GMAT Exam (Focus Edition) key terms

The GMAT Focus section testing problem solving with numbers, algebra, and geometry. It contains 21 questions in 45 minutes and permits no calculator, emphasizing reasoning over heavy computation.

A question format offering five answer choices where you compute or reason to a single correct value. On the Focus Edition it is the only question type in Quantitative Reasoning.

A question format asking whether the given statements supply enough information to answer a question, without requiring the actual value. It appears only in Data Insights on the Focus Edition, not in Quantitative Reasoning.

The condition in which the supplied information determines exactly one answer to the question asked. Judging sufficiency, not computing the value, is the core skill of Data Sufficiency items.

The two pieces of information in a Data Sufficiency item, evaluated separately first and then combined. The standard answer choices describe which combination of statements is sufficient.

A strategy of substituting the answer choices into the question, often starting with the middle value, to find which one satisfies the conditions. It saves time on algebra-heavy problem solving questions.

A technique of assigning convenient numbers to variables to test answer choices or verify relationships. Choosing small, distinct values such as 2 and 3 helps expose which expression is always correct.

Converting a word problem into equations or inequalities using defined variables. Careful translation of phrases such as 'is at least' or 'varies inversely' prevents setup errors before solving.

A question relating distance, rate, and time, or work, rate, and time, through the relationship work equals rate times time. Combining rates for objects moving toward or away from each other is common.

The portion of a job completed per unit of time by one or more workers or machines. Rates add when entities work simultaneously, and the reciprocal of the combined rate gives total time.

The sum of individual rates when two or more agents work together on the same task. It lets you compute the time to finish a job as one divided by that sum.

Total distance divided by total time for a trip, not the simple mean of the speeds. When distances are equal, the harmonic mean of the two speeds gives the average speed.

A mean in which each value contributes in proportion to its weight or frequency. It equals the sum of value-times-weight divided by the sum of weights, and underlies mixture and alligation problems.

A question combining substances or solutions at different concentrations to find a resulting concentration or amount. Setting up a balance on the pure component, or using alligation, solves it efficiently.

A comparison of two or more quantities expressed as a quotient or with a colon. Introducing a common multiplier converts a ratio into actual amounts and links it to totals.

An equation stating that two ratios are equal, often solved by cross-multiplication. Direct proportions scale together, while inverse proportions move in opposite directions.

Relationships where one quantity grows with another (direct) or shrinks as another grows (inverse). Direct variation means y equals kx; inverse variation means y equals k divided by x.

An arrangement of items in which order matters. The count of ordered arrangements of r items chosen from n distinct items is n factorial divided by (n minus r) factorial.

A selection of items in which order does not matter. The count of ways to choose r items from n distinct items is n factorial divided by r factorial times (n minus r) factorial.

The product of all positive integers up to a given integer, written with an exclamation mark. Zero factorial equals one, and factorials appear in permutation and combination formulas.

The likelihood of an event, computed as favorable outcomes divided by total equally likely outcomes. For independent events, multiply probabilities; for mutually exclusive events, add them.

Events whose outcomes do not affect each other, so the probability of both equals the product of their individual probabilities. Drawing with replacement typically produces independent events.

The probability that an event does not occur, equal to one minus the probability it does. Using the complement often simplifies questions asking for 'at least one' outcome.

Groups sharing members, such as people who like tea and coffee, best organized with a two-way table or Venn diagram. The inclusion-exclusion rule adds the groups and subtracts the overlap.

A picture of overlapping circles representing sets and their shared members. It clarifies counting problems involving two or three groups and the region belonging to none.

A grid crossing two categorical variables so each cell counts a combination. Row and column totals let you read conditional information and check consistency of the categories.

The probability of an event given that another event has occurred, computed by dividing the joint probability by the probability of the condition. Two-way tables make such calculations direct.

A measure of how spread out values are around their mean, roughly the typical distance from the mean. It is larger when data are more dispersed and is unaffected by adding a constant to every value.

Three measures of central tendency: the arithmetic average, the middle value when ordered, and the most frequent value. Skewed data pull the mean toward the tail more than the median.

A symmetric bell-shaped distribution described by its mean and standard deviation. Roughly 68 percent of values fall within one standard deviation of the mean and 95 percent within two.

The GMAT Focus section combining Data Sufficiency, multi-source reasoning, table and graph analysis, and two-part analysis. It has 20 questions in 45 minutes and includes an on-screen calculator.

A Data Insights format presenting information across two or three tabs, such as text, a table, and an email. Questions ask you to combine sources, judge relevance, or draw inferences.

A Data Insights question with two quantities to determine, answered by selecting one value for each from shared options. The two parts may be related or independent and must both be correct.

A Data Insights format showing a chart or graph with drop-down statements to complete. It tests reading scales, units, trends, and relationships accurately from a visual display.

A Data Insights format providing a sortable table and asking yes-or-no judgments about statements. Sorting columns and checking each claim against the data is the efficient approach.

The Verbal Reasoning question type asking you to analyze an argument's structure, assumptions, or conclusion. Common tasks include strengthening, weakening, finding an assumption, and resolving a paradox.

The arrangement of a passage into conclusion, premises, and background. Identifying the conclusion first anchors every critical reasoning task, since support flows toward it.

An unstated premise the argument needs in order for its conclusion to follow. Negating a necessary assumption destroys the argument, which is a reliable test for identifying it.

Critical reasoning tasks that ask which option makes an argument more or less likely to be valid. The correct choice affects the link between evidence and conclusion, not the conclusion's truth directly.

The Verbal Reasoning question type based on passages from business, science, and social studies. Questions test main idea, detail, inference, and the author's purpose or attitude.

A conclusion that follows necessarily from stated information without going beyond it. Correct inference answers are modest and fully supported, unlike plausible but unstated speculation.

The central point a passage is written to convey, encompassing the whole text rather than one detail. It usually appears in the opening or closing sentences and is stated in broad but accurate terms.

A question type historically on the GMAT that asked you to choose the grammatically and logically correct version of a sentence. It is not part of the Focus Edition, which replaced it with Data Insights.