GMAT Focus Practice Questions — All Questions

A jacket originally priced at $50 is discounted 20%, and then an additional 10% is taken off the reduced price. What is the final price?

• a.$35.00
• b.$34.00
• c.$36.00✓
• d.$30.00

Apply the discounts in sequence, not by adding them. First: 50 x 0.80 = 40. Then: 40 x 0.90 = 36. The final price is $36.00. (Adding 20% + 10% = 30% off would wrongly give $35.)

A car travels 240 miles in 4 hours and then 180 miles in 2 hours. What is its average speed for the entire trip?

• a.70 mph✓
• b.75 mph
• c.65 mph
• d.60 mph

Average speed = total distance / total time. Total distance = 240 + 180 = 420 miles. Total time = 4 + 2 = 6 hours. 420 / 6 = 70 mph. Averaging the two segment speeds (60 and 90) would be incorrect because the times differ.

If 3x + 7 = 22, what is the value of x?

• a.3
• b.5✓
• c.7
• d.15

Subtract 7 from both sides: 3x = 15. Divide by 3: x = 5. Check: 3(5) + 7 = 15 + 7 = 22.

A rectangle's length is twice its width, and its perimeter is 36. What is its area?

• a.36
• b.48
• c.60
• d.72✓

Let width = w and length = 2w. Perimeter = 2(w + 2w) = 6w = 36, so w = 6 and length = 12. Area = 6 x 12 = 72.

Pump A can fill a tank alone in 6 hours, and pump B can fill the same tank alone in 3 hours. Working together, how long will they take to fill it?

• a.1.5 hours
• b.2 hours✓
• c.2.5 hours
• d.4.5 hours

Add the rates: A fills 1/6 of the tank per hour and B fills 1/3 = 2/6 per hour. Combined rate = 3/6 = 1/2 tank per hour. Time = 1 / (1/2) = 2 hours.

A retailer marks up the cost of an item by 25% and sells it for $60. What was the item's cost?

• a.$40
• b.$45
• c.$48✓
• d.$50

Cost x 1.25 = 60, so cost = 60 / 1.25 = 48. Check: 48 + 25% of 48 = 48 + 12 = 60. The cost was $48.

The sum of three consecutive even integers is 48. What is the largest of the three?

• a.14
• b.16
• c.17
• d.18✓

Let the integers be n, n+2, n+4. Their sum is 3n + 6 = 48, so 3n = 42 and n = 14. The three integers are 14, 16, 18; the largest is 18.

What is the remainder when 4 cubed is divided by 5?

• a.1
• b.2
• c.4✓
• d.0

4 cubed = 64. Dividing by 5: 5 x 12 = 60, leaving 64 - 60 = 4. The remainder is 4.

If n is a positive integer and 2n is divisible by 6, which of the following must be true?

• a.n is a multiple of 3✓
• b.n is even
• c.n is a multiple of 6
• d.n is prime

2n divisible by 6 means 2n = 6k, so n = 3k for some integer k. Therefore n must be a multiple of 3. It need not be even (n could be 3) or a multiple of 6 (n could be 3).

What is the greatest common factor of 24 and 36?

• a.6
• b.12✓
• c.18
• d.24

24 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 and 36 = 2 x 2 x 3 x 3. The shared prime factors are 2 x 2 x 3 = 12. The greatest common factor is 12.

After a city installed brighter streetlights on Main Street, traffic accidents there dropped 30% the following year. Officials concluded the new lighting caused the decline. Which statement, if true, most weakens this conclusion?

• a.The new lights cost more to operate than the old ones.
• b.A road closure diverted most through-traffic off Main Street that year, cutting its traffic volume by about 30%.✓
• c.Drivers reported that the brighter lights improved visibility at night.
• d.Accidents on nearby side streets stayed about the same that year.

The conclusion assumes the lighting reduced accidents. If traffic volume itself fell about 30% because of a road closure, then fewer cars, not the lights, could explain the drop, undercutting the causal claim. Cost, driver perceptions, and unchanged side streets do not address whether the lights caused the decline.

Every plant in the greenhouse that received the new fertilizer grew taller than the greenhouse average, so the researcher concluded the fertilizer causes taller growth. This reasoning depends on which assumption?

• a.The fertilizer is inexpensive to produce.
• b.Taller plants always produce more fruit.
• c.The fertilized plants did not also receive some other growth advantage, such as more sunlight, that the unfertilized plants lacked.✓
• d.All plants in the greenhouse are the same species.

A causal conclusion from a comparison requires that the two groups differ only in the suspected cause. If the fertilized plants also got more sunlight or better placement, that alternative could explain their height. The other choices are irrelevant to establishing that the fertilizer, specifically, caused the growth.

A company claims that its new training program improves productivity, citing that employees who completed it produced 15% more than those who did not. Which statement, if true, most strengthens the claim that the program caused the increase?

• a.Before the program, the two groups of employees had produced at nearly identical rates.✓
• b.The program was more expensive than the company expected.
• c.Some employees found the program's schedule inconvenient.
• d.The company plans to expand the program next year.

To support that the program caused the gain, we want evidence the two groups were comparable beforehand. If they produced identically before training, the later 15% gap is better attributed to the program. Cost, scheduling complaints, and future plans say nothing about causation.

All the members of the debate club are also in the honor society. No one in the honor society is a first-year student. Which conclusion follows logically?

• a.Every honor society member is in the debate club.
• b.Some debate club members are first-year students.
• c.Most first-year students join the honor society later.
• d.No member of the debate club is a first-year student.✓

Debate club members are all honor society members, and no honor society member is a first-year student. Therefore no debate club member can be a first-year student. The other options either reverse the first premise or add unsupported claims.

Select the option that makes the sentence grammatically correct: 'Neither the manager nor the employees ____ satisfied with the new schedule.'

• a.was
• b.were✓
• c.is being
• d.has been

With 'neither...nor,' the verb agrees with the nearer subject. The nearer subject, 'employees,' is plural, so the plural verb 'were' is correct.

Choose the version that corrects the misplaced modifier: 'Walking to the office, the rain soaked her coat.'

• a.Walking to the office, she felt the rain soak her coat.✓
• b.Walking to the office, her coat was soaked by the rain.
• c.The rain, walking to the office, soaked her coat.
• d.Her coat, walking to the office, was soaked by the rain.

The opening phrase 'Walking to the office' must modify the person doing the walking. Only 'she' can logically walk, so 'she felt the rain soak her coat' places the modifier correctly. The other versions illogically attach the walking to the rain or the coat.

Choose the option that keeps the list parallel: 'The consultant recommended cutting costs, hiring cautiously, and ____.'

• a.that inventory should be reduced
• b.a reduction of inventory
• c.reducing inventory✓
• d.to reduce inventory

The first two items are gerund phrases ('cutting costs,' 'hiring cautiously'), so the third must match that form. 'Reducing inventory' maintains parallel structure; the other options break the pattern.

A shop's unit sales were: Product X - Jan 100, Feb 150, Mar 200; Product Y - Jan 80, Feb 120, Mar 160. What were Product X's total unit sales across the three months?

• a.350
• b.400
• c.420
• d.450✓

Add Product X's three monthly figures: 100 + 150 + 200 = 450 units.

Using the same data (Product Y - Jan 80, Feb 120, Mar 160), what was the percent increase in Product Y's sales from January to March?

• a.50%
• b.80%
• c.100%✓
• d.160%

Percent increase = (new - old) / old x 100 = (160 - 80) / 80 x 100 = 80/80 x 100 = 100%. Sales doubled, which is a 100% increase.

Using the same data (X: 100, 150, 200; Y: 80, 120, 160 for Jan, Feb, Mar), in which month was the combined sales of X and Y the highest?

• a.February
• b.March✓
• c.January
• d.They are equal

Combined totals: Jan = 100 + 80 = 180; Feb = 150 + 120 = 270; Mar = 200 + 160 = 360. March is highest at 360 units.

Using the same data (Product Y - Jan 80, Feb 120, Mar 160), what was Product Y's average monthly sales over the three months?

• a.120✓
• b.130
• c.160
• d.100

Average = sum / count = (80 + 120 + 160) / 3 = 360 / 3 = 120 units per month.

Using the February figures (Product X = 150, Product Y = 120), what is the ratio of Product X sales to Product Y sales in February?

• a.4:5
• b.5:4✓
• c.3:2
• d.6:5

The ratio is 150:120. Divide both by their greatest common factor, 30: 150/30 = 5 and 120/30 = 4. The simplified ratio is 5:4.