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GMAT Verbal Study Guide

The Verbal is the last section on the test day, but it can determine your chances of admission to business schools since it often turns out to be the deciding factor of your final GMAT score. The GMATCAT Verbal Study Guide is unique in that it provides solid content review for the test as well as strategies for tackling the trick questions.

Features of our Verbal Study Guide include:

• Secrets on how to understand, evaluate and manipulate logical arguments. You'll be able to articulate the argument in your own words.

• Techniques to eliminate at least three wrong choices even that you can't fully understand a question or a passage.

• Summary of fourteen types of grammar errors and help you develop a strong sense of both grammar and the stylistic conventions of English language. Also covers techniques to attack the whole underlined questions.

• Keywords searching tips to find what you want  when you are answering the questions. You will not waste time re-reading the whole passage.

• Techniques to locate facts, trace an author's line of logic, and map the structure of a passage.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Reading Comprehension

Section 1: One Principle

Section 2: Two Styles

Section 3: Three Subjects

Section 4: Four Steps Procedure of Reading

Section 5: Five Types of Questions

Section 6: Six test points

Chapter 2 Sentence Correction

Introduction

Three-step method

Section 1: Subject-Verb agreement

Section 2: Verb Time Sequences

Section 3: Modification

Section 4: Parallelism

Section 5: Pronoun

Section 6: Comparisons

Section 7: Choice of Word

Section 8: Idioms

Section 9: Sentence Structure

Section 10: Subjunctive Mood

Section 11: Ambiguity

Section 12: Redundancy

Section 13: Awkward

Section 14: Logicality

Chapter 3 Critical Reasoning

Section 1: Introduction to Critical Reasoning

Section 2: Six Types of Argument

Section 3: Eight Types of Question

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Free Section

On the test day, you will encounter 41 verbal questions, 10 out of them are Critical Reasoning. To make it comfortable for you to prepare for this subtest, we have designed an interesting "number" course (the name of each strategy begins with a number) to help you learn the test prep strategies.

Section 1: Introduction

One Definition

Four Elements of an Argument

Seven Common Fallacies

Three-element Rule

Two Traps

Five Answer Choices

Section 2: Six Types of Reasoning

Section 3: Eight Types of Question

Section 1: Introduction to Critical Reasoning

1. One Definition: Argument

Most people call the Critical Reasoning as Argument. An argument is a coherent series of statements leading from a premise to a conclusion. Formula of argument looks something like this:

Premise + Example/Reason = Conclusion

Depending on the effectiveness of premises and the logicality of reasoning (use of example and reason), an argument can be perfectly true or totally fallacious. For instance, someone may conclude Candidate G will become the next president of United States because in a recent poll, eight out of ten gave votes to him. This poll can be effective if the respondents are representative to the whole electorate, or be ineffective if the respondents are biased sample.

However, the critical reasoning question never asks you to determine whether an argument is correct or incorrect. Rather, the question requires you to evaluate the reasoning of an argument. In other word, arguments are designed to test your ability to think logically, not your ability to seek truth.

Let’s look at a sample argument:

Our work proves to be very successful. In the past three years, each of our five clients has experienced the fastest growth of sales in their history. Therefore, if your company meets management problems, do not hesitate to call Sigma & Max, since we are the best management consulting company.

Here, the advertiser tried to convince that it is the best management consulting company available and to persuade its potential customer to choose its service. To support its statement, the advertiser cited five of its clients, each of them gained the fastest growth rate in their history.

2. Four elements of an argument

An argument is a coherent series of statements leading from a premise to a conclusion. One can cite evidences to strengthen an argument or attack its assumption to weaken an argument.

Premises + Evidence = Conclusion

I. Conclusion

How do you identify the author’s conclusion? Most often, a conclusion is stated in the last or first sentence in an argument. The conclusion rarely comes in the middle of an argument. Also, you can search for the conclusion indicators that are commonly used to introduce a conclusion.

Conclusion Indicators

II. Premise

Premise is the fact or reason that the author uses to strengthen his argument. The following are phrases that introduce the premises of an argument.

Premise Indicators

III. Counter-evidence

Sometimes, the author uses counter-evidence words to argue against his opposite, or concede certain minor points that may weaken his argument. For the latter, the counter evidence is finally refuted by further evidence. Following are some of the most common used counter-evidence indicators.

Counter-evidence Indicators

IV. Assumptions

Assumptions are those that the author uses to strengthen his argument but leaves it unstated.

The assumption is a gap between the premises and the conclusion. In order to evaluation an argument, you always have to find this gap.

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