![]() Statement (2) does allow you to figure out how old Samantha is today, but that’s irrelevant to the question, since it doesn’t tell you anything about F or D (at least, Samantha’s age is irrelevant without more information…). On this one, for example, you might choose to start with statement (2) since it only mentions a third person, Samantha. ![]() Next, glance at the two statements and choose one to start. On the other hand, if a piece of information doesn’t allow you to find any values for F or D or it gives you multiple possible values, then that information is not sufficient to answer the question. If a particular piece of information allows you to find a unique value for either F or D, then that information is sufficient. Pause for a second, What would you need to know in order to be able to solve for F? In this case, if they tell you the value for D, then you can find the value for F. By the time you get to the test, you’ll just know what they are.įirst, jot down the fact given in the question stem, as well as the question itself: These five answer choices are always exactly the same and always given in the exact same order-so you don’t even have to read them on test day. (E) Even using both statements together, you can’t answer the question. (C) Neither statement works by itself, but they do work together. (B) Statement (2) works by itself, but statement (1) does not. (A) Statement (1) works by itself, but statement (2) does not. Here’s the shorthand for each answer choice: Samantha will be 11 years old in 5 years.įinally, there are five answer choices that encompass the five possible ways you could combine the two statements to be able to calculate an answer to the question.Samantha is 4 years younger than Dmitry.The next two lines are the two statements: This question stem is both asking a question ( how old is Farai) and providing a fact that you can use when evaluating the problem ( Farai is twice as old as Dmitry). If Farai is twice as old as Dmitry, how old is Farai? These are a little confusing at first, but the beauty of DS is that you don’t have to actually do most of the math-and you can still solve the problem. Rather, they’re asking you to determine what information would be sufficient/necessary to allow you to do the math…if they asked you to do it. ![]() ![]() How data sufficiency worksĭata Sufficiency, or DS, problems present you with a question and two statements-but they’re not actually asking you to solve the math. Or whether you are able to realize that the sales forecast numbers your coworker just handed you don’t make logical sense-even though you haven’t performed the precise calculations yourself. The GMAT isn’t all that interested in precise calculations rather, the test mimics the real-world usage you can expect in business school and the working world.įor example, business schools are interested in knowing whether you understand quant concepts well enough to do some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations to determine a rough answer to the CEO’s question-7,500 is good enough 7,462.39 is unnecessary. While you do need to know various rules and formulas, the GMAT is explicitly designed to allow you to take advantage of shortcuts-estimation, testing out a few real numbers, and so on. Problems may be written in “pure math” form or in “story” form, so you’ll also need skill in translating a story into the necessary math concepts to solve.
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