is not time for this.
• After reading the stimulus, many questions are predictable, thus reading the question stem before is a waste of time.

Remember, read the stimulus carefully. You must retain a high level of detail to answer difficult questions correctly.

EES GMAT Tip: 2 important steps for critical reasoning question

1. If the stimulus contains an argument, identify the conclusion

2. Is the argument strong or weak?

If the argument was weak, identifying why it was weak will often lead you to what assumptions were made by the author.  Correct answer choices often play on assumptions and impact the conclusion of the argument.  A smart test taker is able to identify  both the conclusion and the assumptions of any given argument.

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GMAT Reading Comprehension

Tips for GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions

1. Always use the dry erase boards provided at the GMAT testing center. You need to try to eliminate wrong answers first and keep track of them. You will also want to make a quick outline or map of the reading so you can easily find the information for “specific” questions types as they come up.
2. There are two categories of GMAT Reading Comprehension questions to be aware of, general and specific. On your first read of the text you should spend about 2-3 minutes just to get the main idea, tone and purpose paying special attention to signpost words like: however, on the other hand, similarly, likewise etc. With this first, quick read, you should be able to answer most general questions.
3. For general questions be sure to eliminate all specific answers immediately. These are questions which refer to a single paragraph, line number or are too narrow in scope.
4. For specific questions, eliminate all general answers. Use key or lead words in the question to find the specific information in the reading; your notes will guide you quickly to the section.
5. You can also eliminate answer choices which contain extreme words like: always, never, everyone etc. Additionally, if the answer choice is not politically correct or in some way disrespectful to minorities or professionals you can eliminate it.
6. Finally, DO NOT TAKE the GMAT exam until you know what your approximate score will be. Many schools will average your score and they will know if you take the exam and cancel your score. There are many software programs to give you an estimate of how you will score on the real exam, so there’s no reason to waste your hard earned money to “see how you do”. You can download the ETS GMATprep software for free.

Good luck and remember, perfect practice makes perfect!

– Howard Spencer
EES- Executive English Solutions Chile

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EES GMAT Tips for Sentence Correction

Tips for GMAT Sentence Correction:

OK so English isn’t your first language and your overall grammar skills are weak. What can you do to get a respectable score on the GMAT verbal section? For sentence correction questions you need to be able to identify 11 major errors which are used repeatedly in the GMAT Sentence Correction questions.

1. Pronoun error
2. Misplaced modifiers
3. Parallel Construction
4. Verb tense
5. Subject verb agreement
6. Parallelism
7. Quantity words
8. Idioms
9. Wordiness
10. Clarity
11. Redundancy

You don’t need to master the entire English language to do well on the verbal section of the GMAT. You just need to focus on the exam´s most highly tested grammatical aspects and utilize proven stategies that will yield the greatest point gains.

EES GMAT courses will train you to quickly identify these and other key sentence correction concepts to obtain a higher verbal score. Call us today at 335-7781 for a no-cost consultation.

-Howard Spencer
EES-Executive English Solutions Chile

Contáctenos ahora mismo para recibir más información acerca de nuestros Cursos GMAT!