GMAT Test

Sample Questions

The sample questions that follow will familiarize you with the types of questions in the English test. Although the sample questions represent the general nature of the test, it is possible that a type of question not illustrated may appear in the test or that material illustrated may not appear. Directions are similar to those in the test.

The quantitative sections of the GMAT measure basic mathematical skills and understanding of elementary concepts, and the ability to reason quantitatively, solve quantitative problems, and interpret graphic data.

The verbal sections of the test measure the ability to understand and evaluate what is read and to recognize basic conventions of standard written English.

The analytical writing sections of the test measure the ability to think critically and communicate complex ideas through writing.

International students should note that GMAT is entirely in English and that all instructions read aloud by test supervisors are in English. There are no foreign language editions of the test.

Each multiple-choice question is followed by five lettered choices from which you are asked to choose the one you think best. Each question has always only one answer, there are no questions with multiple or zero answers.

Reading Comprehension

Directions: Each passage in this group is followed by questions based on its content. After reading a passage, choose the best answer to each question and fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet. Answer all questions following a passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

One sample reading passage follows.

SAMPLE PASSAGE

Studies of the Weddell seal in the laboratory have described the physiological mechanisms that allow the seal to cope with the extreme oxygen deprivation that occurs during its longest dives, which can extend 500 meters below the ocean’s surface and last for over 70 minutes. Recent field studies, however, suggest that during more typical dives in the wild, this seal’s physiological behavior is different.

In the laboratory, when the seal dives below the surface of the water, and stops breathing, its heart beats more slowly, requiring less oxygen, and its arteries become constricted, ensuring that the seal’s blood remains concentrated near those organs most crucial to its ability to navigate underwater. The seal essentially shuts off the flow of blood, which either stop functioning until the seal surfaces or switch to an anaerobic (oxygen-independent) metabolism. The latter results in the production of large amounts of lactic acid which can adversely affect the pH of the seal’s blood, but since the anaerobic metabolism occurs only in those tissues which have been isolated from the seal’s blood supply, the lactic acid is released into the seal’s blood only after the seal surfaces, when the lungs, liver, and other organs quickly clear the acid from the seal’s bloodstream.

Recent field studies, however, reveal that on dives in the wild, the seal usually heads directly for its prey and returns to the surface in less than twenty minutes. The absence of high levels of lactic acid in the seal’s blood after such dives suggests that during them, the seal’s organs do not resort to the anaerobic metabolism observed in the laboratory, but are supplied with oxygen from the blood. The seal’s longer excursions underwater, during which it appears to be either exploring distant routes or evading a predator, do evoke the diving response seen in the laboratory. But why do the seal’s laboratory dives always evoke this response, regardless of their lengths or depths? Some biologists speculate that because in laboratory dives the seal is forcibly submerged, it does not know how long it will remain underwater and so prepares for the worst.

Critical Reasoning

Directions: For each question in this section, select the best of the answer choices given.

Data Sufficiency

Directions: Each of the data sufficiency problems below consists of a question and two statements, labeled (1) and (2), in which certain data are given. You have to decide whether the data given in the statements are sufficient for answering the question. Using the data given in the statements plus your knowledge of mathematics and everyday facts (such as the number of days in July or the meaning of counterclockwise), you are to fill in oval

Numbers: All numbers used are real numbers.

Figures: A figure in a data sufficiency problem will confirm to the information given in the question, but will not necessarily conform to the additional information given in statements (1) and (2). You may assume that lines shown as straight are straight and that angle measures are greater than zero.

You may assume that the positions of points, angles, regions, etc. , exist in the order shown. All figures lie in a plane unless otherwise indicated.

Note: In questions that ask for the value of a quantity, the data given in the statements are sufficient only when it is possible to determine exactly one numerical value for the quantity.

Explanation: According to statement (1), PQ=PR, therefore, PQR is isosceles and y=z. Since x + y +z = 180, it follows that x + 2y = 180. Since statement (1) does not give a value for y, you cannot answer the question using statement (1) alone. According to statement (2), y=40; therefore x + z=140. Since statement (2) does not give a value for z, you cannot answer the question using statement (2) alone. Using both statements together, since x + 2y = 180 and the value of y is given, you can find the value of x. Therefore, the answer is C.

Problem Solving

Directions: In this section solve each problem, using any available space on the page for scratchwork. Then indicate the best of the answer choices given.

Numbers: All numbers used are real numbers.

Figures: Figures that accompany problems in this section are intended to provide information useful in solving the problems. They are drawn as accurately as possible EXCEPT when it is stated in a specific problem that its figure is not drawn to scale. All figures lie in a plane unless otherwise indicated.

Sentence Correction

Directions: In each of the following sentences, some part of the sentence or the entire sentence is underlined. Beneath each sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is the best of these answer choices, choose answer A; otherwise, choose one of the others. Select the best version and fill in the corresponding oval on your answer sheet.

This is a test of correctness and effectiveness of expression. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English; that is, pay attention to grammar, choice of words, and sentence construction. Choose the answer that produces the most effective sentence construction; this answer should be clear and exact, without awkwardness, ambiguity, redundancy, or grammatical error.