GMAT Review Techniques: Associate Questions with Questions, Not Rules

• Many test-takers always think, “I’ve worked so hard, why haven’t I improved in the end?” However, if your definition of effort is “spending a lot of time doing many practice questions and writing many notes,” then you’re completely mistaken.

What do high-scorers think about when solving problems during the actual test?

• When most people solve problems, they think about “which previously memorized rule this corresponds to.” High-scorers, however, think about “which official questions I’ve done in the past are similar to this one.” This is the biggest secret of high-scorers.
• The number of questions you do isn’t the only focus; the key is whether you summarize effectively. If you spend two or three hours doing twenty to thirty questions, but only look up explanations online or review them with your own subjective ideas, it’s completely ineffective.
• But if you focus on doing five to six questions first, even if you initially feel, “Is it really useful to only do these questions?”, for each question, you are categorizing official questions that have similar question patterns and testing logic for every test point. So, if a question has five test points, you’ll constantly look for other official questions to categorize, and think about the design connections between the current question and others. In fact, you’ve silently compared 20-30 questions in the background.
• In such cases, even if you only summarize five to six questions on the surface, you’ve actually reviewed many questions. More importantly, you’re focusing on the “common design logic between questions,” rather than the content of a single question itself.
• To reiterate: When most people solve problems, they think about “which previously memorized rule this corresponds to.” High-scorers, however, think about “which official questions I’ve done in the past are similar to this one.”
• Below, I’ll provide some examples to show you what the “finding siblings” review mindset looks like.

What are Critical Reasoning “siblings”?

Find “siblings” with the same reasoning structure and correct answer approach.

• As part of major renovations to Flowertown’s Main Street train station, consultants to the train company proposed moving the station’s entrance from its current valuable Main Street location to a low-rent adjoining side street and then leasing the high-rent entrance space to retail businesses. In that way, the train company could easily pay for those and all other proposed renovations without negative impact on its tight budget.(The train station plans to lease its main entrance to a shopping mall for rent, allowing passengers to enter and exit through a side entrance, to balance its finances.)Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support the consultants’ proposal?
  • (B) A reliable survey of Flowertown’s commuters showed that virtually none of them would use the train any less frequently if the station’s entrance were moved.(Leasing the main entrance to others (earning income from a side business), but will passengers stop coming if they have to use a side entrance? (Will your main business suffer as a result?))
• NorthAir charges low fares for its economy-class seats, but it provides very cramped seating and few amenities. Market research shows that economy passengers would willingly pay more for wider seating and better service, and additional revenue provided by these higher ticket prices would more than cover the additional cost of providing these amenities. Even though NorthAir is searching for ways to improve its profitability, it has decided not to make these improvements.(Economy class passenger experience is terrible. Economy class passengers are actually willing to pay a bit more for a better experience. Although improving the experience could satisfy economy class passengers and bring in more money from them, the company is still unwilling to do so.)Which of the following, if true, would most help to explain NorthAir’s decision in light of its objectives?
  • (E) The number of people who would be willing to pay the high fares NorthAir charges for its business-class seats would decrease if its economy-class seating were more acceptable.(If economy class improves, no one will want to fly business class. (A classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul))

Find “siblings” with the same logical flaws in “confusing options.”

• Installing scrubbers in smokestacks and switching to cleaner-burning fuel are the two methods available to Northern Power for reducing harmful emissions from its plants. Scrubbers will reduce harmful emissions more than cleaner-burning fuels will. Therefore, by installing scrubbers, Northern Power will be doing the most that can be done to reduce harmful emissions from its plants.Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
  • (C) Northern Power is not necessarily committed to reducing harmful emissions from its plants.(Confusing option: shifts from whether the argument’s goal is achieved to whether the argument’s goal is necessary.)
• Increased use of incineration is sometimes advocated as a safe way to dispose of chemical waste. But opponents of incineration point to the 40 incidents involving unexpected releases of dangerous chemical agents that were reported just last year at two existing incinerators commissioned to destroy a quantity of chemical waste material. Since designs for proposed new incinerators include no additional means of preventing such releases, leaks will only become more prevalent if use of incineration increases.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
  • (C) The capacity of existing incinerators is sufficient to allow for increased incineration of chemical waste without any need for new incinerators.(Confusing option: shifts from whether the argument’s goal is achieved to whether the argument’s method is necessary.)

What are Reading Comprehension “siblings”?

Find “siblings” with the same passage structure and tone.

• Eco efficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the reduction or elimination of waste from production processes) has become a goal for companies worldwide, with many realizing significant cost savings from such innovations.（Common View） Peter Senge and Goran Carstedt see this development as laudable but suggest that simply adopting eco efficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from their use and discard; indeed, most companies invest in eco efficiency improvements in order to increase profits and growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from eco efficiency will come in similarly eco efficient ways, since in today`s global markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries. Even a vastly more eco efficient industrial system could, were it to grow much larger, generate more total waste and destroy more habitat and species than would a smaller, less eco efficient economy.（Critique） Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on eco efficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models. （Suggestion）
• —
• Many United States companies believe that the rising cost of employees’ health care benefits has hurt the country’s competitive position in the global market by raising production costs and thus increasing the prices of exported and domestically sold goods. As a result, these companies have shifted health care costs to employees in the form of wage deductions or high deductibles.（Common View） This strategy, however, has actually hindered companies’ competitiveness. For example, cost shifting threatens employees’ health because many do not seek preventive screening. Also, labor relations have been damaged: the percentage of strikes in which health benefits were a major issue rose from 18 percent in 1986 to 78 percent in 1989.（Critique） Health care costs can be managed more effectively if companies intervene in the supply side of health care delivery just as they do with other key suppliers: strategies used to procure components necessary for production would work in procuring health care. For example, the make/buy decision–the decision whether to produce or purchase parts used in making a product–can be applied to health care. At one company, for example, employees receive health care at an on-site clinic maintained by the company. The clinic fosters morale, resulting in a low rate of employees leaving the company. Additionally, the company has constrained the growth of health care costs while expanding medical services.（Suggestion）

Find “siblings” with the same trap design in distractor options.

• Some observers have attributed the dramatic growth in temporary employment that occurred in the United States during the 1980s to increased participation in the workforce by certain groups, such as first-time or reentering workers, who supposedly prefer such arrangements. However, statistical analyses reveal that demographic changes in the workforce did not correlate with variations in the total number of temporary workers. Instead, these analyses suggest that factors affecting employers account for the rise in temporary employment. One factor is product demand: temporary employment is favored by employers who are adapting to fluctuating demand for products while at the same time seeking to reduce overall labor costs. Another factor is labor`s reduced bargaining strength, which allows employers more control over the terms of employment. Given the analyses, which reveal that growth in temporary employment now far exceeds the level explainable by recent workforce entry rates of groups said to prefer temporary jobs, firms should be discouraged from creating excessive numbers of temporary positions. Government policymakers should consider mandating benefit coverage for temporary employees, promoting pay equity between temporary and permanent workers, assisting labor unions in organizing temporary workers, and encouraging firms to assign temporary jobs primarily to employees who explicitly indicate that preference.According to the passage, which of the following is true of the “factors affecting employers” that are mentioned in the passage?
  • (E) Most experts cite them as having initiated the growth in temporary employment that occurred during the 1980s.(Option E in this question deliberately uses comprehensive wording to create an overgeneralization through “scope expansion.”)
• Jon Clark`s study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone exchange on exchange maintenance work and workers is a solid contribution to a debate that encompasses two lively issues in the history and sociology of technology: technological determinism and social constructivism. Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a technology have a decisive influence on job skills and work organization. Put more strongly, technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization. Clark believes this possibility has been obscured by the recent sociological fashion, exemplified by Braverman`s analysis, that emphasizes the way machinery reflects social choices. For Braverman, the shape of a technological system is subordinate to the manager`s desire to wrest control of the labor process from the workers. Technological change is construed as the outcome of negotiations among interested parties who seek to incorporate their own interests into the design and configuration of the machinery. This position represents the new mainstream called social constructivism. The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism: technological determinists are supposed to believe, for example, that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society. The alternative to constructivism, in other words, is to view technology as existing outside society, capable of directly influencing skills and work organization. Clark refutes the extremes of the constructivists by both theoretical and empirical arguments…The author of the passage uses the expression “are supposed to” in highlight text primarily in order to
  • (B) define the generally accepted position of determinists regarding the implementation of technology(Option B in this question deliberately uses comprehensive wording to create an overgeneralization through “scope expansion.”)

A needle in a haystack, a vast ocean of questions – where should I look for “siblings”?

• In the past, your review of lecture notes and problem-solving review were separate. But the order of the lecture notes and the order of questions you encounter in the test can’t be the same. The result is that you understand the lecture notes, but don’t know which concept to apply when solving problems. And if you don’t go back to your lecture notes to compare “siblings” when doing questions, but instead look at random explanations online, it will lead to conflicting concepts in your mind, leaving you at a loss, like throwing a messy, uncoordinated punch.
• Your lecture notes are your best tool! Lecture notes are where the instructor has already categorized concepts and selected representative examples. By flipping through your notes and comparing examples to the question in front of you, you are extensively engaging and training your associative and logical thinking skills.

Once you start, please persevere.

• On the path to a high score, the scenery along the way will be so ugly you’ll want to curse. This method is easier said than done; the initial time investment is significant, and it might even take more time than you spent before. Extensive comparison, thinking, and association will be more tiring than simply grinding through many questions.
• But in reality, we’re just changing the time allocation. Before, you aimed for 70% practice questions, 20% note-taking, and 10% thinking. Now, it becomes 70% thinking and comparing (finding siblings), 20% solving questions, and 10% note-taking.
• As long as you can persevere, all the scattered concepts and questions will eventually connect into a network. This will make any new question you see on the test no longer unfamiliar, because what comes to mind won’t be individual rules, but rather its familiar official practice question “siblings.”