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Official Guide DS#120

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#120 on the OG

This one provides information that is “%” and “%”….and then the question is asking about “%”. So in this case, it’s not about %’s and #’s. This one is entirely about %s. The above framework doesn’t let you speed through this one. Here is the question and a few pointers to speed thru:

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The annual rent collected by a corporation from a certain building was x percent more in 1998 than in 1997 and y percent less in 1998 than in 1998. Was the annual rent collected by the corporation from the building more in 1999 than in 1997?

(1) x>y
(2) xy/100 < x-y

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GMATPill Explanation
Recognize this question is asking you whether it’s possible to compare 1999 to 1997. Let’s see if we can by figuring out what they gave us first.

1998 = 1997(1+x/100)
1999 = 1998(1-y/100)

Be careful in laying this information out. You may have an inclination to say 1998= 1997 (1+x) but you need the divide by 100 because if you read the question carefully, it’s saying x percent. To convert to algebra terms you need the divide by 100. If you don’t, then the expression (1+x) might read (1+5)..and that would translate to 600% rather than the 1+5% = 1.05 that you are trying to use. So this is an important point. Divide by 100 in your expressions.

By substituting 1998 into the second equation we can get:
1999 = 1997(1+x/100)*(1-y/100)

So at least we know from the information they gave us, that we can compare 1997 to 1999. The problem is that it’s not yet solvable because it’s one equation with 2 unknowns.

Let’s check (1). We have x>y. Well, our equation above will become:
1999 = 1997 * (1+x/100-y/100-xy/10000)
Since x>y, we know that x-y>0…which is the same as x/100 – y/100 > 0. Great. That means:
1999 = 1997 * (1 + something positive – xy/10000). Still not enough info to solve since the unknown “xy” is still remaining.

Now we look at (2).
Going back to 1999 = 1997 *(1+x/100-y/100-xy/10000)
Using (2), we can get 0 This looks almost similar, but we can manipulate it. Since the left side is 0, just divide both sides by 100.

You get: 0/100 < x/100 – y/100 – xy/10000
or 0 < x/100 – y/100 – xy/10000
Going back to 1999 = 1997 *(1+x/100-y/100-xy/10000)
we can see that this is 1999 = 1997 * (1+ something greater than 0).
The equation is solved. (2) gets the answer so it’s B.

GMATPill vs Official Guide Explanation

Now, if you were to get an explanation from the Official Guide book itself, notice the difference in explanation depth and attack strategy compared to GMATPill’s explanation above. According to most students, the official guide explanations don’t really give them a good enough thought process to attack the question. And sometimes, it’s just difficult to follow.

For many students, the GMATPill explanation works a lot better.

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GMAT Prep Question Video Explanation 2 | Practice GMAT Questions

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Watch This: Official Guide Question With GMAT Pill Video Explanation

Question:
Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret when they do appear.

A) Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.
B) An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that worked well in the past, makes missing signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting ones likely when they do appear.
C) An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action is likely to miss or misinterpret signs of incipient trouble when they do appear, especially if it has worked well in the past.
D) Executives’ being heavily committed to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes them likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting them when they do appear.
E) Being heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that has worked well in the past, is likely to make an executive miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.

What is this GMAT question testing?

This question tests Core Framework #3: X&Y Consistency, clarity

It’s testing your ability to spot parallel and consistent sentences and to understand when sentences are vague with phrases like “it.” Again, cut the fluff to help you simplify the sentence

Don’t be intimidated when the entire sentence is underlined for you to fix.

This question also throws in a few answer choices with the word “being.” Now, all GMAT Pill students know the word “being” is a RED FLAG word. But is it always necessarily bad? Watch the video above to find out!

The key is to figure out what the GMAT guys are testing you on and to move your eyeballs to the critical keywords ASAP so you can do the necessary analysis and choose the correct answer.

How To Think Through This Official Guide Question

Go ahead and check out the GMAT Pill video explanation of this Official Guide Question.

Check out More Practice GMAT Questions with GMAT Pill explanations.

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Verbal Videos: Sentence Correction | Critical Reasoning | Reading Comprehension
Quant Videos: Problem Solving | Data Sufficiency

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Official GMAT Prep Software Question Video Explanation 1 | Practice GMAT Questions

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Question:
The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus Valley in the fifth century B.C., bringing the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and southern Indian alphabets.

A) the Aramic script with it, from which was derived both northern and
B) the Aramaic script with it, and from which deriving both the northern and the
C) with it the Aramic script, from which derive both the northern and the
D) with it the Aramic script, from which derives both northern and
E) with it the Aramic script, and deriving from it both the northern and

Click here for the solution and the GMATPill Video Explanation

What is this GMAT question testing?

This question tests Core Framework #3: Main Sentence on one side, phrase on the other.

It’s testing your ability to manipulate sentence structures and identify which ones structurally make sense and which ones are appropriate from a meaning perspective. The interaction between structure vs meaning is important.

The key is to figure out what the GMAT guys are testing you on and to move your eyeballs to the critical keywords ASAP so you can do the necessary analysis and choose the correct answer.

How To Think Through This Official Guide Question

Go ahead and check out the GMAT Pill video explanation of this Official Guide Question.

Check out More Practice GMAT Questions with GMAT Pill explanations.

Table of Contents | See Pricing

Verbal Videos: Sentence Correction | Critical Reasoning | Reading Comprehension
Quant Videos: Problem Solving | Data Sufficiency

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