GMAT Full Mock Test- 2 - GMAT MCQ

#1
Today, Jerry ate 30% more than his regular average.
today ate = 1.3 *avg
insufficient
#2
Yesterday, Jerry ate 32 bananas, which is 15% less than his regular average.
32=.75* avg
avg= 32/.75
so from 1&2
today banana = 1.3*32/.75 ; sufficient

From both statements together we know the average amount of bananas eaten by Jerry and that today Jerry ate 30% more than his regular average. Therefore, both statements together supply sufficient information to answer the question

On weekdays, the student studies for 9 hours, on Saturdays 3 hours.
In one week the student studies for (5 x 9 + 3 = 48).
The total number of hours in one week is (24 x 7 = 168).
48 hours / 168 total hours = 2/7.

This question asks you to identify the most appropriate title for the passage. You should consider the passage as a self-contained unit, not as part of a larger work. E is the correct answer. The topics of the passage is Woolf’s novels, and the author emphasizes that the novels contain observations concerning “how individuals are shaped (or deformed) by their social environments” 

The literary critics discussed in the first paragraph ignored Woolf’s intention to criticize society and saw her as a “poetic’ novelist unconcerned with the real world. This question asks you to identify the tone of the remarks made by the author of the passage concerning this assessment of Woolf’s work. A is the correct choice. The author’s characterization of the critics’ assessment as “cavalier”(line 16) can be described as “disparaging”  

The author discusses Woolf’s literary models, emphasizing Chaucer, in the last paragraph. The reason why Woolf chose Chaucer as her model is not directly stated in the passage but must be inferred from the information there. D is the correct answer. Line 61 indicates that Woolf’s work as a moralist is subtle and done ‘ by indirection.” Woolf’s statement that readers absorb morality at every pore despite the fact that no laws were changed because of Chaucer indicates that she believed Chaucer’s influence to be subtle. Therefore, it is likely that it was Chaucer’s subtle effectiveness that led Woolf to choose him as a model.

In lines 25-28, the author states that Woolf’s novels presented social settings realistically. The question asks why Woolf did so. B is the best answer. In lines 19-22, Wooolf’s interest in the effect of social environment on the individual is described. The juxtaposition of these lines with the statement in lines 25-28 strongly suggests that Woolf realistically described social settings because she was interested in their effect on character. 

This question refers you to line 54 of the passage so that you can evaluate the context in which the author uses the word “contemplative.” You are to choose the definition of “contemplative” that is closest in meaning to the use of the word in that context. C is the best answer. Lines 51-55 suggest that a contemplative art is expressed indirectly, rather than by “aggressive assertion.” Lines 57-60 point out that Woolf, as a contemplative novelist, encourages readers to make their own judgements. 

This question asks you to identify an element that the author thinks is important in the satirist’s art. The colon in line 65 indicates that the information in lines 61-65 describing Woolf’s work leads to the statement, “hers is the satirist’s art.” This statement indicates that conclusions about Woolf’s work as a satirist can lead you to conclusions about the art of satirists in general. E is the correct answer. Lines 61-65 describe Woolf’s satirical art as providing the materials for judgments about mores in an indirect, subtle, and nonassertive way, that is, in a nonpolemical way.  

This question asks you to determine which of the questions given can be answered using the information in the passage. To make this determination, you must first attempt to answer each question using only the information presented by the author. B is the correct answer. The answer to the question is “No”. In lines 13-15, the author characterizes Woolf as realistic and satirical as well as introspective and visionary. 

The passage discusses how advertising usually need only draw people’s attention to a product and need not provide any substance for people to remember the product. Thus, the passage implies that people can remember a product without having much information about it, and A is the correct answer. B is incorrect. The passage suggests that if advertisements draw people’s attention to a product, the people are more apt to remember the product. The advertisement is not said to improve people’s memories, only to draw people’s attention so they will use their existing memories. C is also incorrect. The passage says that all one usually needs to do is attract a potential customer’s attention. It does not say how easy or difficult that is. The fourth answer choice is incorrect. The passage says that it is rarely necessary to say something of substance in an advertisement but does not suggest that the advertising industry knows little of substance about the product. 

B, the best choice, avoids errors of agreement, correctly uses the parallel construction that x and that y, and uses would rather than will to refer to a promised but uncertain future event. In A and C, singular it after expected has no grammatical referent: its antecedent cannot be The company, but rather must be the plural profits. Choices A and C also contain errors of verb form, using will where would is required. Choices A and D fail to maintain parallel structure: properly formed, the construction would have that after expected to parallel that after announced. Furthermore, in D, the addition of them to is unnecessary. Choice E illogically uses the future perfect will have improved to suggest completion of an action that will be continuous in the second half of the year. 
Directions: For each question. select the best of the answer choices given. (Critical Reasoning) 

The passage suggests that considering the possibility of extinction with an eye toward the possible utility of a previously unvalued species will lead to a different answer to the question than considering the possibility of extinction from a more general perspective. C describes the author’s procedure of suggesting a new perspective and is thus the correct answer.  The first choice is incorrect. The author argues that it is important to preserve endangered species without endorsing any opposing point of view. The view attributed to the general public is not accepted; rather, an argument is given to show what that view misses. B is incorrect. The author uses an approach that is primarily factual, and does not seek to arouse the emotions of its audience. D is also incorrect. The author tries to undermine an opposing position by presenting an alternative to it. The last answer choice is incorrect. The generalization about the potential value of life forms whose value was not perceived in advance is supported by an example of a similar case, namely that of rubber plants.

A, the best choice, uses a singular pronoun, its, to refer to the singular antecedent The gyrfalcon, and it properly uses the construction its numbers are now ... greater than. In B, the construction its numbers are ... more is not idiomatic: there are more birds, but not more numbers. Choices C and D use a plural pronoun, their or they, to refer to a grammatically singular antecedent, The gyrfalcon. Choices D and E wrongly use a phrase introduced by now with to modify The gyrfalcon. In both choices, the phrase confusingly seems to parallel with extinction; a new clause with a present tense verb is needed to state what the gyrfalcon's numbers are now. 
Directions: For each question. select the best of the answer choices given. (Critical Reasoning) 

The fact that only a member of the Regionalist party would oppose the bill does not imply that all members of the Regionalist party would oppose the bill. Based on the initial statement, Ellen may or may not be a member of the Regionalist party if she supports the bill. For the conclusion to be valid, the initial statement would have to read, “All members of the Regionalist party would oppose the bill for a new recycling law…” Thus, the choice of D makes the relevant logical point.  The first three answer choices are incorrect. Each presents at best a piece of background information without being specifically related to the question of whether all Regionalist party members would oppose the bill. The last answer choice is also incorrect. Ellen’s attending programs and distributing literature prepared by the Regionalist party might appear to make it likely that the conclusion is false. But suggesting that the conclusion might be false does not help show why the conclusion is invalidly drawn

A, the best choice, is concise, idiomatic, and maintains subject-verb agreement. In B, Out of every four, three is unidiomatic. The singular verb owns does not agree with its plural subject, three ... owners. The passive construction in C (Bicycles are owned by) is cumbersome and does not contribute meaningfully to the sentence. The shift to plural Bicycles detracts from clarity by suggesting that multiple bicycles are owned by each person in question. In D, the singular owns does not agree with its plural subject three... owners. Furthermore, the plural bicycles detracts from clarity by suggesting that multiple bicycles are owned by each person in question. In E, the phrase beginning Out of every four ... cannot properly modify bicycles, and the passive construction (bicycles are also owned) is awkward and does not contribute meaningfully to the sentence. The plural nouns bicycles and automobiles suggest imprecisely that each person owns more than one of each. 

Choice B is the best answer. It is concise and idiomatic, and which has a clear referent, the weather. In A, the insertion of was is unnecessary, and the referent of which is not clear because regions, not weather, is the nearest noun. In C, the adjective usual is needed in place of the adverb usually, and the referent of which is unclear because regions, not weather, is the nearest noun. In D and E, the verb phrases (being colder ..., having been colder . ..) do not refer as clearly to the noun weather as the pronoun which does. Choice D needs the adjective usual in place of the adverb usually, while choice E fails to maintain parallelism in verb tense (having been... and slowed). 

This question asks you to determine the primary purpose of the passage. In order to do this, you must take into account all of the information in the passage. D is the best answer. The author mentions several reasons why nuclear fusion should not be accepted as a major source of energy at this time and recommends continued critical evaluation of its potential.  

This question asks you to use the specific statements made in the passage to determine what the author believes about public awareness of nuclear fusion power. C is the correct answer. The author specifically mentions two misconceptions about nuclear fusion that he believes are generally held, indicating that he believes that people’s knowledge of the scientific facts is incomplete. 

This question asks you to determine which of the questions given can be answered using the information in the passage. To make this determination, you must first attempt to answer each question using only the information presented by the author. A is the correct answer. The answer to the question posed in this choice is “the sea.” The passage states that it is commonly believed that there is an enormous quantity of deuterium in the sea; the author does not deny this.

The author mentions nuclear scientists only once, near the beginning of the passage. This question asks you to determine what the passage most directly suggests about them. D is the correct answer. The author’s statement that scientists are studying the deuterium-tritium reaction with “zeal” suggests that he believes that they are not dispassionate.  

B, the best choice, correctly uses the idiomatic construction more common among x than among y. In A, the comparison is not parallel and not clear; one illogical but available reading is that balding is more  common among White males than are males of other races. To be clear, the sentence should read more common among White males than among .... In C, the phrase is so cannot refer to the process Balding, and more common among ... than is so lacks parallelism. In D and E, the phrases more common... compared to and more common ... in comparison with are redundant and unidiomatic. The correct form is more common than. 

Choice C, the best answer, expresses its meaning clearly and directly, with subject-verb agreement throughout. Choice A is incorrect: although in some dialects of English a bank is treated as a plural entity, in this case The bank holds clearly establishes that bank is grammatically singular, and thus it cannot be referred to with the plural pronoun they. Furthermore, the structure of they do not expect payments when due makes the modification of due unclear. In B, it correctly refers to the singular bank, but payments when it is due introduces an agreement error between plural payments and singular it. In D and E, the use of the passive (payments are not... expected to be paid) does not contribute meaningfully to the sentence and thus is unwarranted, while payments... to be paid is redundant and unidiomatic. Also, are not to be in D and will be in E inappropriately shift action to the future. Directions: For each question. select the best of the answer choices given. (Critical Reasoning) 

The generalization is only true for some birth years. A good criticism of the generalization would show when the generalization is not true. C does just that and thus is the correct answer. A is incorrect. It is false that the generalization holds for all years that do not end in two zeros. For example, 1970 is a birth year that does not end in two zeros. However, 1970 plus nine equals 1979, and hence this is a case for which the generalization is not valid. Since this answer choice is false, it cannot be a good criticism of the assertions. 
The second answer choice is also incorrect. In the example, the last two digits of the person’s birth year-67-are the same as the last two digits of the year of the person’s ninth birthday-76-except reversed. Thus, the example does in fact exhibit the same principle as the generalization. The fourth answer choice is incorrect. The difference between 1976 and 1967 is nine. The correctness of the first statement depends only on this fact and the fact that Roberta was born in 1967 and was still alive in 1976. Thus, the truth of the generalization is not presupposed. The last answer choice is also incorrect. Consider birth year 1923. a person born in 1923 would have been nine in 1932 and the generalization holds. So E is false. 

E, the best choice, conveys its meaning clearly, without ambiguity, and uses straightforward syntax. In A, the placement of the phrase in two letters to the historian Tacitus generates ambiguity: the nonsensical suggestion is that the eruption of Vesuvius took place in the letters themselves. In B, the verb phrase that begins being the only eyewitness accounts modifies the subject of the preceding clause, suggesting nonsensically that the nephew of Pliny the Elder himself was the eyewitness accounts. Furthermore, To the historian Tacitus, the nephew... wrote two letters is unnecessarily clumsy. In C, the meaning of the sentence is unclear (The only eyewitness account of what?), the repetition of account is clumsy, and the syntax is highly convoluted (... in two letters by the nephew of Pliny the Elder writing to the historian Tacitus an account...). In D, Writing the only eyewitness account, Pliny the Elder's nephew accounted is redundant, and the placement of in two letters to the historian Tacitus generates ambiguity, suggesting under one available reading that the eruption took place in the letters. 

D, the best choice, uses the idiomatic as a result o/and conveys information unambiguously. In A, the phrase that begins resulting from cannot properly modify later generations. The word order of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria generates ambiguity: one possible reading is that the ancient world was located at Alexandria. Choice B is incorrect. Although an "-ing" verb such as destroying can sometimes act as a noun, in this case the usage is strained. Again, at Alexandria is ambiguous (as in choice A). Choice B also uses resulted ungrammatically and produces a run-on sentence (In A.D. 391, the destroying... resulted and later generations lost). In C, the phrase because of the result of is unidiomatic as well as redundant. The structure of E illogically suggests that there was more than one largest library of the ancient world and that only Alexandria's was destroyed. Furthermore, the result was should instead be the result was that. 

Choice D, the best answer, is concise, maintains parallel structure, and clearly conveys the comparisons being made between the two types of moth. In A and E, the comparison between most male moths and the male whistling moth is not clear. The use of but not does not clearly convey that most other moths use olfactory signals; rather than would be preferable, as well as parallel to rather than at night. In A, the phrase by the use of is unnecessarily wordy, and the insertion of they is not required. In E, the final verb should be attract (parallel to call), not attracting (parallel to using). Choice B violates parallelism with by the use of... instead of using, as well as with call... and attracting. Choice C distorts the meaning of the original with its suggestion that male whistling moths call female moths to them both by using acoustical signals and by attracting their mates during the day. The insertion of using in not using olfactory ones is unnecessary. 
Directions: For each question. select the best of the answer choices given. (Critical Reasoning) 

The passage states that of all the states, California has the greatest fraction of its population (91 out of 100) living in urban areas. That means only 9 out of every 100 California residents live in rural areas. The  greatest fraction of any other states’ population living in urban areas, to be smaller than California’s fraction, must be 90 or fewer out of every 100. That means that, in every other state, 10 or more out of every 100 residents live in rural areas. Since 9 out of every 100 is smaller than 10 or more out of every 100, so A is the correct answer. B is incorrect. In order to decide whether this statement is true, it is necessary to know about rates of population growth. No such information is provided in the passage. The third answer choice is also incorrect. Since 96 percent of the land is outside urban areas, 4 percent is inside urban areas. Thus, 91 percent of the population lives on 4 percent of the land. The fourth answer choice is incorrect. The passage does not provide enough information to determine whether this statement is true or false. No comparison is made between the amount of land area in California devoted to urban settlement and the amount of land area in other states devoted to urban settlement. E is incorrect. The passage does not provide sufficient information to determine whether this statement is true or false. Information on the actual size of the population as compared to total land area of California and other states would be necessary to make a judgment about population density in these states.

If crop yield per planted acre was less in Cazonia than it was in Arudia, yet crop yield per total (planted plus fallow) agricultural acreage was greater in Cazonia than it was in Arudia, there must have been a lower percentage of the total acreage that was left fallow in Cazonia than there was in Arudia. Therefore, the correct answer is A.  B is incorrect. From the information in the passage, it is impossible to tell whether Arudia had more or less fallow acreage than planted acreage. C is not correct. Since the comparisons made in the passage are based on crop yields per acre, it is impossible to tell whether there was more or less fallow acreage in Cazonia than in Arudia. D is also incorrect. From the information in the passage, it is impossible to tell whether Cazonia had more or less planted acreage than fallow acreage. The last answer choice is incorrect. Since the comparisons made in the passage are based on crop yields per acre, it is impossible to tell whether Cazonia produced a greater volume of crops than Arudia produced.  

The passage indicates that the proportion of farmers in the general population decreased from 1850 to 1880. the fifth answer choice says exactly the opposite-that this proportion increased; therefore, it contradicts the passage and is the correct response. A is incorrect. The passage also indicates that the number of farmers increased between 1850 and 1880, and thus agrees with this choice. B is also incorrect. The passage does not tell us about the rate of growth of the labor force. It can be inferred from the passage that the general population grew, but this choice agrees with, rather than contradicts, this conclusion. The choice of C is not the correct answer. We cannot draw any conclusions about the proportion of farmers in the labor force from the passage alone. The fourth is also incorrect. We cannot draw any conclusions about the proportion of farmers in the labor force from the passage alone. 

Choice A, the best answer, uses the idiomatic construction noted... that and clearly focuses on the salient information-- a comparison of annual earnings. In B, the structure of noted... that the elephant, giving rides ..., had been earning falsely implies that the reader already knows about the elephant--that is, that the existence of this particular elephant is not new information. Also, the past perfect had been improperly places the elephant's earning in the past, prior to Wootton's; consistent verb tense is needed to show that the actions are simultaneous. Choice C may be faulted for distortion of meaning and diminished clarity because it suggests that the point of Wootton's example was the elephant's very existence; comparative earnings are presented (after and) as incidental detail. Choice D is awkward and inexact; the whole circumstance that Wootton "noted" is best expressed in a clause that begins with that. Choice E does not use the idiomatic construction noted that x; therefore, and that it earned has no parallel construction to which it can be joined.