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Assumptions and Estimation

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Summary
Understanding how to interpret figures on the GMAT is crucial for avoiding traps and making accurate deductions.
  • Lines that appear straight in GMAT figures are indeed straight, which is a reliable assumption test-takers can make.
  • Assumptions about lengths, angles, parallelism, or perpendicularity based solely on appearance are unreliable and should be avoided.
  • Figures on the GMAT may not be drawn to scale, emphasizing the importance of not trusting the visual representation for making geometric deductions.
  • Reliable deductions must be based on explicit information provided in the text of the problem or within the figure itself.
  • Logical deductions based on the rules of geometry are the only trustworthy method to determine the properties of figures on the GMAT.
Chapters
00:08
The Reliability of Straight Lines
00:59
The Pitfalls of Assumptions
02:33
Figures Not Drawn to Scale
04:29
Trusting Text Over Visuals
05:23
Making Logical Deductions

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Geometry (Not tested on Focus edition)