GMAT Verbal | CR | RC | Verbal DI | 2026 Updated

Analyze how the lecture identifies the most supportive evidence for the claim that wood smoke contains dangerous toxins that affect human cells and justifies legislation limiting open-air fires and wood stoves.

examine why making lighters child resistant may not reduce fires, since children can operate the safety levers and adults leave lighters in accessible places.

Proponents could cite that half of the busiest airport's departures head to a city 225 miles away, suggesting high-speed ground transport between 200–500 miles would alleviate airport congestion.

Evaluate a critical reasoning argument on monitoring TV viewership with electromagnetic waves by clarifying whether the radiation dose is a lifetime average.

critically analyzes historical costing in military contracts, showing how inflation-based price increases on prior prices can perpetuate past inefficiencies and cause ongoing overpayment.

Evaluate the argument that the mayor's publicity campaign cut car traffic by 7% and increased bus use, by considering road construction as a rival explanation.

Apply a fixed weekly fee based on Patrick's typical childcare hours, replacing hourly payments, to keep his weekly income uniform and adequate despite absences.

Explore critical reasoning on whether mental illness alters immune-system activity, and identify the assumption that immune-system activity does not cause mental health changes.

Assess why encouraging farmers to plant SP 004, a beta-carotene-rich sweet potato, will succeed because it thrives under current growing conditions, addressing vitamin A deficiency in South America.

To avoid excessively restrictive controls, apply limits only to effluents that actually cause environmental damage to the North Sea, rather than uniform controls.

Analyze a Manhattan critical reasoning question about school lunch guidelines, showing that the conclusion is the school board is not following new guidelines requiring vegetables, not fruits, in every meal.

Explore how the argument that lottery tickets are gambling rests on the assumption that public officials shouldn't gamble, linking A=B and B=C to conclude A=C.

Examine a Manhattan critical reasoning question about whether car color influences driver behavior, and identify the key assumption that red cars do not attract more police attention than others.

Evaluate the argument that math scores rise when math classes end the day by testing the assumption that students are fully awake at the end of the day.

Examine a critical reasoning scenario where the exterminator's claim that three weeks without signs proves eradication may be undermined by a counter-premise such as seasonal or behavioral factors.

Explore how predictions of slow economic growth and capital reserves affect the employment rate, and learn to weaken the argument by identifying alternative causes in Manhattan critical reasoning Q7.

Examine how new math-education methods may undercut preparation for higher-grade problem solving, contrasting basic skills with analytical tools, and practice identifying the strongest counterpremise.

Argues that transforming waterfront urban lots into residential buildings can yield large profits because homeowners will pay premium prices in areas traditionally used for industry and commerce.

Analyze why municipalities would buy a quick freeze wastewater purification system alongside a conventional one, because conventional systems are not fully effective at cold temperatures for killing bacteria.

master critical reasoning by identifying flaws that confuse purchasing with consumption, as shown in a 40 to 50 age group argument about ice cream buying and eating.

Analyze why a cash-strapped Suncorp pursues the less profitable cattle ranching over rubber tapping. The decision hinges on limited funds, as rubber tapping requires higher startup costs despite greater profitability.

Assess the 1940 prediction that electric currents in soil would kill pests and weeds and strengthen crops by spotting the flaw that electricity cannot distinguish between weeds and crop plants.

Evaluates a flexible daily start policy (6 a.m. to 11 a.m.) and shows productivity would fall when a job requires frequent, throughout-the-day interaction.

Analyzes critical reasoning on preparing for rapid skill obsolescence caused by advanced manufacturing technology and endorses offering training as needed to meet job requirements.

Critiques the claim that technological improvements universally raise labor productivity and explains that Portland's higher productivity may not solely reflect advanced technology, ignoring other possible causes.

Plant breeders pursue dwarf crop varieties to explain their strategy, showing these short plants are less vulnerable to strong winds and heavy rains.

Analyze how Robco justifies future profit from a low tire bid for Maxi Luxe's Max 100, based on buyers replacing worn tires with the same make and type.

The passage argues that temple-area protection matters because the temple bone is thin and side impacts can cause brain injury, so helmets should guard the temple region.

Evaluate why increasing packing material to fill carton spaces failed to reduce items damaged in transit. Dense packing reduces shock absorption, explaining the rise in damage.

Identify the strongest supporting evidence for the claim that wood smoke contains dangerous toxins by evaluating answer choices that bolster regulation against open air fires and wood stoves.

Identify the demographic shift that justifies investors' forecast for more moviegoers: teenagers will rapidly grow as a share of Washington County's population, supporting more cinema screens.

Replacing standard tables with tall tables and stools is expected to raise revenue because diners seated on stools leave earlier, increasing turnover without adding seating capacity.

Examine how the boldface statement functions as a blame in the hunter argument, and how the rest of the passage opposes that blame by highlighting black bears' role.

Apply critical reasoning to assess whether a controversial economy report caused a viewership drop amid viewer complaints. Compare declines at other networks to challenge the report as the sole cause.

Examine a physician's reasoning on prescribing synthetic melatonin for sleep disorders, highlighting unknown long-term risks and the need to weigh known risks against known benefits rather than unknown risks.

Explore how the conclusion that cabinet making is not art rests on the assumption that practical utility negates artistic value, highlighting the role of inference in critical reasoning.

Explain why reducing Green Town flights by 10% does not eliminate delays, because Green Town operates as a regional hub with many connecting passengers.

Young male bowerbirds learn elaborate nest building by watching their elders, supporting the conclusion that bower-building styles are culturally acquired rather than genetically transmitted.

Analyze a GMAT Verbal critical reasoning question about a drug from tree bark; identify evidence that the drug's source can be cultivated, weakening extinction claims.

Learn to illustrate and support claims with textual evidence in GMAT verbal, through critical reasoning and reading comprehension tasks, including evaluating ethnographic value in photography.

Researchers show roots secrete malic and citric acids to dissolve quartzite and release phosphate; the strongest support is that roots carve new entry points into rock despite surface cracks.

The lecture explains that sauropod gigantism did not depend on atmospheric carbon dioxide spikes, despite claims that high carbon dioxide during the Mesozoic drove massive herbivorous dinosaurs.

Judicial opinions reveal judges' reasoning and cite philosophers, and Anita Allen argues the strongest opinions consider objections from conflicting views to strengthen the ruling.

Identify the quotation from O pioneers that best shows Alexandra Bergson's deep connection to nature, notably 'she had never known before how much the country meant to her'.

Awe from grand stimuli boosts connectedness and altruistic helping, as shown when participants looking at tall trees helped pick up more pens than those viewing a building.

Learn to identify evidence that supports a claim and logically complete a passage, using archaeology, deep learning classification, and dishonest signaling in birds.

Assess Foster's hypothesis that sea otters indirectly boost eelgrass health by increasing reproduction; evidence shows eelgrass health correlates negatively with otter residence length and population size, undermining the hypothesis.

Develop critical reasoning by identifying the strongest supporting findings for researchers' conclusions across archaeology, paleontology, and marine ecology using diet, isotopes, and ecological relationships.

Analyze findings from Washington and Mullainathan to identify evidence that voting alters attitudes toward the winning candidate, challenging the traditional view.

Identify evidence that supports the journalist's claim by showing how Enwezor integrated African artists into global modern art contexts through exhibitions that pair African works with international peers.

Practice identifying evidence that weakens or supports a claim in critical reasoning questions. Use examples on star and planet composition and Mexican American folklore origins to sharpen evaluation skills.

Develop critical reasoning skills for selecting the most logical text completion, analyze historical inference from artifact dating and founding dates, and interpret experiments on temperature-responsive flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Explore how Toni Morrison’s editing at Random House from 1967–83 likely boosted black authors in the 1970s, and how Whitman’s insight links literature to a society’s spiritual well-being.

The Nagoya Protocol ensures indigenous communities are compensated when resources and knowledge are used, but contract confidentiality may hinder independent verification of equitable compensation.

Examine how domestic sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas, likely descends from a South American wild plant, with Polynesian varieties diverging over 100,000 years and Polynesia peopled in the last 3,000 years.