1. Be sure to include brief introductory and concluding paragraphs, which are consistent with each
other and with the paragraphs in the body of your essay.

2. Your essay must at least appear to be well organized. Use transition words and phrases to help
the reader follow the flow of your discussion. For ideas, check out the transitional devices I've used
in my sample Issue essays and sample Argument essays.

3. Compose your introductory paragraph last after you've completed the rest of your essay. Why?
Because you essay might evolve somewhat from your initial plan; if you've composed your
introduction first, you might need to rewrite it.

4. For every point you make in a GMAT essay, always provide a reason and/or an example to
support that point!

5. Pay close attention to writing mechanics, grammar, sentence construction, word usage and
diction (whether you've used the right word for the right job). It doesn't matter if your essay contains
brilliant ideas if you can't express them. In short: It's form over substance!!

6. It's okay to refer to yourself in your essays at your option. Just don't overdo it. Phrases such as "I
think," "it is my opinion that" and "in my view" are superfluous and a waste of your typing time.

7. Don't try to impress the reader with your vocabulary. There's nothing wrong with demonstrating a
strong vocabulary. Just don't overdo it; otherwise the readers will suspect that you're using big
words as a smokescreen for poor content.


GMAT  Tips . Analysis of an Issue

Spend at least 3-4 minutes jotting down some points both for and against the statement. In support
of every point try to think of at least one reason or example.

Go for breadth, not depth. Try to cover both polar sides of the issue, and various arguments on
both sides. Don't dwell on one point! (This is the #1 essay blunder committed by GMAT test-takers.)
But don't try to cover everything either; otherwise, you might not have time to develop each of your
ideas--with reasons and examples.

Begin your Issue essay by acknowledging the complexity of the issue and by adopting a position on
it.

Do NOT begin your Issue essay by restating or paraphrasing the statement. (This blunder will wave
a "red flag" to the GMAT readers who will assume from the outset that you lack ideas of your own.)

Don't waste time thinking about what position on the issue you should adopt or what position a
GMAT reader would want you to adopt. The readers don't care about your opinions; what they do
care about is how persuasively you support your position with relevant reasons and examples, and
how effectively you communicate your ideas.

Your final paragraph should contain no more than two sentences, and should recapitulate (sum up)
your argument reiterating where you stand on the issue "in the final analysis," and why. Don't
introduce any new examples, reasons, or ideas in your summary paragraph.

Analysis of an Issue
(1 Question--30 Minutes)
"The media today place too much emphasis on provocative images, and not enough emphasis on
the ideas and events behind those images."

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the foregoing statement? Use reasons and/or
examples from your experience, observation, and/or reading to explain your viewpoint.

Below is a sample response to this question. As you read the response, keep in mind: This
response meets all the official criteria for a score of 6 (the highest possible score). This response is
by no means the correct one. (As the official directions state: "There is no correct response.") So
don't worry if, in your response, you adopted an entirely different position on the issue, or if you
used entirely different examples and reasons to support that position.
I didn't compose this response under timed conditions; so don't worry if yours isn't as lengthy or as
polished. Take comfort: You can attain a top score of 6 with a briefer and less-polished essay.

Sample Response (540 Words)

Upon first glance at today's media--whether broadcast or print--it would appear that the speaker is
correct. However, in my view the media's emphasis on image is largely justifiable. Moreover, the
speaker understates the extent to which the media also covers the substance behind those images,
as discussed below. I concede that the media today do place considerable emphasis on image.
Advertisements are increasingly resorting to fast-moving, sexy, images. In fact, advertisements
which provide no product information whatsoever--not even about what the product looks like or
how it is to be used--are becoming increasingly common. Also, while tabloid magazines and
television programs abound, intelligent discourse can be found sparingly only on public television
and a few other arts and education
Channels, and among the stacks of scholarly journals at our libraries and at obscure websites. And,
despite television's tremendous potential for airing the vital political issues of the day, the brief
sound bites from our self-conscious politicians today hardly meet that potential.

Whether this emphasis on image is justifiable, it is certainly understandable--at least with respect to
advertising--for two reasons. First, products are becoming more and more fungible these days;
consider automobiles, for instance. Since they vary little from one make to another today, marketers
are forced to resort to image for product differentiation. The second reason has to do with the fact
that we are becoming an increasingly busy society. In the U.S., for instance, the average workweek
is now over 65 hours, compared to 40 a generation ago. Meanwhile, the number of goods and
services competing for our attention seems to grow exponentially. Thus, how can the growing
number of businesses compete for our limited time except by resorting to attention-grabbing
images?

However understandable this focus on image, is it nevertheless unjustifiable, as the speaker
implies? Media critics point out that undue focus on appearances and images amounts to an appeal
to our emotions and our baser, prurient instincts--rather than to our intellect and reason. Taken to
an extreme, argue the critics, such focus facilitates irrationality, and even sanctions demagoguery.
The result is that we dissuade ourselves as a society from engaging in the sort of informed debate
needed for any democracy to survive, let alone thrive. I might be convinced by the critics were the
media to withhold the substance underlying the images; but they do not. Behind most newspaper
headlines, magazine cover stories, and reputable Internet home pages is a wealth of substantive
content; we simply need to look for it.

In sum, although I wholeheartedly agree that the media should not sacrifice substance merely to get
our attention, the speaker overlooks that the substance is in fact there. Besides, without substance
the products, services, politicians, artists, authors, and others behind all those provocative images
eventual wither. Sexy cars that are proven unsafe are redesigned or discontinued; politicians who
don't follow through on promises are soon defeated; musicians who lack artistry and originality fade
into oblivion; and authors without important ideas eventually lose an audience. In the final analysis,
it is not the media's job to wave ideas and events in front of us; rather, it is up to us to look for them
behind the hoopla and the headlines.

. Here are some Quick Tips for tackling the GMAT "Argument" writing task:

Spend 4-5 minutes brainstorming and jotting down the logical problems you intend to identify and
discuss in your essay. Then number these problems from most serious to least serious. Present
them in that order in your essay.

Each argument in the official test bank contains 2-4 major logical fallacies or other logical problems.
(That's how the test-makers design them.) To score high you must identify and discuss each major
logical problem. Here are the ones that appear most frequently among the arguments in the official
test bank:
.
Generalizing from particulars (relying on a small number of particular cases too small to reach a
reliable general conclusion)
Confusing chronology with causation (because one event occurs after another, the earlier event
caused the later event)
Drawing an unfair analogy (ignoring relevant dissimilarities between two things when comparing
them)

Go for breadth, not depth. Try to cover every major logical problem with the argument. Don't dwell
on one point! (This is the #1 essay blunder committed by GMAT test-takers.) As a rule of thumb you
shouldn't devote more than 3 or 4 sentences to discussing any one point of your critique.

Avoid Intro-itis. Do NOT begin your essay by rehashing the argument that you intend to critique. A
brief introduction in which you indicate the thrust of the argument and that it is problematic for
several reasons will suffice. Your time is far better spent delving directly into your critique of the
argument. (Just as with the Issue essay, intro-itis will wave a "red flag" to the GMAT readers who will
assume from the outset that you lack ideas of your own.)

In addition to identifying each major logical problem with the argument, always discuss
.
what additional information is needed to better evaluate the argument, and/or
what additional evidence (facts) would serve to strengthen the argument.
.
Include these points in your essay's final paragraph.

Analysis of an Argument
(1 Question--30 Minutes)
The following appeared in a recent report by the Fern County planning commission:

"In light of the increasing percentage of our nation's population turning to the Internet as a source
of reference material, Fern County should close the ancillary branch of its public library, and
convert that facility into a computer training center for use by county residents. The converted
facility would fill what is certain to be a growing need among Fern residents for computer training. At
the same time, since the county library's main branch already contains more volumes per resident
than any other county library in the state, it will adequately serve the needs of Fern County
residents. Moreover, Fern residents are sure to support this plan; after all, in nearby Mesa County
only a few residents have objected to that county's plan to close all but one of its public libraries in
the near future."

Discuss how logically convincing you find this argument. In your discussion, you should analyze the
argument's line of reasoning and use of evidence. It may be appropriate in your critique to call into
question certain assumptions underlying the argument and/or to indicate what evidence might
weaken or strengthen the argument. It may also be appropriate to discuss how you would alter the
argument to make it more convincing and/or discuss what additional evidence, if any, would aid in
evaluating the argument.

.
Below is a sample response to this Argument. As you read the response, keep in mind : This
response meets all the official criteria for a score of 6 (the highest possible score). I didn't compose
this response under timed conditions, so don't worry if yours isn't as lengthy or as polished. Take
comfort: You can attain a top score of 6 with a briefer and less-polished essay.

Sample Response (550 Words)

In this argument the Fern County planning commission recommends converting a library into a
computer-training facility. However, the committee's recommendation rests on numerous unproven,
and dubious, assumptions--about the impact of Internet access on libraries, about Fern County
residents, about the adequacy of the main library, and about Mesa County and its residents. As a
result, the committee's argument is unconvincing at best, as discussed below.

To begin with, the committee's argument rests on two unsubstantiated assumptions involving the
cited national trend in Internet usage. One such assumption is that increasing use of the Internet as
a reference source will necessarily result in decreased use, or demand, for public libraries. While
this might be the case, the commission must provide firm evidence to substantiate this assumption;
otherwise, it is equally plausible that the cited trend will actually enhance the popularity of libraries
by stimulating intellectual and cultural interest. A second such assumption is that Fern residents
reflect the national trend. The committee provides no substantiating evidence for this crucial
assumption; lacking such evidence, it is entirely possible that Fern residents have little interest--for
whatever reason--in using the Internet for this purpose, and therefore that the proposed plan is not
in their best interests.

Another problem with the argument involves the report's assertion that that there is certain to be a
growing need in Fern County for computer training. In context, this claim appears to be based on
the national trend in Internet usage. Yet even assuming Fern residents reflect this trend, it is
entirely possible that Fern residents as a group are already highly proficient in using computers and
the Internet. If so, Fern residents might very well prefer the status quo, and would not support the
proposed plan.

Yet another problem with the argument involves the fact that Fern County's main library boasts a
large number of books per resident. This fact alone is scant evidence that the main branch is
adequate to service county residents. The committee overlooks the possibility of a future influx of
county residents. The committee also ignores that the library's value lies not just in the quantity of
its books but also in the quality of its books. Thus without reliable demographic projections and
detailed information about
the main library's inventory vis-a-vis the needs of Fern's residents, the committee cannot convince
me that the main branch alone would serve the needs of county residents.

A final problem involves Mesa's plan to close all but one library. We are not informed whether Mesa
residents are yet aware of the County's plan. Even if the plan has been made public, the fact that it
has met little opposition does not necessarily mean that residents as a whole support the plan.
Perhaps Mesa residents as a group are not inclined to voice their opinions. Or perhaps as a group
they are far less concerned about library access--for whatever reason--than Fern residents are.

In sum, the argument is unconvincing as it stands. To strengthen it, rather than relying on a dubious
analogy between Fern and Mesa counties, the commission should provide better
evidence--perhaps by way of a countywide survey--that Fern residents will increasingly use the
Internet as a substitute for the ancillary library branch, and that they would benefit from a new
computer-training center.

 

An absolute phrase is a modifier (quite often a participle), or a modifier and a few other words, that attaches to a sentence or a noun, with no conjunction. An absolute phrase cannot contain a finite verb.

Absolute phrases usually consist of a noun and a modifier that modifies this noun, NOT another noun in the sentence. Absolute phrases are optional in sentences, i.e., they can be removed without damaging the grammatical integrity of the sentence. Since absolute phrases are optional in the sentence, they are often set off from the sentence with commas or, less often, with dashes. We normally explain absolute phrases by saying that they modify entire sentences, rather than one word. This is an important concept, since many similar phrases that we work with modify other words. For example, adjectives modify nouns, and adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. That said, however, in some cases, it seems to make more sense to say that absolute phrases modify nouns. We will look at some of these examples a bit later.

 

First, let's look at some examples of absolute phrases:

• Her determination stronger than ever, Nexisa resolved not to give up until she had achieved her dreams.
  
  
• The sun shining bright and the pale blue sky forming a backdrop of the Sacre Coeur, Carl stepped into his future as a traveler and observer.
  
  
• Still young boys, Matt and Erin Billy awoke early one Christmas morning with sleepy eyes, completely unaware that they were sleeping not in the beds they had gone to sleep in, but in one of their presents that year -- a new set of bunk beds.
  
• We finished the hearty meal quickly, our appetites satisfied, our minds at peace.
  
  
• All things being equal, the active voice tends to be correct more often than the passive on standardized tests.
  
  

 

Please notice that in every case the absolute phrase provides some sort of information that works to put the whole sentence or idea in context. Please also notice that the absolute phrases themselves do NOT contain verbs, nor are they connected to the main sentence with a conjunction. Finally, please notice that the primary components of most (but not all) of these absolute phrases are a noun + a modifier, although it is possible to use only a modifier.

 

Here is the next pattern we should know:

noun
+
participle phrases

This is one of the most common ways to form an absolute phrase. It might be helpful for some people to imagine this pattern with a verb between the noun and the participle. For example, if you say "The question was still unanswered", you have a complete sentence; if, on the other hand, you say "The question unanswered" and you then attach that phrase to a main sentence, then you have an absolute phrase.

 

Here are some examples. The absolute phrases look like this.

• The question still unanswered, the teacher decided to address the confusion of her students more closely.
  
  
• The train running late, we decided to get off at the next stop and take a taxi home.
  
  
• There are many industries in California vital to its economy, with technology being one of the most important.
  
  

  
   

  Compare these sentences with the verbs and conjunctions in them:
  

• The question was still unanswered, and the teacher decided to address the confusion of her students more closely.
  
  
• The train was running late, so we decided to get off at the next stop and take a taxi home.
  
  
• There are many industries in California vital to its economy, and technology is one of the most important.
  
  

 

Important! Although many of these absolute phrases could be written with the word being in them, more formal English and ETS! tend not to use being when being is optional. If you've studied GMAT Sentence Correction for a while, then you know that the word being raises a big red flag on the test!

 

Here are some examples:

• The movie being over, we left the theater.
  

This sentence could be rewritten like this:

• The movie over, we left the theater.
  

Similarly, having + past participle is often so semantically similar to the sentence without it that many sentences are written without having + past participle.

An example would be very good here:

• Having been chosen to head the committee, Angus Ng thought about how he could help raise money for his chess club at Harvard.
  
  

This sentence could look like this:

• Chosen to head the committee, Angus Ng thought about how he could help raise money for his chess club at Harvard.
  

 

This concept is important for the Sentence Correction section of the GMAT, so if you're preparing for that test, pay attention to this!

 

noun + adjective

Another pattern is to use an adjective after the noun it modifies.

Look at these examples:

• Their meal still not ready after 45 minutes, the hungry and angry customers left the restaurant.
  
  
• His hat in hand and pride in check, Horace asked his former boss for his job back.
  
• The previews still showing, Kelly and Chris decided to leave the theater and enjoy the sunny day.
  

So you already know that the GMAT test is an adaptive test, meaning that your score goes up or down depending on the difficulty of the questions that you answer correctly or incorrectly. On the sentence correction section of the GMAT, the questions that test you on subject/verb inversion tend to be the harder questions, and are therefore worth more points.

So, to raise your GMAT score, you should be very familiar with most or all of the items on this list.

There are at least eighteen types of inversion as listed in the e below:

 
 

 

What does Question form is obligatory mean?
This simply means that you MUST invert the subject and the verb in this construction. In other constructions, inversion is optional, but in these constructions, it is required.
For example, you may say:

• She runs faster than do most of her classmates.
  

(verb comes before the subject)
or

• She runs faster than most of her classmates
  do.
  

(subject comes before the verb)
BUT

• Never have
  I
  heard such a thing!
  

CANNOT become

• XX Never I
  have heard such a thing! XX
  

 

 

Rule

the most important rule for prepositions is:

preposition + noun

This is the TestMagic list of most of the prepositions you will ever see on the TOEFL.

There are a few more prepositions in English that are not listed here, but you will probably not see them on the TOEFL since they are fairly uncommon. This list is very important-you should know at least 90% of this list. And don't forget, after every preposition, we must have a noun, and only a noun; NEVER can we have a verb after a preposition.

Be careful!!

Six (6) of these prepositions can also be subordinating conjunctions. In other words, they can be followed by a noun or by a sentence, depending on the meaning.

Huh? Can you show me some examples??

 

Sure, no problem. Look:

• After lunch, I felt sleepy.

o In this sentence, After is a preposition and is therefore followed by only one noun, lunch (no verb here!!).

• After I worked twelve hours, I felt tired.

o In this sentence, After is a subordinating conjunction and is followed by a sentence, I worked twelve hours.

• I worked until midnight.

o Here, until is a preposition and is followed by a noun, midnight. No verbs, please!!!

• I worked until I felt tired.

o In this sentence, until is a subordinating conjunction and is followed by a sentence, I felt tired.

 

List

1. aboard

2. about

3. above

4. absent

5. according to

6. across

7. after (This one can also be a subordinating conjunction . In other words, it can be followed by a noun or a sentence, depending on the meaning).

8. against

9. ahead of

10. all over

11. along

12. alongside

13. amid or amidst

14. among

15. around

16. as (This one can also be a subordinating conjunction . In other words, it can be followed by a noun or a sentence, depending on the meaning).

17. as of

18. as to

19. as + ADVERB OF TIME + as

20. as early as

21. as late as

22. as often as

23. as much as

24. as many as, etc.

25. aside

26. astride

27. at

28. away from

29. bar

30. barring

31. because of

32. before (This one can also be a subordinating conjunction . In other words, it can be followed by a noun or a sentence, depending on the meaning).

33. behind

34. below

35. beneath

36. beside

37. besides

38. between

39. beyond

40. but

41. by

42. by the time of

43. circa

44. close by

45. close to

46. concerning

47. considering

48. despite

49. down

50. due to

51. during

52. except

53. except for

54. excepting

55. excluding

56. failing

57. for (This one can also be a subordinating conjunction . In other words, it can be followed by a noun or a sentence, depending on the meaning).

58. for all (this means despite)

59. from

60. given

61. in

62. in between

63. in front of

64. in keeping with

65. in place of

66. in spite of

67. in view of

68. including

69. inside

70. instead of

71. into

72. less

73. like

74. minus

75. near

76. near to

77. next to

78. notwithstanding

79. of

80. off

81. on

82. on top of

83. onto

84. opposite

85. other than

86. out

87. out of

88. outside

89. over

90. past

91. pending

92. per

93. plus

94. regarding

95. respecting

96. round

97. save

98. saving

99. similar to

100. since (This one can also be a subordinating conjunction . In other words, it can be followed by a noun or a sentence, depending on the meaning).

101. than

102. thanks to (this means because of)

103. through

104. throughout

105. till

106. to

107. toward or towards (both forms are correct, but toward is considered slightly more formal)

108. under

109. underneath

110. unlike

111. until (This one can also be a subordinating conjunction . In other words, it can be followed by a noun or a sentence, depending on the meaning).

112. unto

113. up

114. upon

115. up to

116. versus

117. via

118. wanting

119. with

120. within

122. without

 

Few Important Points to remember:

• (less preferred) being
  
• As Such
  

  such = nominal equivalent to the foregoing clause.
  

  
   

  Clause1 and as such, Clause2 = clause1, and as clause1, clause2.
  

  Caesarea was Herod's city, founded as a Romanized counterweight to Hebraic Jerusalem, and as such it was regarded with loathing by the devout.
  

  
   

  The meaning of the above sentence is similar to the following:
  

  
   

  Because Caesarea was Herod's city, founded as a Romanized counterweight to Hebraic
  

  Jerusalem, it was regarded with loathing by the devout.
  

  
   

• Reduced Costs = Reduction IN costs (result of reduction)
  

  "Reduction of" is used when reducing by a certain amount. e.g. reduction of 20%.
  

  
   

  Second, for all means despite, and along with means in addition to. I'm sure you'll agree that the meanings are different, right?
  

  
   

  For example:
  

  I haven't visited Bora Bora, and neither has Kerry [visited Bora Bora].
  

  In this case, I can omit visited Bora Bora because it already appears in the sentence.
  

  Let's look at another example:
  

  I haven't visited Bora Bora, and I probably never will visit Bora Bora .
  

  This is wrong, at least on the GMAT, since visited and visit are different.
  

  
   

• It
  

  quote:
  

  Hi, can someone explain the following questions to me? Thanks.
  

  1) Why the answer is E? I chose A
  

  Schliemann determined at the age of seven to find the site of ancient Troy and devoted his subsequent career to do it.
  

  a)...
  

  b) has devoted his subsequent career to do that
  

  c) devoted his subsequent career to such an end
  

  d) has devoted his subsequent career for that
  

  e) devoted his subsequent career to that end
  

  
   

  Option E here is wrong since it uses the pronoun 'it' replaces 'find the site of ancient'
  

  
   

  First off, and you'll get used to this pretty quickly, every single time you see a pronoun, especially the word "it," you MUST CHECK THE ANTECEDENT.
  

  This question is a favorite one--using "it" to replace a sentence. In GMATland, "it" must always replace a noun.
  

  For example, this sentence would be wrong in GMATland:
  

  My little brother said I took his cookies, but I didn't do it.
  

  "it" doesn't replace any noun; it "tries" to replace a sentence: "I took his cookies."
  

  
   

  The correct phrase is "helpful in demonstrating" and not "help to demonstrate".
  

  
   

  • "until" is used to express a point of time in the future. So, (A) would mean that the sale will continue until a certain point in time, and that point in time is when the sale "lasts." That doesn't make sense; if we wanted to use "until" in that sentence, we should say something like "the sale will continue until customers stop coming in."
    

  
   

• "as long as" implies that one thing will occur while another thing is still true;
  

  for example, "we will stay outside as long as it's light out."
  

  
   

• Semicolon: Any sentence after a semicolon (;), should be an independent clause.
  

      
  

  • One of the: The pattern to remember is 'one of the NOUN (this noun will always be plural) + that/who + PLURAL VERB
    

    Example : He is one of the persons who make money.
    

       This is one of the cars that run on hydrogen.
  

  
   

           A number of people are waiting for the bus.
  

           The number of cars in the city is decreasing.
  

           Any of the stockholders who disapprove – is the right use
  

           Three cats, each eat
  

           Three cats, each of which eats
  

  
   

  • Resumptive modifiers
    

    
     

  Since the 1930's aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes with frictionless wings, shaped so smoothly and perfectly that the air passing over them would not become turbulent.
  

  • wings, shaped so smoothly and perfectly
    
    • wings, wings so smooth and so perfectly shaped
      
  • wings that are shaped so smooth and perfect
    
  • wings, shaped in such a smooth and perfect manner（B）
    
  • wings, wings having been shaped smoothly and perfectly so
    

  B is the correct answer.
  

  
   

  Wings is required to unambiguously convey the meaning of the sentence.
  

  A resumptive modifier picks up a word or phrase from a sentence that seems to be finished and then adds information and takes the reader into new territory of thought.
  

  
   

  In a crowded, acquisitive world, the disapperance of lifestyles such as those once followed by southern Africa's Bushmen and Australia's aborigines, requiring vast wild spaces and permitting little accumulation of goods, seem inevitably doomed.
  

  
   

  • requiring vast wild spaces and permitting little accumulation of goods, seem inevitably doomed
    
  • requiring vast wild spaces and permitting little accumulation of goods, seems to be inevitably doomed
    
  • which require vast wild spaces and permit little accumulation of goods, seems to be inevitably doomed
    
  • life-styles that require vast wild spaces and permit little accumulation of goods, seem inevitable
    
  • life-stlyes requiring vast wild spaces and permitting little accumulation of goods, seems inevitable
    

  
   

  E is the correct answer.
  

  
   

  • The Swiss watchmakers' failure to capitalize on the invention of the digital timepiece was both astonishing and alarming — astonishing in that the Swiss had, since the beginnings of the industrial revolution in Europe, been among the first to capitalize on technical innovations, alarming in that a tremendous industrial potential had been lost to their chief competitors, the watchmakers of Japan.
    

    The defensive coaches taught risk-taking, ball-hawking, and perpetual movement — three strategies that bewildered the opposition and resulted in many bad passes, steals, and easy fastbreak baskets.
    

    Another example in the same league…
    

  
   

  Proponents of artificial intelligence say they will be able to make computers that can understand English and other human languages, recognize objects, and reason as an expert does—computers that will be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns, deciding whether to authorize a loan, or other purposes such as these.
  

  (A) as an expert does—computers that will be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns, deciding whether to authorize a loan, or other purposes such as these
  

  (B) as an expert does, which may be used for purposes such as diagnosing equipment breakdowns or deciding whether to authorize a loan
  

  (C) like an expert—computers that will be used for such purposes as diagnosing equipment breakdowns or deciding whether to authorize a loan
  

  (D) like an expert, the use of which would be for purposes like the diagnosis of equipment breakdowns or the decision whether or not a loan should be authorized（C）
  

  (E) like an expert, to be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns, deciding whether to authorize a loan or not, or the like
  

  
   

      C is the answer.
  

  
   

  
   

  e.g. 1) His father demanded that he return home by 9 PM.
  

  Return – Simple present tense
  

  
   

  Demanded- precedes 'that' in the sentence.
  

  
   

1. The manager demanded that the staff stay late to finish the work.
   
2. Jack suggested that Sylvia should buy a new watch – Incorrect (Should must be removed)
   

   Jack suggested that Sylvia buy a new watch.
   

 

List of verbs normally followed by Infinitives

 

afford | agree | appear | arrange | ask | attempt | care | choose | claim | come | consent
dare | decide | demand | deserve | determine | elect | endeavour | expect | fail | get | guarentee
hate | help | hesitate | hope | hurry | incline | intend | learn | long | manage | mean | need
offer | plan | prepare | pretend | promise | refuse | resolve | say | seem | tend | threaten | want | wish

 

 

List of verbs that can only have gerunds after them

 

acknowledge | admit | adore | anticipate | appreciate | avoid | celebrate | confess | contemplate
delay | deny | describe | detest | discuss | dislike | dread | endure | enjoy
fancy | finish | imagine | involve | keep | justify | mention | mind | miss | omit | postpone | practise
quit | recall | recommend | regret | report | resent | resume | risk | suggest | tolerate | understand

 

e.g. anticipate implementing is correct (Anticipate to implement is wrong).

 

Even though she didn't anticipate manager's proposal to strengthen her department.

 

A) to implement it, the advertising manager agreed with the personal

 

B) implementing it, the advertising manager agreed with the personal

 

C) implementing it, the advertising manager agreed with the personnel

 

D) to implement it, the advertising manager agreed with the personnel

 

E) implementing it, the advertising manager agreed to the personnel

 

(E) NOTE: all answer choices are indeed different here. 'Personal' deals with a person's own special things; 'Personnel' deals with a lot of people. Verbs like 'anticipate' must be followed by a gerund, the verb form in '-ing'. The correct idiom usage should read: a person 'agrees with' another person, not with an inanimate thing such as a proposal. Therefore, she agrees 'to the proposal.' (E) is correct.

 

• THE EXPLETIVE 'IT' and 2 questions, testing the same fundamentals:
  

 

1) For many travelers, charter vacations often turn out to cost considerably more than they originally seemed.

a. they originally seemed
b. they originally seem to
c. they seemingly would cost originally
d. it seemed originally
e. it originally seemed they would.

 

 

2) Researchers are finding out that plastics are taking more time to deteriorate than they originally seemed.

A) They originally seemed.
B) they seemed originally
C) it seemed that they would originally
D) it originally seemed
E) it originally seemed they would

 

From Kaplan: The Kaplan thing says about this. (About plastics)

'The tricky part is to choose between it and they. 'They' would imply that the plastics themselves first seemed to do one thing and then ended up doing another. The expletive 'it', the pronoun with no clear antedecent - makes more sense, it simply suggests that initial indications were misleading. Using 'it', it is necessary to include the phrase 'they would' to make it clear what seemed to be the case. So E is the best answer.

 

Erin says: (About charter vacations)

B would need to be in past tense, seemed. In fact, I often teach GMAT and TOEFL students that the words original (and its derivations) and first usually require past tense.

Furthermore, the "past future" of would in E is more precise than the simple past in A (or that B is lacking, in case you're going to ask if B would be correct if we changed seem to seemed). Since we're talking about something we'd learn after a certain point in the past, would is better.

For example:

• This Acura is a lot better than I thought it would be.
  

is better than

• This Acura is a lot better than I thought it was.
  

In the first example, we are saying that something turned out to be true. In the second example, we are saying that we were not aware of a fact that was true at that time.

And in the charter vacations question, there is no fact that the travelers were unaware of when they purchased the charter vacation--after the original purchase of the charter vacation (and probably toward the end of the vacation), the charter vacation turned out to be more costly than they had at first believed it would be.

 

 

It is as difficult to prevent crimes against property as those that are against a person.

(A) those that are against a

(B) those against a

(C) it is against a

(D) preventing those against a（E）

(E) it is to prevent those against a

 

Answer is E, for the expletive it.

• During
  

  "during" + time period is WRONG.
  

  For example:
  

  During two hours, I felt sleepy.
  

  but
  

  During the last two hours, I have felt sleepy.
  

  
   

  To make our sentence correct with "during," we'd need to add some information that would identify which two decade-period we are talking about.
  

  For example:
  

  Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during the two decades between 1940
  

  and 1960...
  

  
   

Think of x as y ----- correct idiom (not 'to be')

'So' is used to replace a Verb in a Sentence whereas 'It' is used to replace a Noun.

First, memorize the pattern:

no sooner + inversion + than + sentence

 

Quote:

This was a question that was posted a little while ago. The answer was said to be D, but it seems that it should be E.

 

The domesticated camel, which some scholars date around the twelfth century B.C., was the key to the development of the spice trade in the ancient world.

 

a. The domesticated camel, which some scholars date

b. The domesticated camel, which some scholars have thought to occur

c. Domesticating the camel, dated by some scholars at

d. The domestication of the camel, thought by some scholars to have occurred

e. The camel's domestication, dated by some scholars to have been

 

In D, it seems that "thought by some scholars..." modifies camel, rather than domestication

Okay, I checked out the other topic, and there was no explanation of the answer. Okay, to be honest, I didn't catch the mistake in E the very first time I read the question, either. I picked D, because somehow it sounded better, but I wasn't sure why.

 

Later, when a student asked me specifically what was wrong with E, I looked at the question a little more carefully. E has a classic mistake, albeit a well disguised one!

 

I teach this mistake frequently in my SAT II classes for high school students. Let me

show you an example of what my high school students might write:

The greatest change in my life was when I immigrated to the US.

Can you see the mistake in this sentence?

Let me try again, with a little hint:

The greatest change in my life was when I immigrated to the US.

Can you see it now?

Okay, just in case, let me give you one more sentence (I'm pretty much doing now what I do in class to explain this grammar point.)

 

This pen is a bargain because it's only ten cents.

Hint again:

This pen is a bargain because it is only ten cents.

Okay, got it yet?

 

Let's work backward. The last sentence is incorrect because it is incorrectly saying that the pen and the ten cents are the same thing; a pen cannot be ten cents; it can be a writing instrument, it can be a bargain, it can even be a weapon in some cases, but it cannot be ten cents. One-tenth of a dollar is ten cents, a dime is ten cents, but a pen is not.

 

Are you getting it? Probably, but since I've already started, please let me finish...

Okay, now let's look at the immigration sentence:

The greatest change in my life was when I immigrated to the US.

 

This sentence means that "change" and "when I immigrated..." are the same thing; they in fact are not.

 

Like I said, this is a classic mistake, and the classic correction is:

The greatest change in my life occurred/happened when I immigrated to the US.

 

(Do you see where I'm heading now???). So, in our original question, E says:

 

The camel's domestication was around the twelfth century B.C....

GMAT cleverly hides this mistake by using "to have been" instead of a simple be verb, but "to have been" is one of the many variants of was, were, is, are, am, etc.

The funny thing is that GMAT uses the classic correction as well:

domestication... occurred... when...

 

Finally, I just have to comment: I imagine that if GMAT had to explain this grammar point, they would say in their typical, cryptic fashion something like this:

E incorrectly uses an adverb clause as the noun complement of the subject "domestication."

Okay, what have we learned???

This:

NOUN + BE-VERB + NOUN/ADJECTIVE

For example:

The change was good for me.

The change was a good one for me.

The change was an important step for me in my life.

 

BUT NEVER

 

The change was when I came to the US.

In other words, noun complements (the words that come after a be-verb and modify nouns) should only be nouns or adjectives (although we often use adverbs when we want to describe location, but more on that later, if you like; this explanation is getting pretty long!!).

 

 

Quote:

6. Why the answer is A? I picked E

 

The central issue before the court was how far the regulatory agencies should go in requiring better working conditions in factories.

 

a. in requiring better working conditions in factories

b. as far as requiring better working conditions in factories

c. in their requirement that factories should have better working conditions

d. as far as requiring that factories should have better working conditions

e. to require factories to have better working conditons

 

Thanks

Whew! What a tricky question! Both A and E are grammatically correct, but they have a very slight difference in meaning. For this question, we most likely want the meaning in A, not the meaning in E. And, whenever we have two options that are both grammatically correct, and the only difference is one of meaning, we MUST go with the original meaning. In other words, if A is grammatically correct, not wordy, redundant, awkward, etc., and another answer choice is also grammatically correct, not wordy, redundant, awkward, etc., we must go with A.

But I'm sure you want to know the meaning difference and the rule, right? Okay, here you go:

I know you won't like this, but with this meaning, we use "in." For example:

 

I want to know how far you will go in helping me.

 

I think you remember from class that we talked about "helpful" + "in," right? Well, this is very similar--"helping me" is a process. In this sentence, I am wondering how long you would stay with me while you are helping me, how many different things you would do to help me. For example, would you break the law while you are helping me if you thought I would benefit? Would you ignore your friends and family while you are helping me? Again: During the process, how much would you do?

(A) has a similar meaning in this sentence. Let's now look at the meaning of E.

 

I want to know how far you will go to help me.

In this sentence, we are using the infinitive of purpose, which we use to express a goal. If I use this structure, I am wondering how much effort you would expend to help me. In other words, would you come to me at midnight? Would you travel 50 miles, 100 miles, 1,000 miles to help me? Would you spend all your time and money to come to help me? Would you give up your job, health, and family to help me? Again: How much would you do to be able to be in a situation to help me?? I know that these two are very, very close in meaning, but read what I've written very carefully, and be sure to post back with any further questions!

 

 

quote:

3. Why A is correct? I chose C

Although about 99 percent of the more than 50 million Turks are Muslims, the republic founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923 is resolutely secular.

a...

b. Although about 99 percent of over 50 million of the

c. Although about 99 percent of more than 50 million

d. Despite the fact that about 99 percent of more than 50 million

e. Despite the fact that about 99 percent of over 50 million

 

Whew! This is one of the most commonly asked questions... I think it's going to take a while to explain, and I don't think I can do it tonight since I've got class in the morning.

 

Here's the short answer: if we use "the," we are saying that there are only 50 million

Turks in the whole world; if we don't use "the," we are saying that there are possibly more than 50 million Turks in the world.

This one's similar to the one in the Official Guide, the one about the "Thomas Jefferson... setting free the more than 500 slaves..."

 

All things being equal, I'd have to say that "invest in" is slightly preferable to "invest into."

I think there's also a very slight difference in meaning--"invest in" would be the better choice for such traditional investments as stocks and bonds, while "invest into" could be used in more metaphorical investments, such as the time, energy, and love you might shower upon your children.

 

 

 

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

quote:

 

The visiting doctors concluded that the present amalgram is probably as good as or better than, any other system that might be devised for the patients.

 

This is correct. One of the answer choices used 'might' instead of 'may'... what's the difference between may and might?

 

Whew, hard question. In general, may has more of a concrete meaning, so should therefore be used more in statements of fact, whereas might is a bit less tangible, and tends to be used more in expressions of things that don't yet exist (hypothetical situations). Also, a bit more simply, since might is the past tense form of may, we use might more in the past tense.

All that said, we often use them interchangeably in many constructions--there is a lot of overlap between may and might.

 

• credit SB with STH (verb): give responsibility for. Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the light bulb.

• credit X to Y (verb): give money or credit to. The bank credited $1 million to trebla's account.

• credit for (noun): money received for or in exchange for something. The customer received a $20 credit for the interruption in service.

 

So there are a few things you need to know here for GMAT Sentence Correction.

First is this--you should know that GMAT likes to test you on "thinking words." These are words that indicate some sort of mental process, such as believe, belief, idea, theory, notion, concept, etc. Please note that both verbs and nouns can be considered "thinking words."

 

GMAT typically likes to follow these words with that and a sentence. For example, on the

GMAT it's better to say:

• Lucise's belief that the Earth is flat was easily accepted.

than to say:

• Lucise's belief of the Earth being flat was easily accepted.

 

It is okay to use 'of' if we want to indicate only a noun. That's why, for example, we say theory of relativity. In this case, if we choose answer choices that use of instead of that, we seem to be talking more about theories of land mammals; we are not identifying the action of those land mammals. In other words, with the 'that', we are leaving out what it is that the theory purports the mammals
did.

 

Crises is the plural of crisis

Data is plural of datum

 

In SAE, we generally use do to replace "regular" verbs, i.e., verbs that are not linking verbs, verbs that use modals, etc.

 

For example:

Megumi speaks Japanese better than I do.

But you already knew that, I'm sure.

Look at the following examples for something (perhaps) new:

Megumi has visited more countries than I have.

We can use have again because have is an auxiliary verb here.

Megumi has more skirts than I do.

Here, has is NOT an auxiliary verb, and in SAE, we cannot use the verb have in the second bit.

 

Here's what you need to know:

having + past participle

is used to express actions that are finished and to show that one thing comes after another. Furthermore, there is usually a "because relationship between the two.

For example:

Having eaten already, I turned down Megumi's invitation to dinner.

This sentence is okay.

But this next sentence is NOT okay, because the two things should be happening at the same time (basically the same grammar point found in this question):

 

Having been sick and having felt tired, Alan did not want to go to work.

 

All the things in this sentence are happening at the same time, so we should NOT use the "having + past participle" construction here.

And this sentence is incorrect because there's no "because relationship" between the two parts of the sentence:

Having set, the Sun rose some hours later.

The Sun will set and rise no matter what; setting doesn't cause rising, so we shouldn't use the "having + past participle" construction here.

 

"Modeled After" is the correct idiom

 

Hopefully is almost always wrong on GMAT

 

Usage Note: Writers who use hopefully as a sentence adverb, as in Hopefully the measures will be adopted, should be aware that the usage is unacceptable to many critics, including a large majority of the Usage Panel. It is not easy to explain why critics dislike this use of hopefully. The use is justified by analogy to similar uses of many other adverbs, as in Mercifully, the play was brief or Frankly, I have no use for your friend. And though this use of hopefully may have been a vogue word when it first gained currency back in the early 1960s, it has long since lost any hint of jargon or pretentiousness for the general reader. The wide acceptance of the usage reflects popular recognition of its usefulness; there is no precise substitute. Someone who says Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified makes a hopeful prediction about the fate of the treaty, whereas someone who says I hope (or We hope or It is hoped) the treaty will be ratified expresses a bald statement about what is desired. Only the latter could be continued with a clause such as but it isn't likely. ·It might have been expected, then, that the initial flurry of objections to hopefully would have subsided once the usage became well established.

Instead, critics appear to have become more adamant in their opposition. In the 1969

Usage Panel survey, 44 percent of the Panel approved the usage, but this dropped to 27 percent in our 1986 survey. (By contrast, 60 percent in the latter survey accepted the comparable use of mercifully in the sentence Mercifully, the game ended before the opponents could add another touchdown to the lopsided score.) It is not the use of sentence adverbs per se that bothers the Panel; rather, the specific use of hopefully in this way has become a shibboleth.

None is one of the indefinite pronouns that is singular or plural. There used to be a old rule that defined that none is less than zero so it inherits a singular verb. However it is used in different context many times, and I would agree with you that since 'pregnancies' is plural, it should take a plural verb, but with the choices given...D is definitely the best answer, and that is what ETS will look for.

 

Example: In this question I think none of the answers are correct.

Jojo had so little money when she was in college that she couldn't even afford to buy new clothes, much less take a vacation.

___________________________________________

 

quote:

 

10. However much United States voters may agree that there is waste in government and that the government as a whole spends beyond its means, it is difficult to find broad support for a movement toward a minimal state.

 

(A) However much United States voters may agree that

(B) Despite the agreement among United States voters to the fact

(C) Although United States voters agree

(D) Even though United States voters may agree

(E) There is agreement among United States voters that

 

This is a very commonly asked question. The reason C is not the answer is that C changes the meaning.

Look at these simplified sentences:

• However much you complain, I will not change my mind.

This sentence means no matter how much you complain, I will not change my mind.

 

Or, to put it in a more precise way, my resolve to stick to my decision will not wane even if the degree of your complaining increases.

This meaning is quite specific. Now compare it to this sentence:

 

• Although you complain, I will not change my mind.

 

This sentence means even though you complain, I will not change my mind. This meaning is pretty simple, and doesn't need any more explanation, I think. So, even though the two meanings are quite close, they are in fact different, and between two grammatically correct and plausible sentences, we must go with the one that doesn't change the meaning of A.

 

 

4. What does "that which" refer to in this sentence. (correct answer is D)

 

The inhabitants of Somalia greeted the measures outlawing polygamy with a similar defiance that welcomed the prohibition of alcohol in the United States in the nineteen-twenties.

a...

b. a similar defiance which welcomed

c. a similar defiance to what welcomed

d. a defiance similar to that which welcomed

e. the same defiance welcoming

 

In English, instead of saying something like "that that" we say "that which."

For example:

The number we recorded this week is greater than that which we recorded last week.

is preferable to

The number we recorded this week is greater than that that we recorded last week.

 

In this sentence

The number we recorded this week is greater than that which we recorded last week.

 

that = number

and

which = number

 

Notice that this sentence equals

The number we recorded this week is greater than the number that we recorded last week.

 

So in our sentence here, we want to say:

 

The inhabitants of Somalia greeted the measures outlawing polygamy with a defiance that was similar to the defiance that welcomed the prohibition of alcohol in the United States in the nineteen-twenties.

 

This is a great SC trick!

Adjectives modify nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Sometimes in SC we must choose which to use according to the meaning.

• supposed Mediterranean predecessors.

This sentence means that we are not sure whether these things are actually predecessors.

• supposedly Mediterranean predecessors.

This sentence means that we are not sure whether these things are actually Mediterranean.

The answer is B, not D.

Notes