Test The Answers For GMAT Notes | Study Quantitative Reasoning for GMAT - GMAT

TEST THE ANSWERS

A Variation of Test It

WHY use TEST THE ANSWERS:

1. It’s useful on 3 – 4 Test Day questions
2. It’s SIGNIFICANTLY FASTER than the conventional math approach
3. It’s easy to prove what the correct answer is

CLUES that you can use TEST THE ANSWERS
  (all 3 MUST occur for you to use this tactic):

1. The 5 answers are numbers
2. The prompt contains at least 1 fixed value/number
3. You are asked to solve for 1 variable

HOW to use TEST THE ANSWERS:

1. Confirm that all 3 clues (above) occur in the question/answers
2. Start with answer B or D
3. Do the necessary calculations that the question requires
4. If your answer matches everything in the question, then you’re done. If it doesn’t match, use your result to figure out if your answer is “too big” or “too small”. Test additional answers as needed

Example:
A 50 inch long piece of paper is cut into two pieces. One piece is 14 inches longer than the other. What is the length, in inches of the longer piece? 

(A) 14 
(B) 18 
(C) 25 
(D) 32
(E) 36

Special situations for TEST THE ANSWERS:

1. If the question asks for the “largest” or “smallest” answer, then begin by TESTING THE ANSWER that is largest or smallest and working through the list until you find the correct answer.

2. If you’re not sure whether to test a larger or smaller answer, then testing BOTH B and D should help you to establish the pattern behind the question. With those 2 results, even if you don’t have the correct answer, you should be able to determine whether the results are going “up” or “down” and pick the correct answer from the remaining 3 choices (A, C and E).