By Stacey Koprince This week, we’re going to discuss one of the most common critical reasoning problem types: Inference. (Note: our current materials call these questions Draw A Conclusion, but we’re changing the name next month!) If you haven’t yet, read this article before we try our GMATPrep® problem. Then set your timer for 2 [...]

This week, we’re going to discuss one of the most common critical reasoning problem types: Weaken the Conclusion. If you haven’t yet, read this article before we try our GMATPrep® problem. Then set your timer for 2 minutes and go! * ”Tiger sharks are common in the waters surrounding Tenare Island. Usually tiger sharks feed [...]

This week, we’re going to discuss Evaluate critical reasoning problems. Evaluate what? We’re trying to evaluate an assumption the author uses to draw a conclusion, so these Evaluate questions are a subset of the “Assumption Family” of questions. Let’s say we’re given this argument: In order to increase its profits, MillCo plans to reduce costs [...]

Last week, we discussed the general process for tackling Critical Reasoning problems. This week, let’s go through a specific problem together using our process. First, a reminder. Our 4-step process is: Step 1: Identify the question. Step 2: Deconstruct the argument. Step 3: State the Goal. Step 4: Work from wrong to right. Okay, set [...]

I’ve been in full-on writing mode lately as we update our strategy guides (look for the 5th edition in 2012, in time to start prepping for the Next Generation GMAT!). A couple of our teachers have been doing extensive research on all of the available official Critical Reasoning (CR) problems, and now we’re synthesizing everything. [...]

Here’s the latest in our Content Series, by Chris Ryan, Director of Instructor and Product Development, ManhattanGMAT: GMAT Strategies for the Verbally-Concerned Last time we talked about strategies for the math-challenged. But what if you have the opposite issue? Maybe you can solve equations just fine; it’s this “fuzzy language stuff” that gets you down. [...]