GMAT exercise 13

●Question 1. Sentence Correction

Direction: Correct the underlined part

As its sales of computer products have surpassed those of measuring instruments, the company has become increasingly willing to compete for the mass market sales they would in the past have conceded to rivals.

A. they would in the past have conceded to rivals

B. they would have conceded previously to their rivals

C. that in the past would have been conceded previously to rivals

D. it previously would have conceded to rivals in the past

E. it would in the past have conceded to rivals

●Question 2. Critical Reasoning

In the United States, of the people who moved from one state to another when they retired, the percentage who retired to Florida has decreased by three percentage points over the past ten years. Since many local businesses in Florida cater to retirees, this decline is likely to have a noticeably negative economic effect on these businesses.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. Florida attracts more people who move from one state to another when they retire than does any other state.

B. The number of people who move out of Florida to accept employment in other states has increased over the past ten years.

C. There are far more local businesses in Florida that cater to tourists than there are local businesses that cater to retirees.

D. The total number of people who retired and moved to another state for their retirement has increased significantly over the past ten years.

E. The number of people who left Florida when they retired to live in another state was greater last year than it was ten years ago.

●Question 3. Data Sufficiency

Directions: In this problem, a question is followed by two statements containing certain data. You are to determine whether the data provided by the statements are sufficient to answer the question. Choose the correct answer based upon the statement’s data and your knowledge of mathematics.

Is x>y?

A. statement 1 alone is sufficient, but statement 2 alone is not sufficient to answer the question

B. statement 2 alone is sufficient, but statement 1 alone is not sufficient to answer the question

C. both statements taken together are sufficient to answer the question, but neither statement alone is sufficient

D. each statement alone is sufficient

E. statements 1 and 2 together are not sufficient, and additional data is needed to answer the question

●Question 4. Problem Solving

How many different prime factors of 3^7+3^4 are there?

A. three B. four C. five D. six E. seven

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●Answer to Q1: E

The answer choices of A and B are committing a decisive error in terms of using ‘they’ to refer to ‘the company’. And the use of ‘in the past’ and ‘previously’ in a single sentence is making the redundant meaning in C and D, respectively. Therefore, the answer is E.

●Answer to Q2: D

The question is asking for an answer choice that weakens the author’s conclusion that the decline in percentage of retirees moving to Florida will have negative economic effect on businesses that cater to retirees. The author drew such conclusion because of his assumption that decline in percentage points should be interpreted as a decline in actual number of retirees. The author is implicitly making an assumption that the number of retirees did not change during this period.

However, the passage does not give any information on the change in number of retirees over the past ten years. The answer choice that weakens the author’s conclusion will be one that tests author’s assumptions. Therefore, the correct answer is (D) that total number of retirees increased significantly, which means that although retirees moving to Florida declined percentage, actual number of retirees could be higher than ten years ago. And since there are more retirees moving Florida, businesses catering to them will not be negatively affected.

●Answer to Q3: B

1) x=2, y=1 yes, x=-2, y=1 no, not sufficient, 2) y<=|y| y

●Answer to Q4: A

3^7+3^4=3^4(3^3+1)=3^4(28)=2^2*3^4*7, the number of the different is 3(2,3,7), the best answer is A.