This post was written by Christina Yu, content developer for Knewton's GMAT prep course. 

An article in the Wall Street Journal indicated that newly minted MBA salaries and bonuses rose last year, a sign that employers are recruiting more intensely at business schools across the country:

"Students who graduated in 2010 received a median salary of $78,820, up from $66,694 for the class of 2009. Last year's grads also reported bigger signing bonuses, a median of $13,318, nearly double the previous year. Still, both salaries and bonuses are down from prerecession levels.

The rebound speaks to the diversity of companies seeking to employ M.B.A.s, says Dave Wilson, president and chief executive officer of GMAC. 'There are a lot of different players, other than just consulting and finance, in the M.B.A. marketplace,' he says. Energy, clean technology, health care, government and nonprofit companies have all boosted their M.B.A. recruiting, he says. 'And they are willing to pay more competitive salaries for an attractive M.B.A.'"

A few things to note about this trend:

1. Companies are still "cautiously optimistic." Recruitment still hasn't hit prerecession levels, but more banks and consulting firms are enticing MBAs with fancy "sell dinners."

2. Recruiting is up across a broad range of industries. "Consulting is up, energy is up, banking is up," says Julie Morton, associate dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

What this means for you: Given the current employment trend, an MBA degree is still a solid investment. Though MBA average total compensation figures may seem attractive to you, remember that the degree can cost up to 150k and that you are giving up 2 years' worth of salary to invest in your education. Therefore, the salary jump is by no means magic.

While you should not necessarily be concerned about finding a job (especially if you attend a top-tier school), understand that you may not land your first-choice job out of an MBA program. Don't forget that your peers in the program will also have passed through the hurdles of the admissions process and also have rich, exciting work experiences to boast of; and while MBA programs are generally supportive communities, you will have to compete with your peers if you intend to land the most prestigious jobs (the interview process is there for a reason).

Also be aware that your pre-MBA employment record is a significant factor in the recruitment process. You want to have a solid track record of success to point to on top of your educational pedigree, especially if you want to be competitive for the top banks and consulting firms. Considering all of this, the best thing you can do for yourself is to be extremely realistic about your skills, your work experience and how you intend to market yourself given the current economic climate.

This article was written by Christina Yu, a content developer for Knewton's GMAT course.

At Harvard Business School, the new dean, Nitin Nohria has announced five priorities for the upcoming academic year:

1. Curriculum innovation: As many are aware, the case-based method of teaching pervades the HBS curriculum (other programs such as Tuck offer a mixed lecture-and-case-method approach to material). While continuing to use this method, HBS faculty have approved the addition of a required first-year course to the curriculum.

For this course, called FIELD (Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development), students will be assigned to small groups of five or six and concentrate on leadership and self-reflection. The course will also include a consulting project and an assignment related to international affairs. More opportunities for hands-on and field learning are expected to follow. Though these changes have been approved and formally announced to admitted students, HBS faculty have not settled on the specifics of the official course yet.

The new course at HBS is perhaps comparable to the Chicago Booth LEAD course (Leadership Effectiveness and Development) and the First-Year Project at the Tuck School of Business where students are asked to apply their core academic knowledge to a real-world problem. It should also be noted that HBS will modularise electives in the second year, allowing students greater flexibility when shaping their course of study.

2. Intellectual ambition: HBS will continue to encourage its faculty to pursue research projects that will shape the world of business. Faculty will continue to develop what Nohria calls "the big ideas that have shaped the world of business scholarship, education, and practice."

3. Internationalization: The curriculum at HBS will continue to reflect the increasingly globalized nature of business. Students will continue to study prominent business cases outside of the U.S. Last year, more than half of the business cases studied involved non-U.S. companies.

4. Diversity: HBS will continue to value diversity when crafting their class each year.

5. Interdisciplinary interaction: HBS will seek partnerships with students and faculty from other Harvard departments.

What does this mean for you? During the interview, you will be asked to articulate why a particular school's curriculum is a good fit for you and your professional goals. Make sure you understand the distinctions between different programs - which ones offer case-method learning, which ones offer a "mixed" teaching style, which offer greater flexibility, which have a greater range of courses available, etc.

Make sure you don't simply repeat the obvious in your essay; telling the schools what their curriculum consists of and stating that you admire it will not win you points in the admissions process. In your application essay, you should show why and how a specific curriculum will work for you. Also remember that you are applying to business school at a time when innovation, diversity, social consciousness, and civic awareness are becoming more important. In a time like this, you definitely do not want to come across as someone just "looking to get a ticket punched."

The bottom line. The MBA degree will continue to be an important fixture in the corporate world. Business schools are, in a sense, businesses themselves and will continue to ensure their relevance. Despite the debate about the worth of an MBA in today's tough economic times, placement rates at the top programs are excellent this year (Tuck is nearly back to its pre-recession placement level). The MBA continues to signify to employers a knowledge of core business subjects and an ability to handle complex management issues.

Also note that the Wharton School of Business, the Yale School of Management, the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the Berkeley Haas School of Business have recently announced plans to revamp their curriculum as well. Make sure you stay on top of these developments.

If you thought the soul-searching stopped after you decided to go to b-school, think again. There are a wide variety of career options open to MBAs - some of them less conventional than others.

In our new After the MBA series, we'll chronicle a variety of post-MBA career opportunities to give you a sense of which might be the best fit for you. Whether you're looking to make a career change or want to stay in your present field, this information will help guide you in your b-school decision-making process, as well as direct your studies once in school.

Job/Industry:

Social Entrepreneur

What it is:

Social entrepreneurs start companies to help work toward social change in a particular area. While these companies are often not-for-profit, creating a for-profit company is not anathema to social entrepreneurship, as these companies have the ability to make a difference too.

Recently, there has been an increased interest in social entrepreneurship in b-schools, which experts attribute to a number of different factors. While some credit it to a contracted job market, according to Colin Mayer, dean of Oxford's Said Business School, in an article in the Wall Street Journal, "the interest in entrepreneurial ventures with social value [is about] more than the fact that people can't get jobs as easily" due to the economy. "There's also a sort of underlying sense of guilt about what happened during the crisis."

Salary Range:

There's no neat "salary range" to report for this field of work - after all, when you set out to build a business, nothing is set in stone. Unless you hit gold immediately after starting your organization, don't expect to make big bucks (or even to be able to pay yourself a salary).

Is Social Entrepreneurship A Good Fit?

Social entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Potential social entrepreneurs must be sure they have a strong, viable business idea and a workable way to execute their plan. In addition, they should recognize that social entrepreneurship, especially at the beginning, can be a lonely pursuit and require much, much more than 40 hours/week. Your personal life will almost certainly be eclipsed by your professional life (although since you will likely be very deeply invested in your company, this might not matter much to you). Creating your own start-up, however, can be one of an extraordinarily rewarding career and one that provides the entrepreneurship with a great deal of freedom and independence.

What Business Schools are Best for Social Entrepreneurship?

Numerous programs for social entrepreneurship have emerged recently. According to an article on Poets & Quants, "The Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford's Said Business School is a solid example of a relatively new program that is attracting the best and brightest to the social sector." According to U.S. News and World Report's rankings, the top 5 business schools for entrepreneurship are Olin (Babson), Stanford, Sloan (MIT), Harvard, and Wharton (U. Penn). However, there are programs and opportunities to take advantage of at many schools.

Check out the rest of our After the MBA Series learn more about all your post-b-school options.

by Meghan Daniels

This post was written by Matthew Busick, one of the expert content developers for Knewton's GMAT prep course.

Once in a while, the GMAT will hurl a particularly nasty question in your direction, one that seems deliberately designed to make you feel uncertain about all of the answer choices. These sorts of questions will most likely include rare idioms, awkward phrasing, and suspicious pronouns to keep you off balance.

In these instances, sometimes your only defense is to plant your feet firmly on the ground, forget the rules, and pretend that you're saying the sentence to your best friend. Pick whichever choice makes you feel the least ridiculous. However, this strategy should be reserved for those times when your knowledge of grammar isn't helping much. Even if English is your second (or third) language, remember that using your ear and feeling the sentences on your tongue can still be one of your most powerful tools.

Take a look at the following question:

Students in the metropolitan school district lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming ever more dependent on information-based industries.

(A) lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming
(B) lack math skills to a large enough degree that they will be difficult to absorb into a city's economy that becomes
(C) lack of math skills is so large as to be difficult to absorb them into a city's economy that becomes
(D) are lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult to absorb into a city's economy becoming
(E) are so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming

Pretty nasty, right? Reading each choice aloud helps to clear things out.

This question is testing the proper use of the idioms "such X that Y" and "so X that Y," in which Y should be a clause. The original sentence uses the idiomatically incorrect to such a large degree as to, rather than "that."

Choice C uses lack as a noun instead of a verb, so the noun students loses its corresponding verb. Lack as a noun would be correct if students were a possessive, but unfortunately it isn't. Choice D's lacking so much in math skills as to be is unidiomatic because of the awkward insertion of much. Choice B is unnecessarily wordy and convoluted. Not only do we have to a large enough degree rather than simply so, but we also have an extra relative clause, economy that becomes, rather than simply economy becoming. In the absence of concrete grammatical errors, we need to look to stylistic concerns. Here, Choice E is far better stylistically. It uses the correct idiom "so X that Y" and is clear and concise. Choice E is correct.

Although at first glance their antecedents may seem unclear, the pronouns it and them in Choice E are not ambiguous. The pronoun it refers to the following phrase to absorb them into a city economy. What will be difficult? To absorb students into a city economy. Compare this to simple phrases such as "It is easy to bake a pie." The pronoun "it" refers to the action "to bake pie." What is easy? To bake a pie. The active version of this sentence is "Baking a pie is easy."

The pronoun them can logically refer only to students, since it does not make sense to describe skills as absorbed into a city economy. It's important to keep an eye out for pronoun errors, but don't assume an answer choice is a weaker option just because you see pronouns.

Takeaway: Familiarity with correct idioms and proper pronoun usage will be invaluable come test day. That said, don't forget that you can occasionally rely on your ear to steer you in the right direction.

This post is written by Matthew Busick, a Content Developer for our GMAT prep course.

Some of our best students have their grammar rules down pat. They can talk for hours about adjective clauses, dangling modifiers, gerunds, and the subjunctive, but they're so busy checking to make sure that all the sentence parts fit into place that they forget to read the sentence for meaning.

Consider this example:

Most studies approximate that 70 percent of individuals with an amputation experience phantom sensations in the amputated limb, often in the form of pain that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but contorted in an unnatural position.

(A) that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but
(B) that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when that limb was still attached to the body but that was
(C) that was identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but was
(D) identical to the pain that they typically experienced when that limb had still been attached to the body but that had been
(E) identical to the pain that they would be experiencing when the missing limb was still attached to the body but when

Sometimes an answer choice will be wordy and awkward, and students will be tempted to dismiss it because they've been taught to look for clarity and conciseness. The trouble is that the other choices, though perhaps more elegant, distort the meaning of the sentence and make it illogical. The wordy and awkward choice is actually correct. This trick makes sentences like the one above especially difficult to navigate.

Got your answer? Let's see how you did.

The original sentence, though slightly awkward, is grammatically correct. The sentence compares the pain caused by phantom sensations to a previous pain caused by a limb placed in a contorted position; the pain is identical to the pain experienced when the limb was attached but contorted... At first glance, the sentence might not appear to be in parallel form, but the different elements in the comparison accurately describe what they are supposed to describe. All the other choices introduce errors.

Choice B adds the word that and the verb was in an attempt to parallel the previous that with pain. However, this makes two parallel clauses about pain, and the pain...that was contorted makes no sense.

Choice C changes the first verb to was. Since the verb experience in the non-underlined portion of the sentence is in the present tense, the verb describing the pain must be in the present tense as well. The first part of the comparison is about the pain that is currently experienced; the second part of the comparison is about a past feeling of pain.

Choice D, like B, illogically describes the pain as pain...that had been contorted and incorrectly uses the past perfect had been, which must describe an event that took place before other past tense events in the sentence. However, the pain that they typically experienced was pain that took place at the same time that the limb was attached; the limb was not attached before they experienced the second type of pain compared.

Choice E uses would be experiencing to describe the pain that people actually experienced when a limb was attached to their bodies. Would be describes a hypothetical event, one that would be taking place if some other condition allowed for this event to occur.

Choice A is correct.

Takeaway: Instead of relying on conciseness alone, always keep in mind what the sentence is about. Intelligible sentences won't always be grammatically correct, but be careful that you don't veer too far in the opposite direction and discard wordy answer choices whose meaning is clear. Trap answers will often on the surface appear to be more "grammatical" than the correct answer. In many cases, though, they sneakily alter the correct meaning by masking it with awkwardness.

Christina Yu is a Content Developer for Knewton's GMAT prep course.

Welcome to another installment of Knewton's "Business School Reading List" series: recommended reading for prospective MBAs. The books we cover are some of the essential texts for anyone interested in management and entrepreneurship - plus they provide some excellent GMAT-level reading practice!

This week's pick: Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street by Karen Ho

Why it's worth your time

With its ability to pinpoint the origins of the world's financial situation in the everyday practices and behaviors of individuals, Liquidated has been called timely and almost "literary" in its intellectual heft. It's no wonder this book has been generating buzz among academics and bankers alike.

What you'll learn

How Wall Street works. As an associate professor of anthropology and former business analyst, Ho brings an academic rigor as well as an insider's familiarity to her assessment of Wall Street's culture of expediency and liquidity. Drawing on 17 months of field work, nearly 100 interviews, and years of professional experience, Ho assesses the daily life of investment bankers and how their practices, habits and beliefs reflect and shape corporate America as a whole. More specifically, Ho dissects concepts like the "culture of smartness" and the emphasis on educational pedigree within finance that positions investment banking as a highly legitimate, if not the "only" legitimate career for Ivy league schools that send as many as 40% of their graduating seniors to Wall Street.

The secrets of "the street." The bulk of the ethnography is devoted to topics such as the spending habits of Wall Streeters, the positive view of corporate downsizing, and the sense that intelligence is most accurately defined as worldliness, trendiness, and mental agility as opposed to thoughtfulness, creativity, and social consciousness. Ho also describes everything from the lavish recruiting rituals to the anti-climatically austere working conditions to the way in which banks foster relationships with elite institutions. She describes the clear segregation between "front office" and "back office," the implications of wearing heels versus sneakers to work, and the difference between "brown-bagging" lunch versus buying food from outside. Several chapters are also devoted to the treatment of women and racial minorities within such institutions.

The emotional repercussions. Perhaps most significantly, Ho also assesses the emotional repercussions for individuals participating in a highly volatile industry in which a lack of job security translates into a lack of investment in long-term outcomes. At the book's end, Ho discusses the meaning of "shareholder value," the evolution of its importance over the last few decades, and the global consequences of promoting a culture which emphasizes short-term reward to an extreme degree.

Want to read more?

Check out Time Magazine's interview with Karen Ho.

Happy Reading!

If you're thinking about getting your MBA, here are 101 reasons to consider it. What are your reasons for going to business school?

1. You want to change careers.
2. You're gunning for a promotion.
3. You need (okay, want) a bigger paycheck.
4. You want to start your own business.
5. You want to learn from the best and the brightest.
6. You want to do good.
7. You want to find a job.
8. Your spouse will leave you if you don't find a job
9. Why work 9-5 when you can work 24/7?
10. It's your only chance at ever being called "Master" [of Business Administration].
11. Checking that "graduate degree" box will do wonders for your online dating prospects.
12. You might meet your future spouse -- and be able to delete your online dating profile.
13. Which would make your mother happy.
14. It's shorter than medical school -- and there's no risk of killing someone.
15. It's shorter than law school -- and there are fewer jokes about MBAs than lawyers.
16. It's shorter than a PhD. program -- and you don't have to wear Tevas.
17. It's a good excuse for an anemic social life.
18. It might help you find a better social life.
19. You can reframe all your problems and character flaws as "improvement opportunities."
20. You'll learn to juggle. Metaphorically speaking.
21. Grad-school chic is so in this season.
22. Sleep deprivation can be an interesting social experiment.
23. You'll learn exactly how many drinks are too many drinks at professional networking events -- the hard way.
24. You'll learn exactly how few drinks are too few drinks at professional networking events -- the boring way.
25. But seriously -- there will be a lot of chances to network.
26. You'll have lots of new things to talk about at cocktail parties...
27. ...of which you'll be invited to many -- thanks to all that networking!
28. Core curriculum: statistics, marketing, finance, financial reporting, operational management and organizational behavior, oh my!
29. You could become an astronaut.
30. Or president.
31. Or learn to fire people.
32. Or displace someone on this list.
33. Or be the next Warren Buffett.
34. Just do it.
35. You'll learn How to Win Friends and Influence People -- without having to read the book.
36. You can get another chance at being a summer intern, this time without having to make coffee for anyone.
37. Your reading list will grow right before your eyes. (Hello, case studies.)
38. You can finally avenge that sub-par SAT score by rocking the GMAT.
39. If you're too risk-averse, you'll learn to get over it. (In other words, just ask him out already.)
40. If you're not risk-averse enough, you'll get over that too.
41. Turns out there aren't a whole lot of jobs for that B.A. in Slavic Studies.
42. Figure out how to prioritize, all over again. Maybe you can party 'til 4 a.m., finish your reading, and get to class by 9 -- or maybe you can't.
43. You can use b-school as an excuse to quit your lame job.
44. You can use b-school to make your lame job less lame.
45. You want to make $100,000 right out of school.
46. You want to spend $100,000 really, really quickly (a few student loans don't scare you!).
47. You'll learn how to be resourceful and creative.
48. Going to be school is a great reason to move to a better climate.
49. Or be be near more colorful foliage.
50. Or live in a more vibrant city.
51. Or experience the foreign land of your choice!
52. B-school is like college, part II (only with more homework, bigger consequences, and worse hangovers, since you're not 21 anymore).
53. You'll learn a new language -- it's called "jargon."
54. You can use aforementioned jargon to impress and/or alienate friends, family and acquaintances.
55. You'll become a master of the delicate art of the elevator pitch.
56. You'll get another diploma to hang on the wall!
57. You can learn when the newspaper is lying to you. Thank you, Statistics 101.
58. You don't really know how to collaborate until you've worked with a team of Type A business school students.
59. "Boredom" will no longer be a part of your vocabulary.
60. You'll discover a newfound appreciation for caffeine.
61. You'll gain confidence in your abilities.
62. Think of how fancy your 20-year reunions will be. Fat cats of the world unite!
63. Think of how fancy you will be. (Fingers crossed!)
64. M.B.A. will look great on your resume.
65. Maybe the economy will have rebounded by the time you get out.
66. B-school campuses are so picturesque!
67. You'll learn how teams work best together.
68. You'll boost your leadership skills.
69. You'll become over-qualified for all those jobs you didn't want to do anyway. Goodbye, deep-fryer. Goodbye forever.
70. It will keep your mind sharp -- without having to do Sudoku.
71. You'll feel special when people use adjectives like "driven" and "goal-oriented" to describe you.
72. You can (hopefully) learn how to balance your personal and professional lives.
73. You'll ensure your girlfriend's or boyfriend's parents think of you as "marriage material."
74. Former classmates will be impressed at your high school reunion.
75. It will give your parents something to brag about.
76. Someday, you can walk around with a Bluetooth in your ear, babbling to yourself -- and no one will think you're a crazy person.
77. Lost? An MBA program might help you find your passion.
78. You'll learn a ton from your professors.
79. And a ton from your classmates.
80. And a ton about yourself.
81. You'll get an amazing challenge.
82. You'll find all kinds fun things to do while you're procrastinating during finals.
83. You'll meet people from all over the world.
84. You'll learn how to recover from failure.
85. You can help change the world.
86. You can take a two-year break from the world.
87. You'll eat plenty of free food (hello, recruiting parties).
88. And learn industry-specific best practices.
89. One (hyphenated) word: value-add.
90. You'll gain a deep appreciation for sleep.
91. You'll get better job security upon graduation.
92. You'll have an excuse to buy super-stylish business apparel.
93. "Labor is a pleasure in itself." -- Marcus Manilius
94. You'll increase your earning potential.
95. You'll learn how to leverage... everything.
96. Student discounts!
97. A little competition will make you feel alive.
98. A lot of competition will take you even further.
99. It's one more opportunity to wear that funny hat!
100. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.
101. No seriously, it'll be awesome.

So many reasons... What are yours? Let us know in the comments!

Written by Meghan Daniels.

Jonathan Bethune is a Content Developer for Knewton's GMAT prep course.

Let me begin with a disclaimer: Try not to do do this! Seriously. Prepping for the GMAT in two weeks is, to put it mildly, a less than ideal approach. You won't have time to cover every topic comprehensively, nor will you be able to master as many new concepts and test-taking strategies as you would in a month or longer.

That said, sometimes circumstances require a bit of cramming. Maybe you are planning to take the test multiple times. Maybe you need to make a deadline. Whatever the reason, if you only have two weeks to get ready, then you are going to need to be as efficient as possible.

Here is a breakdown of how to organize your time:

Day 1 - Diagnosis: Take a practice test. This will likely be your one and only assessment. If you score evenly on both sections, then you will need a more comprehensive study plan. If you ace verbal but bomb the quant, then you know to focus your attention there.

Days 2 to 4 - Prime the Pump: After you take an official practice test,  spend the next few days going through as many practice problems as possible. If you have an Official Guide, make certain you read the explanations for all of the questions you answer incorrectly. Try to focus on the specific question types that are reducing your score the most.

Be sure to pace yourself too; most people hit diminishing returns in their studies after two hours of continuous work. Keep it under four hours each night and be sure to take breaks and review material constantly.

Days 5 to 6 - Make Your Notes: By now you should have a good idea where you need to focus. The goal here is to make a couple of pages of short, simple notes and reminders about the question types that hurt you the most. If Sentence Correction is your weak point, make a few reminder pages about grammar rules and idioms. If Data Sufficiency is killing you, jot down a few strategies and critical math concepts. This exercise is also worthwhile because it will help you remember your mistakes.

Days 6 to 11 - Targeted Practice: The scope of your practice during this time will depend on your diagnostic test. You may choose to focus only on Critical Reasoning questions during this time, or you may focus on a mixture of verbal and quant question types. Whatever you set as your range, you want to focus on questions related to your notes. Complete a few dozen questions in one sitting and try to relate all of the questions you get wrong to information in your notes.

Days 12 to 13 - Comprehensive Practice: Now is the time to think about test-taking strategies and pacing. You need to know beforehand how you will deal with confusing quant questions that will eat up your time on test day. If you have the energy, you may want to take a complete practice test, minus the essay section.

Day 14 - Zero Hour: The night / day before the test is the time to review your notes. Do NOT stay up late doing practice problems. You still want to get a good night sleep and have a peaceful morning the day of the test to get your mind ready.

Jesse Sternberg is a Content Developer for Knewton's GMAT prep course.

There's nothing more frustrating than preparing thoroughly for the GMAT critical reasoning section - poring over hundreds of complex arguments, wrapping your head around triple negations, learning to spot an assumption from a mile away - only to end up losing points for something as simple as not paying attention to the question stem.

Yet the shadowy figures behind the GMAT are bent on making sure you do just that, peppering assumption, strengthen, and weaken questions with answer choices that would be correct... if you were dealing with an inference question. Let's take a look at an example:

In recent decades, the vast majority of construction companies have halted the use of asbestos for installation. During this same time period, word began to spread through various news media that long-term exposure to asbestos was causally linked to mesothelioma and other serious lung diseases. Therefore, the home building companies must have halted the use of asbestos in response to the new publicity given to its possible negative health consequences.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the explanation above?

A: On average, fewer people are having homes built using asbestos insulation than in decades past.
B: People living in homes built with asbestos insulation may continue to experience health problems after the asbestos has been removed.
C: The use of asbestos insulation in industrial buildings has remained fairly constant, while its use in residences has sharply declined.
D: Sales of alternative insulation materials such as fiberglass have increased in recent decades.
E: Many alternative insulation materials that were previously prohibitively expensive have dropped considerably in price in recent decades.

If you dive right into answer choices after reading through the argument, Choice A might be really tempting. Since "the vast majority of construction companies" have stopped using asbestos, it is logically inferable from the argument that "on average" fewer people are using it in building their homes. In fact, Choice A would probably be the correct answer if this were an inference question - but it's not!

In the Knewton course, A is a tricky answer choice that we mark with the label, "True according to the passage, but doesn't answer the question." The GMAT designers include it to tempt test-takers who might recognize the statement as logically true, but not notice that it doesn't serve the purpose of weakening the argument. They even made it choice A to catch your eye, while burying the right answer further below!

The best way to avoid a "True but not correct" trap answer is to read the question stem first. This will let you know exactly what to look for as you read, whether it's an assumption, a strengthener, a weakener, or an inference. Besides helping you avoid this particular wrong answer trap, it will also help you identify and ignore extraneous information as soon as you see it, leaving your mind less cluttered.

Now let's go back and re-read the question stem above. The phrase "calls into question" tells you that your job is to weaken the argument.

When attempting to weaken an argument, it helps to identify the assumption it relies on and think of a way to deny it. A quick read through this argument should show you that it is a causal argument; it presents evidence that two facts are correlated (asbestos is recognized as dangerous, the use of asbestos declines) and then draws the conclusion that one fact must have caused the other (x causes y).

Whenever an argument says that x causes y, it makes the assumption that y does not cause x and that some unknown z does not cause y. In this case, it is assumed that awareness of the negative health consequences of asbestos (x) caused a decline in its usage (y). It doesn't make much sense for y to cause x in this case, so you should look for an answer choice that says that some other factor (z) caused y. Choice E is correct.

So remember: Read the question stem first and know what you're looking for.  This way,  trap answers won't pop out at you as much just because they're true according to the passage.

Jonathan Bethune is a Content Developer for Knewton's GMAT prep course.

GMAT Critical Reasoning questions test your ability to use logic. In most cases this means making inferences, identifying details, and understanding arguments. Occasionally, however, you will have to apply formal logic to understand what a CR paragraph implies.

Formal, or, classical logic, has its own set of rules, and questions that make use of it will try to trip you up with wrong answer choices that contradict those rules.

Consider the example below:

Studies have shown that a large percentage of car accidents are caused by aggressive driving. To help reduce the number of accidents and to promote traffic safety in general, insurance companies have begun to issue discounts to drivers who take defensive driving courses. Research shows that people who practice defensive driving are considerably less likely to get into a car accident. Therefore, the insurance company's plan should help reduce the number of accidents.

Assuming the statements above are true, which of the following can be inferred from them?

A. The majority of accidents are caused by drivers who possess insurance.
B. People who manage to consistently avoid car accidents are likely practicing defensive driving.
C. Young males and other demographics known for disproportionately being involved in car accidents are less likely to practice defensive driving than other demographics.
D. An individual who does not practice defensive driving is always more likely to get into a car accident than an individual who does practice defensive driving.
E. Discounts are the most effective way for insurance companies to promote defensive driving.

Which of the answer choices logically follows from the paragraph above? To answer this, we need to know some basic rules about classical logic. What we have in this question is a conditional, also known as an "if... then" statement. It can be written as follows: "If people practice defensive driving, then they will have a lower chance of being in an accident." In classical logic, conditional statements follow certain rules if we negate or change the order of their clauses.

Consider a simpler conditional: If it is cold, I will wear a sweater.

The inverse of this statement is the negation of both clauses: If it is not cold, I will not wear a sweater.

The converse reverses the order of the clauses: If I wear a sweater, it is cold.

The contrapositive both negates and reverses: If I will not wear a sweater, it is not cold.

Under the rules of classical logic, if a statement is true, its contrapositive must also be true. The statement's negation and converse, however, are NOT necessarily true. For the sweater example, this means the following:

Statement: If it is cold, I will wear a sweater. TRUE

Inverse: If it is not cold, I will not wear a sweater. TRUE OR FALSE -  I may wear a sweater even if it is not cold.

Converse: If I will wear a sweater, it is cold. TRUE OR FALSE. I may wear a sweater even if it is warm.

Contrapositive: If I will not wear a sweater, it is not cold. TRUE. If it were cold, I would wear a sweater. Since I won't wear a sweater, it must not be cold.

In real English conversation these rules are not quite so absolute. However, on the GMAT, you can avoid trap answer choices on Critical Reasoning questions by knowing these rules. Remember the basic conditional here: "If people practice defensive driving, then they will have a lower chance of being in an accident."  Now take another look at the answer choices.

Choices A and E can be eliminated first because neither follow from the stimulus; both are just assumptions that may or may not be true.

Choice B is the converse of the original statement. While it may be tempting as an answer choice - since it at least seems plausible - the rules of formal logic show that it cannot be inferred.

Choice D also sounds plausible, but it cannot be inferred since it is the inverse of the conditional statement in the argument and is too extreme as it is written. It is possible for a person who does not practice defensive driving to have the same probability of getting into an accident as someone who DOES practice defensive driving.

Choice C is the contrapositive of the original statement. If defensive driving leads to fewer accidents, people who get into more accidents are less likely to be defensive drivers than people who rarely get into accidents. Using our knowledge of formal logic, we can conclude that choice C is correct.

While formal logic is not the most common type of Critical Reasoning question, it is still useful to know if you find yourself stuck on an inference question. Try to keep it in mind on test day.