GMAT Integrated Reasoning Practice Test 01

A certain start-up company that makes specialized computer games with historical themes is to hold a meeting of the five partners. Prior to the meeting, three of the partners have circulated memos about Xanthia.

Memo 1
Memo 2
Memo 3

From the finance expert

The amount of money we have spent on developing Xanthia has been much more than we have spent on any other of our games. The returns, as yet, have not been sufficient even to cover our costs. I propose a limit of $150,000 for next year�s marketing budget for Xanthia. If sales do not rise by the end of the year to a level that would, if continued, lead to at least a modest profit on our investment by the end of two or three years, I suggest that we cut our losses and divert our attention to other games.

From the marketing expert

As yet our exciting new game, Xanthia has not gained attention in the media. I would like to see a sizable budget increase this coming year to something in the order of $300,000 for advertising. I feel that once we reach a certain level of media exposure, further expense will be minimal as knowledge of the product will spread by word of mouth and the social media. Without this initial push, the game might languish and our company might never recover the development costs, which have been much higher than the average for our other games.

From the company founder

Xanthia adds a new dimension to our offerings. It is true that development costs have been high, but we should add the costs to the low costs of our other games and not, at least for the next two years, look at any game as a free-standing product. It is more important for us to grow our position in the market. To do this we have to launch more games this year. We should market Xanthia along with all the games we offer and as such we have to participate in specialist fairs and competitions, rather than advertising any one product in the press or on TV.

A certain organization has explicit rules for promotions and appointments. There are five salary grades: A, B, C, D and E with A being the highest. Three extracts from the rules are given.

Extract 1
Extract 2
Extract 3

Promotion from Grade D to Grade C

Promotion is automatic if the employee has spent five years at Grade D and there are no adverse reports about him or her and his or her age is above 35
Promotion cannot be allowed if less than two years have been spent at Grade D
The age restriction can be relaxed if two or three members of the promotion committee recommend the person strongly
New entrants to the organization cannot be taken in at Grade C

Promotion from Grade C to Grade B

Promotion from C to B can only be considered if more than three years have been spent at Grade C
The employee must have two or three strong recommendations from senior persons at salary level A
Age must be above 35
New entrants are not normally taken at this level, but exceptions can be made if there is no internal candidate for promotion

Promotion from Grade B to Grade A

The candidate must be above 38
Must have three strong recommendations from persons who have been at grade A for more than two years
The candidate will normally have been at Grade B for at least two years
New entrants at this level can be considered depending on the requirements of the organization

3. Using all the information provided, answer the two questions with either yes or no.

4. For any employee joining the organization at age 24 at Grade D, what is the minimum number of years before he or she can reach Grade A. (Assume that the employee is in continuous employment, i.e. does not leave and rejoin at a later date)

Yes	No
		Only the company founder would be interested in launching new games in the next year
		All three partners believe that the development costs for Xanthia have been above the average for the company's games
		Less than $150,000 has been spent on marketing Xanthia in the current year

Yes	No
		The attitudes of the finance and marketing experts to development costs are more similar to each other than to the views of the company founder
		It is probable that one of the main points on the agenda for the meeting is marketing strategies

Yes	No
		Sally joined the company at Grade D when she was 28. Three years later she has applied for promotion to Grade C. Is it possible that she will be promoted?
		Norman has never worked with the company. He is 35 years old. Can we conclude that the only possible level at which he can enter the organization is at Grade B?

GMAT Integrated Reasoning Practice Test 01

Test information