Chapter 6

Scoring and Interpreting the Practice Assessment

You’ve finished the pretest, but you’re not done yet. Reading through the following explanations may be the most important part of taking the practice assessment. Examine the information for the questions you missed as well as those you answered correctly. You may find tips and techniques you haven’t thought of before in one of the answer explanations. If you’re short on time or just want to quickly check your answers, head to the end of this chapter for an abbreviated answer key.

Section 1: Quantitative Reasoning

D.

Finding the fractional area of section C is as easy as adding up sections A and B and subtracting that total from whole circle.
1. Find the common denominator of the fractions for A and B; then add the fractions.
2. Subtract that total from the whole circle.
The whole circle is designated by the fractional equivalent of 1. So subtract the combined value of sections A and B from a fraction that’s equivalent to 1.

The answer is Choice (D).

For more about how to solve problem solving questions, read Chapter 20. To review fractions, read Chapter 15.
E. Statements (1) and (2) together are not sufficient to answer the question asked.

Evaluate the question.
1. Find out what to solve for.
  
  This data sufficiency question asks you to evaluate what data you need to figure out whether Beth or Michelle received a greater dollar increase.
2. Examine Statement (1).
  
  Statement (1) tells you the percentage of Michelle’s increase. Without knowing Michelle’s original salary, you can’t use the percentage to figure out the dollar amount of her increase. Statement (1) by itself isn’t sufficient, which means that the answer can’t be Choice (A) or Choice (D).
3. Evaluate Statement (2).
  
  Statement (2) offers the same kind of information about Beth’s increase that Statement (1) provides for Michelle’s. Again, because you don’t know Beth’s original salary, knowing the percentage increase doesn’t tell you how much her salary increased by dollars. Statement (2) isn’t sufficient by itself, so the answer is either Choice (C) or Choice (E). To decide which it is, consider whether you can figure out the greater dollar increase using both statements.
4. Check out what you’ve written.
  
  You have double nos, so look at all of the information provided by both statements.
5. Evaluate the two statements together.
  
  Because neither statement allows you to figure out the dollar amount, you can’t use them together to answer the question, so you have to choose Choice (E).
  
  On the GMAT, you can’t assume information that isn’t expressly stated. If you were tempted to pick Choice (C) because the two statements together indicated that Beth received a greater percentage increase than Michelle, you assumed that both women had the same original salary. However, it could have instead been the case that Michelle’s original salary was much higher than Beth’s, in which case her smaller percentage increase could still correspond to a larger dollar increase.
For more about how to solve data sufficiency problems, read Chapter 20. To review percentages and other fundamental concepts, read Chapter 15.
C. 1.5

To solve this problem, you need to know the mean and median of the set of numbers. Find the mean by adding up the numbers in the set and dividing this sum by 6, the number of values in the set. The sum of the numbers is 30, and 30 divided by 6 is 5. The mean of the set is 5.

Next, find the median. The median is the middle value for an odd number of values and the average of the two middle values for an even number of values.
1. Order the values in the set from least to greatest.
  
  For this problem, that order is 0, 1, 3, 4, 10, 12.
2. Find the two middle values.
  
  The middle values of the list in Step 1 are 3 and 4.
3. Calculate the mean of the middle values in Step 2 to get the median.
  
  After you know the mean and median, subtract them to get the final answer: Choice (C) is correct.
For more about how to solve problem solving questions, read Chapter 20. To review mean, median, and other statistical concepts, read Chapter 19.
E.

To solve this problem, you need to find the ratio of the number of pennies in Kim’s pocket to the number of all coins in Kim’s pocket. Because Kim initially has p pennies in her pocket and then adds 3 more pennies, you can say the number of pennies is . The total number of coins in Kim’s pocket is the sum of all the coins in her pocket initially plus the coins she adds . So Kim has a total of coins in her pocket, and the probability of selecting a penny at random is this:

That’s Choice (E).

If working through this problem makes doing laundry sound fun, try assigning values to the variables and calculate the answer choices to see which one fits. Sometimes, the quickest and easiest way to answer a math question is to analyze each answer choice to see which one works.

Say Kim has 2 pennies , 3 dimes , 5 nickels , and 4 quarters . Write these values on you noteboard. When Kim adds the new coins to the stash, she has 5 pennies, 5 dimes, 6 nickels, and 4 quarters. The probability that Kim will select a penny at random is 5 out of 20 or . Then see which answer equals when you substitute your values for the variables. You can easily see that the numerator is rather than p, so try Choice (D) first:

The denominator has to be bigger, which leads you to try Choice (E). When you add 6 to the denominator instead of 3, you get .

For more about how to solve problem solving questions, read Chapter 20. To review probability, read Chapter 19.
B. Statement (2) alone is sufficient, but Statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.

Evaluate the question.
1. Find out what to solve for.
  
  The slope of a line is designated as its rise (the distance it goes up or down between two points) divided by its run (the distance it goes left or right between two points). You can figure out the slope when you know the coordinates of two points on the line.
2. Examine Statement (1).
  
  Statement (1) gives you just one of the line’s points, so it isn’t sufficient to figure out the slope. The answer is Choice (B), Choice (C), or Choice (E).
3. Evaluate Statement (2).
  
  Statement (2) gives you an equation of the line. You can write the equation of a line in slope-intercept form, which is expressed as . The m is the slope, and b is the y-intercept. So when you know the equation of a line, you can figure out its slope. That’s all you need to figure out that Statement (2) is sufficient to solve the problem.
  
  Once you know one of the statements is sufficient, you’re finished. Choice (B) is the answer.
  
  You won’t take the time to figure out the actual slope when you take the GMAT, but in case you’re curious, the slope of the line is 3. When you manipulate the equation into the slope-intercept form, you get .
For more about how to solve data sufficiency problems, read Chapter 20. To review slope and other coordinate geometry concepts, read Chapter 18.
B. Statement (2) alone is sufficient, but Statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.

Evaluate the question.
1. Find out what to solve for.
  
  The question tells you that x is an integer. Integers can’t be decimals or fractions. They can be positive or negative or zero, though.
  
  So is an integer when x is a positive or negative factor of 24, like 3 or –12. Just plug 3 into the equation to see what we mean:
2. Examine Statement (1).
  
  See whether Statement (1) makes x a factor of 24. means that x can be 4, 3, 2, or 1, all of which are factors of 24, but x can also be –5, –7, or –9, which aren’t factors of 24. Therefore, this statement doesn’t guarantee that x will be a factor of 24. Statement (1) isn’t sufficient, and you can eliminate Choice (A) and Choice (D).
3. Evaluate Statement (2).
  
  Statement (2) lets you know that , which means that x must equal 6 or –6. Both are factors of 24 and make the expression an integer:
  
  Both –5 and 3 are integers, so Statement (2) gives you enough information to answer the question.
  
  After you know one of the statements is sufficient, you’re finished. Eliminate Choice (C) and Choice (E). Choice (B) is your answer.
For more about how to solve data sufficiency problems, refer to Chapter 20. To review variables, inequalities, and other algebraic concepts, read Chapter 16.
A. Statement (1) alone is sufficient, but Statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.

Evaluate the question.
1. Find out what to solve for.
  
  This question is asking you to determine whether the triangle in the figure is a right triangle. You know that because is the Pythagorean theorem, which applies only to right triangles. Check the statements to see whether they allow you to determine whether one of the triangle’s angles measures 90°.
2. Examine Statement (1).
  
  When you solve the equation in Statement (1) for , you find that the sum of the two angles equals 90 degrees. Because the interior angles of any triangle must add up to 180 degrees, the third angle must equal or , which is 90 degrees. So Statement (1) alone is sufficient to answer the question, and Choice (A) and Choice (D) remain.
3. Evaluate Statement (2).
  
  Statement (2) tells you that angle x is equal to the angle y. That’s enough information to figure out that the triangle in the figure is an isosceles triangle, but not enough to determine whether it’s an isosceles right triangle.
  
  Once you know one of the statements is sufficient, you’re finished. Eliminate Choice (C) and Choice (E). Choice (A) is your answer.
For more about how to solve data sufficiency problems, read Chapter 20. To review right triangles and other geometry concepts, refer to Chapter 17.
A. 14

To solve this problem, rearrange the inequality to make it look more like the expression you’re asked about. First, square both sides of the inequality to get Next, divide both sides of the inequality by 15 to get or

The only value in the answer choices that’s less than 15 is 14. The correct answer is Choice (A).

For more about how to solve problem solving questions, read Chapter 20. To review exponents and radicals, check out Chapter 15.
B. –3

The easiest way to approach this exponent question may be to substitute the the possible values of n in the answer choices into the inequality. If –2 makes the value too big, consider –3 and –4; if it makes the value too small, consider –1 and 0.

If n equals –2, you get , or 0.11 (just move the decimal two places to the left). Then you have to ask yourself whether the inequality is true. If you use the decimal value of 0.10 for , the inequality becomes , which is clearly not true. Therefore, you have to move the decimal point one more place to the left, which means that n has to equal –3 to make less than . The answer is –3.

–4 also makes less than , but the problem asks for the greatest possible value, and –3 is greater than –4.

For more about how to solve problem solving questions, flip to Chapter 20. To review exponents and radicals, read Chapter 15.
D. Each statement alone is sufficient to answer the question asked.

Evaluate the question.
1. Find out what to solve for.
  
  Visualizing this problem may be easier if you draw a Venn diagram such as the one below.
  
  The x stands for the number of campers that play tennis only, and y represents the number of campers that play both tennis and soccer. The two circles comprise all 200 campers. Because 50 of the 200 campers don’t play tennis, they must play soccer only. You can see from the Venn diagram that .
2. Examine Statement (1).
  
  Statement (1) tells you that the total number of members in the soccer circle is 170. So to find out how many campers play tennis and soccer, you just subtract 50 from 170. You don’t have to actually perform the calculation to know that Statement (1) provides a definite answer to the question. The answer is either Choice (A) or Choice (D).
3. Evaluate Statement (2).
  
  You can rephrase Statement (2) to say that 30 campers play only tennis, which is the x in the equation. When you substitute 30 for x in the equation, you have only one unknown variable, the value that you’re supposed to solve for. You know that you can solve for y, so Statement (2) is also sufficient to answer the question. The answer must be Choice (D).
For more about how to solve data suffiency problems, read Chapter 20. To review probablity, read Chapter 19.
D. Each statement alone is sufficient to answer the question asked.

Evaluate the question.
1. Find out what to solve for.
  
  The 45-degree angle at point A tells you that triangle ACE is an isosceles right (45:45:90 degree) triangle. The 30-degree angle at point B means that triangle BDE is a 30:60:90 right triangle.
  
  The side length ratio for 45:45:90 triangles is and the ratio of the sides of a 30:60:90 triangle is . You also know that line segments AC and BD are the same length. Because these line segments comprise the hypontenuses of their respective triangles, you can solve for all sides of both triangles when you solve for one of the sides of either triangle. And when you know the side lengths of both triangles, you can easily find the value of .
2. Examine Statement (1).
  
  Statement (1) gives you the length of DE, so you know you can find the requested difference. Statement (1) is sufficient to answer the question, and the answer is either Choice (A) or Choice (D).
3. Evaluate Statement (2).
  
  Statement (2) also provides you with one side length. When you know one side length of this figure, you can figure out them all. This statement is also sufficient. The answer to this question is Choice (D).
  
  For more about how to solve data suffiency problems, read Chapter 20. To review right triangles, read Chapter 17.
D. Each statement alone is sufficient to answer the question asked.

Evaluate the question.
1. Find out what to solve for.
  
  Here’s a data sufficiency rate problem. You’re trying to determine how much less time two people take to stuff envelopes than one person takes. The problem gives you that Adam takes 2 hours to stuff 400 envelopes by himself. If you know how long Matt takes to stuff envelopes, you can solve the problem.
2. Examine Statement (1).
  
  Statement (1) tells you that Adam and Matt stuff envelopes at the same rate, so you know how long Matt takes to stuff envelopes. The statement gives you the information you need to answer the problem, so you know the answer is either Choice (A) or Choice (D). (You also know without doing too much thinking that it will take them both working together half the time, or 1 hour less, to stuff 400 envelopes.) Now you need to determine whether the other statement is sufficient, too.
3. Evaluate Statement (2).
  
  Because Statement (2) tells you that it takes Adam twice as long to stuff as it takes both of the men to stuff, it’s sufficient. The 2 hours Adam takes alone are cut to just 1 hour when the men work together. Both statements are sufficient, so the answer is Choice (D).
For more about how to solve data suffiency problems, read Chapter 20. To review how to solve work problems, read Chapter 16.
A. Statement (1) alone is sufficient, but Statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.

Evaluate the question.
1. Find out what to solve for.
  
  The area of a triangle is , so to solve for area, you need to know the triangle’s base and height.
2. Examine Statement (1).
  
  Statement (1) tells you the coordinates of point D. The base of the triangle is the x-axis. Consider a perpendicular line drawn from point D to the triangle’s base. Call the point where this line intersects the x–axis point F. The distance between point D and point F gives you the height of the triangle. Given that the y-coordinate of D is 4, the height of the triangle must be 4.
  
  Knowing that the x-coordinate of point D is -7 tells you that the distance between point F and point E is 7. Because , the distance between point C and point F must be greater than the distance between points E and F. Therefore, the base of the triangle, length CE, must be greater than 14. You can apply this fact to the area formula: , .
  
  Because the base is actually greater than 14, the area must be greater than 28. Statement (1) is sufficient, and the answer is either Choice (A) or Choice (D).
3. Evaluate Statement (2).
  
  Statement (2) allows you to solve for the base of the triangle. Knowing that point C’s x-coordinate is -15, so the base of the triangle is 15. However, the statement provides no insight into the triangle’s height. Statement (2) is not sufficient, so the answer is Choice (A).
For more about how to solve data suffiency problems, read Chapter 20. To review triangles, read Chapter 17. For more on coordinate geometry, read Chapter 18.
A. 33

You have two relatively easy routes to solving this question:
1. You can split the fraction into two fractions with the same denominator.
2. You can factor 32 from each term in the numerator, reduce, and simplify.
  
  Either way, the answer is Choice (A).
For more about how to solve problem solving questions, read Chapter 20. To review exponents, read Chapter 15.
E.

Keep in mind that you’re supposed to find the answer that doesn’t represent one of the boundaries of the shaded area. Eliminate all answer that are equations of the boundary lines. The left and right boundary lines are the vertical lines and ; these lines intersect the x-axis at points 2 and 4, respectively. Eliminate Choice (A) and Choice (C). The bottom boundary line is the x-axis, which has an equation of . Choice (B) is out.

The remaining boundary is either or , the two remaining choices. To find the right choice, convert both equations to the slope-intercept form to determine their y-intercepts. Choice (D) is , so its y-intercept is 2. The line crosses the y-axis at 2, so Choice (D) is a boundary line and must be eliminated. The correct answer is Choice (E).

For more about how to solve problem solving questions, read Chapter 20. To review coordinate geometry, read Chapter 18.

Section 2: Verbal

D. The strength of the magnetic field has declined by over ten percent since 1845, the first year it was measured.

For this question, you need to strengthen the conclusion that the poles are currently in the process of reversing. To support her conclusion, the author presents the case that magnetic fields weaken and the poles drift apart from true north and south before the poles reverse and that the poles reverse about once every 200,000 years. The author has already provided evidence that the latter requirement has occurred. It’s been more than 200,000 years since the last reversal. Look for an answer that relates to the first premise about the weakening magnetic fields.

Approach the answers systematically. Eliminate answers that are irrelevant. Choice (C) concerns temperature rather than magnetic fields, so it’s out. You already know that we’re past due for a pole reversal, so Choice (B) isn’t particularly helpful. Cross out choices that weaken the argument rather than support it. Choice (A) weakens the conclusion by indicating that the North Pole is getting closer to rather than farther from true north. Choice E also weakens the conclusion, because it again suggests stability in the poles. Choice (D) is the only answer choice that indicates a weakening in the strength of the magnetic field and a trend toward a reversal of the poles.

For more about how to answer critical reasoning questions, read Chapter 9.
B. Teachers and administrators of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program are advising parents against keeping prescription medications that are no longer in use in the home.

This sentence begins with a verbal phrase. Whenever you see a sentence with a beginning phrase, make sure the phrase logically describes the subject of the sentence.

This sentence indicates that the parents are doing the advising, rather than the teachers and administrators of the D.A.R.E. program. So you know you can eliminate Choice (A). You’re looking for an answer that makes it clear that the teachers and D.A.R.E. administrators are advising. Choice (C) and Choice (E) still have the parents doing the warning, so they’re out. Choice (D) contains two verbs that mean the same thing, advise and warn. Redundancy isn’t tolerated on the GMAT, so drop Choice (D) like a hot potato. Only Choice (B) makes the parents the recipients of the advising without creating new errors.

For more about how to answer sentence-correction questions, read Chapter 7.
D. The author of the argument feels that, even after hundreds of years of use, names like Patrick, Seamus, and Sean are still not “truly Irish.”

This critical-reasoning argument provides reasons for the choosing of Irish boys’ names. The author explains that many “Irish” names were actually imposed on the Irish by Anglo-Norman invaders. The question asks you to make an inference based on the statements.

Choice (A) just reiterates information that the author states directly, so it can’t be an inference. Choice (C) also mentions a fact that is stated directly in the premises. Choice (B) and Choice (E) have the opposite problem; their information isn’t stated in the premises, but you also don’t have enough information to infer them from the premises. Concluding that Irish parents prefer the most traditional names available is too far-fetched, as is concluding that the criminal laws are unnecessarily punitive. The only answer choice that works is Choice (D). If the author of the argument speaks of traditional names as those that were Irish before the 12th century, the author must think that Seamus, Sean, and Patrick are not traditional names.

For more about how to solve critical reasoning problems, read Chapter 9. To review how to approach questions that ask for inferences, read “Using your noggin to make inferences” in the same chapter.
D. which is now the region’s most successful zoning law firm

The first thing you should notice about the underlined part of this sentence correction question is that it contains a pronoun. When the underlined portion of the sentence contains a pronoun, the first thing you check is whether the pronoun has a clear reference and whether it agrees in number with its reference.

The pronoun in this sentence, they, is plural, but it refers to the one firm of Berry, Westfall, and Atredies, Inc. The firm is grammatically singular, even though its name mentions multiple people.

The sentence isn’t correct as written. Eliminate Choice (A) and look for answers that correct the noun-pronoun agreement. Choice (C) isn’t the one; it also uses they to refer to the one firm. Choice (B) changes they to it, but don’t be too quick to pick this option. Choice (B) also changes most to more, and you use more to compare just two elements, not all the firms in a particular region. Be careful with Choice (E) as well. It changes they to it but incorrectly uses the possessive form its instead of the contraction it’s. The remaining answer is Choice (D). This option solves the problem by changing they to which, a pronoun that has no problem referring to singular nouns.

For more about how to solve sentence-corrections problems, read Chapter 7.
A. as much as even

This sentence doesn’t contain any obvious errors. The underlined portion contains comparison language, but it seems to be idiomatically correct. Choice (A) is probably the correct answer, but check the other answers to make sure you haven’t missed something. Choices (B), (C), and (D) incorrectly change the location of even in the expression. In the phrase “even the most patient of homebuyers,” even is an adverb used to emphasize how patient homebuyers have to be to wait as much as 60 days to receive their property. Because even relates to the most-patient homebuyers, its proper position is as close to that noun phrase as possible. When even comes after is, as it does in Choices (B), (C), and (D), it becomes an adjective that describes the 60 days. Furthermore, Choices (B), (D), and (E) use the idiomatically incorrect constructions of so much that and so much as to show similarity. The sentence is best as written.

For more about how to solve sentence correction problems, read Chapter 7.
D. Some SJP alums contribute to the organization because they enjoy attending the annual holiday concert.

This critical reasoning question asks for an underlying assumption. Generally, the best answer for an assumption question is the choice that links an element of the last premise to the author’s conclusion.

The last premise of this argument is that the holiday concert was canceled. The conclusion is that donations will go down. So find the answer choice that links the canceled concert to a decrease in donations.

Eliminate Choice (A) right away because it simply restates one of the premises. An assumption by definition isn’t a direct assertion. Cross out Choice (B) and Choice (C) because both reference next year. Nothing in the argument points to events that will happen next year. It’s concerned only with this year’s possibilities. Choice (E) is backwards. It links donations to the holiday concert rather than the other way around. The only answer that connects the occurrence of the holiday concert to donation amounts is Choice (D). If donations will decrease as a result of the lack of holiday concert, at least some segment of the donor population must give to the organization based on the occurrence of the concert.

For more about how to solve critical reasoning problems, read Chapter 9.
D. the images ultimately selected are too tame, and if the FDA is to go as far as including images at all, it should not hold back from showing the full effects of smoking, however ugly they may be

The key word for answering this complete-the-idea question is however. You know you’re looking for an answer that’s related to how graphic the images are because that’s the argument that comes right before the however statement. You also know that the answer will contrast the idea that the images are too graphic to be displayed on labels. Look for an answer that argues for the label images.

The only answer that addresses the graphic nature of the images is Choice (D). It’s also the one that opposes the argument that the images are too graphic by stating that they’re ultimately too tame. Choice (A), Choice (B), and Choice (C) argue against the warning labels, so they agree with the decision to yank them and don’t offer an opposing opinion. Choice (E) goes off on a tangent, so it can’t be right. Pick Choice (D).

For more about how to solve critical reasoning problems, read Chapter 9.
A. discussing the impacts of light energy and photosynthesis on warm-season and cool-season grasses

This question asks you to identify the author’s primary concern in writing the passage. This question type extends the main idea to relate to why the author wrote the passage. As is typical for science passages, the author is mainly concerned with putting out some information, not advancing a position, so you can eliminate Choice (B) right off the bat just based on its first word, arguing. The author doesn’t argue a specific point in this passage.

You know that the passage is discussing light energy, photosynthesis, and turfgrass. On closer inspection, you’ll find that the author is primarily concerned with educating people so that they know the difference between warm-season and cool-season turfgrass and they understand the factors that damage grass. Choice (C), Choice (D), and Choice (E) deal with specific parts of the passage but not the passage as a whole. Neither Choice (C) nor Choice (E) deals with light energy (and the passage doesn’t mention anything about the research being recent), and Choice (D) neglects photosynthesis. The only answer that encompasses all three ideas is Choice (A).

For more about how to solve reading comprehension questions, read Chapter 8.
B. Warm-season grasses can handle the higher light levels of summer, while cool-season grasses can grow during the lower light conditions of winter.

This specific-information question asks you to identify an important difference between cool-season and warm-season grasses. The second paragraph discusses the two kinds of turfgrasses. Warm-season grasses do better in the summer because they can withstand higher light intensities. Cool-season grasses don’t die back as much in the winter because they can survive on a lower amount of light energy. Eliminate Choice (C) because the passage says that all plants that photosynthesize do so during the day. Choice (D) is also incorrect because green light is never characterized by the passage as harmful. Choice (E) isn’t correct because the first paragraph suggests that both cool-season and warm-season grasses are harmed by excess light levels. That leaves you with Choice (A) and Choice (B). Both address the important difference in light level tolerance between the two types of grasses, but Choice (A) states that cool-season grasses can withstand higher light intensities, and the opposite is true. Choice (B) is the answer that properly states the actual difference between the two grasses.

For more about how to solve reading comprehension questions, refer to Chapter 8.
E. Both overwatering and underwatering a lawn can inhibit photosynthesis and damage grass.

The question asks you to make an inference regarding the discussion of oxidative damage. In the first paragraph, you find out that oxidative damage occurs not only because of high light intensity but also because more light energy arrives than photosynthesis can use. Anything that hinders photosynthesis can contribute to oxidative damage.

Choose an answer that you can logically deduce from the information in the passage without making wild assumptions. Choice (A) is incorrect because light intensity is greatest at noon, not at sunrise and sunset. And because overwatering can impede photosynthesis and damage grass, Choice (B) is out.

Eliminate Choice (C) because oxidative damage results from the formation of free radicals, not carbon fixation. Choice (D) is wrong because homeowners and any actions they might take with regard to their lawns are not mentioned in the passage. Because the passage states that both drought and excessive soil water can inhibit photosynthesis, Choice (E) the best answer.

For more about how to solve reading comprehension questions, read Chapter 8.

Section 3: Integrated Reasoning

1A. Not inferable.

Caroline refers to Louis’s “marital transgressions,” and her attorney mentions Louis’s “past indiscretions.” This language strongly implies that Louis was in some way unfaithful in his marriage, but knowing that information is not sufficient to determine that unfaithfulness was the reason for the divorce. Making guesses informed by experience isn’t enough to draw reasoned inferences on the GMAT.

1B. Not inferable.

Just because Louis’s attorney states that a certain town in West Virginia has higher-paying jobs in a certain field, mining, doesn’t mean that that particular line of work in that particular town is representative of all of West Virginia. You have to make way too big of a logical leap to get to this statement.

1C. Inferable.

In her email, Caroline lists three “most important” reasons for her opposition to Louis’s move. In his email to Mr. Turner, Mr. Barry also lists three of the “most crucial” reasons. Two of his reasons mirror Caroline’s, but he leaves out one: the fact that her job is in Virginia. Therefore, you can reasonably assume that Caroline’s attorney places less importance on her place of employment than Caroline does.

For more about how to solve multi-source reasoning problems, read Chapter 22.

2A. Full-size car driven at 60 mph.

The car that emits the most pollution is the one that uses the most gasoline, and the car that uses the most gasoline is the one that gets the worst gas mileage. The graph depicts the full-size car driven at the highest speed as the one that guzzles the most gas.

2B. 25.

Because 55 comes between 50 and 60, the answer has to be between the miles per gallon for a full-size car driven at 50 miles per hour and one driven at 60 miles per hour. The set of bars on the right side of the graph represents the full-size car. The 50-miles-per-hour bar ends at about 26 miles per gallon. The 60-miles-per-hour bar ends at about 24. So the answer has to be between 26 and 24. You know that it can’t be 32 or 37 because the graph shows that better gas mileage is achieved at lower speeds.

For more about how to solve graphics-interpretation problems, read Chapter 22.

3A. 1951.

3B. 1963.

The problem gives you two equations for the two animal populations. You’re looking for the years when y is the same value in both equations, so set them equal to each other. Then you can solve for x.

You have a linear equation for the second animal population; m is the slope and b is the y-intercept. So think of this problem in terms of the coordinate plane and isolate your x and y coordinates. The slope of the line (m) is the change in y divided by the change in x. So when you know the slope of the line, you know how much the second animal population increased (changed) each year. You know that the population was 75,000 in 1962. That’s 12 years after 1950, so in 1962, math (remember, y is defined in terms of thousands of animals) and math . In 1969 (when math ), the population (y) was 117,000. That gives you the coordinates of two points on the line: (12, 75,000) and (19, 117,000). Use the two points to determine the slope.

To find the value of b, the y-intercept, plug one of the sets of coordinates into the equation you have so far and solve for b. When you substitute (12, 75), you get this:

Therefore, the equation for the second animal population is math .

You have complete equations for the two animal populations, so you can set them equal to each other (because both are equal to y) and plug in values for x as gathered from the answer options to see which values fulfill the condition of math . Disregard 1944 because it occurred before the year that math (1950).

In 1951, math because 1950 + 1 year is 1951 and math . Substitute 1 for x in the equation: math . That works! The first year that the populations were equal was 1951. Mark it in the first column. Keep going.

The next option is 1957, the year that math . That’s not right.

In 1963, math . That’s true. The next possible year that the two populations were equal was 1963.

For more about how to solve multi-source reasoning problems, read Chapter 22.

4A. Yes

The integrated reasoning online format allows you to sort tables by column heading. You don’t have that option in the practice assessment, so evaluating the data will be easier online. With a sortable table, you may have trouble at first deciding whether to sort by Position or by APG, but because the statement concerns the players who have the fewest number of assists, sort by APG. You find that the three players who play right forward (Bateman, Barrio, and Seasted) have the three lowest APG, which means the answer is Yes.

4B. No

The range of a set of data is the difference between the least and greatest values. Within the computerized format, you will have the ability to more easily find the least and greatest values for points per game by sorting by PPG. Makes sense, doesn’t it? The value at the top is 1.39, and the value at the bottom is 1.07. Simple subtraction tells you that the PPG range is 0.32. Keep track of this value by recording it on your noteboard. Next, sort by GPG. The top value is 0.75, and the bottom value is 0.32. You don’t need the calculator to tell you that the difference between these two values is more than 0.32. Just consider that 0.32 × 2 is 0.64. That’s much less than 0.75, so the number you add to 0.32 to get 0.75 has to be greater than 0.32. The answer to the question of whether the range of PPG is greater than the range of GPG has to be No.

4C. Yes

The third part of this question has two parts of its own. The first is whether all Crush team members are midfielders. In the computerized format, you can sort the table by Team to more easily identify that two players in this table are on the Crush team. McNulty is a left midfielder and Chase is a right midfielder, so both are midfielders. To see where these two players end up in the point per game stats, you can then sort by PPG. This arrangement reveals that both players sit in the top 7 of the 15 players ranked by PPG. The PPG values for 8 players are lower than McNulty’s and Chase’s numbers, so the two Crush team players rank in the top half of the list of points scored per game. The answer is Yes.

For more about how to solve multi-source reasoning problems, read Chapter 22.

Answers at a Glance

Section 1: Quantitative

Section 2: Verbal

Section 3: Integrated Reasoning

1A. Not Inferable

1B. Not inferable

1C. Inferable

2A. Full-size car driven at 60 mph

2B. 25

3A. 1951

3B. 1963

4A. Yes

4B. No

4C. Yes