Author: privatetutoringathome

unassailable; adj.  Undeniable, actual, and authentic.
The unassailable truth came out when Marla’s little brother realized that their parents were really the tooth fairy.

valid; adj.  Real, authentic, correct; sound and well-grounded.
Benny Lee was able to draw a valid conclusion only after he had discovered all the facts.

veracity; n.  Adherence to truth, reality, accuracy, and precision.
The teacher confirmed the veracity of the student’s late pass by checking with the teacher who supposedly wrote the pass.

veritable; adj.  Being truly so-called; real or genuine.
A veritable stranger was kind enough to give Suzanne enough money to use the phone so she could call home.

aberration; n.  A defect of departure from the normal; deviation or imperfection.
My mother was not sure whether her occasionally seeing her dead great grandmother was real or an aberration.

artifice; n.  Pretense, deception, or ruse.
The young woman was about 90 percent artifice and only 10 percent authentic.

invulnerable; adj.  Impossible to damage or enter; not able to alter the reality.
The front door seemed invulnerable; it was made of steel, and it sported seven strong locks as well.

legitimacy; n.  The quality of being legitimate-authentic, genuine, and according to the law.
The painting was suspect, so the legitimacy of its authenticity was questionable.

materiality; n.  The state of being material.
Esther was so intent upon possessing things that her friends started questioning her focus on materiality.

materiality; n.  Being of real or substantive quality.
In Macbeth, Banquo’s ghost appears to Macbeth with such materiality that he is overwhelmed by guilt over Banquo’s murder.

pragmatic; adj.  Dealing with facts, reality, and actual occurrences.
Aaron’s insubstantial reasons were not pragmatic, so consequently non one believed him.

tangible; adj.  Possible to touch; possible to be treated as fact; real or concrete.
Carlos’s fantasy became tangible when Angie, the girl of his dreams, agreed to go out with him.

tenable; adj.  Capable of being maintained; able to be maintained because of genuineness.
The team’s successful season was barely tenable because of the girls’ growing apathy toward attending practice.

truism; n.  Self-evident truth, actuality, and reality.
The rumor about a possible scandal became a truism once the facts were released to the public.

actuality; n.  The state of being actual or real; truly existing.On Halloween the children were so taken by the costumes that they had a difficult time distinguishing between actuality and pretend.

applicable; adj.  Readily usable; practical.Lorena was not sure that her ideas were applicable to the problem, but she offered them, nevertheless.

authenticity; n.  The quality or condition of being authentic, trustworthy or genuine.Before paying the high price for the painting, the art dealer had to check the authenticity of the work.

bona fide; adj.  Authentic and genuine.Among all the knockoffs in the shoe store, I found an inexpensive pair of bona fide Steve Madens.

bona fide; adj.  Made and carried out in good faith.The offer on the farmhouse was a bona fide agreement; the seller and buyer shook hands to secure the deal.

categorical; adj.  Without exception; absolute and explicit.Nobody in the room doubted that Samuel was the categorical winner of the Lincoln-Douglas debate.

categorical; adj.  Of or relating to categories or arrangement or order.Sammy was so left-brained, logical, and sequential that no one was surprised when she put all her information in precise, categorical order.

defensible; adj.  Justifiable for accuracy.Maria had a defensible position: There was no doubt that she would win the debate.

factual; adj.  Of the nature of fact; real.Even though the book was a work of fiction, it was full of factual information about that historical era.

genuine; adj.  Not counterfeit, but authentic; honest and real; free from hypocrisy or dishonesty; sincere.My uncle gave me a genuine two-dollar bill for my birthday.

invulnerable; adj.  Impossible to damage or enter; not able to alter the reality.The front door seemed invulnerable; it was made of steel, and it sported seven strong locks as well.

legitimacy; n.  The quality of being legitimate-authentic, genuine, and according to the law.The painting was suspect, so the legitimacy of its authenticity was questionable.

spasmodic; adj.
Having the characteristic of a spasm or convulsion.
The doctor said that the medicine could cause spasmodic episodes. Happening intermittently; from time to time. The spasmodic sound of fireworks made the little boy frightened.

sporadic; adj.
Occurring at different intervals, with no set pattern.
The rain this summer has been sporadic, which is why I’ve seen my dad watering the lawn so much.

transitory;adj.
Short-lived; temporary; only passing, not permanent.
Kami was involved in another of her transitory relationships.

vacillate; verb.
To move back and forth, especially being unable to make up one’s mind.
I vacillated between blue socks or red socks all morning.

habitual; adj.
Naturally out of habit or routine; regular and common.
It became habitual for Joseph to brush his teeth every morning.

incessant; adj.
Continuing without interruption, sometimes to an excessive degree.
Incessant snow was becoming overwhelming for my stressed mom.

impalpable; adj.
Not able to be grasped, held, or understood.
Tess struggled with math because she felt it was impalpable.

incidental; adj.
Having little or no importance or impact.
The hurricane caused Jo destruction so it was incidental.

irrelevant; adj.
Unrelated to the matter being considered.
Taylor’s answer to the question was very irrelevant.

modicum; adj.
A small, very modest, or token amount.
Billy took a modicum of Jesse’s birthday cake.

nonessential; adj.
Not essential; of little or trivial importance.
When Sadie looked on Google, she found a lot of nonessential information to what she was looking for.

whit; noun.
The least bit; just an iota.
Savannah didn’t give a whit about finishing her math homework.

considerable; adj.
In a large or impressive amount or significance.
The teacher found her suggestion considerable.

intense; adj.
Of extreme degree, characteristics,strength, or effort.
Alex’s training was so intense that she won a gold medal.

momentous; adj.
Significant and meaningful; sometimes even historically important.
Jonathan made a momentous decision to throw the football which led them to a victory.

In a survey of freshmen at University X, two-thirds claimed never to have plagiarized while in high school.  However, the survey may overstate the proportion of freshmen at University X who did not plagiarize in high school because ________.

Which of the following best completes the passage above?

A.  Some people who do not attend University X probably plagiarized in high school.

B.  Some people who plagiarized in high school may not do so in college.

C.  Some people who claimed to have plagiarized once may have done so many times.

D.  At University Z, one half of the freshmen admitted to having plagiarized in high school.

E.  Some freshmen who did plagiarize in high school might have claimed on the survey that they did not do so.

 

Think you know the answer?  The correct answer is

This editorial cannot be a good argument because it is barely literate.  Run-on sentences, slang, and perfectly dreadful grammar appear regularly throughout.  Anything that poorly written cannot be making very much sense.

Which of the following identifies an assumption in the argument above?

A.  This editorial was written by someone other than the usual editor.

B.  Generally speaking, very few editorials are poor in style or grammar.

C.  The language of an argument is indicative of its validity.

D.  Generally speaking, the majority of editorials are poor in style and grammar.

E.  The author of the editorial purposely uses poor grammar to disguise what he knows is a bad argument.

Think you know the answer?

The correct answer is C.

The author’s claim that the editorial’s argument is no good because it is poorly written depends on the assumption hat an argument’s validity is related to its use of language.  After all, if an argument’s language didn’t indicate its validity, the author’s argument wouldn’t make any sense at all.

(A)’s not assumed because the argument doesn’t concern who’s to blame for the bad editorial.  (B) and (D) fail because the argument addresses this editorial only, so there’s nothing assumed about what happens generally.  And (E) goes too far: The author needn’t assume that the writer deliberately wrote badly to hide a bad argument, just that, as (C) says, the poor writing indicates a poor argument.

World War II had a profound effect on the growth of nascent businesses.  The Acme Packaging Company netted only $10,000 in the year before the war.  By 1948 it was earning almost 10 times that figure.

The argument above depends upon which of the following assumptions?

A.  Acme’s growth rate is representative of other nascent businesses.

B.  An annual profit of $10,000 is not especially high.

C.  Wars inevitably stimulate a nation’s economy.

D.  Rapid growth for nascent businesses is especially desirable.

E.  Acme is not characterized by responsible, far-sighted managers.

Think you know the answer?

The correct answer is A.

The author uses the single case of Acme to conclude that the war profoundly affected “nascent businesses.”  This assumes that Acme’s growth rate is typical, or representative, of such businesses (A); otherwise, why hold it up as an example?

As for (B), the author needn’t assume that $10,000 isn’t much of a profit.  Maybe he thinks it started out high and got even higher.  (C), which brings up other wars, is beyond the scope-the argument concerns World War II, period.  (D)’s tricky, but it’s not assumed.  Notice that the author claims only that World War II had a profound, not salutary, effect on nascent businesses, so we don’t know just how he feels about rapid growth rates.  As for (E), the author needn’t assume Acme’s managers had nothing to do with the company’s success, just that the was also had an effect-and a marked one.

The increase in the number of newspaper articles exposed as fabrications serves to bolster the contention that publishers are more interested in boosting circulation than in printing the truth.  Even minor publications have staffs to check such obvious fraud.

The argument above assumes that

A.  Newspaper stories exposed as fabrications are a recent phenomenon.

B.  Everything a newspaper prints must be factually verifiable.

C.  Fact checking is more comprehensive for minor publications than for major ones.

D.  Only recently have newspapers admitted to publishing intentionally fraudulent stories.

E.  The publishers of newspapers are he people who decide what to print in their newspapers.

Think you know the correct answer?

The correct answer is E.  Evidence: more newspaper articles exposed as fabrications.

Conclusion:  Publishers want to increase circulation, not print the truth.  This makes sense only if we assume (E), that publishers decide what to print.  If (E) weren’t true and this decision were up to someone else, the argument would fall apart.

Since the argument claims only and increase in made-up articles exposed, it’s not necessary that they be a recent phenomenon, so (A)’s not assumed.  (B) goes too far-it’s not necessary that every article be factually verifiable in order for there to have been an increase in fabrications.  As for (C), the author’s claim that “even minor publications” have fact checkers is meant to emphasize that the publications know they’re not printing the truth, not that minor ones are better at fact checking than major ones.  And (D) brings up admission of guilt, which the author never mentions-the articles in question were exposed as frauds, not admitted to be frauds.

Out architecture schools must be doing something wrong.  Almost monthly we hear of domes and walkways collapsing in public places, causeing great harm to human life.  In their pursuit of some dubious aesthetic, architects design buildings that sway, crumble, and even shed windows into our cities’ streets.  This kind of incompetence will disappear only when the curricula of our architecture schools devote less time to so-called artistic considerations and more time to the basics of good design.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?

A.  All architecture students are given training in basic physics and mechanics.

B.  Most of the problems with modern buildings stem from poor construction rather than poor design.

C.  Less than 50% of the curriculum at most architecture schools is devoted to aesthetics.

D.  Most buildings manage to stay in place well past their projected life expectancies.

E.  Architects study as long and as intensively as most other  professionals.

Think you know the answer?

The correct answer is B.

Since the author concludes from evidence of collapsing buildings that architecture schools should spend more time teaching “the basics of good design,”  she obviously assumes that the buildings are falling down because of poor design, not poor construction.  (B) destroys the argument by demolishing this assumption.

The author claims architecture schools don’t focus enough on basic design, not basic physics and mechanics, so (A)’s no weakener.  As for (C), the author never spells out how much of the curriculum should be spent on design, so more than half may not be enough for her.  (D) distorts the argument-the author never claimed that most buildings are falling down, so the fact that most of them stay up doesn’t matter.  As for (E), other professionals are beyond the scope-the issue is how much architecture schools focus on basic design rather than on more lofty artistic concerns.

Time and time gain, it has been shown that students who attend colleges with low faculty/student ratios get the most well-rounded education.  As a result, when my children are ready for college, I’ll be sure they attend a school with a very small student population.

Which of the following, if true, identifies the greatest flaw in the reasoning above?

A.  A low faculty/student ratio is the effect of a well-rounded education, not its source.

B.  Intelligence should be considered the result of childhood environment, not advanced education.

C.  A very small student population does not, by itself, ensure a low faculty/student ratio.

D.  Parental desires and preferences rarely determine a child’s choice of a college or university.

E.  Students must take advantage of the low faculty/student ratio by intentionally choosing small classes.

Think you know the answer?

 

The correct answer is C.

The evidence says that students who attend colleges with low faculty/student ratios get well-rounded educations, but the conclusion is that the author will send his kids to colleges with small student populations.  Since colleges can have the second without necessarily having the first, (C) is correct.

(A) claims that the author confuses cause and effect, but how could getting a well-rounded education cause a low faculty/student ratio?  Anyway, the real problem is the scope shift from faculty/student ratios to student populations.  As for (B),  the author never mentions intelligence at all.  (D) fails because it doesn’t point to a problem in the reasoning, just in implementing it.  And (E) claims students must do something extra to take advantage of the low faculty/student ratio.  Since the author never claimed the benefits would be conferred automatically, this isn’t a flaw; more importantly, (E) misses the real flaw, which we find in (C).

Techniques to increase productivity in the performance of discrete tasks, by requiring less human labor in each step of the production process, are widely utilized.  consultant on productivity enhancement point out, however, that although these techniques achieve their specific goal, they are not without drawbacks.  They often instill enough resentment in the workforce eventually to lead to a slowdown in the production process as a whole.

Which of the following can be reasonably inferred from the statements above?

A. Productivity enhancement techniques do not attain their intended purpose and should not be employed in the workplace.

B.  The fact that productivity enhancement techniques are so widely employed has led to a decline in the ability of American businesses to compete abroad.

C.  If productivity enhancement consultants continue to utilize these techniques, complete work stoppages will eventually result.

D.  Ironically, an increase in the productivity of discrete tasks may result in a decrease in the productivity of the whole production process.

E.  Production managers are dissatisfied with the efforts that productivity enhancement consultants have made to increase productivity.

Think you know the answer?

 

The correct answer is D.

Here the author presents the consultants’ ideas.  Notice the paragraph uses words like often and slowdown.  The correct response should not go beyond such terminology.  Consultants’ conclusion:  Techniques to increase productivity of discrete tasks have drawbacks, even though they accomplish their specific goals.  Consultants’ evidence:  They often instill enough resentment to lead to a slowdown in the production process as a whole.

(A) is too sweeping a generalization, an unwarranted inference about productivity enhancement techniques.  Do these techniques never work?  (B) is even further out.  Nowhere does the information imply that America is less competitive abroad than before.  Since no geographic location is mentioned, this data could have originated in Europe.  (C) projects into the future, to an extreme result.  All we’re told is that sometimes these techniques lead to a slowdown in the production process.  (D) uses similar language (and tone) to the original paragraph and remains in scope without bringing in additional information.  It is an accurate summary of the text.  (E) can almost be disqualified after the first few words.  Though it picks up on the negative aspects of productivity enhancement, we can infer nothing about production managers since they are never mentioned.  In fact, many production managers may be ecstatic about the efforts that did pay off.

The education offered by junior colleges just after World War II had a tremendous practical effect on family-run businesses throughout the country.  After learning new methods of marketing, finance, and accounting, the sons and daughters of merchants returned home, often to increase significantly the size of the family’s enterprise or to maximize profits in other ways.

Which of the following statements is best supported bu the information above?

A.  The junior colleges principally emphasized methods of increasing the size of small businesses.

B.  The business methods taught in the junior colleges were already widespread before World War II.

C.  The business curricula at junior colleges did not include theoretical principles of management.

D.  Without the influence of junior colleges, many family-run businesses would have been abandoned as unprofitable.

E.  Business methods in many postwar family-run businesses changed significantly as a result of the junior colleges.

Think you know the answer?

The correct answer is E.

This question asks, “Which of the following is best supported by the information above?”  In other words, what can be inferred from the stated material?  The author in this question discusses the impact of junior colleges on family-run businesses.  Evidence.  These colleges introduced people to new methods that were often successfully applied to family-run businesses.  Conclusion:  These colleges had a tremendous effect on family-run businesses.

A good inference will not go beyond this scope or read too much into particular detail.  We go through the choices on Inference questions, because it’s hard to predict what the correct answer will be.

In (A) the disqualifying word is principally.  The information presented does not specify what the junior colleges emphasized.  This choice reads too much into the fact that often family businesses increased in size because of the newly acquired knowledge.  (B) is wrong because we really can’t infer how popular or widespread these methods were before the war.  For all we know these could have been revolutionary techniques or well-kept secrets. In (C), we know junior colleges taught new methods of marketing and finance and stuff like that; we do not know how much management theory was or was not presented.  This choice relies on data we aren’t given, a sure sign of an incorrect or unwarranted inference.  In (D), all we are really told is that many family-run businesses became more profitable.  It is possible that many family-run businesses could have been abandoned as unprofitable had it not been for the junior colleges, but nothing suggests that there necessarily would have been a significant number of business failures without colleges.

(E) is certainly true.  Business methods did change because of the education.  Notice how non biased this statement is,coming directly from the information given.  Often, people find the correct choice to be too obvious in Critical Reasoning questions; often it’s just that straightforward.

The rate of violent crime in this state is up 30% from last year.  The fault lies entirely in our court system: Recently our judges’ sentences have been so lenient that criminals can now do almost anything without fear of a long prison term.

The argument above would be weakened if it were true that

A.  85% of the other states in the nation have lower crime rates than does this state

B.  White-collar crime in this state has also increased by over 25% in the last year

C.  35% of the police in this state have been laid off in the last year due to budget cuts

D.  Polls show that 65% of the population in this state oppose capital punishment

E.  The state has hired 25 new judges in the last year to compensate for deaths and retirements

Think you know the answer?

The correct answer is C.

If we can show that something besides the court system may explain the increase in crime (if we can show a different cause for the same effect) we would weaken the argument.  The author, after all, assumes that there is no other cause ( a common GMAT assumption).  Tackle the choices, looking for another cause besides the allegedly lenient court sentences.

(A) is a classic faulty comparison.  The argument does not compare one state to another.  The argument’s scope is the crime rate increase in this state only.  In (B), the fact that white-collar crime is also on the rise is more of a strengthener than a weakener-maybe it is the leniency in the courtroom that is responsible for an overall crime surge.  (C) presents an alternative explanation for the increase in crime.  Maybe it is not the judges at all but the fact that there are fewer cops on the street.  As for (D), what if 65% of people in the state oppose capital punishment?  what if 100% of people in this state oppose capital punishment?  This provides little insight into why crime has gone up since last year.  (E) tells us that numerous judges have been replaced in the last year.  It is possible that the new judges are more lenient, but this would only strengthen the author’s conclusion.