Study Material · GMAT

One scenario, two linked choices

Two-Part Analysis (TPA) gives a passage and a three-column response table: the first two columns are your two answers (one click each), chosen from the shared list in the third column. You mark one per column, and both must be correct for credit. The content is intentionally varied — quantitative, verbal, or a blend — so the format, not the topic, is the constant.

The first move: dependent or independent?

📐Core Rule

Settle how the two blanks relate before solving. Some TPA questions pose two independent tasks (e.g. "select the maximum" and "select the minimum"); others pose two parts of one relationship (e.g. values of $x$ and $y$ that satisfy a system). Independent → solve each column separately. Dependent → solve the joint constraint once.

Let the prompt, not the two column tags, tell you the task — the header words are usually too terse to be the real instructions.
Determine each column's job, and whether they interact.
Read all the answer options before selecting either column.

💡Exam Tip

One option may legitimately answer both columns. It is easy to discard a correct pair just because the two picks come out identical — yet nothing rules that out. If a single value genuinely satisfies both columns, use it in both.

✏️Worked Example

A dependent pair. Passage: a company's revenue is $R = 50q - q^2$ for quantity $q$ . Column 1: the $q$ that maximizes revenue; Column 2: that maximum revenue. These are dependent — find $q = 25$ (vertex of the parabola) first, then $R = 50(25) - 25^2 = 625$ . Solving the columns in the wrong order, or independently, wastes the structure.

⚠️GMAT Trap

Lean on the passage, nothing else. As with all DI, outside familiarity with the topic is a liability — every needed fact is given. Answer from the passage's data alone.

💡Exam Tip

The practice questions below use the real two-column widget — one selection in each column, and credit only when both are right, exactly as the exam marks it. Nothing is scored for getting one column right.

Checklist

Read the instructions, not just the column headers
Decide: independent tasks or one dependent relationship?
Solve accordingly; don't assume the columns are separate
Remember the same value may answer both columns
Answer from the passage only; both columns must be right

Sample Questions

78 practice questions

Medium

Transport analyst: To reduce the long-term accident rate on our regional roads, the government should subsidise the hiring of more driving examiners. More examiners would allow shorter waits for tests. Statistically, learners who take their test soon after finishing lessons tend to pass at the first attempt more often than learners who wait months. And on average a driver who passed at the first attempt tends to have fewer accidents in the following five years than one who passed after several attempts. So hiring more examiners across the region should lower the accident rate across the region.

Consider the incomplete statement: According to the analyst's argument, drivers' ___1___ is bolstered by their ___2___.

Select for 1 and 2 the options that complete the statement in the way that most accurately reflects the passage. Make only two selections, one in each column.

safety on the road in the years after passing

receiving better driving instruction overall

being examined by a larger number of examiners

waiting several months between lessons and the test

tendency to pass the driving test at the first attempt

Medium

Events A, B, and C have these probabilities of occurring: A: 10%; B: 40%; C: 90%.

On the basis of these probabilities alone, select for Both A and B a description that must be true of the probability that both A and B occur, and select for B or C or both a description that must be true of the probability that B or C or both occur. Make only two selections, one in each column.

Both A and B

B or C or both

Must be equal to 4%

Must be equal to 40%

Must be equal to 94%

Must be less than or equal to 10%

Must be greater than or equal to 90%

Create a free account to access all 78 practice questions on this topic.