Chapter 2

Integrated Reasoning

The GMAT Integrated Reasoning (IR) section consists of 12 multiple-part questions that must be completed in 30 minutes. Your answers for each of the multiple parts of an IR question must all be correct to get credit for the question. You have access to an onscreen calculator for this section of the test. The IR questions require you to apply critical reasoning and math skills to various data-intensive scenarios. The questions are presented in the following four different formats:

• Table Analysis questions present data in sortable tables. You use the data to choose one of two opposing answer choices for each of three statements.
• Two-Part Analysis questions present a short written explanation of a situation or math problem in which two portions of related information are unknown. You are asked to make two choices, one for each of the unknown portions.
• Graphics Interpretation questions present information in a graph or other visual image. You must complete two missing pieces of information in one or two statements by choosing from drop-down menus.
• Multi-Source Reasoning questions present several sources of information, such as text material, graphs, diagrams, charts, and tables. You must synthesize the information and draw logical conclusions to answer three questions. Two of the questions are multiple-part questions. For these two questions, you choose one of two opposing answer choices for each of three statements. The other question is a five-option multiple-choice question, for which you must select the one best answer choice.

The Problems You'll Work On

When working through the IR questions in this chapter, be prepared to

• Read and understand graphical or visual representations of information.
• Recognize cause and effect.
• Identify relationships in information.

What to Watch Out For

Don't make these mistakes:

• Being confused because questions present excess data that you don't need.
• Answering questions based on your personal knowledge instead of on the information given.
• Failing to pace yourself so that you can answer all the questions in the given timeframe.

6. The table shows data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales, May 12, 2017, report on estimated sales, inventories, and inventories-to-sales ratios for domestic activities of retailers in the U.S. To make it easier to observe underlying trends and other non-seasonal movements, the data are adjusted for seasonal variations and, in the case of sales, for trading-day differences and holiday variations. The inventories to sales ratios show the relationship of the end-of-month values of inventory to the monthly sales. These ratios can be interpreted as indicating the number of months of inventory that are on hand. For example, a ratio of 2.5 indicates that a business has enough merchandise on hand to cover two and a half months of sales (Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Merchant Wholesalers: Inventories to Sales Ratio).

On the actual exam, the table is interactive, and you can sort it in ascending order by selecting the column title you want to sort by from the drop-down menu above the table. The table below is shown sorted by different column titles to simulate the exam.

Sorted by Kind of Business (Column 1)

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Sorted by Inventories March 2017 (Column 5)

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Sorted by Inventories/Sales Ratios March 2017 (Column 8)

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For each of the following statements, select Yes if the statement is true based solely on the information in the table. Otherwise, select No.

Yes

No

6.1

(A)

(B)

The percent change in sales for the combined domestic activities of retailer businesses from March 2016 to March 2017 is approximately 3.1.

6.2

(A)

(B)

The business that has the highest March 2017 inventory also has the highest March 2017 Inventories/Sales Ratio.

6.3

(A)

(B)

The business that is likely to have less than enough merchandise on hand to cover one month of sales is general merchandise stores.

7. The following table shows stock quotations for 20 companies at the end of a particular trading day in 2018. The table contains the following information: 52-Wk High, the highest price at which a stock has traded over the previous 52 weeks; 52-Wk Low, the lowest price at which a stock has traded over the previous 52 weeks; Stock, the name of the company; Volume (100s), the total number of 100 shares traded that day; High, the highest price of the stock for the day; Low, the lowest price of the stock for the day; Close, the last recorded price of the day when the market closed; and Net Change, the difference between the closing prices of the day and the previous trading day.

On the actual exam, the table is interactive, and you can sort it in ascending order by selecting the column title you want to sort by from the drop-down menu above the table. The table below is shown sorted by different column titles to simulate the exam.

Sorted by Stock (Column 3)

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sorted by Volume (Column 4)

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sorted by Close (Column 7)

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sorted by Net Change (Column 8)

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Each of the following options consists of a stock and a quote category. For each option, select Less than median if, based on the information in the table, the value of the stock's quote is less than the median of the 20 stocks for that quote category on this day. Otherwise, select Greater than or equal to median.

Less than median

Greater than or equal to median

7.1

(A)

(B)

Company B, Volume (100s)

7.2

(A)

(B)

Company G, Close

7.3

(A)

(B)

Company L, Net Change

8. The following table shows first quarter sales information from 15 retail stores in a metropolitan area. Each of the 15 stores is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Saturday. The table contains monthly sales amounts (in thousands of dollars), and the average number of daily sales for January, February, and March of 2018.

On the actual exam, the table is interactive, and you can sort it in ascending order by selecting the column title you want to sort by from the drop-down menu above the table. The table below is shown sorted by different column titles to simulate the exam.

Sorted by Store (Column 1)

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sorted by Average Number of Daily Sales, Jan. (Column 5)

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sorted by Average Number of Daily Sales, Mar. (Column 7)

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sorted by Total Sales Amount, Feb. (Column 3)

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sorted by Average Number of Daily Sales, Feb. (Column 6)

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

For each of the following statements, select Yes if the statement is true based solely on the information in the table. Otherwise, select No.

Yes

No

8.1

(A)

(B)

The median average number of daily sales in January is greater than the median average number of daily sales in March.

8.2

(A)

(B)

The store with the highest total sales in February also had the highest average number of daily sales in February.

8.3

(A)

(B)

More than half the stores reported that the total sales amount in February exceeded the total sales amount in March.

9. Company X currently has 15,000 components in inventory, and company Y currently has 16,000 components in inventory. The number of components produced by company X and the number of components produced by company Y are increasing monthly, each at its own constant rate. Forecasters project that if each company continues to produce an increased number of components at its constant rate, in 20 months both companies will have the same number of components for the first time. Thereafter, in subsequent months, company X will have more components in inventory than company...