GMAT DIAGNOSTIC TEST

1. Researchers at Cornell University have demonstrated that homing pigeons can sense changes
in the earth’s magnetic field, see light waves that people cannot see, detect low-frequency
sounds from miles away, sense changes in air pressure, and can identify familiar odors.
(A) sense changes in air pressure, and can identify familiar odors
(B) can sense changes in air pressure, and can identify familiar odors
(C) sense changes in air pressure, and identify familiar odors
(D) air pressure changes can be sensed, and familiar odors identified
(E) air pressure changes are sensed, and familiar odors identified

2. Rules banning cancer-causing substances from food apply to new food additives and not to
natural constituents of food because their use as additives is entirely avoidable.
(A) their use as additives is
(B) as additives, their use is
(C) the use of such additives is
(D) the use of such additives are
(E) the use of them as additives is

3. Severe and increasing numerous critics are pointing to deficiencies in the British legal system,
deficiencies that seem to deny a proper defense to many clients who are charged with
crimes.
(A) Severe and increasing numerous critics are pointing to deficiencies in the British legal
system, deficiencies that seem
(B) Severe and increasing numerous critics point to deficiencies in the British legal system,
deficiencies seeming
(C) Severe and increasingly numerous critics are pointing to deficiencies in the British legal
system that seem
(D) Severely and increasingly numerous critics point to deficiencies in the British legal
system seeming
(E) Severely and increasingly numerous critics are pointing to deficiencies in the British
legal system that seem

4.Textbooks for the used book sale should be in good condition and should have no writing in
them or be underlined.
(A) and should have no writing in them or be underlined
(B) and should not have writing in them or not be underlined
(C) and contain no writing or underlining
 (D) without containing writing nor be underlined
(E) without having any writing or no underlining in them

5.The attorney turned down the law firm’s offer of a position because she suspected that it was
meant merely to fill an affirmative action quota with no commitment to minority hiring and
eventually promoting.
(A) quota with no commitment to minority hiring and eventually promoting
(B) quota, having no commitment to minority hiring and eventually promoting
(C) quota and did not reflect a commitment to minority hiring and eventual promotion
(D) quota, not reflecting a commitment to minority hiring and eventual promotion
(E) quota, not one that reflected that minority hiring and eventual promotion was a
commitment

6. Which of the following best completes the passage below?

Sales campaigns aimed at the faltering personal computer market have strongly emphasized
ease of use, called user-friendliness. This emphasis is oddly premature and irrelevant in the
eyes of most potential buyers, who are trying to address the logically prior issue of
whether______
(A) user-friendliness also implies that owners can service their own computers
(B) personal computers cost more the more user-friendly they are
(C) currently available models are user-friendly enough to suit them
(D) the people promoting personal computers use them in their own homes
(E) they have enough sensible uses for a personal computer to justify the expense of buying
one

7. Child’s World, a chain of toy stores, has relied on a “supermarket concept” of computerized
inventory control and customer self-service to eliminate the category of sales clerks from its
force of employees. It now plans to employ the same concept in selling children’s clothes.
The plan of Child’s World assumes that
(A) supermarkets will not also be selling children’s clothes in the same manner
(B) personal service by sales personnel is not required for selling children’s clothes
successfully
(C) the same kind of computers will be used in inventory control for both clothes and toys at
Child’s World
(D) a self-service plan cannot be employed without computerized inventory control
(E) sales clerks are the only employees of Child’s World who could be assigned tasks related
to inventory control
8.People tend to estimate the likelihood of an event’s occurrence according to its salience; that is,
according to how strongly and how often it comes to their attention.
By placement and headlines, newspapers emphasize stories about local crime over stories
about crime elsewhere and about many other major events.
It can be concluded on the basis of the statements above that, if they are true, which of the
following is most probably also true?
(A) The language used in newspaper headlines about local crime is inflammatory and fails
to respect the rights of suspects.
(B) The coverage of international events in newspapers is neglected in favor of the coverage
of local events.
(C) Readers of local news in newspapers tend to overestimate the amount of crime in their
own localities relative to the amount of crime in other places.
(D) None of the events concerning other people that are reported in newspapers is so salient
in people’s minds as their own personal experiences.
(E) The press is the news medium that focuses people’s attention most strongly on local
crimes.

9. Meteorologists say that if only they could design an accurate mathematical model of the
atmosphere with all its complexities, they could forecast the weather with real precision. But this
is an idle boast, immune to any evaluation, for any inadequate weather forecast would obviously
be blamed on imperfections in the model.
Which of the following, if true, could best be used as a basis for arguing against the author’s
position that the meteorologists’ claim cannot be evaluated?
(A) Certain unusual configurations of data can serve as the basis for precise weather
forecasts even though the exact causal mechanisms are not understood.
(B) Most significant gains in the accuracy of the relevant mathematical models are
accompanied by clear gains in the precision of weather forecasts.
(C) Mathematical models of the meteorological aftermath of such catastrophic events as
volcanic eruptions are beginning to be constructed.
(D) Modern weather forecasts for as much as a full day ahead are broadly correct about 80
percent of the time.
(E) Meteorologists readily concede that the accurate mathematical model they are talking
about is not now in their power to construct.

10. In the United States, the Postal Service has a monopoly on first-class mail, but much of
what is sent first class could be transmitted electronically. Electronic transmittal operators argue
that if the Postal Service were to offer electronic transmission, it would have an unfair advantage,
since its electronic transmission service could be subsidized from the profits of the monopoly.
Which of the following, if each is true, would allay the electronic transmittal operators’ fears
of unfair competition?
(A) If the Postal Service were to offer electronic transmission, it could not make a profit on
 first-class mail.
(B) If the Postal Service were to offer electronic transmission, it would have a monopoly on
that kind of service.
(C) Much of the material that is now sent by first-class mail could be delivered much faster
by special package couriers, but is not sent that way because of cost.
(D) There is no economy of scale in electronic transmission—that is, the cost per transaction
does not go down as more pieces of information are transmitted.
(E) Electronic transmission will never be cost-effective for material not sent by first-class
mail such as newspapers and bulk mail.

Questions 11-15 are based on the following
passage
In an attempt to improve the overall
performance of clerical workers, many
companies have introduced computerized
performance monitoring and control systems
(CPMCS) that record and report a worker’s
computer driven activities. However, at least
one study has shown that such monitoring
may not be having the desired effect. In the
study, researchers asked monitored clerical
workers and their supervisors how
assessments of productivity affected
supervisors’ ratings of workers’
performance. In contrast to unmonitored
workers doing the same work, who without
exception identified the most important
element in their jobs as customer service, the
monitored workers and their supervisors all
responded that productivity was the critical
factor in assigning ratings. This finding
suggested that there should have been a
strong correlation between a monitored
worker’s productivity and the overall rating
the worker received. However, measures of
the relationship between overall rating and
individual elements of performance clearly
supported the conclusion that supervisors
gave considerable weight to criteria such as
attendance accuracy, and indications of
customer satisfaction. It is possible that
productivity may be a “hygiene factor.” that
is, if it is too low, it will hurt the overall
rating. But the evidence suggests that
beyond the point at which productivity
becomes “good enough.” Higher
productivity per se is unlikely to improve a
rating.
11. According to the passage, before the
final results of the study were known, which
of the following seemed likely?
(A) That workers with the highest
productivity would also be the most accurate
(B) That workers who initially achieved
high productivity ratings would continue
to do so consistently
(C) That the highest performance ratings
would be achieved by workers with the
highest productivity
(D) That the most productive workers
would be those whose supervisors claimed
to value productivity
(E) That supervisors who claimed to value
productivity would place equal value on
customer satisfaction

12. It can be inferred that the author of the
passage discusses “unmonitored workers”
primarily in order to
(A) compare the ratings of these workers
with the ratings of monitored workers
(B) provide an example of a case in which
monitoring might be effective
(C) provide evidence of an inappropriate
use of CPMCS
(D) emphasize the effect that CPMCS may
have on workers’ perceptions of their jobs
(E) illustrate the effect that CPMCS may
have on workers’ ratings
13. Which of the following, if true, would
most clearly have supported the conclusion
referred to in the passage?
(A) Ratings of productivity correlated
highly with ratings of both accuracy and
attendance.
(B) Electronic monitoring greatly increased
productivity.
(C) Most supervisors based overall ratings
of performance on measures of
productivity alone.
(D) Overall ratings of performance
correlated more highly with measures of
productivity than the researchers
expected.
(E) Overall ratings of performance
correlated more highly with measures of
accuracy than with measures of
productivity.
14. According to the passage, a “hygiene
factor” is an aspect of a worker’s
performance that
(A) has no effect on the rating of a
worker’s performance
(B) is so basic to performance that it is
assumed to be adequate for all workers
(C) is given less importance than it
deserves in rating a worker’s performance
(D) if not likely to affect a worker’s rating
unless it is judged to be inadequate
(E) is important primarily because of the
effect it has on a worker’s rating
15. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) explain the need for the introduction of
an innovative strategy
(B) discuss a study of the use of a
particular method
(C) recommend a course of action
(D) resolve a difference of opinion
(E) suggest an alternative approach
Answer Key: 1.C 2.C 3.C 4.C 5.C 6.E 7.B 8.C 9.B 10.A 11.C 12.D 13.E. 14.D 15.B