{"id":8434,"date":"2015-09-16T18:45:42","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T18:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/?p=8434"},"modified":"2019-08-30T16:42:52","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T16:42:52","slug":"the-gres-not-a-math-test-its-a-foreign-language-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/blog\/the-gres-not-a-math-test-its-a-foreign-language-test\/","title":{"rendered":"The GRE\u2019s not a math test \u2013 it\u2019s a foreign language test!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Blog-GRE-Language\"Imagine that you asked a friend of yours what she got on the Quant section of the\u00a0GRE. Instead of answering you directly, she said \u201clet\u2019s just say that 4 times my score\u00a0is a multiple of 44, and 3 times my score is a multiple of 45.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could you tell what score she got? If not\u2026 you may need to work on your GRE\u00a0translation skills!\u00a0Most people expect math on the GRE to be like math in high school, when\u00a0memorizing formulas and applying them correctly \u2013 rigorous memorization and\u00a0meticulous application \u2013 was all you needed to get an A. That\u2019s not nearly enough on\u00a0the GRE, though!<\/p>\n

Because the math content of GRE is relatively simple (middle school and basic high\u00a0school math), the only way to make the test challenging is to make the structure\u00a0complex. Test writers encode simple concepts in complicated language. Instead of\u00a0saying \u201cn is odd,\u201d for example, they\u2019ll say \u201cthe remainder when n is divided by 2 is\u00a01.\u201d That way, we have to do the extra work of translating: if a number has a\u00a0remainder when divided by 2, it can\u2019t be even. It must be odd!<\/p>\n

To move through the test quickly and efficiently without getting stuck, you\u2019ll need to\u00a0quickly decode complex GRE language to find the simple underlying concept.<\/p>\n

See if you can translate these coded messages:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. the remainder when x<\/em> is divided by 10 is 3.<\/li>\n
  2. p <\/em>= n<\/em>3<\/sup> \u2013 n<\/em>, where n<\/em> is an integer<\/li>\n
  3. integer y<\/em> has an odd number of distinct factors<\/li>\n
  4. |b<\/em>| = –b<\/em><\/li>\n
  5. the positive integer q<\/em> does not have a factor r<\/em> such that 1<r<\/em><q<\/em><\/li>\n
  6. n<\/em> = 2k<\/em> + 1, where k<\/em> is a positive integer<\/li>\n
  7. a<\/em>2<\/sup>b<\/em>3<\/sup>c<\/em>4 <\/sup>> 0<\/li>\n
  8. x<\/em> and y <\/em>are integers, and yx <\/sup><\/em>< 0<\/li>\n
  9. what is the greatest integer n<\/em> for which 2n<\/sup><\/em> is a factor of 96?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When you come across this kind of coded language, ask yourself, \u201cwhat is the\u00a0underlying concept here? What are the clues?\u201d Then, create flashcards \u2013 coded\u00a0message on the front, translation and explanation on the back.<\/p>\n

    \"Blog-GMAT-Language-Image\"<\/p>\n

    Then, push yourself further: try to think of different iterations of the same idea (e.g.\u00a0a\/b > 0, or pqr < 0) and make flashcards for those.\n\nHere are the translated versions of the codes above (but make sure you try to\u00a0translate them yourself before you look at these answers!):\n\n\n

      \n
    1. The units digit of x<\/em> is 3 (the remainder when divided by 10 is always the same as the units digit).<\/li>\n
    2. p<\/em>is the product of 3 consecutive integers. Factor out n<\/em> first: n<\/em>(n<\/em>2<\/sup> \u2013 1). Then, factor the difference of squares: n<\/em>(n<\/em> + 1)(n<\/em> \u2013 1). A number \u00d7 one greater \u00d7 one smaller = the product of 3 consecutives.<\/li>\n
    3. y<\/em> is a perfect square (like 9, whose factors are 1, 3, & 9). Any non-square integer will have an even number of distinct factors (e.g. 5: 1 & 5, or 18: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, & 18).<\/li>\n
    4. b\u00a0<\/em>must be negative or 0. If the absolute value of\u00a0b<\/em>\u00a0(the distance from 0)\u00a0is equal to –b<\/em>, then\u00a0–b\u00a0<\/em>cannot be negative; it must be positive or 0. If –b<\/i> = 0, then b<\/i>\u00a0= 0 as well. If –b<\/i> is positive, then b<\/i> itself must be negative.<\/li>\n
    5. q\u00a0<\/em>must be prime. If q<\/em> were a non-prime integer, it would have at least one factor between 1 and itself.<\/li>\n
    6. n<\/em> is odd. 2k<\/em> must be even (regardless of what k<\/em> is), so adding 1 to an even will give us an odd.<\/li>\n
    7. b\u00a0<\/em>must be positive. The even exponents hide the sign of a<\/em> and\u00a0c<\/em>, but a<\/em>2<\/sup> and c<\/em>4<\/sup> must be positive, so b<\/em>3<\/sup> \u2013 and therefore b<\/em> \u2013 must be positive.<\/li>\n
    8. y <\/em>must be negative, because only a negative base would yield a negative term. And x<\/em> must be odd, because an even exponent would make the term positive.<\/li>\n
    9. How many factors of 2 are there in 96? If we break 96 down, we get a prime factorization of 2\u00d72\u00d72\u00d72\u00d72\u00d73, so 25<\/sup> will be a factor of 96, but 26<\/sup> won\u2019t.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      A lot of the coded language on the GRE comes from Number Properties concepts\u00a0(perhaps because \u201ceven & odds\u201d and \u201cpositives & negatives\u201d seem elementary until\u00a0we disguise them). You probably already know the basic rules: even + odd = odd,\u00a0even \u00d7 odd = even, etc. Don\u2019t just make flashcards for the basic rules \u2013 look for the\u00a0coded language, and be ready to translate.<\/p>\n

      By the way, that student that I mentioned at the beginning\u2026were you able to figure\u00a0out her score?<\/p>\n

      4 times my score is a multiple of 44<\/em> –\u00a0translation: the score is a multiple of 11.<\/p>\n

      3 times my score is a multiple of 45<\/em> – translation: the score is a multiple of 15, and\u00a0therefore 5 and 3.<\/p>\n

      A multiple of 11, 3, and 5? It must be a 165.<\/p>\n

      A score like that takes serious translation skills!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Imagine that you asked a friend of yours what she got on the Quant section of the\u00a0GRE. Instead of answering you directly, she said \u201clet\u2019s just say that 4 times my score\u00a0is a multiple of 44, and 3 times my score is a multiple of 45.\u201d Could you tell what score she got? If not\u2026 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3,6,7,8,9,10],"tags":[403,133,402,151,158,159,400,169,401,365,205],"yst_prominent_words":[1363082,1363088,1363071,1363083,1363084,1363072,1363074,1363073,1363087,1363086,1362854,1363078,1363081,1363075,1363077,1363079,1363076,1363080,1363085],"class_list":["post-8434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gre-math-algebra","category-grad-school","category-gre-strategies","category-how-to-study","category-manhattangre","category-math-gre-strategies","category-gre-basic-math","tag-error-log","tag-gre","tag-gre-error-log","tag-gre-math","tag-gre-prep","tag-gre-prep-help","tag-gre-prep-tips","tag-gre-strategy","tag-gre-study","tag-gre-study-tips","tag-how-to-study-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8434"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8944,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8434\/revisions\/8944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8434"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=8434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}