Resolve/Explain Questions

Step 1: Identify the question.

Look for key words like resolve and explain.

Step 2: Work the argument.

Read the passage. Identify the facts in conflict. Look for words like but, yet, and however to find the paradox.

Step 3: Predict what the answer should do.

Phrase the question that the correct choice will answer. Ask, “Why X but also Y?

Step 4: Use POE to find the answer.

The correct answer will provide additional information that allows both facts to be true and clears up the paradox. Avoid answers that:

• Do nothing to clear up the conflict.

• Make the conflict worse.

• Address only one side of the conflict.

Assignment 5

D

1. Walking a mile at a slow pace, from 1.8 to 2.5 mph, burns about 100 calories. Walking a mile at a brisk pace, from 3 to 4 mph, also burns about 100 calories, though in a shorter amount of time. Jogging a mile, from 4.5 to 6 mph, burns about the same 100 calories. The difference in covering a mile at faster speeds is not in the number of calories burned, but in the greater degree of cardio-vascular benefit.

Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the statements above?

Jogging builds more muscle tone than does walking at a slow pace.

Speed is directly proportional to the number of calories burned.

Walking at a brisk pace for a shorter amount of time burns more calories than does walking at a slow pace for a longer amount of time.

There are benefits to walking at a slow pace other than burning calories.

Jogging a mile offers greater cardiovascu-lar benefit than does walking a mile briskly or at a slow pace.

2. Traditionally, the subway system has been subsidized by the state government because revenue from ticket sales is not sufficient to cover operating costs. The governor’s plan proposes to cut financial support of the system.

Which of the following follows logically from the passage above?

Although a bus fare costs the same as a subway fare, the buses do not travel to all the points that the subway does, so some people cannot travel by bus.

If the subway system does not find another way of raising money, it will have to either raise ticket prices or cut back on service.

If the price of a subway ticket is raised, some people will no longer be able to afford to ride the subway.

If the subway system can find a way to cut costs, the state will maintain its level of support, causing surplus funding for the system.

A group of investors is considering privatizing the subway system.

3. Poor anxiety management leads people to function less effectively in their jobs and relationships. Short-term psychotherapy, while it does not have the profound effect of

psychoanalysis, can teach some concrete techniques for managing anxiety.

Which of the following can be correctly inferred from the statements above?

People who can manage their anxiety reasonably well have no need for short-term psychotherapy.

Psychoanalysis is more useful in promoting long-term change than is psychotherapy.

If people can manage their anxiety well, they are able to be effective at work and in relationships.

Short-term psychotherapy may help some people to manage their anxiety.

Try a few inference and resolve/explain questions on your own.

4. Passenger boardings on trains almost doubled between 1985 and 1995, yet the actual

number of trips made by passengers in-creased by only 38 percent over the same period. The reason for this discrepancy is that at least two boardings are counted when a passenger must take more than one train trip to get to the final destination of his or her trip.

Which of the following, if true, best helps explain why the increase in boardings ex-ceeded the increase in the number of train passengers between 1985 and 1995?

Between 1985 and 1995, the number of train stations increased dramatically.

Between 1985 and 1995, the number of train lines decreased significantly.

Between 1985 and 1995, the proportion of train trips requiring passengers to change trains en route to their final destinations increased significantly.

The proportion of business travelers using trains increased significantly between 1985 and 1995 relative to the proportion of pleasure travelers.

The average seating capacity of passen-ger trains increased significantly be-tween 1985 and 1995.

5. In an effort to save energy and, thus, money, many people keep their electric freezers half-empty at all times, using them to store prefrozen foods bought at a store and nothing else. Yet freezers that are half-empty usually consume more energy than they would if they were kept fully stocked.

Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation for the apparent discrepancy described above?

A person who normally maintains a half-empty freezer would save a considerable amount of money by using a freezer that is half as large.

An electric freezer can operate efficiently only if chilled air is free to circulate within the freezing compartment.

A given volume of air in a freezer requires much more energy to be maintained at a temperature below freezing than does an identical volume of frozen food.

The door of a full freezer is likely to be opened more often, and for a longer period of time, than is the door of a half-empty freezer.

On average, it takes less energy to keep food frozen than it does to get it from room temperature to a frozen state.

Assignment 5

6. All drivers who lease the cars they drive carry automobile collision insurance, but many who own the cars they drive do not.

Which of the following, if true, would best explain the cause of the situation described above?

Automobile drivers are not required by law to carry collision insurance on the cars they drive, but automobile leasing companies require, as a condition of the lease, that the driver carry collision insurance.

Automobile drivers are not required by law to carry collision insurance, and collision insurance is extremely expensive.

Collision insurance is a sensible purchase only if the automobile it covers is under two years old.

Most insurance companies prefer not to issue automobile collision insurance and are slow to pay when a policyholder makes a claim.

Many drivers feel they would rather risk the cost of repairing their vehicles in the event of an accident than to pay the cost of collision insurance.

A

E

Drill

1. E The difference between walking and jogging a given distance is the amount of cardiovascular benefit. (A) and (D) are never mentioned, and (B) and (C) contradict the premises.

2. B Current ticket sales don’t cover costs. Without external funding, they must raise prices or cut costs. Use POE. (A) We don’t know anything about buses. (C) seems reasonable, but it’s never actually mentioned. (D) is never stated. In (E), Privatization is never mentioned.

3. D Anxious people don’t function well in life, and psychotherapy can teach people how to manage their anxiety. (D) is nice and noncommittal. How can you argue with it? (A) is too extreme, and (B) long-term change and (E) theoretical work are never mentioned. (C) is too strong, since anxiety might not be a person’s only problem.

4. C The argument states that it’s possible for a passenger to account for two (or more) boardings while taking only one trip. Since boardings increased more than actual trips did, it must be true that more trips required switching trains. (A) is a common wrong answer; an increase in train stations does not necessarily ensure that the trains will always stop at them.

(B) doesn’t explain anything. The distinction in (D) between business traveler and pleasure travelers is irrelevant. (E) only explains why trips increased.

5. C If it’s more expensive to cool a half-empty freezer than to cool a full freezer, air must be harder to cool than food is. In (A), the size of the freezer doesn’t matter. (B) and (D) go against the premise that half-full freezers burn more energy.

(E) doesn’t distinguish between full freezers and half-full freezers.

6. A Lessees carry insurance because they have to, and owners don’t carry insurance because they don’t have to. (B), (D), and (E) don’t explain why all lessees have the insurance, and (C) is irrelevant (where did two years old come from?).

Assignment 5

GEOMETRY

If you have nightmares about your high school geometry class, you can relax a bit. The geometry tested on the GMAT is fairly basic—no proofs, no statements of theorems, and no trigonometry. The GMAT mainly tests fundamental concepts and shapes such as lines, angles, area, triangles, quadrilaterals, and circles. This doesn’t mean GMAT geometry problems are always easy. As on the rest of the exam, ETS is capable of creating very tricky geometry problems. However, even the challenging problems test the same geometry fundamentals; they just combine them in different ways. In order to handle the harder questions, you first need to lay a foundation of basic geometry knowledge and skills.

C

Y

T

D

?

You might be wondering whether the diagrams you see on the computer screen are accurate. In problem-solving questions, the diagrams are drawn to scale, which means that you can trust what they look like on your screen. In data sufficiency questions, however, the diagrams are often misleading, inaccurate, and designed to confuse you. You may need to redraw the diagram in a different way using the information given in the question or the statements as your guide.

You will nearly always need to transcribe geometry figures to your scratch paper in order to solve them. Be careful when you do this, and double-check your diagram. One mislabeled angle can lead to the wrong answer or a tremendous amount of wasted time. If a question describes a figure but doesn’t provide a diagram, draw it yourself based on the information you’re given.

• Problem solving: You can trust what you see. Figures are drawn to scale unless a problem states otherwise.

• Data sufficiency: Be wary of what you see. Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, and they may be drawn inaccu-rately in order to confuse you.

• Make sure you have correctly transcribed the diagram before you begin solving a problem. If no diagram is provided, draw one yourself.