# GMAT Roman Numerals Questions Revisited

March 13, 2014 by

We covered GMAT Roman Numerals questions recently, and like any good teacher, I want to review this topic again to help solidify it in your mind. So, we challenged students on Facebook with a practice question yesterday that combined Roman Numerals with properties of exponents, and got some great responses.

Take a moment to check out the question and the original blog entry on the shortcut strategy for Roman Numerals questions.

Now, let’s tackle this!

#### GMAT Roman Numeral Tip

Remember that when you see a Roman Numeral problem, you should think: “I should start with the answer choice that shows up most frequently so that if I can eliminate it, I can mark out the most answer choices.” This will save you time and effort. Remember, every second is valuable on the GMAT, and learning time-saving strategies is every bit as important as (some would argue even MORE important … Read full post

# GMAT Problem Solving: Tips for Roman Numeral Questions

March 10, 2014 by

It’s finally time! You’ve waited all weekend for it, and we’re finally going to share the solution, and more importantly, helpful tips for dealing with GMAT Roman Numeral questions. If you didn’t see Friday’s practice question, take a look now:

#### GMAT Problem Solving

##### Roman Numeral Question

If x, y, and z are consecutive odd integers, with x < y < z, then which of the following must be true?

I. x + y is even

II. $\frac{x+z}{y}$ is an integer

III. xz is even

• A) I only
• B) II only
• C) III only
• D) I and II only
• E) I, II, and III

#### Strategy and Tips for Solving GMAT Roman Numeral Questions

For Roman Numeral questions, start by finding the statement that appears most often in the answer choices, and evaluate it first. Therefore, if it is untrue, you can eliminate the highest number of answer choices.

In this case, … Read full post

# GMAT Problem Solving: Roman Numeral Questions

March 7, 2014 by

Have you seen these problems as you study for the GMAT? You know the ones I’m talking about – they have so many components that you put up a mental block almost the second you see them. And to add insult to injury, they increase the visual clutter with Roman numerals.

What do you do when you see these questions? Do you tend to guess and move on?

We’ve got a strategy to help you master these Roman numeral questions, and we’re going to share it. However, for maximum learning value, we’re first going to have you try this practice question on your own.

Here’s a hint to help you out, though: plugging in numbers will help.

#### GMAT Problem Solving

##### Roman Numerals Question

If x, y, and z are consecutive odd integers, with x < y < z, then which of the following must be true?

I. x + yRead full post

# GMAT Data Sufficiency Practice Question – The Solution

January 9, 2014 by

Did you try out our GMAT Data Sufficiency practice question? If not, take a couple minutes now to give it a try before reviewing the explanation.

Now, let’s get down to brass tacks on the Geometry and DS skills you need to solve this one…

One way to find the area of a quadrilateral is to divide it into triangles and add the areas of the triangles, which can be found using the formula for the area of a triangle: (1/2)(Base)(Height).
If you add dashed lines to the diagram connecting points A and C and points B and D, you will see that the quadrilateral is composed of 4 right triangles:

You can see that one side of each triangle is a radius of one of the circles; for example, AB is a radius of circle A and is the hypotenuse of triangle ABE. Also, you’ll … Read full post

# Free GMAT Question of the Week: Discover Data Sufficiency!

December 9, 2013 by

GMAT Question:

If b ≠ 0 and a > b, is a > c?

(1) a/b> c/b

(2) 5ab > 6bc

From a cursory glance, you can see that GMAT math takes you back to concepts that you learned in high school. Look a bit closer and you see that it actually takes you back much further than that, to math you learned in elementary school – integers, positives/negatives, etc. One of the interesting things about the GMAT is that sometimes these throwbacks to simple math are used to create challenging critical thinking problems. The problem above is one of those.

Post your answer and your method in the comments below. We’ll share the full Kaplan explanation, with secrets for how to master GMAT Data Sufficiency, in tomorrow’s blog entry.

# Average Speed Problem Breakdown

September 10, 2013 by

Ok, let’s dive in and pull apart another GMAT problem type, average speed questions. Most of us have done a road trip at one time or another. Before we set out on the journey, we probably wanted to know some approximation of how long it would take. Google Maps does all of this for us now, even taking into account traffic. But before Google Maps, if we can take ourselves back that far, we had to do some calculations. In order to figure out how long the trip would take, we needed to know the distance and make some estimates about the speed at which we would be traveling. Then we would add some extra time to account for traffic and arrive at our answer.

But let’s think about how we’d figure out our average speed. To do this, let’s imagine that we were traveling between San Francisco and LA. … Read full post

# GMAT Problem Dissection: Probability Part 2

July 25, 2013 by

Alright, you’ve been studying the GMAT basics. You understand what is really being tested along with the problem types, methods, and strategies. You’ve even memorized all the basic formulas and taken a dive into some of the more challenging content areas. So what’s next? That’s simple, practice…over and over and over again. If you do this, you are likely to start hitting tough probability questions at some point. Along with combinations and permutations, this is a content area that the GMAT can use to up the degree of difficulty quite a bit. So let’s take a look at a tough probability question and break it down:

A fair coin is tossed five times. What is the probability that it lands heads up at least twice?

(A) 1/16

(B) 5/16

(C) 2/5

(D) 13/16

(E) 27/32

The key to solving this is the phrase ‘at least twice.’ This means that … Read full post

# GMAT Math Tips: Dividing by 6 (Vine Video)

July 23, 2013 by

A number is divisible by 6 if it is also divisible by 2 & 3.

For example, 48 is divisible by 6 because 48 is divisible by 2 & 3: 48/2=24 and 48/3=16.

Want more #GMATMathTips plus more? Follow @KaplanGMATPrep on Vine! Or make you’re own tips and mention us for inclusion in our monthly user-submitted tips.

# GMAT Problem Dissection: Combinations and Permutations Part 2

July 8, 2013 by

A couple of weeks ago we started our exploration of GMAT combination and permutation questions. For those who are just getting started, that initial question was probably just about right. For those who have been at this for a while, you know that these questions can get hard fast. We are going to ramp up the difficulty this week and look at a common way that the GMAT tests this topic: combinations and permutations with a condition. Let’s dive in.

Question

Six children, Arya, Betsy, Chen, Daniel, Emily, and Franco, are to be seated in a single row of six chairs. If Betsy cannot sit next to Emily, how many different arrangements of the six children are possible?

(A) 240

(B) 480

(C) 540

(D) 720

(E) 840

Solution:

It’s a good idea to capture the “nutshell” of what we are being asked before we just dive into math. This … Read full post

# GMAT Math Shortcuts: Dividing by 4 (Vine Video)

June 27, 2013 by

A number is divisible by 4 if the last two digits are divisible by 4.

For instance, we know that 358,912 is divisible by 4, because 12 is divisible by 4.

Want more #GMATMathTips plus more? Follow @KaplanGMATPrep on Vine! Or make you’re own tips and mention us for inclusion in our monthly user-submitted tips.

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