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📊 Data Insights

Multi-Source Reasoning

Map two or three tabbed sources, answer from the combination, and read the seams where sources disagree.

~4h
to master

Read like an auditor across tabs

Multi-Source Reasoning (MSR) gives you two or three tabs — a passage, a table, a chart, an email — and three questions that draw on them, shown one at a time. The information is split deliberately: the answer usually lives in the combination of sources, or in the seam where they don't quite agree.

The response shapes

  • Multiple choice — five options, pick one.
  • Conditional ("yes/no") rows — a condition, then three rows you each mark yes/no or true/false. ⚠️ All three rows must be correct to earn the question — there's no partial credit.

The method

📐Core Rule

First pass = map, don't memorize. Spend ~30–45 seconds learning what each tab contains and in what units — "Tab 1: policy rules; Tab 2: monthly sales table; Tab 3: an email with one extra constraint." You'll return to the tabs for specifics; you only need to know where each fact lives.

Then, for every question:

  1. Decide which source(s) it needs. Answering from the wrong tab — or from your own knowledge of the topic — is the designed failure mode.
  2. Watch the seams. Expect a number in one tab and a percentage in another that almost reconcile, or a definition in the text that changes how a table column must be read. Questions are built on those frictions.
  3. For yes/no rows, judge each row independently against the stated condition, then re-check all three before committing.
💡Exam Tip

The reading is an investment. Three questions share one set of tabs — so a careful first map pays off three times. Don't skim it to "save time"; rushing the map taxes every question.

⚠️GMAT Trap

Conflicting sources are the point, not a printing error. When two tabs disagree, that contradiction is usually the answer to a "which statement is best supported / which sources conflict" question — don't silently pick one and move on.

✏️Worked Example

A typical seam. Tab 1 (memo): "Bonuses go to reps who beat their quota by at least 10%." Tab 2 (table): each rep's quota and actual sales. A row asks: Rep R earned a bonus. You must combine the rule (Tab 1) with R's numbers (Tab 2) — neither tab answers it alone. That cross-source step is exactly what MSR tests.

⚠️GMAT Trap

You can't return to a previous screen. Because MSR shows questions in sequence, once you click past a screen it's locked. Resolve each screen fully before advancing.

Checklist

  • Map each tab's content and units before answering
  • For each question, identify the source(s) it requires
  • Combine across tabs; suspect the seams where sources meet
  • Answer from the tabs only — never outside knowledge
  • yes/no rows: all three must be right, so verify each

Sample Questions

24 practice questions

Context

**Source 1 — Email from the Operations Manager**

Team, please apply these shipping rules to every outbound order:

- Any order weighing **more than 50 kg** must ship via **FastShip**.

- Any order weighing **50 kg or less** whose destination is **Zone B** ships via **ValuePost**.

- Every other order ships via **Standard Freight**.

- An order flagged **fragile** incurs a flat **$15** handling surcharge in addition to the carrier charge, no matter which carrier is used.

**Source 2 — Carrier Rate Card**

CarrierBase chargePer-kg charge
FastShip$20$0.80
ValuePost$8$0.50
Standard Freight$12$0.60

Carrier charge == base charge ++ (per-kg charge ×\times weight in kg).

**Source 3 — Today's Outbound Orders**

OrderWeight (kg)DestinationFragile?
W-10160Zone ANo
W-10240Zone BYes
W-10345Zone ANo
W-10480Zone BNo
W-10530Zone BNo
Medium

What is the total shipping charge (carrier charge plus any surcharge) for order W-102?

Context

**Source 1 — Email from the Operations Manager**

Team, please apply these shipping rules to every outbound order:

- Any order weighing **more than 50 kg** must ship via **FastShip**.

- Any order weighing **50 kg or less** whose destination is **Zone B** ships via **ValuePost**.

- Every other order ships via **Standard Freight**.

- An order flagged **fragile** incurs a flat **$15** handling surcharge in addition to the carrier charge, no matter which carrier is used.

**Source 2 — Carrier Rate Card**

CarrierBase chargePer-kg charge
FastShip$20$0.80
ValuePost$8$0.50
Standard Freight$12$0.60

Carrier charge == base charge ++ (per-kg charge ×\times weight in kg).

**Source 3 — Today's Outbound Orders**

OrderWeight (kg)DestinationFragile?
W-10160Zone ANo
W-10240Zone BYes
W-10345Zone ANo
W-10480Zone BNo
W-10530Zone BNo
Medium

Which order will incur the highest total shipping charge (carrier charge plus any surcharge)?

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