The GMAT Exam administered in 1997.
The most significant change from the 1994 version of the GMAT exam is the computer adaptive format. Other changes include the number of questions, the time allotted for the questions, and, although not apparent to the student, the use of ETS’s Erater. The only difference between this GMAT exam and the current form is that the Erater has been replaced by Intellimetric and questions are now developed by ACT Inc. There was no change in the question types between 1994 and 1997.
Interestingly, in 1997 Harvard Business School reinstated the GMAT exam as a requirement for admissions. For eleven years Harvard had not required GMAT scores for admission to business programs. Although the significant change in 1997 was the computer adaptive format, The Harvard University Gazette in April 1996 cited the Analytical Writing Analysis as a significant improvement to the GMAT exam that required Harvard to reconsider using the GMAT exam.
Analysis of an Argument – 30 Minutes
Directions: In this section, you will be asked to write a critique of the argument presented. You are NOT being asked to present your own views on the subject.
WRITING YOUR RESPONSE: Take a few minutes to evaluate the argument and plan a response before you begin writing. Be sure to organize your ideas and develop them fully, but leave time to reread your response and make any revisions that you think are necessary.
EVALUATION OF YOUR RESPONSE: College and university faculty members from various subject-matter areas, including management education, will evaluate the overall quality of your thinking and writing. They will consider how well you organize, develop, and express your ideas about the argument presented provide relevant supporting reasons and examples control the elements of standard written English
The following appeared as part of an annual report sent to stockholders by Olympic Foods, a processor of frozen foods.
"Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits."
Analysis of an Issue – 30 Minutes
Directions: In this section, you will need to analyze the issue presented and explain your views on it. There is no "correct" answer. Instead, you should consider various perspectives as you develop your own position on the issue.
WRITING YOUR RESPONSE: Take a few minutes to think about the issue and plan a response before you begin writing. Be sure to organize your ideas and develop them fully, but leave time to reread your response and make any revisions that you think are necessary.
EVALUATION OF YOUR RESPONSE: College and university faculty members from various subject-matter areas, including management education, will evaluate the overall quality of your thinking and writing. They will consider how well you
• organize, develop, and express your ideas about the issue presented
• provide relevant supporting reasons and examples
• control the elements of standard written English
In some countries, television and radio programs are carefully censored for offensive language and behavior. In other countries, there is little or no censorship.
In your view, to what extent should government or any other group be able to censor television or radio programs? Explain, giving relevant reasons and/or examples to support your position.
Quantitative Section – 37 Questions – 75 Minutes
Problem Solving – 20 Questions
Directions: Solve the problem and indicate the best of the answer choices given.
Numbers: All numbers used are real numbers.
Figures: A figure accompanying a problem solving a question is intended to provide information useful in solving the problem. Figures are drawn as accurately as possible EXCEPT when it is stated in a specific problem that its figure is not drawn to scale. Straight lines may sometimes appear jagged. All figures lie in a plane unless otherwise indicated.
Which of the following equations has a root in common with x2 - 6x + 5 = 0?
(A) x2 + 1 = 0
(B) x2 – x – 2 = 0
(C) x2 – 10x -5 = 0
(D) 2x2 – 2 = 0
(E) x2 – 2x – 3 = 0
Data Sufficiency – approximately 17 questions
Directions: This data sufficiency problem consists of a question and two statements labeled (1) and (2), in which certain data are given. You have to decide whether the data given in the statements are sufficient for answering the question. Using the data given in the statements plus your knowledge of mathematics and everyday facts (such as the number of days in July or the meaning of counterclockwise), you must indicate whether
(A) statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked;
(B) statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked;
(C) BOTH statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient;
(D) EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked;
(E) statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.
Numbers: All numbers used are real numbers.
Figures: A figure accompanying a data sufficiency problem will conform to the information given in the question, but will not necessarily conform to the additional information given in statements (1) and (2).
Lines shown as straight can be assumed to be straight and lines that appear jagged can also be assumed to be straight.
You may assume that the positions of points, angles, regions, etc., exist in the order shown and that angle measures are greater than zero.
All figures lie in a plane unless otherwise indicated.
Note: In data sufficiency problems that ask for the value of a quantity, the data given in the statements are sufficient only when it is possible to determine exactly one numerical value for the quantity.
In triangle PQR, what is the value of x ?
(1) PQ = PR
(2) y = 40
(A) statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked;
(B) statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked;
(C) BOTH statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient;
(D) EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked;
(E) statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.
Answer: C
Verbal - 41 Questions – 75 Minutes
Sentence Correction – Approximately 16 Questions
Directions: This question presents a sentence, part of which or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others.
This question tests correctness and effectiveness of expression. In choosing your answer, follow the requirements of standard written English; that is, pay attention to grammar, choice of words, and sentence construction. Choose the answer that produces the most effective sentence; this answer should be clear and exact, without awkwardness, ambiguity, redundancy, or grammatical error.
Seismologists studying the earthquake that struck northern California in October 1989 are still investigating some of its mysteries: the unexpected power of the seismic waves, the upward thrust that threw one man straight into the air, and the strange electromagnetic signals detected hours before the temblor.
(A) the upward thrust that threw one man straight into the air, and the strange electromagnetic signals detected hours before the temblor
(B) the upward thrust that threw one man straight into the air, and strange electromagnetic signals were detected hours before the temblor
(C) the upward thrust threw one man straight into the air, and hours before the temblor strange electromagnetic signals were detected
(D) one man was thrown straight into the air by the upward thrust, and hours before the temblor strange electromagnetic signals were detected
(E) one man who was thrown straight into the air by the upward thrust, and strange electromagnetic signals that were detected hours before the temblor
Answer: A
Critical Reasoning - Approximately 11 Questions
Directions: For this question, select the best of the answer choices given.
Which of the following best completes the passage below?
In a survey of job applicants, two-fifths admitted to being at least a little dishonest. However, the survey may underestimate the proportion of job applicants who are dishonest, because _____.
(A) some dishonest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be honest
(B) some generally honest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be dishonest.
(C) some people who claimed on the survey to be at least a little dishonest may be very dishonest
(D) some people who claimed on the survey to be dishonest may have been answering honestly
(E) some people who are not job applicants are probably at least a little dishonest
Answer: A
Reading Comprehension – Approximately 14 Questions in 4 Passages
Directions: The questions in this group are based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions following the passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.
A meteor stream is composed of dust particles that have been ejected from a parent comet at a variety of velocities. These particles follow the same orbit as the parent comet, but due to their differing velocities they slowly gain on or fall behind the disintegrating comet until a shroud of dust surrounds the entire cometary orbit. Astronomers have hypothesized that a meteor stream should broaden with time as the dust particles' individual orbits are perturbed by planetary gravitational fields. A recent computer-modeling experiment tested this hypothesis by tracking the influence of planetary gravitation over a projected 5,000-year period on the positions of a group of hypothetical dust particles. In the model, the particles were randomly distributed throughout a computer simulation of the orbit of an actual meteor stream, the Geminid. The researcher found, as expected, that the computer-model stream broadened with time. Conventional theories, however predicted that the distribution of particles would be increasingly dense toward the center of a meteor stream. Surprisingly, the computer-model meteor stream gradually came to resemble a thick-walled, hollow pipe.
Whenever the Earth passes through a meteor stream, a meteor shower occurs. Moving at a little over 1,500,000 miles per day around its orbit, the Earth would take, on average, just over a day to cross the hollow, computer-model Geminid stream if the stream were 5,000 years old. Two brief periods of peak meteor activity during the shower would be observed, one as the Earth entered the thick-walled "pipe" and one as it exited. There is no reason why the Earth should always pass through the stream's exact center, so the time interval between the two bursts of activity would vary from one year to the next.
Has the predicted twin-peaked activity been observed for the actual yearly Geminid meteor shower? The Geminid data between 1970 and 1979 show just such a bifurcation, a secondary burst of meteor activity being clearly visible at an average of 19 hours (1,200,000 miles) after the first burst. The time intervals between the bursts suggest the actual Geminid stream is about 3,000 years old.
The primary focus of the passage is on which of the following?
(A) Comparing two scientific theories and contrasting the predictions that each would make concerning a natural phenomenon.
(B) Describing a new theoretical model and noting that it explains the nature of observation made of a particular natural phenomenon.
(C) Evaluating the results of a particular scientific experiment and suggesting further areas for research.
(D) Explaining how two different natural phenomena are related and demonstrating a way to measure them.
(E) Analyzing recent data derived from observation of an actual phenomenon and constructing a model to explain the data.
Answer: B
The GMAT® questions, whether taken from the GMAT® mini-test, The Graduate
Management Admission Test: Technical Report on Test Development and Score
Interpretation for GMAT users (1984), or in any other form, are the property of the
Graduate Management Admission Council® and have been reprinted with its permission for
illustrative purposes only in the article titled “History of the GMAT and the associated
GMAT exams - 1954; 1961; 1966; 1972; 1976; 1977; 1984; 1994; and 1997
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