Manhattan GMAT. Foundations of GMAT Verbal

378 Pages·16.201 MB·English

MANHATTAN
Strategy Guide
Supplement
Foundations of GMAT Verbal
Written by Jennifer Dziura
Builds Core Skills in Grammar; Sentence Structure, & More
Includes
Strengthens Reading Abilities Required for the GMAT
Online B ^ n u s^
►
Provides Numerous Drills with Step-by-Step Explanations
Updated for The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 13th Ed.
®
99th Percentile Instructors Content-Based Curriculum
•
GMAT and GMAC are registered trademarks of the Graduate Management Admission Council which neither sponsors nor endorses this product.
M A N H A T T A N GMAT
Foundations of GMAT Verbal
GMAT Strategy Guide
This supplemental guide provides in-depth and easy-to-follow
explanations of the fundamental verbal skills necessary for a strong
performance on the GMAT.
Foundations of GMAT Verbal, Fifth Edition
10-digit International Standard Book Number: 1-937707-01-6
13-digit International Standard Book Number: 978-1-937707-01-9
elSBN: 978-1-937707-14-9
Copyright © 2012 MG Prep, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or
by any means— graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
taping, web distribution— without the prior written permission of the publisher,
MG Prep, Inc.
Note: GMAT, Graduate Management Admission Test; Graduate Management Admission
Counciland GMAC are all registered trademarks of the Graduate Management Admission
Council, which neither sponsors nor is affiliated in any way with this product.
Layout Design: Dan McNaney and Cathy Huang
Cover Design: Evyn Williams and Dan McNaney
Cover Photography: Alii Ugosolf
INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE SERIES
0 GMAT Roadmap Number Properties
0
(ISBN: 978-1-935707-69-1) (ISBN: 978-1-935707-65-3)
Fractions, Decimals, & Percents 0 Critical Reasoning
0
(ISBN: 978-1-935707-63-9) (ISBN: 978-1-935707-61-5)
0 Algebra Reading Comprehension
B
(ISBN: 978-1-935707-62-2) (ISBN: 978-1-935707-66-0)
0 Word Problems 0 Sentence Correction
(ISBN: 978-1-935707-68-4) (ISBN: 978-1-935707-67-7)
□
Geometry 0 Integrated Reasoning & Essay
(ISBN: 978-1-935707-64-6) (ISBN: 978-1-935707-83-7)
SUPPLEMENTAL GUIDE SERIES
Math GMAT Supplement Guides Verbal GMAT Supplement Guides
Foundations of GMAT Math Foundations of GMAT Verbal
(ISBN: 978-1-935707-59-2) (ISBN: 978-1-937707-01-9)
Advanced GMAT Quant
(ISBN: 978-1-935707-15-8)
Official Guide Companion
(ISBN: 978-0-984178-01-8)
MANHATTAN
GMAT
May 29th, 2012
Dear Student,
Thank you for picking up a copy of Foundations of GMAT Verbal. I hope this book provides just the guidance you
need to get the most out of your GMAT studies.
As with most accomplishments, there were many people involved in the creation of the book you are holding. First
and foremost is Zeke Vanderhoek, the founder of Manhattan GMAT. Zeke was a lone tutor in New York when he
started the company in 2000. Now, 12 years later, the company has instructors and offices nationwide and contributes
to the studies and successes of thousands of students each year.
Our Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guides are based on the continuing experiences of our instructors and students.
For this volume, we are particularly indebted to Jennifer Dziura. Jen has logged literally thousands of hours helping
students improve their verbal skills— this book is derived from that wealth of experience. Stacey Koprince and Tommy
Wallach made significant content contributions as well. Dan McNaney and Cathy Huang provided their design
expertise to make the books as user-friendly as possible, and Noah Teitelbaum and Liz Krisher made sure all the mov­
ing pieces came together at just the right time. And there’s Chris Ryan. Beyond providing additions and edits for this
book, Chris continues to be the driving force behind all of our curriculum efforts. His leadership is invaluable.
At Manhattan GMAT, we continually aspire to provide the best instructors and resources possible. We hope that
you will find our commitment manifest in this book. If you have any questions or comments, please email me at
[email protected]. I’ll look forward to reading your comments, and I’ll be sure to pass them along to
our curriculum team.
Thanks again, and best of luck preparing for the GMAT!
Sincerely,
Dan Gonzalez
President
Manhattan GMAT
www.manhattangmat.com 138 West 25th St., 7th Floor NY, NY 10001 Tel: [phone] Fax:[phone]
HOWTO ACCESS YOUR ONLINE RESOURCES
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YOUR ONLINE RESOURCES
Your purchase includes ONLINE ACCESS to the following:
(>) Foundations of GMAT Verbal Online Question Bank
The Bonus Online Drill Sets for Foundations of GMAT Verbal consist of extra
practice questions (with detailed explanations) that test the variety of Foun­
dational Verbal concepts and skills covered in this book. These questions
provide you with extra practice beyond the problem sets contained in this
book. You may use our online timer to practice your pacing by setting time
limits for each question in the banks.
® Online Updates to the Contents in This Book
The content presented in this book is updated periodically to ensure that it reflects the GMAT’s most
current trends. You may view all updates, including any known errors or changes, upon registering for
online access.
TABLE o f CONTENTS
Introduction to GMAT Verbal 11
'Part i:
Sentence Correction
1. Words & Sentences 15
2. Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives 23
3. Verbs & Adverbs 43
4. Prepositions, Conjunctions, Mixed Drills 61
5. Subject/Predicate, Fragments & Run-ons, Punctuation 79
6. Modifiers, Parallelism, Comparisons 97
7. Idioms, Subjunctive, Wrap-Up 109
fart 2j
Critical Reasoning
8. Arguments & Conclusions 151
9. Patterns & Flaws 163
10. Diagrams 197
11. Putting It All Together 207
fart$:
Reading Comprehension
12. Phases of Reading Comprehension 239
13. Main Ideas & Difficult Information 255
14. Inferences & Improving Your Reading 269
fart 4: Vocabulary & RC Idioms
15. Vocabulary & RC Idioms 299
Appendix A: Helpful Hints for Indian Speakers of English 377
Onfromcfion
Welcome to Foundations of GMAT Verbal!
This book will improve your English for the rest of your life.
Yes, this is a book about the GMAT. But it is not a book of tricks or quick fixes. It is a book about how
sentences work, how arguments are constructed, and how written English is used and understood in the
United States.
If English is your first language, 90% of this book will still apply to you. The section on vocabulary in
Reading Comprehension is primarily oriented towards English language learners, but the rest is appli­
cable to absolutely anyone struggling with GMAT Verbal.
If you are not a native speaker of English, this book will not only help you with the GMAT, but it will
also help you understand written English in various contexts throughout the rest of your life.
Either way, this book will open your eyes:
• You may discover that words you thought you knew can be used in ways you weren’t
aware of. (Did you know that qualified can mean limited?)
• You may also discover that passages you thought you understood actually have additional
meaning that you missed on a first reading.
• And you may discover that the way even educated native speakers communicate in spo­
ken English is not actually considered correct in written English. (Did you know that /
have done more studying than has he is correct, and I enjoy the videos of major dance divas
like Beyonce and Shakira is incorrect? The word like should be such as)
If you have been studying for the GMAT and struggling, or if you haven’t really begun yet (but decided
to start here because you know you will need extra help on Verbal), then this book is for you.
11
Introduction
This is certainly not the only book you will need in order to succeed on the GMAT. You will also need
The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 13th Edition. No one should take the GMAT, ever, without
knowing the Official Guide inside and out— and at various points in this book, we’ll ask you to refer
to a particular page in the Official Guide and do work out of it. So you might as well acquire a copy as
soon as possible.
We also recommend that you “graduate” from this book to the Manhattan GMAT Strategy Guide Series,
which includes individual guides to Sentence Correction, Critical Reasonings and Reading Comprehension,
as well as five additional books on quantitative topics.
In our experience, most successful GMAT test takers spend between 100 and 200 hours studying.
Surely, some people spend less time— and some spend more.
Does that sound a bit depressing? If it does, I’d like to set the record straight— if you really spent that
much time just studying for a standardized test, that would be a big waste of the limited time we have here
on Earth. However, that’s not what we’re about to do! What we’re about to do is, well... pretty awesome.
There are certain aspects of the GMAT, such as Data Sufficiency questions, that are quite specific, and
pertain only to the GMAT. But there are many other aspects of the GMAT—such as manipulating
percents or decoding difficult word problems—that are excellent skills for your career and for life. You
know what other parts of the GMAT fall into that category? Everything on the entire verbal section.
Since you are beginning with a foundational book on GMAT Verbal and will require even more study
after this book, you are going to be spending a lot of time on this. The time you spend now is an
investment in your future. It will provide you with a competitive advantage throughout the rest of your
career. As a result of the studying you are about to begin:
• You will do better on the GMAT
• You will be able to communicate better.
• You will be perceived by others as smarter (studies show that people with larger
vocabularies are perceived as more intelligent and are paid more).
• You will be better able to understand the idioms and sentence patterns used in
speech, business writing, academic writing, and the media.
• You will become a more rigorous thinker. Instead of saying, “I just don’t believe that
argument,” you will be able to point out, “That argument depends on an unjustified
assumption” or “That argument’s second premise doesn’t support its conclusion.”
• You will be able to impress your friends with your fun and fearless use of semico­
lons; this will make you popular at punctuation parties.
Are you convinced yet?
Let’s get started!
MANHATTAN
GMAT