Sentence Correction Practice Question

Sentence Correction Practice Question

 Question

The reason why the winged bean can thrive on poor soil is because their roots house bacteria that can turn atmospheric nitrogen into fertilizer.
(A) is because their roots house bacteria that can turn
(B) is because its roots house bacteria which can turn
(C) is that their roots house bacteria turning
(D) is that its roots house bacteria that can turn
(E) being that its roots house bacteria and can turn

Solution

Subject in the sentence is winged bean, which is singular.

Option A refers to winged bean as plural by using their. 
Option B us of 'which' is wrong; the use of bacteria should be restrictive. Also look out for a comma (,) before which.
Option C is meaning less it losely means that root house bacteria turns into atmospheric nitrogen, which is not the case.
Option D is correct.
Option E usage of being makes the sentence more complicated and it is not parallel, use of and requires a parallel structure.

Relative clauses on GMAT

Relative clauses on GMAT

A relative clause gives more information about someone or something referred to in a main clause.

On the GMAT, a common way of confusing students with Fragments is by using relative clauses in a sentence. Consider the following example:

Sentence 1: The fruit is lying in the basket.

Sentence 2: The fruit that is lying in the basket.

Sentence 3: The fruit that is lying in the basket is ripe.

Here Sentence 1 is complete, Sentence 2 in incomplete and Sentence 3 in complete.

Sentence 2 : Incomplete

Let us examine Sentence 2:

(Reference: A clause is a group of words that contains both a Subject and a Predicate, but may not be able to stand on its own. So, usually a relative clause requires an anchoring of a complete sentence).

In Sentence 2 that 'is lying in the basket' is a dependent clause and requires anchoring of a complete sentence, which is missing in this case.

Sentence 3: Complete

So to complete the sentence we move to sentence 3.

Consider this:

The fruit is ripe. (This is a complete sentence)

now add the relative clause <that is lying on the table>

Sentence 3: The fruit <that is lying in the basket> is ripe.

Note:  Simple rule for use of Relative clause

• ·         We prefer to put a relative clause immediately after or as close as possible to the noun it adds information to.

•       When we use a defining relative clause, the relative pronoun can be the subject or the object of the clause.

More on relative clause on the coming blogs.

Main Point:

On, the real GMAT, you will see very long sentences which are incomplete and they miss the most important part of the sentence that is VERB.The test makers always try to confuse you with a relative clause, which has a verb.

How do identify the missing verb - eliminate the relative clause and you will easily find the missing verb.

Tips for GMAT PREP

Tips for GMAT PREP

Many students who prepare for the GMAT test usually design the same curriculum for themselves that they find on a popular forum: get a bunch of books or online prep courses, do as many practice problems as possible, and think success will follow. I've seen it work occasionally, but this is not necessarily a great idea that promises 100% success on the test day. 

Having said that I am not trying to lower your confidence. Anybody can score high on the GMAT. It's just a matter of effort and strategy. This is a recommended GMAT study program to help you achieve that top GMAT score. It's a one-stop solution for anybody who is asking "how should I study for this exam?" Feel free to follow the whole program or to pick and choose what you like and incorporate it into your personal strategy.

Three steps to planning an effective practice session

1) Be consistent - lower your expectations of how many practice problems you'll do in a sitting, in a week, in a month, or in your entire course of preparation. The trick here is to completely understand the questions you are attempting and identifying the patterns.

2) Try to  always practice the same way--the way you'll do questions on the test.  To do this you may take simulated free tests every week to see how you performed and which areas or topics require study and improvement.

3) The third step is to set a reasonable goal for one sitting--and not take a break. Depending on how challenging the problems are relative to your current progress (as well as what types of problems you're working on), the exact number will differ.

It is important to review

After every practice test you need to review so that you know what is going wrong. You'll probably find that you missed a few of the questions because of careless errors; perhaps you missed a key "NOT", or failed to carry the one. Maybe the correct path to some of the problems became apparent only after you had worked through it the wrong way. Regardless, for every problem you missed, starred, or took too long the first time through, do it again.

Yep, that's right: do them all again.

While preparing everyday as you answer questions in the official guides or other preparation books and materials, record all your answers in this spreadsheet while you're solving questions. Get out of the habit of writing in a book; That way when you review, you can still work on questions you got correct but were slow at, or review questions you got correct but were possibly partially guessing or not in complete command of.

Do not worry much TIME CONSTRAINTS during first 15 days of PREP

When you prepare for GMAT, learn how to avoid cutting corners in order to save time. You must read the question carefully, as there is a possibility that you might come across questions that will have incorrect answer choices, so you must always read the questions twice before attempting if you are not very sure.

Right before the test, do not attempt to comprehensively review everything. Rather, it's advisable to pick a few problems you're very comfortable with and complete them under test day conditions. This is a good way to determine your level of GMAT preparedness. This also helps to get into the bubble of self confidence. But be aware of over confidence. 

Lastly think about your dream GMAT SCORE all the time.

GMAT MATH - Geometry Question

Question - GMAT MATH - Geometry Question

Volume of a rectangle

The volume of a rectangular solid is x. If the length and width are each increased by 25% and the height is increased by 300%, what is the volume of the new rectangle formed?

a) x
b) 4x
c) 6x
d) 6.25x
e) 10x

Solution:

Formula for volume of a rectangle = length (ln) * width (b) * height (h)

Given, Volume of rectangle = x

ln*b*h =x

Here we need to understand percentage increase.

For example, if 10 increases by 10% then we calculate it as

10 + (10 *(10/100)) = 10 + 1

Similarly
 25 % length increase = ln + ((25/100)*ln) = ln + 0.25ln = 1.25ln
 25 % width increase = w + ((25/100)*w) = w + 0.25w = 1.25w
200% height increase = h + ((300/100)*h) = h + 3h =4h

New Volume = 1.25ln * 1.25w * 4h
                       = 6.25 (ln*w*h)

If ln*b*h =x;
then 6.25 (ln*b*h) = 6.25x

Correct Answer: D 

GMAT Preparation

GMAT Preparation

Preparing for GMAT is a huge investment and commitment, which requires discipline and hard work. Along with discipline and hard work you will also require smart work and the ability to recognize standard patterns. GMAT is more about testing your psychology than about testing how good you are in applying MATHS and ENGLISH rules. 

It is very important for you to understand that in the GMAT , the test creators are trying to test (or may be play)  with your psychology. The creators do not leave a single opportunity to create a panic situation during the test. They are trying to test your ability to simplify overly confusing items to simple parts/sections and apply the basic rules that your learned during your school days. The reason behind this is simple. In the real business world we come across many complicated situations and we are usually able to solve them by breaking them down into smaller pieces or by identifying patterns in the problem. The real GMAT test also tests you on the same parameters how well qualified you are to use your brains to break complex problems into smaller ones and solve them.

So do not panic !!!  

Here I will list some basic fundamentals that you will require to follow while preparing for the GMAT.

1) You do not need to solve every problem RIGHT. GMAT rewards for accepting the truth that no one has 100% accuracy.

2) Don’t freak out about time constraint! Realize early on that you do not need to get even close to every problem right to obtain a high score.

3) Preparation is important but what is also important is how you handle the pressure on the test day.

4) If you are not native English speaker then you may think that some things on verbal do not come naturally to you. Having said that, I think that the GMAT Verbal is less of an English test and more a test of your reasoning skills. So trust yourself and start practicing.

5) Personalize your studies, different people use different ways to study they discuss all of their ways and success stories on places like beatthegmat and gmatclub. These stories are good but remember that these stories are their personal stories and not yours so do not start following them blindly. Try to follow a routine that is comfortable to you.

6) Comfortable routine does not mean that you skip your studies for a week in between because of some reason. You need to be have discipline.

7) Never lose hope, remember persistence can take you places.

8) Lastly relax, begin your every day study session with a relaxed mind. Listen to music before your start studying or meditate for some time. I like to listen to music. Music has a positive effect on the mind, and listening to the right type of music can actually improve studying and learning, 

I hope this helps you.