![\"Manhattan](\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2018\/01\/know-the-gmat-code-ir-table-problems-again-stacey-koprince.png\")
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Guess what?\u00a0You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free\u2014we\u2019re not kidding!\u00a0Check out our upcoming courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In today\u2019s latest installment of our <\/span>Know the Code<\/span><\/a> series, we\u2019re going to talk about the most efficient way to tackle Table problems in the Integrated Reasoning (IR) section of the GMAT. You can check out our previous IR Table problems tips here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n First, try out this IR Table problem from the free questions that come with the GMATPrep<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> software. A timing note: If you\u2019re planning to guess on 3 questions in the IR section, then you can give yourself an average of 3 minutes and 20 seconds per problem. BUT\u2026 we\u2019re looking to save time on most IR Table questions, so factor that in.<\/span><\/p>\n On the real test, you\u2019ll be able to sort by the different columns in the table. That\u2019s not possible in a blog article, so just do your best as is, but note that a question like this one can usually be done in much less time than 3 minutes and 20 seconds if you\u2019re taking advantage of the ability to sort the data.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe table displays data on <\/span>Brazilian agricultural<\/span><\/i> products in 2009.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor each of the following statements, select Yes<\/i> if the statement can be shown to be true based on the information in the table. Otherwise select No<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n What did you think?<\/p>\n It was a real pain to do that without being able to sort the columns, wasn\u2019t it? Use that knowledge to your advantage. On the real test, don\u2019t even think about doing IR Table problems without Reflecting<\/i>: How can I sort the table to make my job easier? 1-second Glance.<\/span><\/i> It\u2019s a table about some common kinds of food. <\/span><\/p>\n Read <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> Jot<\/span><\/i>. What\u2019s the table about? Brazil. The first column shows food products (commodities). The next two columns reflect production of these things by market share and Brazil\u2019s world rank. And the final two columns reflect Brazil\u2019s share of exports and its world rank (of exports).<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s an important step. IR Table problems have three parts, and you have to answer all three correctly in order to earn any points on this problem. So as you read the three statements, reflect on whether you think any might be too hard or might take too long. If two or all three look pretty hard, you might just want to guess now and move on.<\/span><\/p>\n Next, I would write down \u201cYes\/No\u201d or \u201cY\/N.\u201d Taking 5 seconds to do that helps me to focus on my task.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s tackle the first statement.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo individual country produces more than one-fourth of the world\u2019s sugar.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Reflect<\/span><\/i>. My first thought is, \u201cHow can I tell anything about other countries? The table is only about Brazil.\u201d So now I\u2019m curious. Maybe there\u2019s a trick here that\u2019s going to let me figure something out!<\/span><\/p>\n Sugar. That\u2019s the bottom row. Brazil produces 21% of the world\u2019s sugar\u2026and it\u2019s ranked #1 in the world! What does that mean?<\/span><\/p>\n No other country has a higher share than Brazil. So if Brazil is at 21%, then every other country is below 21%. It\u2019s actually true that no one country produces more than one-fourth\u2014or 25%\u2014of the world\u2019s sugar.<\/span><\/p>\n Answer the first statement <\/span>Yes<\/span><\/i>. This statement can be shown to be true from the table.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the second statement.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf Brazil produces less than 20% of the world\u2019s supply of any commodity listed in the table, Brazil is not the world\u2019s top exporter of that commodity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Hmm. The wording here is a little confusing. Okay, first, the statement is only talking about commodities for which Brazil produces less than 20%. Sort the table by column 2. Here\u2019s what that looks like:<\/span><\/p>\n Okay, so we only care about the ones where Brazil produces less than 20%…that\u2019s Pork, Cotton, Corn, Chickens, and Beef.<\/p>\n Now what\u2019s the question again? Brazil is not the top <\/span>exporter<\/span><\/i>. Okay, so we need to see whether there\u2019s a 1 in the <\/span>final<\/span><\/i> column\u2014not Brazil\u2019s <\/span>production<\/span><\/i> rank, but Brazil\u2019s <\/span>export<\/span><\/i> rank.<\/span><\/p>\n Brazil is the #1 exporter of both Chickens and Beef, so this statement is <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> true. (And notice that the production rank vs. export rank distinction is a total trap! Brazil is not the #1 <\/span>producer<\/span><\/i> for any of these foods\u2014so if you are checking that column, you\u2019re going to say this statement is true and get this one wrong.)<\/span><\/p>\n Answer the second statement <\/span>No<\/span><\/i>. This statement can be shown to be false from the table.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the third statement:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOf the commodities in the table for which Brazil ranks first in world exports, Brazil produces more than 20% of the world\u2019s supply.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Here we go again. What\u2019s this thing saying? Okay, first, we only care about the ones where Brazil ranks first in world exports. Sort by the final column:<\/span><\/p>\n The first five rows are the important ones. Next, the statement says that Brazil produces<\/i> more than 20% of the world\u2019s supply. Check the share of production (column 2). Brazil produces only 15% of the supply of Chickens and 16% of the supply of Beef, so this one is not<\/i> true.<\/p>\n (What\u2019s the trap on this one? It\u2019s the same as the last one: If you check only the commodities for which Brazil is the #1 by <\/span>production<\/span><\/i>\u2014sugar, coffee, and orange juice\u2014then you\u2019re going to answer this question Yes<\/em>. For those three specific commodities, Brazil actually does produce more than 20% of the world\u2019s supply.)<\/span><\/p>\n Answer the third statement <\/span>No<\/span><\/i>. This statement can be shown to be false from the table.<\/span><\/p>\n What are your takeaways on this problem? Think in particular about the traps that they set. They set up the problem in a certain way to get people to be more likely to fall into those traps. How?<\/span><\/p>\n Columns 2 and 3 are a pair\u2014and they\u2019re really similar to columns 4 and 5, another pair. You have to keep straight what each pair is talking about, and you have to keep straight what each statement is asking you about. If you mix up the columns, you\u2019re going to get this one wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n IR Table problems are usually an opportunity to save some time (though not always). Aim to answer these in closer to 2 minutes. It will be key to figure out how to sort the table in the way that will allow you to answer accurately and efficiently. If you don\u2019t regularly work with tables and think about sorting data, start practicing!<\/span><\/p>\n (1) Tables will always have three statements, and you will always have to answer all three correctly in order to get points on that question. So don\u2019t just start doing the first one first. Glance through all three, then decide whether you want to do this problem at all.<\/span><\/p>\n (2) Keep <\/span>Reflecting<\/span><\/i>! In this problem, the second and third statements can be made easier by figuring out how best to sort the data. Investing a little time to think about that will save you more time on the back end. Get through something like this in, say, 2 minutes, and that\u2019s at least a minute that you can now spend somewhere else in the section.<\/span><\/p>\n (3) Turn any knowledge you gain into Know the Code flash cards:<\/span><\/p>\n Can\u2019t get enough of Stacey\u2019s GMAT mastery? Attend the first session of one of\u00a0her upcoming GMAT courses<\/a>\u00a0absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Guess what?\u00a0You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free\u2014we\u2019re not kidding!\u00a0Check out our upcoming courses here. In today\u2019s latest installment of our Know the Code series, we\u2019re going to talk about the most efficient way to tackle Table problems in the Integrated Reasoning (IR) section of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[873,929,874,52871,930,2,3],"tags":[53052,53019],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-15087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-current-studiers","category-gmat-prep","category-gmat-resources","category-gmat-strategies","category-gmat-study-guide","category-how-to-study","category-integrated-reasoning","tag-ir-table-problems","tag-know-the-gmat-code"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15087"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15136,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15087\/revisions\/15136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15087"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Manhattan](\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2018\/01\/sk-423-image-3.png\")
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<\/p>\nKey Takeaways for Knowing the Code on IR Table Problems<\/b><\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\n* GMATPrep\u00ae questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.\u00a0?<\/h5>\n
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\n![\"stacey-koprince\"](\"https:\/\/cdn2.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2015\/06\/stacey-koprince-150x150.png\")
<\/a>Stacey Koprince<\/a>\u00a0is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.<\/strong>\u00a0Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT \u00a0for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests.\u00a0Check out Stacey\u2019s upcoming GMAT courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"