24 GMAT Key Terms with Meanings and Examples

Critical Reasoningsection skill

Verbal questions that test how well you analyze short arguments.

“Most Critical Reasoning questions ask you to strengthen, weaken or find an assumption.”

assumptionterm

An unstated premise an argument depends on.

“The plan assumes customers will not switch to a competitor.”

strengthenterm

Information that makes the conclusion more likely.

“Data showing the trend in other cities would strengthen the argument.”

weakenterm

Information that makes the conclusion less likely.

“A rival explanation for the sales drop would weaken the argument.”

evaluateterm

Identifying the question whose answer would best help judge an argument.

“To evaluate the plan, ask whether costs will rise.”

boldface questionterm

A question asking what role two highlighted statements play in an argument.

“In boldface questions, label each statement as evidence, conclusion or counterpoint.”

plan questionterm

A question about whether a proposed course of action will achieve its goal.

“Plan questions often hinge on unintended side effects.”

Data Sufficiencyquestion type

Deciding whether two statements give enough information to answer a question, without solving fully.

“In Data Sufficiency, test each statement alone, then together.”

Multi-Source Reasoningquestion type

Answering questions using information spread across several tabs of text, tables or charts.

“Multi-Source Reasoning rewards careful note-taking across tabs.”

Table Analysisquestion type

Sorting a data table to judge whether statements are true.

“Sort the table by the column the question asks about.”

Graphics Interpretationquestion type

Reading a graph or chart to complete statements from drop-down menus.

“Check the axis scales before answering Graphics Interpretation items.”

Two-Part Analysisquestion type

Choosing two related answers from a shared set of options.

“Two-Part Analysis may involve quantitative or verbal reasoning.”

Problem Solvingquestion type

Standard multiple-choice math questions with five options.

“All Quantitative Reasoning questions are Problem Solving.”

integermath term

A whole number, positive, negative or zero.

“−3, 0 and 8 are integers; 2.5 is not.”

prime numbermath term

An integer greater than 1 with exactly two positive divisors.

“2 is the only even prime number.”

ratiomath term

A comparison of two quantities by division.

“If the ratio of boys to girls is 2:3, girls make up 3/5 of the class.”

percent changemath term

(new − old) ÷ old × 100.

“From 80 to 100 is a 25% increase.”

medianmath term

The middle value of an ordered list.

“The median of 3, 7, 9 is 7.”

standard deviationmath term

A measure of how spread out values are from the mean.

“Adding the same number to every value does not change the standard deviation.”

weighted averagemath term

An average where values count in proportion to their weights.

“A class average weights each section by its number of students.”

ratemath term

A quantity per unit of time, as in distance = rate × time.

“At 60 km per hour, 150 km takes 2.5 hours.”

compound interestmath term

Interest earned on both the principal and previous interest.

“$100 at 10% compounded yearly grows to $121 after two years.”

probabilitymath term

Favorable outcomes ÷ total equally likely outcomes.

“The probability of rolling a 6 on a fair die is 1/6.”

combinationsmath term

Ways to choose items when order does not matter.

“There are 10 ways to choose 2 people from 5.”

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