7/29/2014

Practice
Questions to Ace
GMAT Verbal

By e-GMAT Team
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CONTENTS
FREE webinar .......................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Improve By 70 Points in 30 Days ............................................................................................................................ 2
Attend this webinar if you want to: ......................................................................................................................... 2
Webinar Details .............................................................................................................................................................. 2
Instructor .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3
SOLVE THIS RC PASSAGE ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
WHEN TO THINK AND WHEN TO SLEEP ................................................................................................................. 4
Exercises ................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Answers ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
SOLUTION: Q#1 ................................................................................................................................................................... 6
SOLUTION: Q#2 ................................................................................................................................................................. 12
SOLUTION: Q#3 ................................................................................................................................................................. 13
SOLUTION: Q#4 ................................................................................................................................................................. 14
SOLVE THESE SENTENCE CORRECTION QUESTIONS ........................................................................................... 15
YOUTUBE LINK FOR THE SOLUTIONS ......................................................................................................................... 16
More e-GMAT Free Resources .......................................................................................................................................... 17
How to attend the session .................................................................................................................................................. 18










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Rajat Sadana
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SOLVE THIS RC PASSAGE

WHEN TO THINK AND WHEN TO SLEEP

Researchers argue that the brain stem comprising the medulla oblongata, the pons and
the mid brain is better at handling a large amount of information. On the other hand, the
Cerebral Cortex that is responsible for rational decision making is better at applying very
strict, mathematical rules on fewer variables involving well-defined parameters.
Consequently, researchers agree that it is better to sleep on certain complex decision
rather than burn midnight oil to arrive at rationale solution. They believe that in these
situations, rationality comes on the way of making a rational decision and that the brain
stem is better equipped to handle them than the Cerebral
Cortex, arguing that its better to leave such decisions on unconscious thought process
thinking without paying attention. There are decisions where, the researchers believe,
conscious thought outperforms unconscious thought. For example, when a decision
requires application of very strict, mathematical rules, conscious thought is beneficial.
Several experiments that incorporated several combinations of plethora of specifications
revealed the workings of the brain stem and the Cerebral cortex. In one such experiment,
the participants were asked to choose a car from 10 leading brands of automobiles. The
researchers gave them just four parameters to consider for their choice - mileage, cost,
reliability, and re-sale value, asking them to take instantaneous decision. The
participants came up with the second-to-none decision in this scenario, proving that the
conscious mind was super-efficient in processing limited amount of data. Keeping all the
other conditions fixed the researchers this time asked the participants to sleep on the
choice and declare their decision later. The resulting choices that participants made were
not as optimal.
In another set of similar experiments, the researchers were baffled by the appalling
choices that the test group made when they conducted the same experiment with 10
leading brands, but doubled the parameters, adding such features to consider as brand
appeal, durability, safety, and off-road capability. The researchers argued that Cerebral
cortex could not make sense of the expanded information set that led to poor decision
making. However, the decisions made by another test group that was allowed to sleep on
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the decision before declaring their choice were much more worthy, even though not as
good as the decision produced by the conscious mind that processed fewer parameters.
This led the researchers to conclude that our unconscious mind can process larger
amounts of information - as long as we give it time to do so. Another suitable situation,
according to researchers, to employ the goal-dependent, deliberative process in the
absence of conscious attention is when we are low on energy or easily distracted at the
time when we are faced with a complex decision to make. Similarly, when in high spirits,
it may be better to invoke the conscious mind to arrive at a much more optimal solution.
Main Point: Power of conscious and unconscious mind

Exercises

Q1. The reason why the author has written this passage is that he wants to:
A. argue that functions of Cerebral cortex only can lead to such important and
complex decisions as buying a home or selecting a school.
B. compare and contrast the functions of brain stem and Cerebral Cortex to show the
benefits of one over the other in making complex decision.
C. debate that all important decisions must be taken from Cerebral Cortex as it leads
to rational decisions in complex situations.
D. summarize through examples which situations are conducive for conscious minds
and when to employ brain stem to make optimal decisions of complex nature.
E. Prove that sleeping on a complex decision is the best way to arrive at the optimal
decision in complex situations.

Q2. According to the passage, when one is an environment where once can get
easily distracted one should:
A. Put the conscious mind to rest and let the subconscious mind take over
B. If faced with a complex decision; one should sleep over the decision rather than
employ conscious decision making
C. Not make any decisions that could have a major financial or economic impact
D. Ensure that one is not low on energy
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E. Not expect the unconscious mind to work as efficiently as when one is in high
spirits.
Q3. What does the author mean by in high spirits?
A. In the influence of alcohol
B. Happy to be faced with a daunting situation.
C. Teeming with positive energy to face a tough decision D. Ready with creative
ideas to tackle almost every situation.
E. Fresh and energetic.
Q4. What can be deduced by rationality comes on the way of making a rational
decision?
A. Conscious efforts do not necessarily yield best results.
B. Thinking with attention always results in the best judgment.
C. Rational people always prefer sleeping on a decision to make important choices.
D. Unconscious mind cannot be dependent upon for making optimal choices.
E. There is no place for rationality when unconscious mind starts working.


ANSWERS

The Correct answers for the above questions are listed below:
1. D
2. E
3. E
4. A
SOLUTION: Q#1

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The reason why the author has written this passage is that he wants to:

Several experiments that incorporated several
combinations of plethora of specifications
revealed the workings of the brain stem and the
Cerebral cortex. In one such experiment, the
participants were asked to choose a car from 10
leading brands of automobiles. The researchers
gave them just four parameters to consider for
their choice - mileage, cost, reliability, and resale
value, asking them to take instantaneous
decision. The participants came up with the
second-to-none decision in this scenario,
Experiment 1- Conscious mind yielded the best
result when participants were given four
parameters for consideration to choose a car
from 10 brands.
Experiment 2 The decision was not that
optimal when they left the decision on the
unconscious mind.
Paragraph My Paragraph Summary
Researchers argue that the brain stem
comprising the medulla oblongata, the pons and
the mid brain is better at handling a large
amount of information. On the other hand, the
Cerebral Cortex that is responsible for rational
decision making is better at applying very strict,
mathematical rules on fewer variables involving
well-defined parameters.
Consequently, researchers agree that it is better
to sleep on certain complex decision rather
than burn midnight oil to arrive at rationale
solution. They believe that in these situations,
rationality comes on the way of making a
rational decision and that the brain stem is
better equipped to handle them than the
Cerebral Cortex, arguing that its better to leave
such decisions on unconscious thought process
thinking without paying attention. There are
decisions where, the researchers believe,
conscious thought outperforms unconscious
thought. For example, when a decision requires
application of very strict, mathematical rules,
conscious thought is beneficial.
Conscious mind helps in arriving at decision that
requires application of strict rules on limited
parameters. On the contrary, unconscious mind
leads to best decisions when there is large
amount of information.
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proving that the conscious mind was
superefficient in processing limited amount of
data. Keeping all the other conditions fixed the
researchers this time asked the participants to
sleep on the choice and declare their decision
later. The resulting choices that participants
made were not as optimal.


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In another set of similar experiments, the
researchers were baffled by the appalling
choices that the test group made when they
conducted the same experiment with 10 leading
brands, but doubled the parameters, adding such
features to consider as brand appeal, durability,
safety, and off-road capability. The researchers
argued that Cerebral cortex could not make
sense of the expanded information set that led to
poor decision making. However, the decisions
made by another test group that was allowed to
sleep on the decision before declaring their
choice were much more worthy, even though not
as good as the decision produced by the
conscious mind that processed fewer
parameters. This led the researchers to conclude
that our unconscious mind can process larger
amounts of information as long as we give it
time to do so. Another suitable situation,
according to researchers, to employ the goal-
dependent, deliberative process in the absence
of conscious attention is when we are low on
energy or easily distracted at the time when we
are faced with a complex decision to make.
Similarly, when in high spirits, it may be better
to invoke the conscious
mind to arrive at a much more optimal solution.
Experiment 1 The conscious mind made poor
decision when the parameters were doubled.
Experiment 2 When with double parameters,
the participants relied on their unconscious
mind, their decision was better than the one
taken with conscious mind.














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Answer choices Explanation
A. argue that functions of Cerebral cortex
only can lead to such important and
complex decisions as buying a home
or selecting a school.
Inconsistent: The author does not mention
anywhere in the passage that only conscious
mind can take important and
complex decisions. Even unconscious mind is
capable of doing so.
B. compare and contrast the functions of
brain stem and Cerebral Cortex to
show the benefits of one over the other
in making complex decision.
Out of Scope: The author through examples
talks about the ability of the conscious and
unconscious minds. He does not even talk
about the functions of these two minds. Also,
he does not say that one is better than the
other.
C. debate that all important decisions must
be taken from Cerebral Cortex as it
leads to rational decisions in complex
situations.
Inconsistent: There is no debate of any sort in
the passage. The author talks about the
abilities of both the conscious and the
unconscious minds equally.

D. summarize through examples which
situations are conducive for conscious
minds and when to employ brain stem
to make optimal decisions of complex
nature.
Correct. From the paragraph summaries we
know that the experiments are the examples
through which the author proved that
conscious mind takes best decision when
given less parameters and the unconscious
mind does the same when given more
parameters.
E. prove that sleeping on a complex
decision is the best way to arrive at the
optimal decision in complex situations.
Partial Scope: The author also talks about the
functions of the conscious mind while
making important decisions but the author
talks much more than that. This choice only
covers partial scope, does not talk about
scenarios where the conscious mind is
favored.

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PRE-THINK Presenting experiments, the author says that conscious mind can
take the best decision of complex nature if decision making requires application of
strict rules on limited parameters. If larger amount of information is needed to be
processed, then the unconscious mind takes the optimal decision.


PRE-THINK - The author recommends that when faced with a
complex decision we use the unconscious mind when we are
easily distracted.


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SOLUTION: Q#2

According to the passage, when one is an environment where once can get easily distracted one
should
This is a specific question. Note the word distraction is used at the end of the passage. Hence
lets read that section to do the pre-thinking.
This led the researchers to conclude that our unconscious mind can process larger
amounts of information as long as we give it time to do so. Another suitable situation,
according to researchers, to employ the goal-dependent, deliberative process in the
absence of conscious attention is when we are low on energy or easily distracted at the
time when we are faced with a complex decision to make.






Answer Choice Explanation
Put the subconscious mind to rest and let the
Cerebral Cortex take over
Opposite: The author recommends the opposite.
Not make any decisions that could have a major
financial or economic impact

Out of scope: The author does not mention
anything about decisions that have major
financial or economic impact.
Put the conscious mind to rest and let the
subconscious mind take over
Close: The passage suggests this only when faces
with a complex decision, not always.
Not expect the unconscious mind to work as
efficiently as when one is in high spirits.
Inconsistent: situations of high energy are not
related to the situations when one is easily
distracted.
If faced with a complex decision, one should
prefer using the unconscious mind.
Correct: The author recommends using the
unconscious mind when faced with complex
situation and in scenarios when one is easily
distracted.
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SOLUTION: Q#3

What does the author mean by in high spirits?
Relevant Portion - Another suitable situation, according to researchers, to employ the
goaldependent, deliberative process in the absence of conscious attention is when we are low
on energy or easily distracted at the time when we are faced with a complex decision to make.
Similarly, when in high spirits, it may be better to invoke the conscious mind to arrive at a much
more optimal solution.
PRE-THINK - In the highlighted area, it is said that unconscious mind should be employed
when low on energy. Hence, in high spirits would mean in fresh state of mind as then use of
conscious mind is recommended.







Choice Explanation
In the influence of alcohol. Incorrect: This is not the intended meaning.
Happy to be faced with a daunting situation. Incorrect: This is not the intended meaning.
Teeming with positive energy to face a tough
decision.
Incorrect: This is not the intended meaning.
Ready with creative ideas to tackle almost every
situation.
Incorrect: This is not the intended meaning.
Fresh and energetic. Correct: This is the correct meaning because the
author says that when tired, make use of
unconscious mind, when energetic use
conscious mind.
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SOLUTION: Q#4

What can be deduced by rationality comes on the way of making a rational decision?
PRE-THINK - Putting conscious effort actually hinders taking the best decision in certain
situations.


Choices Explanation
Conscious efforts do not necessarily yield best
results.
Correct: This indeed is the meaning of the
phrase.
Thinking with attention always results in the best
judgment.

Opposite: This phrase means just the opposite.
Rational people always prefer sleeping on a
decision to make important choices.
Out of Scope: This is a generic phrase applicable
for all & not a specific group.
Unconscious mind cannot be dependent upon for
making optimal choices.
Opposite: The phrase does mean that
unconscious mind helps in making optimal
decision.
There is no place for rationality when
unconscious mind starts working.
Out of Scope: This phrase has no causality about
it.
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SOLVE THESE SENTENCE CORRECTION QUESTIONS

Q 1. Scientists have observed large concentrations of heavy-metal deposits in the
upper twenty centimeters of Baltic Sea sediments, which are consistent with the
growth of industrial activity there.
(A) Baltic Sea sediments, which are consistent with the growth of industrial activity
there
(B) Baltic Sea sediments, where the growth of industrial activity is consistent with these
findings
(C) Baltic Sea sediments, findings consistent with its growth of industrial activity
(D) sediments from the Baltic Sea, findings consistent with the growth of industrial
activity in the area
(E) sediments from the Baltic Sea, consistent with the growth of industrial activity there

Q2. Inuits of the Bering Sea were in isolation from contact with Europeans longer
than Aleuts or Inuits of the North Pacific and northern Alaska.
(A) in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than
(B) isolated from contact with Europeans longer than
(C) in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than were
(D) isolated from contact with Europeans longer than were
(E) in isolation and without contacts with Europeans longer than

Q3. Initiated five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World on Columbus
Day 1992, Project SETI pledged a $100 million investment in the search for
extraterrestrial intelligence.
(A) Initiated five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World on Columbus
Day 1992, Project SETI pledged a $100 million investment in the search for
extraterrestrial intelligence.
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(B) Initiated on Columbus Day 1992, five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New
World, a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence was
pledged by Project SETI.
(C) Initiated on Columbus Day 1992, five, after Europeans arrived in the New World,
Project SETT pledged a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial
intelligence.
(D) Pledging a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence,
the initiation of Project SETT five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World
on Columbus Day 1992.
(E) Pledging a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence
five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World, on Columbus Day 1992, the
initiation of Project SETT took place.

YOUTUBE LINK FOR THE SOLUTIONS
Q1. (D)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXah1HdaiV0
Q2. (D) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeoEwae5ma4
Q3. (C ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE6PpC4DFoA

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