The document provides an overview of strategies for improving performance on the GMAT Sentence Correction section, including understanding the format, what is tested (grammar rules like idioms, subject-verb agreement, pronouns, parallelism, and modifiers), and how to practice applying the concepts. It also provides a sample practice question and explains the step-by-step approach to arrive at the correct answer.

1. June 2013 No6
Have you chosen
b-schools wisely?
We tell you
Plan your applications
– with an app!
Do GMAT math
faster
MBAADMISSIONS
SPECIAL
MBAADMISSIONS
SPECIAL

2. MBAINTELLIGENCE JUNE 2013 No6
2
3 Letter from
the top: Editorial
GMAT tips:
what math brain
are you?
GMAT Tips:
Master the art
of Sentence
Correction
An App for
your apps:
Review of Clear
Admit's MBA
Planner App
Student opinion:
Dark outlook on
India's economy
4 Admissions tips:
essay writing
27 Key to your career:
Maximise your
soft skills
31 Admissions tips:
How to choose
your ideal
b school
7
25
9
20
14 GMAT Tips:
Double Matrix
Method
33 Brand yourself
beyond your
MBA
37 Why are online
luxury businesses
failing in China's
booming
economy?

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Road to MBA:
Sentence Correction Summary
In the first of a 6 part series, Vivian Kerr from Grockit
will be giving aspiring MBAs a comprehensive
look at all the different sections of the GMAT
including test prep strategy.
GMAT

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A great score on the GMAT is essential to gain
admittance to any top-tier business program.
The Verbal section of the exam contains 41
multiple-choice questions to be completed in
75 minutes. There are three types of GMAT
Verbal questions: Sentence Correction,
Critical Reasoning, and Reading
Comprehension. Sentence Correction is
known as the “backbone” of the Verbal exam.
With less than 2 minutes per question, it’s
essential to be able to move through these
questions quickly and confidently, leaving
extra time to read and analyze the Critical
Reasoning and Reading Comprehension
question-types. Many 700+ GMAT scorers can
answer Sentence Correction questions in just
45 seconds! So, what does the
above-average GMAT test-taker
and MBA aspirant need to know
to tackle
GMAT Sentence Correction?
Basic Scoring
Before we dive into what the Sentence
Correction actually tests, let’s remember that
the GMAT is an adaptive test, meaning the
difficulty-level changes based on your
response as you take the exam. In generally,
an adaptive exam means that if a question is
answered correctly, the next question will be
harder and the score will adjust upwards. If a
question is answered incorrectly, the next
question will be easier and the score will
adjust downwards. The computer is
constantly recalculating the scaled score as
the student progresses through the Verbal
section to determine the precise ability of the
test-taker. This is why questions at the
beginning of a section are said to “count”
more than questions at the end of a section.
Format
Sentence Correction questions will always
consist of a single sentence that is either
partially or fully underlined. Answer choice
(A) is always a repeat of the original sentence,
while options (B), (C), (D), and (E) provide
alternative constructions. This Kaplan video
provides a great introduction to the basic
structure of the Sentence Correction portion
of the exam, and describes the types of
knowledge that are tested. You can also
check out the format of a Sample problem on
Learnist!

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What’s Tested?
Grammar! Correct English grammar usage is
the most important skill you’ll need to answer
Sentence Correction questions correctly. An
answer choice with a grammar error will
never be correct. The more familiar you are
with the “most-tested” grammar errors, the
faster you’ll be able to identify them and
remove the answer choices that contain
them.
Here’s a brief rundown of the 5 major
concepts you’ll need to understand:
1. Idioms
How they are tested: Idioms are expressions
native to the English language. There are two
part Idioms such as “neither…nor” and”
between…and” as well as prepositional
idioms like “interested IN” and “afraid OF.”
How to Study: Keep a study sheet for Idioms
and add to it every time you encounter a new
one. Make flashcards with the first part of the
Idiom on the front and the second part on the
back.
2. Subject-Verb
How it’s tested: SCs love to give long
sentences where the main subject and the
verb are separated by many words or clauses.
You must identify the subject of each
sentence and make sure the verb matches it
in number. Generally, a plural noun takes a
singular verb and a singular subject takes a
plural verb.
How to Study: Practice identifying the subject
and verb of every sentence correction. Don’t
be confused by other plural nouns in the
sentence. Find the noun that is doing the
action of the verb. Memorize the unusual
subject-verbs: collective nouns, each,
compound subjects, etc.
3. Pronouns
How they are tested: The most common error
associated with pronouns is pronoun-
antecedent agreement. The antecedent is the
word the pronoun is replacing. A pronoun
must have a clear antecedent in the sentence;
the lack of an antecedent is itself an error.
The antecedent may often be present, but
will disagree with the pronoun in number.

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How to Study: Learn the difference between
subject pronouns and object pronouns, and
how they are used in sentences. Make sure to
match any pronoun in a Sentence Correction
back to its logical antecedent.
4. Parallelism
How it’s tested: Parallelism is tested on the
GMAT in a series of phrases or items in a list.
In parallel construction, the phrases or items
must be in the same form. This can be tested
with a number of parts of speech: nouns,
verbs, prepositions, etc.
How to Study: Read as many examples of
parallelism as you can. Understand the
difference between the infinitive and
participle verb forms. Look for commas
between phrases as a clue that the sentence
may be testing parallelism. Ask yourself: are
these phrases part of a list?
5. Modifiers
How they are tested: Modifiers are words and
phrases that describe nouns. Adjectives,
adverbs and modifying clauses will be
incorrectly placed, or in the wrong form.
Adverbs can only modify verbs, while
adjectives modify nouns. Be on the lookout
for suspicious adverb-noun and adjective-
verb pairings. Also be aware that many
sentences will begin with a modifying phrase
and a comma. The subject after the comma
must be the person or thing doing the action
of the modifying phrase.
How to Study: You will need to review
adjective and adverb usage from a good
English grammar book, and learn the
common forms of each (for example, most
adverbs end in –ly). This is worth doing even
if you are a native English speaker, as we
frequently interchange adverbs and
adjectives in everyday speech. What “sounds”
correct may not in fact be so!
What Else Should I Look for?
Most GMAT students who can’t break 700 on
the GMAT ignore the “sense” of a sentence.
Grammar is very important, but the overall
meaning of a sentence should also be
examined, especially if a grammar error is not
readily apparent. A correct GMAT sentence
will have no grammar errors, and its meaning
will be clear and logical. Ask yourself: can we
logically describe X in this way? Is it possible
for X to do this verb’s action to Y?
Once you’ve eliminated blatant grammatical
errors and considered the differences in
meaning among the answer choices, stop to
consider the style. This is where active
voice/passive voice, wordiness, redundancy,
and overall clarity become important. This
Learnboard does a great job of reviewing
active and passive voice. Remember: the
GMAT almost always prefers an active
construction over a passive one!

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Putting it all together – Practice Question #1
In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his
marriage to Queen Catherine annulled so as
to marry Anne Boleyn.
A so as to marry
B and so could be married to
C to be married to
D so that he could marry
E in order that he would marry
This is a great practice question (and is from
the Official GMAT Guide). Even though there
doesn’t appear to be a too obvious
grammatical error in the underlined portion,
we may have some doubts as to the validity
of the idiom “so as to.” Furthermore, there is a
lack of a pronoun here to clarify exactly who
is to marry Anne. Let’s examine B, C, D, and E
and look for more grammatical issues to help
us eliminate. B separates the subject from
“could be married” and so we have a
subject/verb disconnect.
With A and B removed for grammatical
reasons, let’s examine the meaning of the
remaining choices. The main idea here is that
Henry SOUGHT something in the first half,
and then the second half explains WHY. The
use of the word “would” in E muddles this
meaning. But Henry’s willpower is not the
focus here. E is out.
Finally, we have narrowed it down to C and D.
C is in passive voice. Henry doesn’t want to
“be married” he is DOING the marrying.
Stylistically, it’s also helpful to note that E is
wordier than D (and the GMAT doesn’t
generally prefer wordier answer choices). The
correct answer here is D.
Non-native speaker and feeling a little
nervous about all this talk of grammar rules?
There’s plenty of free resources online geared
toward helping non-native speakers score
highly on the GMAT Verbal section. Start by
trying out a free practice question on Grockit!
Vivian Kerr
Vivian Kerr has been teaching and tutoring in the Los Angeles
area since 2005. She graduated from the University of Southern
California, and has worked for several test-prep companies
including Kaplan for whom she taught ACT, SAT, ISEE, GRE,
GMAT, and did admissions counseling. She has contributed
blogs to Beat the GMAT, College Xpress, and currently blogs,
tutors, and writes content for the online test prep company
Grockit, which focuses on making standardized test preparation
affordable and accessible for students around the world.

8. ISSUE 2 ISSUE 3
Offering an analysis of the South American airline
Aerolineas Argentinas, this piece examines how the
tools of relationship management could support
this organisation’s goals. It provides
recommendations for the airline by asking whether
it can increase its profitability by improving its
relationships and marketing strategies.
This piece offers a critical review of the Burton
Snowboards brand – a company that can be
credited with creating its own industry in which it
continues to control 40%-70% of its market –
depending on category. But has its phenomenal
branding success created a potential problem? Can
a cool anti-establishment brand grow? And where?
The Basel III Accord, the largest and most
challenging piece of regulation facing the financial
services industry, is demystified in this article,
suggesting that it’s time to look at investment
portfolios.
This month we featured reviews of Guy Fraser
Sampson’s book “No Fear Finance” and Professor
Vince Mitchell’s “Marketing: Real People, Real
Decisions.”
This article takes a look at the organisational
strategy and performance of Diageo, a business
whose goal it is to be “at the center of every
celebration.” We see the measures that have been
taken by the company’s 2 CEO’s to ensure its success
during a time of recession.
In a rapidly changing world of marketing, are MBA
students leaving business schools equipped with
the right tools to devise high level marketing
strategies? Resident marketing guru Markus Rach
suggests that the changing face of marketing is
providing new challenges to the MBA graduate. This
article gives tips and advice from the top on how to
keep your marketing strategy fresh and current in a
new media landscape, with a solid look at successful
examples in the real world.
Since the recent fall of music giant HMV, many have
speculated as to how the company could have
prevented it from happening at all. Our group of
MBAs undertook a study into various routes that
HMV could have taken in the past to ensure their
survival a future favouring online businesses, and
offer an alternative solution to the current situation
HMV find themselves in.
In another article focussed on China, top MBA
student David Campbell considers the luxury vodka
brand Grey Goose and the design of a growth
strategy for the Chinese spirits market. With a far-
reaching analysis, we discover the varied tactics
Grey Goose are employing to ensure that the brand
becomes the vodka of choice for the Chinese
population.
At a time of political turmoil, war an social upheaval
in Libya, how are businesses impacted? How are
business owners leading their companies through
difficult times? In what is a very timely research
project, our top MBA student Beth Hepworth and
specialist researcher in Libya from The Libya Report
answers these questions in an extensive study into
sense making in a crisis, asking how are managers
and decision makers responding to continuous
change in post-conflict Libya.
As one of the fastest growing economies in the
world, China is fast-becoming one of the largest
consumers of high end goods in the luxury sector.
By examining Chinese norms and traditions, top
MBA student Celine Xu uncovers the factors
motivating the luxury trend in China and the
necessary tools for aspiring online retailers to exploit
this boom in luxury shopping.
BACK ISSUES
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MBAINTELLIGENCE JUNE 2013 No6

9. ISSUE 4
In an era where the high street is visibly changing,
do online businesses have the upper hand? Or
should they not rest on their laurels? MBA student
Karen van Zijl takes a look at top online fashion
brand ASOS‘ current marketing strategies and gives
her recommendations for the company’s future.
In a technological era where having an online
presence is now essential, having a perfect LinkedIn
profile is becoming increasingly more important for
job hunting, networking and doing business. In this
article, LinkedIn expert Dan Sherman gives us his top
tips to refine your LinkedIn profile to help you
become successful and find a great career. An
absolute must read for all MBAs.
Focussed on helping you succeed at all stages of
your MBA, career coach Meera Shah provides some
valuable words of wisdom on how to land your
dream job with positive thinking and actions.
With much being written about the true value of an
MBA, many successful business people have asked
themselves whether their success has been down to
their time in business school or sheer luck. The
founder of MBA & Co reflects on his time at IESE and
ponders on this very question. What will be the
verdict?
After a field trip earlier this year, a group of Cass
Business School MBA students explore the lengths
to which resort operators and casinos will go to gain
competitive advantage on the famous strip. Great
insight into the research projects of MBA students
and a clever look at Las Vegas through a business
lens.
ISSUE 5
GMAT prep experts Manhattan Elite Prep give you a
comprehensive look at understanding data
sufficiency and critical reasoning with practice exam
questions. Fully explaining the possible answers, this
article is part of the new section of MBA Intelligence
dedicated solely to the GMAT. Each month we’ll be
giving you tips and advice from the experts in the
field, helping you to conquer the all important exam.
How does an online grocery business grow its
market share whilst competing with high street
supermarkets? In an extremely well thought out
research project, our group of MBA students
investigate the ways that UK online grocers, Ocado,
are trying to grow their market share in a
challenging area. They examine how its warehouse
model gives it strategic advantage over competitors
and then at its marketing strategies. Finally, they
give great recommendations for the company’s
business model and marketing approach. A great
insight into MBA research projects and into the
challenges of UK supermarket retailing.
This piece looks at the story of luxury brand Aston
Martin, and unearths its marketing management
strategies through analysing the way it connects
with customers, its brand building history and
delivery of value. A great example of high calibre
MBA coursework, our MBA student provides
recommendations for Aston Martin’s business model
and marketing strategy. Tools that are helpful for
any business wanting to create successful long-term
growth.
Make sure you conquer that almighty GMAT with
tips from the top. In this article, Kaplan Test Prep
give you the ultimate advice to make sure you pass
your GMAT first time round. With so much
information out there for GMAT candidates, it can be
a little overwhelming and there are a lot of
misconceptions. Kaplan looks at these
misconceptions and busts them to ensure that you
succeed on the day of your test.
How does a relatively small company increase its
website traffic by 2800%? This article finds out how
Popcorn, Indiana created a unique product that
would show off their existing products (popcorn!) to
generate more interest in their brand. Exploring
company branding, buzz and viral marketing, our
MBA student gives his own unique
recommendations to the company to latch on to this
buzz and ensure staying power in the salty snacks
industry.
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