800 GMAT

test 1 :

1. year 300 bc is considered redundant
2. one's , one is considered parallel
3. reminescent is not used to describe literary work

Kaplan 2

1. its cannot be used to point to plural. theirs is fine when refering to inanimate object
2. compare only like terms even if preposition is missing
3. In turkey , much as it is France is correct than much like cause use as for verb phrases.. as is a conjunction use it when subject and verb is there. like is a preposition . use it when either sis not subject or verb is not there..

4. In using they , it is unclear but if other one is used go far it
5. and so lose is appropriate
6. ing words are considered wordy in gmat

7. it can never be used to refer a phrase.. it can only be used to refer a subject
8. take care of meaning while plural and singular are used
9. independent classes should not be split my comma
10. ing form if used as a connector must have a clear referent i in the main clause

11. so much ... as is the correct phrase.
12. despite the fact that is wordy
13. being is not always considered wordy

14. in that is considered overl formal . never use it
15. as a means to is right idiom
16. same as x as to y
17. is attributed to or attribute x to y is d right idiom
18. require , ask , request, mandate : subjenctive mood . indicate that the verb must be used in be form.
19. whenever less or fewer is there check if the nouns are countable

Singular Vs Pronoun

1.' of ' is one of the middleman. Remove the word and check it
2. " and" give plural verb .

3. additive words like in addition to, as well as, along with, a , accompanied by, together with, including are all singular

4. or , " either ... or " , neither .. nor follow the subject after or

5. collective nouns are singular : army , audience, administration, class, crowd,faculty , ochestra,team

6. Indefinite pronouns : Anyone, whatever, Someone,everyone,Whoever. someone, something
are all singular except SANAM

Some, Any,None, All,Most depends on the situation

7.. Each and every are always singular , but when followed by subject they follow the
degree of the subject

8. "The number of X " is plural . A number of X is singular
The majority of students are ; the student majority is

9. Subject phrase like " having" , whatever are all singular

Words to look out far in grammer

1. such as ( to give examples)vs like ( to compare two objects...)
2. word placements of words like all, only, daily,following,free
3. if : it should refer to hypothetical situation
4. Words with multiple meanings such as "light"
5. Avoid redundancy . redundant words are as follows

• past experience
• % increase or decrease
• sum total
• being exited. being is almost wrong
  
• before , when shd not be used together
  
• when had had are used next to each other , check if it is really necessary
• possible and may is considered redundant
  

6. known vs unknown : a sentence that expresses certainty over action shd not be changed into one that expresses uncertainity ( shd, might,can would.. etc should not be interchanged)
7. the present participle should not be followed by verb in present tense
8. The prepositional modifier should be present next to the phrase it modifies
9. it, they theirs,its, : all this means proper refering of these words must be checked
10. concise shd be always checked for . its subjective.

• over the way : how
• made an attempt : tried
• have differences : differ

11. The use of article "the"
12.

Maths Mistakes

1. When symbolic questions like a # b are used, a and b could be interchanged
2. 3 feet is one yard..
3. In case of mixture problems , subtract the solute from solvent
4. In case of avg questions , questions made on each side need not be same



1. have trained is not past tense :-(
2. attempt ... to is the correct idiom , not attempt .... at
3. atleast or more ... is considered reundant...
4. In case of arguements , ' positions ' and conclusions denotes the same...
5. use ' and ' to combine non - parallel phrases in sentences

Is it Hillary or Obama ?

That i s the million dollar question for over an year now.. with both of them having a lead at one point of stage.. The real worry for the market is not hillary shd come or Obama shd come.. the question is will democrats make it ..

• As long as it is hillary or obama or hillary with obama leading .. or Obama with hillary leading..the economy will look up rather than giving it back t the republicans
  

Grammer Mistakes Made : Often repeated ones

1. Everyone is a collective noun and all collective nouns must take singular verb.
2. one-hundred-and-twenty percent, Needless to say, are considered wordy
3. after comma, be careful of participial phrases
4. use plural verb whenever subjects are combined with ' and'
5. anticipate shd be followed by gerund.. personnel is group of persons...
6. when plural subject(esp has,have) is used, look for verb, best or better, among or between
7. Whenever "than" is present verb in both sides must be similar.
8.The original contains a verb mood error. “If adolescence was” is improper subjunctive. “Was” should not be used in an “if” clause indicating a hypothetical condition. "If adolescence were” is correct
9. difference between "that" and "which": The modifier uses the relative pronoun “that,” but “that” should only introduce essential modifiers. “Which” is a better choice here, since the modifying phrase is non-essential.
10."in that " is considered overly formal. donot use it in gmat
11. as a means to is correct idiom
12. is attributed to
13. enrollements is plural
14.just as y; so x

Reasoning questions that puzzled me #2 :Good ones

Question # 1

Ellen: All three of Shirley's children have the measles!

Lois: As a matter of fact, all three of Shirley's children are fine!

Accepting the assumption that nobody who has measles is fine, which of the following must be true about this exchange?

A) It is possible that both Ellen and Lois are right about Shirley's children.

B) It is possible that both Ellen and Lois are mistaken about Shirley's children.

C) Either Ellen is right about Shirley's children, or Lois is right about them, but they cannot both be right.

D) Ellen and Lois might both be right about Shirley's children, and they might both be wrong about them.

E) None of these alternatives correctly identifies a possibility for this scenario.

Question #2

In 1973, a remote town first acquired television. Shortly before broadcasts began there, a study was made of children's behavior. A similar study in the same community, after two years of TV, showed that the aggression rate among children of this age had increased by 160%. The conclusion drawn was that TV plays an important role in generating aggressive behavior in children. A second study, covering the same years, was made in two similar communities that had had television for decades. This study showed no change in the aggression rate from 1973 to 1975. The results of the second study:

A) suggest that the prevalence of violent themes in TV programming may be explained by the tendencies toward violence that are deeply-rooted in human nature.

B) indicate that different social groups may react quite differently to similar stimuli.

C) demonstrate that long-term exposure to TV has no more severe effects than short-term exposure.
D) support the conclusion drawn from the first study.
E) disprove the conclusion drawn from the first study.

Question # 3

A valid argument is often defined as one in which it is not possible for all the premises to be true and the conclusion false. A circular argument is sometimes defined as one in which one of the premises is identical to the conclusion. From these definitions we can infer that...

A) Every circular argument is valid as long as its premises are true.

B) Every valid argument is circular.

C) No circular argument is valid.

D) Some circular arguments are valid, and some are not.

E) Some circular arguments are not valid, and some valid arguments are not circular.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANSWERS

(B) These two statements are called 'contraries.' That is, they cannot both be true, but they can both be false. The latter would valid if, for example, two of Shirley's children had measles and the third one was fine. But no combination of illness and health in Shirley's children will allow both Ellen and Lois's statements to be true. (C) is incorrect because there is no reason why either one of them has to be correct. Both Ellen and Lois could be wrong.

***********************************************************************************************************

(A) This is a complicated question and requires a complicated explanation. It is important to keep in mind just what the reported results are. Perhaps most importantly, nothing is said about the absolute values of the aggression rates, but only about changes in the rates. And nothing is said about how the rates in the other two communities compared with those of the first. The first study correlated two changes-the change from no TV to TV in 1973 and the change in aggression rates from 1973 to 1975. And the tentative conclusion is that the first of these changes was the cause of the second change. The second study focused on communities in which there was no change of the first sort-they were already well accustomed to TV in 1973. (Thus the second study focuses on a sort of natural 'control group.') That study found that there was no change of the second type - aggression rates in those communities remained constant from 1973 to 1975. The second study thus tends to reduce the plausibility of the suggestion that some change other than the introduction of TV caused the rise in aggressiveness in the first community (it acts as a 'control' to this experiment.) If there were some other cause, at least it doesn't seem to have been acting in the communities of the second study. And that reduces the range of possible candidates. Thus the second study tends to make more probable the conclusion drawn from the first.

**************************************************************************************************************

(A) Some people find this paradoxical, but it follows directly that circular arguments are valid. If the premises are true, and the conclusion is one if the premises, it must be true. Another trick here is the word 'valid.' Just because an argument is valid, does not mean it is true. Many people will make that false assumption and be thrown off on this question.

GMAT Vs. One Day Cricket Match

Taking a GMAT exam is similar to playing a one day cricket match. In GMAT one has a limited number of questions. In one day cricket match one has limited no of overs to play.

The examiner throws @ you different questions. The questions get increasingly difficult. In cricket, the ball and field placements are set in such a way that it is difficult for an inform batsman.

Its very imperative to forget the previous question , once the GMAT test taker moves on to next question. He should not worry about the outcome of the answer. Instead he should concentrate on the new question. In cricket too once the ball is played, no matter how bad he has played the ball, the batsman should concentrate on the next ball. Evey ball is a new and a different one.

Both mind and physical fitness are important for a cricket player. So does for a GMAT test taker too...
Controversies surround many wickets in cricket match. Similarly correct answers of GMAT questions are controversial.

In the end it really does not matter whether you have won/lost. In GMAT too it doesnot matter whether you score above 700 or not. What matters is you have given your best admist tight schedule and made the best possible attempt.

Corparate Jargons

Management Education is all about jargons.. The real mgmt is learnt more on the real life work rather than on schools.. Enjoy the popular used ones here...

Tough Critical Reasoning questions #1

1. The fewer restrictions there are on the advertising of legal services, the more lawyers there are who
advertise their services, and the lawyers who advertise a specific service usually charge less for that service
than lawyers who do not advertise. Therefore, if the state removes any of its current restrictions, such as the one
against advertisements that do not specify fee arrangements, overall consumer legal costs will be lower than if
the state retains its current restrictions.
If the statements in the passage are true, which of the following must be true?
A. Some lawyers who now advertise will charge more for specific services if they do not have to specify fee
arrangements in the advertisements.
B. More consumers will use legal services if there are fewer restrictions on the advertising of legal service.
C. If the restriction against advertisements that do not specify fee arrangements is removed, more lawyers will
advertise their services.
D. If more lawyers advertise lower prices for specific services, some lawyers who do not advertise will also
5
charge less than they currently charge for those services.
E. If the only restrictions on the advertising of legal services were those that apply to every type of advertising,
most lawyers would advertise their services.

*********************************************************************************
2. A cost-effective solution to the problem of airport congestion is to provide high-speed ground transportation
between major cities lying 200 to 500 miles apart. The successful implementation of this plan would cost far less
than expanding existing airports and would also reduce the number of airplanes clogging both airports and
airways.
Which of the following, if true, could be proponents of the plan above most appropriately cite as a piece of
evidence for the soundness of their plan?
A. An effective high-speed ground-transportation system would require major repairs to many highways and
mass-transit improvements.
B. One-half of all departing flights in the nation’s busiest airport head for a destination in a major city 225 miles
away.
C. The majority of travelers departing from rural airports are flying to destinations in cities over 600 miles away.
D. Many new airports are being built in areas that are presently served by high-speed ground-transportation
systems.
E. A large proportion of air travelers are vacationers who are taking long-distance flights.

************************************************************************************
3. Red blood cells in which the malarial-fever parasite resides are eliminated from a person’s body after 120
days. Because the parasite cannot travel to a new generation of red blood cells, any fever that develops in a
person more than 120 days after that person has moved to a malaria-free region is not due to the malarial
parasite.
Which is the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion above?
A. The fever caused by the malarial parasite may resemble the fever caused by flu viruses.
B. The anopheles mosquito, which is the principal insect carrier of the malarial parasite, has been eradicated in
many parts of the world.
C. Many malarial symptoms other than the fever, which can be suppressed with anti-malarial medication, can
reappear within 120 days after the medication is discontinued.
D. In some cases, the parasite that causes malarial fever travels to cells of the spleen, which are less
frequently eliminated from a person’s body than are red blood cells.
E. In any region infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes, there are individuals who appear to be immune to
malaria.
*********************************************************************************
4. The number of people diagnosed as having a certain intestinal disease has dropped significantly in a rural
county this year, as compared to last year. Health officials attribute this decrease entirely to improved sanitary
conditions at water-treatment plants, which made for cleaner water this year and thus reduced the incidence of
the disease.
10
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the health officials’ explanation for the lower
incidence of the disease?
A. Many new water-treatment plants have been built in the last five years in the rural county.
B. Bottled spring water has not been consumed in significantly different quantities by people diagnosed as
having the intestinal disease, as compared to people who did not contract the disease.
C. Because of a new diagnostic technique, many people who until this year would have been diagnosed as
having the intestinal disease are now correctly diagnosed as suffering from intestinal ulcers.
D. Because of medical advances this year, far fewer people who contract the intestinal disease will develop
severe cases of the disease.
E. The water in the rural county was brought up to the sanitary standards of the water in neighboring counties
ten years ago.
**********************************************************************************
5. The price the government pays for standard weapons purchased from military contractors is determined by a
pricing method called “historical costing.” Historical costing allows contractors to protect their profits by adding a
percentage increase, based on the current rate of inflation, to the previous year’s contractual price.
Which of the following statements, if true, is the best basis for a criticism of historical costing as an economically
sound pricing method for military contracts?
A. The government might continue to pay for past inefficient use of funds.
B. The rate of inflation has varied considerably over the past twenty years.
C. The contractual price will be greatly affected by the cost of materials used for the products.
D. Many taxpayers question the amount of money the government spends on military contracts.
E. The pricing method based on historical costing might not encourage the development of innovative weapons

CAT Debacle 2007 !!

CAT results are out .. and as usual with it has delivered its own bag of surprises and disappointments.

CAT : Common Aptitude exam is the entrance for Management Studies in India. With more than 1,, 50,000 students taking it , it is by far the most competitive exam. Top Mgmt colleges in India like IIM , SP jain take CAT scores. Many institutes coach students for CAT charging exorbitant fees. Next to. Service Industry, the fastest growing in Industry in India is this industry. Many grads from IIMS have turned down hefty job offers to make money in this industry

I myself have attempted CAT sincerely twice. IT challenges both the mental endurance and knowledge...Fortunately or Unfortunately i could not attempt this year too, as I am in jersey city working for my client.

This year it is not much different with a guy in 96 % getting a call and a guy with 98 % has ended up with no calls. Whether a two and half hour exam is the right way of choosing a mgmt grad, CAT will continue to be challenge for young Indians and a backbone for thriving market in India.

MAths fundas to remember

* average speed= total distance/ total time

* average speed = 2 ab /(a+b) ( when a and b are spped to cover to equal distances)

*total work done by A and B in a day ( 1/a+1/b)

*when z^3 < z^2 , z can either be negative or between 0 and 1 ...

* In equation problems in Data sufficiency , look for both positive and negative nos

For example p +q > r +s , when p > r+s and q > r +s .

The above condition is true for positive integers , but may turn out to be false for negative integers

ALL OBVIOUS DATA SUFFICIENCY PROBLEMS HAVE A CATCH

800 scorer Maths strategy

Some of the common strategy used by 800 scorer in maths section.

* Backsolve the problem. Substitute values for variable . start with last option or In case of concrete values use middle option then increase or decre values

* In algebra ,Modify / Rewrite the answer choices in order to work easily

* In geo metry , find out lengths of unknown sides from length of known sides

* Use diagrams/scratch paper to understand problems Cr eate secondary diagrams from existing ones if necessary

* All mixture problem hangs on the formula part = percent * whole

* In data sufficiency, the obvious one will have a catch , look for the catch. Pick the numbers inorder to solve the problem

* Mizture problems can be solved problem using numbers

Common Idioms in GMAT

Questions relating to idioms are quite common .. Some of the standard idioms tested are

1. exposing..... to
2. concerned ........... with or concerned
3.regarded as
4. as long ... as , as far ... as
5. such... as
6. prefer ... to
7. discourage some one 'from attending'...
8.at a rate of
9. to try to xxxx, try and ' and' dont go together
10. so... as to
11. repositories of text
12. afflicted with..
13. just as..... so
14. consider A B ( no consider to be A as B)

Tips while solving uncommon error pattern in GMAT SCs

This piece of mine describes 8 uncommon patterns in SC

* Be systematic while solving expressions. Remove options that are wordy first.

* If Since is used, we cud have present perfect tense.

* Audience,Family take singular verb

* greater than while comparing numbers, more when comparing two subjects

Possible mistakes in GMAT Sentence corrections

1. When three parties are involved check if the meaning of another, each other refer to each other correctly.

2.select direct and simple answers rather than wordy . for example , 'observing' is better than 'by observing'. ... ' considered ' is better than ' being considered'

**quickly testing it is far more direct than testing it quickly

3. singular and pronoun shd match . pronouns refer to the subject of the sentences.

4. sprang, brang are not valid form of verbs. did not spring is more appropriate

5. for describing options whether is more appropriate, for describing hypothetical situation if is appropriate

6. dangling modifiers like 'with assistance of informants ', must modify the word following it

8 uncommon pattern in Sentence correction

1. Meaning : The meaning shd be proper. som sc qs check whether you understood the meaning.

2.Imperfect Options : It s not necessary that the correct sentence shd be.
perfect


3. passive voice : As far as possible avoid passive voice. choose passive voice only if all active voice sentences are wrong

4. Ellipsis : Avoid repetition of sentences

5. Patriciples : Participles are adjectives formed by verb like wanting..

6. Subordination and coordination : conjunctions and, which are to be used.

7. Subjenctive mood : would be, that, I were , are tip off..

8. Numerical Idioms : fewer shd be used for countable objects. less than shd be used for unquantifiable object.

greater than should be used when using nos alone, more than should be used when comparing number of objects