Official Sample GMAT Data Insights Questions

The Miocene epoch spans closest to 25% of the era of which it is a part.

According to the diagram, the beginning of the Cambrian period marks the onset of a new eon, era, and period in geological history.

The data provided presents an unusual format, but it doesn’t demand specialized knowledge in geology to analyze. The key instructions were to understand the magnification of data in the rightmost columns and to interpret the timeframe represented by the given data, which is in millions of years ago. Because the values decrease as we move up in the table, they indicate more recent time periods.

For the initial task, identifying the percentage span of the Miocene epoch, we can exclude extreme options (3% and 85%) due to the evident discrepancy in the data. By process of elimination, 25% is the closest approximation based on the dispersed options and the data’s visual assessment.

The subsequent task involves recognizing the onset of a new eon, era, and period. The transition where a new eon, era, and period begin is observed at the start of the Cambrian period, considering the chronological arrangement of the data.

Despite the technical appearance, this analysis didn’t necessitate complex calculations. It emphasized precision in interpreting the data accurately. Similarly, upcoming questions may seem daunting but will likely rely on pattern recognition and straightforward, logical thinking.

Yes	No	No individual country produces more than one-fourth of the world’s sugar.
Yes	No	There are countries that export a greater percent of their coffee crops than does Brazil.
Yes	No	Of the commodities in the table for which Brazil ranks first in world exports, Brazil produces more than 20% of the world’s supply.
Yes	No	If Brazil produces more than 20% of the world’s supply of a commodity, it must be the world’s top exporter of that commodity.

The task involves determining true statements based on table data. The goal is to discern absolute truths from potential falsehoods. Similar to critical reasoning exercises, we aim to distinguish what must be true from what could be false.

1. The statement “No individual country produces more than one fourth of the world’s sugar” is evaluated based on Brazil’s agricultural production in 2009. Brazil is identified as the top producer of sugar, contributing 21% to the global production. As a result, if Brazil, ranking first, contributes less than one-fourth, it signifies that no other country could exceed this percentage. Thus, the statement is confirmed as true.
2. The claim about countries exporting a greater percentage of their coffee crops than Brazil demands careful interpretation. The data doesn’t specify the percentage of coffee crops exported by individual countries, only their export rankings. Therefore, a country might have a high export rank but export a smaller percentage of its total coffee production. As such, without explicit percentages regarding crop exports, determining whether other countries surpass Brazil’s percentage becomes inconclusive.
3. Identifying commodities where Brazil ranks first in world exports requires assessing the production world rank. For each commodity where Brazil ranks first, evaluating whether Brazil contributes more than 20% to the world’s supply is necessary. The data reveals that for these commodities, Brazil’s contribution varies, indicating that Brazil doesn’t produce more than 20% of the world’s supply for all the items where it ranks first in exports.
4. The final task probes whether a commodity comprising over 20% of Brazil’s supply is also the top commodity exported globally. By sorting the world supply percentages and correlating these with export ranks, it’s evident that not all commodities where Brazil exceeds 20% of the world’s supply are the top exported commodities. This contradicts the claim, indicating that high production in Brazil doesn’t necessarily equate to being the top global exporter.