Verbal Practice Section 1: Easy Difficulty
20 Questions
Time: 30 Minutes
For questions 1–6, select one entry for each blank from the corresponding column of choices. Fill in the blank in the way that best completes the text.
1.A dry-farmed tomato raised in low-nitrogen soil will often have the nutrient value of a much larger conventionally grown tomato, and its flavor may be similarly _________ .
| delicious | |
| healthful | |
| scanty | |
| concentrated | |
| shrunken |
2.Most viewers of today’s reality television underestimate the degree of _________ with which the seemingly artless narrative of each episode is assembled: oftentimes, actors interviewed on camera are asked to repeat their story half a dozen times before producers are satisfied.
| dramaturgy | |
| opportunism | |
| fallacy | |
| contrivance | |
| histrionics |
3.Many (i) _________ have commentated that football reflects an industrial perspective because the game time is inflexibly determined by the clock, whereas baseball stems from an agrarian one, in which, the passage of time is more (ii) _________ and determined by events.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | |
| pundits | amorphous | |
| amateurs | pacific | |
| dilettantes | asymmetrical |
4.Ernest Hemingway, the novelist and proponent of traditional masculine virtues that were already considered (i) _________ by his more progressive peers, eventually lost currency with the general public; although his earlier literary works remained popular, his continuing adherence to that code drove him to disdain society, which, in turn, (ii) _________ him.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | |
| effeminate | shunned | |
| anachronistic | eulogized | |
| sardonic | murdered |
5.While a (i) _________ , the smallest amount that can exist independently, of water could be said to be a single molecule, a (ii) _________ of dust could be made up of pollen, hair, human skin cells, minerals from soil, or even burnt meteor particles. Thus, one definition of dust is “solid particles with a diameter of less than 500 micrometers”—a (iii) _________ definition that is based only on size and state of matter rather than on structure.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | Blank (iii) |
| plethora | trove | precise |
| parameter | covey | loose |
| quantum | mote | deleterious |
6.From the battle’s opening (i) _________ to its (ii) _________ conclusion, the forces of destruction razed a path through the city, ultimately leaving behind a (iii) _________ stillness where there once had been streets and squares bustling with life.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | Blank (iii) |
| finale | sanguinary | blissful |
| salvo | celebrated | routine |
| error | blithe | disquieting |
For each of questions 7–10, select one answer choice unless otherwise instructed.
It is no revelation that people prefer immediate rewards. What is less well known is that
people are willing to renounce a significant portion of a given reward in order to expedite
delivery. This phenomenon is known as “discounting,” because the value of a delayed
reward is discounted, or reduced, in the mind of the receiver. Discounting helps explain the
5 straightforward “time value of money” (a dollar now is worth more than a dollar later), but its
manifestations can be far more dramatic.
Behavioral economists have identified extreme discounting in experiments in which
subjects were offered either a dollar immediately or three dollars the next day. Individuals
who consistently choose significantly smaller rewards for their immediacy are described as
10 “present-biased.” Present-bias may seem innocuous, but it has serious ramifications. In another
experiment, young children were given a marshmallow, then told that if they could wait a few
minutes to eat it, they would receive a second one. Those unable to endure the delay suffered
from more behavioral problems in adolescence and scored markedly lower on standardized
tests than the children who were able to wait and thereby earn another treat. Traits such
15 as indolence and apathy may indeed be manifestations of present-bias; material success is
predicated on one’s ability to recognize hedonistic impulses, understand their consequences,
and delay or suppress gratification.
What was once known as “exponential discounting” (because the length of the delay
before a reward was given seemed to correlate directly with the size of the perceived discount)
20 has been renamed “hyperbolic discounting,” because the effects of time delay do not seem
strictly linear. A study showed that people offered $50 now or $100 in a year were likely to
choose the former. But when people were offered either $50 in 5 years or $100 in 6 years (the
same choice 5 years in the future), the vast majority chose the latter. This experiment reveals
the difficulty of making effective financial decisions about one’s future priorities, just as the
25 choice to procrastinate requires the unlikely supposition that one’s future self will have a
greater set of resources to accomplish the postponed task than one’s present self.
7.The function of the second paragraph within the passage may be most appropriately characterized as
(A)analyzing the psychological sources of the phenomenon introduced in the first paragraph
(B)elaborating upon and qualifying the main proposition put forth in the first paragraph
(C)providing an alternative point of view on the positions already established by the author
(D)illustrating one aspect of the phenomenon named in the first paragraph and offering possible social implications
(E)drawing general conclusions about specific examples presented earlier
8.The passage suggests which of the following about the traits of indolence and apathy?
(A)They are predicated on one’s material success.
(B)They may be regarded as the effects of a tendency toward extreme discounting.
(C)They may be manifested in present-bias.
(D)They may seem innocuous, but they have serious ramifications.
(E)They are the cause of one’s ability to identify and suppress hedonistic impulses.
9.It can be inferred that the word hyperbolic in the phrase “hyperbolic discounting” signifies, in this context,
(A)the nonlinearity of decision making based on various delays
(B)the exaggeration of the effects of time delay
(C)the direct correlation between a delay’s duration and a perceived discount’s magnitude
(D)the exponential growth of the size of the discounting
(E)the lack of certainty in one’s perception of longer and shorter delays
10. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the children described in the passage who were able to wait to eat their first marshmallow?
(A)They scored lower on standardized tests than children unable to wait.
(B)They suffered more frequently from behavior problems as adolescents.
(C)They each received a second marshmallow as part of the experiment.
(D)They could be characterized as indolent or apathetic.
(E)They can accurately be described as present-biased.
Question 11 is based on the following reading passage.
The female arkbird will lay eggs only when a suitable quantity of nesting material is available, and the climate is suitably moderate. This winter is the coldest on record, but somewhat counterintuitively, the temperature change has actually increased the amount of nesting material as trees and plants die, shedding twigs and leaves. However, although nesting material is abundant, ________________________ .
11. Which of the following options for the blank above is best supported by the passage?
(A)the female arkbird will likely migrate to avoid the cold
(B)arkbird mortality rates increase as the weather becomes less moderate
(C)female arkbirds prefer the type of nesting material produced in warmer weather
(D)an abundance of nesting material provides increased protection for arkbird eggs
(E)the female arkbird will not lay eggs this winter
For questions 12–15, select the two answer choices that, when used to complete the sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning.
12. Floodwaters had already breached the library’s walls, but hopeful volunteers in hip boots worked tirelessly to _________ the damage.
13. Eleanor of Aquitaine, who married Henry II of England, was dead and forgotten for hundreds of years, until Katherine Hepburn _________ her in “The Lion in Winter,” injecting her own vitality into the depiction of that queen.
14. However beneficent the intentions, if the civilian death toll continues to climb, ongoing contact with the local populace may well prove _________ to the aim of normalizing relations.
15. Despite numerous attacks on the witness’s character, his testimony is supported by evidence and appears to be ____________ .
Question 16 is based on the following reading passage.
The chemicals division at Company M spent 4% of its 2008 budget on marketing. The consumer products division spent 35% of its 2008 budget on marketing, while the machinery division spent only 2% of its 2008 budget on marketing.
16. Which of the following conclusions is best justified by the data above?
(A)The consumer products division spent more on marketing in 2008 than the chemicals and machinery divisions combined.
(B)Consumers are more swayed by marketing than are the mostly corporate buyers of chemicals and machinery.
(C)On average, all three divisions combined spent less than 35% of their 2008 budgets on marketing.
(D)The company’s overall spending on marketing is between 4% and 35%.
(E)The chemicals division spent 100% more on marketing in 2008 than did the machinery division.
Questions 17–19 are based on the following reading passage.
Maps are essential décor for any social studies class, and though they are helpful tools in
beginning to understand geography, maps are merely 2-D representations of a 3-D world and
will always carry certain inherent inaccuracies. Because of their flatness and size restrictions,
maps require manipulation, rendering them incapable of showing the actual shape of the
5 Earth and the continents, nations, and other features upon it. Though these might seem like
necessary concessions, the implications of such manipulations move beyond the blackboard
and can have damaging effects; forcing students to see the world in 2-D each day has the
attendant effect of teaching them to understand the world in two-dimensional terms.
Furthermore, maps present borders as fixed, unchanging entities, which is a misleading
10 implication to present in a history course. Borders have been changing throughout the history
of civilization, and the United States is a perfect example of a country with borders that have
blurred and bled into one another for decades as states continued to form and join as recently
as the 20th century.
17. The author’s main idea is that
(A)maps are a necessary evil
(B)maps present borders as static
(C)3-D representation of the world is impossible
(D)outdated information makes education less effective
(E)graphic representation can encourage cognitive misconceptions
18. Which of the following, if true, would most undermine part of the author’s evidence?
(A)Some students exposed to maps grasp 3-D and dynamic concepts about the world.
(B)Most teachers rely very little on the maps displayed in their classrooms.
(C)Computer-generated map displays increasingly in use in classrooms show changes in boundaries almost instantaneously.
(D)Maps from hundreds of years ago contain errors.
(E)2-D maps do not indicate topographical features effectively.
19. The author does which of the following in the passage?
(A)Employs circular logic.
(B)Cites a historical case.
(C)Uses physical description to support an accusation.
(D)Discusses a hierarchy of problems with maps.
(E)Rebuts a commonly held view.
Question 20 is based on the following reading passage.
In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming, working at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, observed that a bluish-green mold had contaminated a culture of Staphylococcus, and that the areas of the Staphylococcus bacteria nearest to the mold were being destroyed. Upon testing a pure culture of this mold, Fleming discovered that the mold killed many types of bacteria. He named the substance penicillin and published his results in 1929.
It was not, however, until over a decade later that a team of researchers from Oxford, aided by an American laboratory, were able to increase the growth rate of penicillin—by then recognized to be the strongest antibacterial agent known at that time—such that enough of it could be produced to treat Allied soldiers wounded on D-Day, in 1944.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
20. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
Answers to Verbal Practice Section 1
1. Concentrated. “Similarly” indicates that the relatively small “dry-farmed tomato” has all the flavor of a “conventionally grown” large tomato, just as it has all the nutrients. The blank requires a word that means something like condensed. Only “concentrated” works. “Shrunken” and even “scanty” might be attractive, but neither captures the idea that the tomato has a great deal packed into a small package. And while a dry-farmed tomato might be both “delicious” and “healthful,” again, neither of these create a sentence that fits with the clue offered in the first part of the sentence.
2. Contrivance. This blank takes its clue from the phrase “seemingly artless.” As is often the case in GRE questions, the word “seemingly” should set you up to be thinking of an opposite to “artless,” which means genuine, not artificial. In this case, then, you want a word that denotes something deliberately constructed or fabricated: something “contrived.” The other options denote opinions that might be assigned to reality television, but “dramaturgy” (the practice of dramatic composition), “opportunism” (exploitation), “fallacy” (misconception), and “histrionics” (theatrics) are not antonyms of artless and are therefore incorrect.
3. Pundits, amorphous. The clue for the first blank is “commentated.” Neither “amateurs” nor “dilettantes” (a synonym of amateurs) are likely to make this kind of knowledgeable comment. The correct choice for the first blank is “pundits,” or experts in a particular field. The pivot word whereas means that the second blank opposes “inflexibly determined.” “Amorphous” fits this meaning. Nothing in the sentence suggests that the passage of time is “pacific” (peaceful) or “asymmetrical.”
4. Anachronistic, shunned. The first blank must reflect the opinion of “progressive peers” regarding that which is “traditional” (“progressive” indicates wanting to move forward—away from traditions). The correct answer, “anachronistic,” refers to something that is in the wrong period or era and often connotes something old-fashioned or behind the times. The incorrect answers, “effeminate” (feminine) and “sardonic” (mocking), do not contrast with “progressive.” The second blank must match “disdain” because of the expression “in turn”; “shunned” is a good match. “Murdered” is too strong for the second blank while adhering to a behavior would not “eulogize” someone.
5. Quantum, mote, loose. A “quantum” is “the smallest amount that can exist independently” and is a perfect fit for blank (i). “Plethora” means a large amount of something, which is the opposite of what the clue suggests, and “parameter” is a boundary. For blank (ii), a “mote” is a speck or small amount; the word is specifically associated with dust. “Trove” means a collection of valuable things and “covey” means a small group of things. In blank (iii), since the definition is “based only on size and state of matter rather than on structure,” it is “loose,” rather than strict or “precise.” Nowhere in the sentence is it suggested that this definition is “deleterious,” meaning causing harm.
6. Salvo, sanguinary, disquieting. A “salvo” is a simultaneous release of bombs and is often used metaphorically to mean the start of some kind of fight; this is a better fit to describe the opening battle than either “finale” or “blissful.” Every clue in the sentence is negative, so you want to describe the battle’s conclusion in a negative way—only “sanguinary” (involving much bloodshed) matches. The other options, “celebrated” and “blithe” (untroubled happiness), are the opposite direction. Finally, a “stillness where there once had been streets and squares bustling with life” is neither “blissful” nor “routine,” but very much disturbing, or “disquieting.”
7. (D). The first paragraph introduces the phenomenon of “discounting”: the reduction in the perceived value of a delayed reward. Discounting can account for “straightforward” effects such as the time value of money, but “more dramatic” manifestations are also hinted at. Some of these dramatic manifestations of “extreme discounting” are described in the second paragraph. That paragraph introduces “present-bias” by describing two experiments (one in which $1 now is preferred to $3 tomorrow, and another in which children struggle to resist marshmallows). The consequences of the marshmallow experiment are stated and ruminated upon in a larger social context (how present-bias may prevent material success). Thus, the second paragraph elaborates upon a particular, extreme version of the phenomenon introduced in the first paragraph and draws out a few larger implications.
Regarding choice (A), the second paragraph does not explain where discounting comes from psychologically. Regarding choice (B), the first paragraph does not really introduce a “proposition” per se, which would be a claim of some sort. Rather, the first paragraph simply defines a phenomenon. Additionally, the second paragraph does not “qualify” (limit) the first paragraph in any way. As for choice (C), the author has staked out no position in the first paragraph; he or she has only described a phenomenon. The second paragraph does not take an alternative point of view, either. As for choice (E), there are no true “specific examples” introduced in the first paragraph for the second paragraph to draw conclusions from.
8. (B). According to the passage, “traits such as indolence and apathy may indeed be manifestations of present-bias,” so the correct answer choice will say more or less the same thing. Choice (A) mixes up words from the text (“predicated,” “material success”), but does not match the meaning of the passage. The passage says that material success is predicated on the “ability to recognize hedonistic impulses,” not that indolence and apathy are predicated on material success. Choice (B) is correct but is in disguise. The passage describes “manifestations of present-bias,” but this answer choice talks about “the effects of a tendency toward extreme discounting.” However, the beginning of the second paragraph defines “present-bias” in terms of “extreme discounting.” That is, present-bias is really nothing more than a tendency toward extreme discounting. This disguise makes choice (B) tricky. Regarding choice (C), be careful with language! Saying that these traits “are manifested in present-bias” means exactly the reverse of “are manifestations of present-bias.” In the former, the traits are somehow hidden, but they show up in or through something on the surface called present-bias. The passage, on the other hand, describes present-bias as the trait hidden inside of indolence and apathy. Choice (D), like choice (A), mixes up words from the text. Present-bias—not indolence and apathy—is what “may seem innocuous,” but has “serious ramifications.” Choice (E) also grabs language from the text but uses it in a mixed-up way. The language “traits such as indolence and apathy” shows up in the same sentence as the “ability to recognize hedonistic impulses … and delay or suppress gratification,” but those two phrases are not connected in an “X causes Y” way.
9. (A). This Inference question asks what can be deduced about a particular word, “hyperbolic,” as used in the phrase “hyperbolic discounting.” Do not try to figure out the word’s meaning in your head; wrong answer choices have been devised to play off of your possible knowledge of the word “hyperbolic.” Rather, go to the text. The author says that “‘exponential discounting’ … has been renamed ‘hyperbolic discounting,’ because the effects of time delay do not seem strictly linear.” The meaning of “hyperbolic” must have to do with this idea, that “the effects of time delay do not seem strictly linear.” Only choice (A) works. Be careful of choice (B)—the use of the word hyperbole in everyday speech to mean exaggeration makes this a trap answer.
10. (C). Specific detail questions ask for something absolutely true according to the passage. This question asks specifically about the children who were able to wait. Choice (C) is correct; the second paragraph states that “if [the children] could wait a few minutes to eat [the first marshmallow], they would receive a second one.” Incorrect choices (A), (B), (D), and (E) describe the children who didn’t wait.
11. (E). When the question stem asks for the option “best supported by the passage,” it is asking for a conclusion that is the logical synthesis of the premises in the argument. The argument gives two requirements for egg laying: there must be nesting material and the climate must be moderate. While “moderate” hasn’t been specifically defined, it’s safe to say that “the coldest winter on record” is the opposite of “moderate.” Therefore, the bird will not lay eggs. The fact that the nesting material requirement has been filled—even above and beyond what is required—doesn’t fix the problem. Choices (A), (B), (C), and (D) offer statements for which the passage does not offer enough information to evaluate.
12. Ameliorate, mitigate. Floodwaters had already entered the library, but the “hopeful” volunteers are working anyway—they hope to limit the damage. “Ameliorate” and “mitigate” both have the sense of making something better without completely solving it. Note that “exacerbate” means the opposite (to make worse), and “recant” and “forfeit” are negative words that don’t fit the sentence (you could “recant” your former statements and “forfeit” an athletic competition, for instance). Finally, “recount” means to narrate and nothing in the sentence suggests that the volunteers were discussing the damage to the library.
13. Resurrected, immortalized. The answers must oppose “dead and forgotten.” Both “resurrected” and “immortalized” fit. While “glamorized” might be tempting, it does not fit the clues from the sentence (“vitality” is not the same as “glamorous”). “Mocked” and “parodied” form an incorrect pair—the sentence gives no indication that Eleanor is being made fun of. Finally, “mummified” is another trap based on the theme that Eleanor of Aquitaine had been dead for years, but this word does not have a pair nor does it fit the clues given in the sentence. Note that “resurrected” and “immortalized” are not synonyms, but both certainly oppose the clue “dead and forgotten.”
14. Unpropitious, inimical. Though there are good (“beneficent”) motives, lots of people are dying. If this continues, then this “ongong contact” may end up harming the stated goal of “normalizing relations.” “Unpropitious” and “inimical” both mean adverse or harmful. “Incongruous” means not incompatible or inconsistent. While this could be a match for the blank, meaning-wise—since contact with the locals may be incompatible with the aim of normalizing relations—it lacks a match among the answer choices. “Honorable” doesn’t fit the desired meaning. And while “bedazzling” and “captivating” do form a pair, they provide a meaning that is not in line with what the sentence suggests.
15. Credible, sound. The testimony “is supported by evidence,” so it must be believable. The correct answers are “credible” and “sound,” which both mean believable. “Vociferous” (vehement and insistent) and “antagonistic” (feeling hostile towards) are a pair but do not mean believable. “Fallacious” means false, the opposite of what the blank requires. “Assiduous” describes something that is marked by careful attention or consistently applied effort and does not fit this sentence.
16. (C). Regarding choice (A), the consumer products division spent a higher “percentage” on marketing, but that doesn’t mean it spent more actual dollars (maybe the consumer products division is much smaller than chemicals and machinery). Choice (B) should trip a red alert! The passage offers absolutely no information about consumer behavior. Choice (C) is correct—on average, all three divisions spent less than 35% of their budgets on marketing. 35% of any number, averaged in with less than 35% of some other numbers, will certainly generate an average under 35%. Note that on Logic Reading Comprehension questions, correct conclusions are often fairly obvious or are near paraphrases of information you’ve already read in the passage. Regarding choice (D), the passage does not indicate whether the company has other divisions besides chemicals, machinery, and consumer products, so this conclusion cannot be drawn. Choice (E) is wrong because while the chemicals division may have spent a higher percentage, this reveals nothing about the actual number of dollars spent or the relative sizes of the two departments’ marketing budgets.
17. (E). The author’s thrust is that 2-D representation warps students’ perception; it pushes them to think of the world as flat and static rather than as 3-D and dynamic. The author does not say maps are necessary or evil, so choice (A) is too extreme. Choice (B) is a true detail from the passage but is more narrow than the author’s overall point. Choice (C) might be implied but the purpose of the passage is to discuss the effect of such tools. Similarly, choice (D) might be inferred from the second paragraph but ignores the main issue of the essay.
18. (C). The second paragraph critiques the static quality of maps. Choice (C) eliminates that problem. As for choice (A), “some” means at least one, not a majority—the example of what may just be a few exceptional students does not do much damage to the evidence or the point that, in general, maps cause students to think about the world in 2-D. The author’s evidence involves the presence of maps in the classroom, so the amount of use is irrelevant; eliminate choice (B). Choice (D) is also irrelevant, as the passage premises involve modern maps. Choice (E) is backwards; it strengthens the evidence that maps impede 3-D comprehension.
19. (B). In the second paragraph, the author uses the example of the 20th-century United States to buttress his or her argument. Choices (A) and (E) are incorrect; the passage contains neither circular logic nor a rebuttal. As for choice (C), the author does use physical description but not in support of an “accusation.” Choice (D) is incorrect because the author listed problems but did not create a hierarchy.
20. 2nd only. The passage states that Fleming discovered penicillin and that others developed it. His feelings or predictions about his discovery cannot be inferred. The passage does, however, say that “it was not until a decade later that a team of researchers from Oxford, with the help of an American laboratory, were able to increase the growth rate of penicillin … such that it could be produced in sufficient quantity to treat Allied soldiers wounded on D-Day, in 1944.” Thus, at some point prior to 1944, penicillin was being grown too slowly. Finally, while penicillin was used to treat Allied soldiers in 1944, that does not mean antibacterial agents were used “since ancient times.”
Verbal Practice Section 2: Medium Difficulty
20 Questions
Time: 30 Minutes
For questions 1–6, select one entry for each blank from the corresponding column of choices. Fill in the blank in the way that best completes the text.
1.Cormac McCarthy writes in an idiom both spare and flowery, with paragraphs of short, declarative sentences interspersed with long, _________ passages of description and philosophizing.
| boring | |
| floral | |
| baroque | |
| classical | |
| fictional |
2.Simony is one of the three primary (i) ___________ in Joyce’s Dubliners, recurring in almost every story in the collection. In some stories, the simony is more or less literal, with characters attempting to purchase salvation with money. In other stories, it arrives in a more (ii) ____________ form.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | |
| theses | spiritual | |
| leitmotifs | pecuniary | |
| characters | figurative |
3.Mixed-media artist Mae Chevrette begins each painting by affixing to canvas a photo from her travels, then embedding ____________ such as used ticket stubs and concert posters before applying paint. The final works, emblazoned with quotes as well as evidence of Chevrette’s extensive and wide-ranging travels, convey a sense of joyful __________ .
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | |
| devices | philosophy | |
| apocrypha | wanderlust | |
| ephemera | anomie |
4.Taxation of legal substances known to be of a (i) _________ nature necessarily threads a thin line; it threatens to (ii) _________ government support for consumption of a product the use of which the government is rightly interested in curtailing.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | |
| noxious | legitimize | |
| salubrious | incentivize | |
| solicitous | signify |
5.The newspaper’s essay contest soliciting defenses of anti-vegetarianism yielded only a handful of entries that did not allow authors’ (i) _________ to dictate their arguments: focusing on the seemingly universal human (ii) _________ for consuming animal products, these authors successfully navigated the gray area between simple self-justification and genuine apologia. The successful submissions argued not so much that desire or tradition could justify the current palate, but that the eradication of factory farming, the (iii) _________ , and the return to natural feed can blunt the evils caused by its excesses.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | Blank (iii) |
| erudition | penchant | effacement of resources |
| proclivities | salutation | imputation of ecology |
| tenacity | earmark | mitigation of suffering |
6.The long-term Senator began his career as an unrepentant (i) _________ for his party’s excesses, defending policies that posterity has since judged to be reactionary, even (ii) _________ ; more recently he has taken (iii) _________ line, denying that those very policies ever reflected the party’s values.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | Blank (iii) |
| critic | surreptitious | a restorative |
| apologist | illegal | an unconscionable |
| gadfly | retrograde | a revisionist |
Questions 7–9 are based on the following reading passage.
The increasing number of published scientific studies ultimately shown to have been
based on erroneous data threatens not only reputations of individual scholars but also
perceptions of the field as a whole. Since the general public often interprets such debunkings
as evidence of malicious or conspiratorial intentions on the part of researchers, these incidents
5 risk being construed as evidence that fraudulent practices pervade the discipline. Such
conclusions are rendered all the more potent by the rousing prospect of exposing hypocrisy
in a field that prides itself on its rigor. It would therefore behoove interested parties to go to
lengths to demonstrate that such episodes, while incidentally regrettable, are not necessarily
signs of malfeasance, and are in fact fully consistent with a healthy science. Indeed, the very
10 practices of hypothesis testing and scientific replication are in place precisely to redress such
concerns. Spurious results may linger briefly in the communal ethos, but the more attention
they garner for their ingenuity and impact, the more likely they are to be subjected to the
crucible of attempted replication. Just as in a thriving garden, small weeds may crop up from
time to time only to get pulled out at signs of trouble, so too in science do specious findings
15 occasionally attempt to infiltrate the canon only to get uprooted and tossed aside in the end
by the inexorable process of scientific natural selection.
7.In the context of the passage, the word rousing (line 6) is used to indicate that
(A)scientists often take deep satisfaction in adhering to their own rules
(B)people may find the chance to catch others in their own web to be galvanizing
(C)scientific non-experts are unaware that their criticisms of more specialized areas of study could be construed as exposing hypocrisy
(D)uncertainty itself can be something that the general public finds exciting
(E)scientific revolutions often happen when most experienced academics least expect them
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
8.The author of the passage would most likely defend which of the following scenarios as instances of “healthy science”?
9.Which of the following best describes the overall purpose of the passage?
(A)To develop a scientific hypothesis and then describe evidence refuting it
(B)To argue that a problem that many people believe to be endemic to a specific domain is in fact much more widespread
(C)To encourage more robust dialogue between scientific experts and laypeople
(D)To highlight a possible interpretation of a phenomenon and then point out how that interpretation is mistaken
(E)To build support for a position and then contend that that position is fundamentally flawed
Question 10 is based on the following reading passage.
Mayor of Middletown: Two years ago, in order to improve the safety of our town’s youth, I led the charge for a law requiring all bicycle riders to wear helmets when riding within city limits. My opponents claim the law is a failure because, last year, we had a higher incidence of bicycle accident victims with severe head injuries than in the previous year. The more important statistic, however, is the bicycle accident fatality rate, which has dropped nearly 30% since the law passed. Clearly, the helmet law has been a success.
10. Which of the following, if true, would best support the mayor’s claim that the helmet law has been a success?
(A)If accident victims do not die as a result of a head injury, they often suffer from permanent brain damage.
(B)While only 15% of all bicycle accidents resulting in injury occur as a result of a collision with a motor vehicle, those accidents represent 90% of fatal accidents.
(C)In bicycle accidents, injuries to hands, knees, and elbows are far more common than head injuries.
(D)Typically, fatality rates for bicycle accident victims who sustain serious head injuries are twice as high when the victims are not wearing helmets as when they are.
(E)The effect of the helmet law in Middletown is typical; other towns also experienced a higher incidence of head injuries but a lower fatality rate.
Questions 11–12 are based on the following reading passage.
Ultraviolet radiation (with a wavelength in the range of 290–400 nanometers), visible light
(400–760 nm), and infrared radiation (760–3,000 nm) are the three forms of energy that the
Earth receives from the sun. Within the ultraviolet spectrum, the three sub-categories are UVC
(200–290 nm), UVB (290–320 nm), and UVA (320–400 nm). Most UVC rays do not reach the Earth
5 because ozone and other gases in the upper atmosphere absorb them, but exposure to this
type of radiation from germicidal lamps and mercury lamps may still be hazardous. Excessive
exposure to visible light is also thought to be harmful, but it is not of extreme importance with
respect to prevention of skin damage. Most skin damage is caused by UVA and UVB radiation.
Ten times more UVA than UVB reaches the Earth, but the amount of UVA needed to
10 produce sunburn in human skin is 800–1,000 times higher than the amount of UVB needed.
Nevertheless, UVA intensifies the sunburn effects of UVB through delayed erythema and aids
in cancer formation. Thus, effective sunscreens and sun blocks must protect throughout both
the UVB and UVA ranges.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
11. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
12. The sentence “Nevertheless, UVA intensifies … cancer formation” (lines 12–13) serves which of the following roles?
For questions 13–16, select the two answer choices that, when used to complete the sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning.
13. Even the most accomplished performers at times have difficulty with some of Rachmaninoff’s more perilous passages—the composer seems often to have written his music with the deliberate intent to _________ .
14. Americans can scarcely suppose that all 100,000,000 speakers of Indian English are united in error; it is past time that we recognized that distinctively Indian constructions are not _________ .
15. The ___________ adventurer James Brawnson spends the majority of his autobiography trying to make his life sound like something out of an Indiana Jones movie, but in the end, according to some reviewers, it all comes off rather forced and unconvincing.
16. One of the more bizarre powers of the U.S. presidency is the more or less __________ authority to grant pardons, negating months or even years of criminal litigation in an instant.
Questions 17–20 are based on the following reading passage.
Long regarded as a necessary evil, the royal mistress is a classic staple of the French court.
It was hardly a new trick for a monarch to use mistresses and political advisors as scapegoats,
but the Bourbons did it with their own particular flare and brand of ceremony. Much of life in
the French court was dictated by tradition, ritual, and custom, and the role of the mistress was
5 no exception to this. Mistresses were there to please the king and be the target for unwanted
criticism, but they were also expected to stay out of political affairs.
This, of course, was hardly ever the case. The mistresses of Louis XIV, however, were rather
well behaved in comparison to those of the future kings. Louis XIV fathered 13 illegitimate
children with his mistresses over the course of his life. Thus, his many mistresses were often
10 more concerned with securing rights for their illegitimate offspring than with meddling
in affairs of the state. This lack of political meddling made them somewhat less prone to
the tremendously harsh scrutiny faced later by those of Louis XV. Additionally, Louis XIV’s
absolutist rule certainly had much to do with his mistresses remaining in their “proper places.”
Furthermore, Louis’s strict control of the presses kept much of the harshest criticism at bay.
15 Nevertheless, there was still a steady stream of underground literature and cartoons
that demonstrated abhorrence for many of Louis’s paramours. What was important about
the criticism that did proliferate against his mistresses, however, was that it was used to great
advantage by Louis XIV. Indeed, he used it to deflect criticism from himself. By having an easily
disposable female to shoulder the blame for various monarchical mishaps, Louis was able to
20 retain his appearance of absolute control and otherworldly perfection.
There would, however, be consequences for such skillful puppet-mastery in the coming
century. Louis XIV was the singular architect of a vast veil of fictive space inlaid between him
and his people, creating a dangerous precedent of masterful manipulation that could not be
maintained to the same degree by later monarchs. It was clear that Louis XIV crafted this fictive
25 space cleverly and with great skill, peppering it with self-promoting propaganda to control
his image in the collective imagination of his people. His progeny, however, were simply not
as adept at doing so. Even more problematic, although future monarchs were not able to
dexterously manipulate this fictive space themselves, it did not go away. Instead, it was the
satirists, pamphleteers, and playwrights who took over its construction in the years leading up
30 to the Revolution. In short, though it was Louis XIV who wrote his own mythology, Louis XVI
would have his written for him.
17. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A)critique the morals of the court of Louis XIV
(B)discuss the popular opinion of French royal mistresses
(C)contrast the mistresses of Louis XIV and Louis XV
(D)suggest the main cause of the French Revolution
(E)describe the utility and flaws of a political tradition
18. According to the passage, all of the following were reasons that the mistresses of Louis XIV were less problematic than those of Louis XV EXCEPT:
(A)They were more concerned with securing the futures of their offspring.
(B)There was little freedom for the press under Louis XIV.
(C)They produced more offspring than did those of Louis XV.
(D)Louis XIV was a skillful politician.
(E)They were relatively uninterested in affairs of state.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
19. The passage suggests which of the following?
20. The passage implies that
(A)Louis XIV made mistakes that led to the Revolution
(B)Louis XIV was a member of the Bourbon family
(C)Louis XV wrote his own mythology
(D)the most troublesome mistresses were those of Louis XVI
(E)Louis XIV had more mistresses than Louis XVI
Answers to Verbal Practice Section 2
1. Baroque. Because the description of “short, declarative sentences” matches up with the word spare in the first part of the sentence, you need something in the blank that matches up with “flowery,” meaning full of elaborate literary words or phrases. “Boring” is judgmental, and “floral” just means “of flowers.” Both “classical” and “fictional” might work, but the sentence does not provide clues to suggest the meaning of either. “Baroque,” meaning highly ornate and extravagant in style, fits the sentence.
2. Leitmotifs, figurative. A theme that reappears throughout a work of art is called a “leitmotif” (simony—“attempting to purchase salvation with money”—is not a “thesis” in Dubliners, nor is it a “character”). You are told “Simony is more or less literal” in some stories, but “in other stories,” it must be the opposite, or “figurative.” The other options, “spiritual” and “pecuniary” (related to money) do not contrast with literal.
3. Ephemera, wanderlust. “Used ticket stubs and concert posters” are not “devices,” nor are they “apocrypha” (fake). Rather, they are “ephemera,” printed matter not intended to be saved. In the second blank, “wanderlust” describes a love of travel, matching much better with the rest of the sentence than either “philosophy” or “anomie” (lack of ethical standards).
4. Noxious, incentivize. If “the government is rightly interested in curtailing” the use of a product, this suggests that the product is somehow harmful, or of a “noxious” nature, so that’s the first blank. Both “salubrious” (healthful) and “solicitous” (expressing concern) are positive words. By taxing such products, the government gains a profit from their consumption. That the government is “threading a thin line” suggests that there is a conflict: on the one hand, the government has an interest in increasing profits, and on the other hand, it has an interest in curtailing the use of the taxed substance. So the problem is that the taxation provides a reason to encourage, or “incentivize,” use of the product. This taxation would neither “legitimize” nor “signify” government support for this product consumption.
5. Proclivities, penchant, mitigation of suffering. The clue for the first two blanks is given in the claim that “authors successfully navigated the gray area between simple self-justification and genuine apologia.” “Apologia” means defense, so the authors were defending eating meat. But they did not allow their desire to eat meat to derail their arguments. The first two blanks require something like desires or tendency, and both “proclivity” and “penchant” mean that. “Erudition” (knowledge) is tempting, but it doesn’t fit because saying that someone did not allow his knowledge to drive his arguments is a way of saying that the arguments were bad, and that would not describe the “successful” arguments that won the contest. “Tenacity” (persistence) is also a trap because it looks like tendency. “Salutation” (greeting) and earmark (identifying feature or characteristic) are good GRE vocabulary words but have the wrong meaning. The third blank requires something that can blunt the evils of eating meat, and that goes along with “the eradication of factory farming” and “the return to natural feed,” so you are looking for something that contributes to the well-being of or detracts from the harms done to animals raised for food. “Mitigation of suffering” (easing of suffering) fits this bill. “Effacement of resources” (wiping out of resources) and “imputation of ecology” (blaming of ecology) would both increase harm done to animals and so cannot be correct.
6. Apologist, retrograde, revisionist. For the first blank, you want a word that means to defend. Surprisingly, that’s precisely what “apologist” means (the word apology once meant a speech offered to defend or justify). “Critic” and “gadfly” (a particularly annoying critic) are both opposite to the desired meaning. For the second blank, something similar to “reactionary,” but even stronger and more negative, is needed. Since “reactionary” means opposed to change, you want a word that means very opposed to change. “Retrograde” will do, since it suggests a retreat to some earlier state. “Surreptitious” (secretive) has the wrong meaning and “illegal” goes too far. The third blank describes an approach that recasts history or challenges a conventional history. That sort of recasting is called “revisionist.” “Restorative” can’t be correct because the denial isn’t restoring anything. “Unconscionable” (unreasonable or immoral) goes too far; denying that policies reflected the party’s values could just indicate wishful thinking or a lack of perceptiveness.
7. (B). As the passage states, some mistakes in scientific results “risk being construed as evidence that fraudulent practices” are going on. Non-science people are “rous[ed]” by the “prospect of exposing hypocrisy in a field that prides itself on its rigor.” The author, then, believes that there is no fraud, but that laypeople may mistakenly believe such fraud exists and be excited by the prospect of calling out, or exposing the hypocrisy of, these scientists who claim to be so rigorous and objective. Answer (B) best matches this idea. Choices (A), (D), and (E) could be true in the real world but are not mentioned in the passage. Choice (C) contains many words from the right area of the passage, but the passage does not suggest that laypeople are unaware; if anything, the passage suggests that they are likely aware.
8. 2nd only. The author of the passage argues that erroneous findings will be eventually corrected via the process of “scientific natural selection,” or being subjected to scrutiny. “The very practices of hypothesis testing and scientific replication are in place precisely to redress such concerns,” the author writes. The first statement is incorrect, since there is no such scrutiny—no one else will read the researcher’s logbook. The third statement is incorrect because the scientist tweaks his data deliberately—this is more like the “fraudulent practices” described earlier in the passage than the “healthy science” described later—and because no scrutiny takes place.
9. (D). The passage points out that the discovery of erroneous findings could be seen as malfeasance by researchers, then goes on to show how these same findings are actually a healthy and natural part of the scientific process. Choice (A) isn’t correct because the author does not develop a scientific hypothesis. Choice (B) is incorrect because the author shows that the purported problem isn’t actually a problem at all. Choice (C) is tempting but the author is not actually trying to promote dialogue. The author does build a certain position but never tries to tear that position down, as choice (E) states.
10. (D). The mayor claims the law is a success because the accident fatality rate has dropped nearly 30% since the law passed. Opponents claim the law is a failure because more people have suffered from severe head injuries since the law passed. The answer choice that supports the mayor’s claim will rebut the opponents’ claim or somehow weaken its effect. While choice (A) may be true, it does not address the mayor’s claim that the helmet law in particular has been successful in its goal to protect bicycle riders. Choice (B) is tempting because it offers a compelling reason why the town might want to enact a helmet law in the first place. However, reasons to enact the law are out of the argument’s scope, which concerns the success of the already enacted law. This choice does not provide any information allowing you to assess the success (or failure) of the helmet law. Furthermore, choice (B) introduces “motor vehicles,” which are also out of scope. Choice (C) may be tempting because the goal of the law is to protect the town’s youth, and, presumably, it is desirable to limit all kinds of injuries. However, the focus of the argument is on a helmet law.
Choice (D) is correct—when bicyclists suffer serious head injuries, the chances of dying are twice as high for those not wearing helmets. The converse is that people with head injuries are less likely to die from those injuries if they were wearing a helmet. In other words, some of the injured would have been on the fatality list instead had they not been wearing helmets. This supports the mayor’s case by showing that the premise used by the mayor’s opponents does not actually indicate a failure in the law. Regarding choice (E), the fact that the results are similar in other towns means merely that the outcome is predictable in some way; it does not necessarily indicate success.
11. 1st and 3rd only. The passage states that ultraviolet radiation is in the range of 290–400 nm, so energy with a wavelength of 2,000–2,500 nm would not fall in that range (in fact, it would fall into the range of infrared radiation). The passage additionally states that UVA rays intensify UVB damage and can aid in cancer formation, but it cannot be inferred that UVA rays are necessary for cancer to form. Finally, since ultraviolet radiation has a wavelength in the range of 290–400 nanometers and infrared radiation is in the range of 760–3,000 nm, ultraviolet radiation is not a form of infrared radiation.
12. 1st only. That UVA rays can intensify sunburn and aid in cancer formation “provides a factual basis” for the recommendation in the next sentence that sunscreens block both UVB and UVA rays. The highlighted sentence does not “undermine an argument”—in fact, no “argument” exists in the passage, which is informative and factual. Finally, the third statement is the opposite of what is given: UVA (above 320 nm) “exacerbates the carcinogenic properties” of UVB (below 320 nm), not the other way around.
13. Confound, unnerve. Very experienced performers have so much difficulty with some of Rachmaninoff’s “more perilous [difficult] passages” that it sometimes seems as though the music was intentionally designed to [blank]. The blank must mean something like confuse or cause people to struggle. “Confound” means confuse and so is a good match. “Unnerve,” which means to cause someone to lose confidence, also works. “Transmute” and “transmogrify” both mean to transform, which doesn’t mean difficult. Neither “distribute” nor “malign” (say bad things about or slander) has a match and so cannot be correct.
14. Solecisms, lapses. That which “Americans can scarcely suppose” is false, so “distinctively Indian constructions” are not errors. The blank should mean something like errors. “Lapses” are errors and “solecisms” are grammatical errors. “Dialects” and “pidgins” (simplified versions of a language) have close to the same meaning, but that meaning is the wrong one; Indian English is indeed a dialect of English. “Idioms” are also related to language, but you could describe some “distinctly Indian constructions” as idioms, so it is not correct. “Fads” doesn’t have a match and so also cannot be correct.
15. Self-styled, so-called. The most important words here are “forced” and “unconvincing,” used to describe Brawnson’s account of his adventures. That means that Brawnson is decidedly not Indiana Jones, so the blank must in some way negate “adventurer.” “Self-styled” and “so-called” both imply that Brawnson may call himself an adventurer, but other people might not, which is exactly what the blank needs. “Hapless” and “unlucky” form a pair, but this answer isn’t correct because adventurers can certainly be unlucky and the story of an unlucky adventurer would not necessarily be “forced and unconvincing.” “Bold” and “intrepid” also form a pair, but they would enhance Brawnson’s reputation as an “adventurer.”
16. Unqualified, sweeping. The key here is that the power to grant pardons can negate “months or years of criminal litigation in an instant.” That implies the power is quick and absolute. “Sweeping” correctly captures the absolute nature of this power. Although “unqualified” can mean without qualifications, it is also used to mean without limits. Using the less common second meaning of an everyday word like “unqualified” is a typical GRE test writer trick. “Unbiased” and “impartial” form another pair, but the meaning is not correct because although a person or a selection process could be described as “unbiased,” the authority to do something cannot be. “Tyrannical” is going too far—nothing in the sentence suggests that the president is an oppressive dictator—and “executive” doesn’t mean much of anything in this context because all presidential powers are, technically, “executive.”
17. (E). In the first paragraph, the author outlines the political role of royal mistresses in France and goes on to discuss the virtues and pitfalls of this system. Choice (A) is out of scope, as the author avoids moral judgments. Choice (B) is too narrow; popular opinion is a detail, one of the pitfalls. Choice (C) is wrong because the passage does not contrast the mistresses—about whom there is very little information—but rather their effect on French politics. Choice (D) is incorrect (and too extreme) because the author does not say it was the main cause.
18. (C). This issue is largely discussed in the second paragraph, which provides support for the four incorrect choices. Choice (C) is correct because, though the author does mention the number of Louis XIV’s illegitimate children, the passage does not mention the number for Louis XV or compare those numbers.
19. 2nd only. In the last paragraph, the passage describes the success Louis XIV had in writing “his own mythology” and compares that to the less satisfactory attempts by his successors. The first statement is out of scope as the author only states that it was a staple of the French court, not all courts. Similarly, no indication is given of Louis’s opinion of his successor.
20. (B). In the first paragraph, the author states that the Bourbons brought a unique “flare” to the French custom of royal mistresses. Regarding answer (A), the passage discusses the success and skill of Louis XIV; mistakes are only attributed to his successors. Choice (C) is unsupported—the passage notes that Louis XVI did not write his own mythology but Louis XV is not mentioned. Answers (D) and (E) are wrong for similar reasons—the passage compares the volume of and problems caused by the mistresses of Louis XIV and Louis XV. But nothing is mentioned in that regard for Louis XVI.
Verbal Practice Section 3: Hard Difficulty
20 Questions
Time: 30 Minutes
For questions 1–6, select one entry for each blank from the corresponding column of choices. Fill in the blank in the way that best completes the text.
1.While it is tempting to think that artists like Picasso literally see the world in a markedly different way, examination of the artist’s creative process reveals _________ movement from roughly realist sketches toward his famous Cubist style through a series of ever more abstract steps.
| an obsessive | |
| an iterative | |
| a random | |
| a historical | |
| a dicey |
2.Researchers from the University of Southampton concluded that ethnic differences are likely not the cause of mutual mistrust, citing government surveys that show that cooperation and trust are no higher in racially __________ neighborhoods than in mixed communities.
| militant | |
| parochial | |
| provincial | |
| homogeneous | |
| sectarian |
3.Though in her home country of Denmark the singer always enjoyed an outpouring of support verging on the (i) _________ , she continues overseas to confront certain impediments to success—evidence, perhaps, that not all art is (ii) _________ .
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | |
| evanescent | fully decipherable | |
| adulatory | universally translatable | |
| totalitarian | entirely tractable |
4.That (i) _________ rhetoric is so easily (ii) _________ the language of patriotism is perhaps one of the greatest dangers of relying too heavily on the latter to bolster public morale.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | |
| pacifist | phased in | |
| obsequious | couched in | |
| bellicose | implied by |
5.The very title of Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honour trilogy suggests a robust and (i) _________ tale, and the bare outline seems to fit, as the protagonist Guy Crouchback serves as a commando, trains as a paratrooper, and is dispatched to Yugoslavia to aid the partisans. In fact, however, Crouchback is an extraordinarily (ii) _________ man, ill-at-ease with his younger and more (iii) _________ fellow officers, and almost never motivated by appetite or impulse.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | Blank (iii) |
| pell-mell | effete | vigorous |
| red-blooded | venerable | puerile |
| avant-garde | literary | timorous |
6.In the contemporary climate of academic specialization, the typical university lecturer of only two centuries ago, who was expected to (i) _________ views on subjects as diverse as geography, physics, and the fine arts, seems a veritable (ii) _________ , and we forget at our peril that it was precisely such breadth of learning that led to some of the great discoveries and even (iii) _________ shifts in the sciences, as when Darwin drew upon his knowledge of philosophy and economics to articulate his famous theory of evolution.
| Blank (i) | Blank (ii) | Blank (iii) |
| propound | astrophysicist | hegemonic |
| gainsay | polymath | paradigmatic |
| demarcate | autodidact | minuscule |
Questions 7–10 are based on the following reading passage.
Without a doubt, one of the pinnacle achievements of modern physics is the
development of Maxwell’s equations. Their beauty lies in their elegant simplicity, while the
breadth and depth of Maxwell’s equations speak for themselves. These four simple equations,
coupled with the Lorenz Force Equation, form a full basis for modeling the behavior of an
5 entire branch of physics: classical electrodynamics and optics. Further, despite their deceptive
simplicity, Maxwell’s equations have withstood the test of time. While equations modeling
most other fields of physics have been modified to accommodate new experimental results
and theories, Maxwell’s equations have not been altered since their original conception in 1861.
Take, for instance, Einstein’s theory of general relativity, first published in 1916. Although the
10 equation governing general relativity was also elegant and powerful, and laid the framework
for most modern astrophysics, Einstein himself did not realize and correct an error within his
equation until nearly fifteen years later. Newtonian mechanics has given way to more powerful
theoretical frameworks and analytical mechanics has bent under the weight of quantum
theory, but Maxwell’s equations stand as originally written, tried and true.
15 Maxwell’s four equations, the majority of which are less than twenty characters, are the
mathematical formulation of four very simple ideas. First, any free electric charge will result
in an electric field. Second, magnets do not have free charges, but are always paired together
with a positive and negative end, yielding a magnetic field that has a looped structure. Third, a
magnetic field that changes in time will result in an electric field and, fourth, an electric current
20 or changing electric field will produce a magnetic field. It is truly amazing that these four
simple rules, unmodified, have been used to model all electric, magnetic, and optics studies for
more than 150 years.
7.Which of the following best expresses the author’s intent in writing the passage?
(A)To argue that Maxwell’s equations are the most important equations in all of physics
(B)To explain the significance and meaning of Maxwell’s equations
(C)To argue that Maxwell is a more important name in physics than Einstein
(D)To describe the implications of each of Maxwell’s four equations
(E)To advocate further studies in the field of electromagnetism and optics
8.The author references Einstein’s theory of general relativity for which of the following reasons?
(A)To argue that the equations of electricity and magnetism are more important than the equations of relativity
(B)To provide an example of an equation that has been unwavering in time
(C)To advocate that Maxwell was a more important historical figure than Einstein
(D)To show that the implications of Maxwell’s equations are far more powerful than general relativity
(E)To provide an example of an important equation that has been modified over time
9.Which of the following is not mentioned as a rule in any of Maxwell’s four equations?
(A)The looped structure of a magnetic field results from coupled charges.
(B)A magnetic field that changes in time results in an electric field.
(C)Any free electric charge results in an electric field.
(D)Magnetic fields are generated by unpaired magnetic charges.
(E)An electric current will produce a magnetic field.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
10. Which of the following can be correctly inferred from the passage?
Question 11 is based on the following reading passage.
When people are told that some behavior is common, they are more likely to indulge in that behavior even when society disapproves of it. For example, if many people are shown littering in an anti-litter advertisement, observers may subconsciously feel that littering is a normal, accepted activity. Thus, in order to influence behavior effectively, it is critical not to show or discuss anyone engaging in an activity that the advertisement seeks to discourage.
11. Which of the following, if true, most undermines the argument’s conclusion?
(A)In a study, the most effective anti-smoking advertisement featured a person smoking amidst a disapproving crowd.
(B)The most effective way to influence behavior is for parents to teach their children not to litter.
(C)People who watch public service advertisements are typically aware that actors are merely pretending to engage in the disapproved behavior.
(D)Teenagers are more likely to litter than the general population and less likely to be influenced by anti-litter advertisements.
(E)In a study, the most effective anti-littering advertisement featured a pristine public park with children playing in the background.
For questions 12–15, select the two answer choices that, when used to complete the sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning.
12. Although bonobos are a good deal more gregarious than chimpanzees, they do not hesitate to __________ those whose continued presence would otherwise undermine the safety or even equanimity of the group.
13. Perhaps because his military training discouraged indirection, the National Incident Commander sought a __________ and open conversation with the Governor.
14. Though croquet is proverbially a genteel game, it is not enough to play your own ball well—you must __________ your opponent’s play as well, even when impeding his or her progress costs you strokes.
15. A report in General Hospital Psychiatry finds that panic attacks __________ the effects of diabetes, probably by interfering with patients’ self-care, leading to a 75% increase in the frequency of symptoms.
Question 16 is based on the following reading passage.
A certain medication used to treat migraine headaches acts by blocking pain receptors in the brain. When a person takes the medication within one hour after ingesting grapefruit or grapefruit juice, however, the effectiveness of the medication is significantly diminished. Researchers have determined that the grapefruit contains a compound that alters the shape of the pain receptors, with the result that the medication can no longer bind with them completely.
16. Which of the following conclusions could be most properly drawn from the information given above?
(A)If one takes the medication more than an hour after ingesting grapefruit, its effectiveness is not diminished.
(B)Ingesting grapefruit after taking the medication does not diminish the effectiveness of the medication.
(C)There is only one type of pain receptor in the brain.
(D)The medication is fully effective only when it properly binds with its target pain receptors.
(E)It is not possible to design a medication for migraine headaches that can bond with the altered receptors.
Questions 17–19 are based on the following reading passage.
Jeffrey C. Goldfarb suggests public-spirited dialogue need not happen after a traditional
theater show, as it is most successful when it happens during a show. He believes that the live
component of the theater distinguishes it from other media objects, and allows meaning to
arise from the interaction between performers and audience as the performance is happening.
5 Whereas television or film, for instance, has no room for active dialogue, theater does because
the performers and audience are present in the space together. The theatrical text becomes
the medium, and the performers speak through the way in which they perform the text, while
the audience does so through a number of culturally sanctioned actions: applause, laughter
(both laughing with and laughing at), sighing, gasping, cheering, and booing. Goldfarb
10 recounts a particular occurrence surrounding a production of Dziady (Forefather’s Eve) in
Poland in 1968. The show had been ordered to close and, on its last night, the theater was
overcrowded with supporters. They were an enthusiastic, vocal audience who entered into
“dialogue” with the actors and read into the play’s anti-czarist language a critique of Soviet
government. When the performance ended, the crowd went into the streets to protest. The
15 play’s content became political through dialogue and, in a way, the theater building held a
public sphere where an anti-Soviet audience gathered to affirm their political sentiment before
taking it to the street in open, public protest.
What Goldfarb does not write about is how uncommon such an event is, especially for
today’s American theatergoers. Augusto Boal was probably closer to the reality of current
20 Western theater when he complained about how still everyone is expected to keep during any
performance, constantly policed by other audience members. The high prices on professional
theater tickets and an elitist value on cultural tradition (versus popular, technology-based
mass media) combine to produce an aristocratic culture surrounding theater. In this manner,
a “high class” code of etiquette is imposed upon the performance space, dictating that
25 audience members are to remain quiet: the actors speak, the audience listens. As Boal criticizes
in Legislative Theatre, traditional form sets up a relationship where “everything travels from
stage to auditorium, everything is transported, transferred in that direction—emotions, ideas,
morality!—and nothing goes the other way.” He argues that this relationship encourages
passivity and thus cancels theater’s political potential.
17. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A)Lay out a viewpoint and present a perceived omission
(B)Articulate an original thesis
(C)Deride an established tradition
(D)Contrast two opposing ideas
(E)Reconcile two opposing ideas
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
18. The author implies which of the following about American theater?
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
19. Which of the following must be true according to the passage?
Question 20 is based on the following reading passage.
In the 1930’s, Pablum, the first pre-cooked, dried baby food, was sold in America. Pablum took its name from the Latin word pabulum, which meant “foodstuff,” and was also used in medicine to refer to a passively absorbed source of nutrition. While Pablum contained vitamin D and thus helped to prevent rickets in an era in which child malnutrition was still widespread, ironically, the word pablum—undoubtedly influenced by the negative connotation of the word pabulum as well as the physical reality of a mushy, bland, rehydrated cereal—today means “trite, naïve, or simplistic ideas or writings; intellectual pap.”
20. Which of the following best describes the irony of the shifting meanings of the word pablum?
(A)A word for a passively absorbed source of nutrition is used for a substance actively fed to babies.
(B)Many babies would have died of malnutrition without Pablum.
(C)A word derived from Latin is still in use in modern English, although the meaning has changed somewhat.
(D)A cereal designed to be nourishing now lends its name to a word for something lacking in substance.
(E)Just as babies are fed bland food, pablum today means “bland writing or ideas.”
Answers to Verbal Practice Section 3
1. An iterative. Although one might think that Picasso “[saw] the world” in an unusual way, his artistic process actually progressed from style to another “through a series of ever more abstract steps.” The correct answer, “iterative” means involving repetition or reiteration. None of the other choices fits the idea of a movement that both takes place in steps and has a definite direction—it cannot be “random” or “dicey,” since it has a clear aim and structure, and neither “obsessive” nor “historical” reflects the required meaning.
2. Homogeneous. According to the sentence, “ethnic differences” are not the root cause of “mutual mistrust” because surveys show that trust is no higher in [blank] neighborhoods than in racially mixed neighborhoods. The blank must describe areas without many differences. If you borrow those very words, you might anticipate something like unmixed, the same throughout. “Homogeneous” has just this meaning. “Militant” and “sectarian” (partisan) are a pair, but it would be expected that trust would be lower in racially partisan or combative neighborhoods, so these answers are traps for anyone who misses the contrast that the sentence sets up with “mixed communities.” Similarly, “parochial” and “provincial,” which both mean unsophisticated or narrow-minded, are also traps.
3. Adulatory, universally translatable. If the singer enjoys an “outpouring of support,” you’d expect it to “verge” on extremely positive support—in this case, “adulation,” which means extreme adoration. “Evanescent” (fleeting) and “totalitarian” (dictatorial) don’t fit the desired meaning. The fact that her art is not as well received in other places means that it might not carry over, or “translate,” to those places. The two wrong answers for the second blank, which contain two words related to being understandable or usable, “decipherable” and “tractable,” are close, but do not capture the sense of artistic adaptation implied in the second clause.
4. Bellicose, couched in. Since the “rhetoric” (persuasive language) presents a danger, you are looking for something dangerous: “bellicose,” meaning aggressive or warlike, is a perfect fit. “Obsequious” means servile and “pacifist” means favoring or supporting peace, so neither of those seems particularly dangerous. The bellicose rhetoric is expressed in, phrased in, or laid out in the language of patriotism; “couched in” means the same thing as laid out in. This is a better fit than “implied by,” since to say that patriotism implies bellicose rhetoric is to make the assumption that patriotism is aggressive in itself, rather than simply yielding easily to aggression. It doesn’t make logical sense to say “phased in the language of patriotism,” so this choice looks like a trap for someone reading quickly who might misread it as “phrased in.”
5. Red-blooded, effete, vigorous. The first word should echo “robust” and fit the military derring-do described in the “bare outline.” “Red-blooded” suggests virility and heartiness. “Pell-mell” (jumbled or disorderly) and “avant-garde” (innovative) are great GRE words, but don’t echo “robust.” “In fact, however” suggests that Crouchback is not actually robust, and he is further described as “ill-at-ease,” and “never motivated by appetite or impulse.” These suggest something like feeble or impotent. “Effete” is even better, as it describes someone lacking vigor and energy. “Venerable” (deserving of reverence) cannot be correct because it is strongly positive, which doesn’t fit with the sentence’s description of Crouchback. “Literary” is a theme trap. Although the sentences are describing a book, the second blank is specifically describing a character in the book, and the character is not a person concerned with literature. For the third blank, the phrasing “and more” suggests a contrast with Crouchback; you’re not looking, then, for something that is a pure synonym for “younger” but for something that goes against the description of Crouchback as “effete.” The best answer is “vigorous.” “Puerile” (immature) is a trap—it seems to echo “younger,” but the sentence does not suggest that these younger officers are immature. “Timorous” (timid) is a reversal trap. It is a match for the description of Crouchback, not the desired contrast, and so cannot be correct.
6. Propound, polymath, paradigmatic. The “university lecturer of two centuries ago” was expected to have, or to set out, views on diverse subjects. To “propound” a view is to set it forward or lay it out. “Demarcate” (mark the boundaries of) is not a good fit; “gainsay” means to contradict, and while the lecturer may have the ability to contradict views on diverse subjects, this doesn’t make as much sense as laying them out. A person with a wide, practically encyclopedic breadth of knowledge is a “polymath.” “Astrophysicist” doesn’t fit, since it is only the name of one specialized branch of study; an “autodidact” is someone who is self-taught. In the final blank, you are looking for something stronger than “great discoveries”: something like a change (or shift) in the way science is done, or the way scientific theories are understood—the theory of evolution is an example of such a change. A paradigm is a model or template for doing something, so “paradigmatic” is an excellent match for this blank. “Hegemonic” (describing a dominant or ruling power) is too strong. “Minuscule” (tiny) is a trap for anyone who didn’t notice the “and even,” which indicates that the blank has to be filled by a word that goes further than “great discoveries.”
7. (B). The author uses the first paragraph of the passage to explain why Maxwell’s equations are so significant. The second paragraph discusses the meaning of each of Maxwell’s equations. Answer choice (B) presents both of these ideas. Further, choice (A) incorrectly states that this passage argues that Maxwell’s equations are the most important in physics. Choice (C) incorrectly compares Maxwell to Einstein. Choice (D) is too narrow; it fails to address the author’s intent in writing the first paragraph. Finally, the author does not advocate for further studies as described in answer choice (E).
8. (E). Before introducing Einstein’s theory of general relativity, the author states that Maxwell’s equations have “withstood the test of time.” The author goes on to say that, in contrast, although Einstein’s equations are “elegant and powerful,” they had to be modified not long after their postulation. Therefore, the author uses Einstein’s theory of general relativity to provide an example of an important equation that has been modified over time, as answer choice (E) describes. Answer (A) is incorrect as the author does not directly compare the fields of electricity and magnetism and relativity. Answer (B) is incorrect as it states the opposite of what is mentioned in the paragraph. Choice (C) incorrectly compares Maxwell to Einstein as opposed to their equations. Finally, choice (D) is incorrect because the implications of Maxwell’s equations are never compared to those of Einstein’s general relativity.
9. (D). The passage states that magnets do not have free charges but are always paired together with a positive and negative end. Therefore, answer choice (D) is not mentioned, as it claims that magnetic fields are generated by unpaired magnetic charges. Answer choice (A) is presented in Maxwell’s second equation: paired, or coupled, charges yield a looped magnetic field. Answer (B) is presented in Maxwell’s third equation, choice (C) is presented in Maxwell’s first equation, and choice (E) is presented in Maxwell’s fourth equation.
10. 2nd only. The passage states that Einstein did not realize and correct an error in his theory of general relativity until 15 years after the theory was postulated in 1916. Therefore, Einstein’s original equations of general relativity must have been incorrect as written in 1916. The first statement cannot be inferred as the passage says that Maxwell’s equations, coupled with the Lorenz Force Equation, form the full basis for electrodynamics and optics. The third statement incorrectly infers that Newtonian mechanics has been modified by quantum theory, whereas the last sentence in the first paragraph states that it is analytical mechanics, and not Newtonian mechanics, that has been modified by quantum theory.
11. (A). According to the argument, if “many” people are shown littering in an anti-litter ad, then those watching the ad “may” feel that littering is normal or accepted. The author concludes from this that the “bad” behavior should not be shown or discussed at all in an ad that seeks to discourage this “bad” behavior. The question asks for a piece of information that weakens the author’s conclusion. Choice (A) illustrates that the author’s assumption is not valid: a very effective anti-smoking ad featured one person smoking. That is, an effective ad did feature someone engaging in the negative behavior. While answer (B) may be true, the conclusion is not concerned with the most effective way to influence a particular type of behavior. Regarding choice (C), the conclusion focuses on what not to do (show or discuss the discouraged behavior) in order to influence behavior in an effective manner. That observers are aware that the ads may feature actors does not influence that particular conclusion. Regarding choice (D), the conclusion is not concerned with whether advertisements are more or less effective than other means for influencing teenagers. Finally, answer choice (E) strengthens the author’s position: the best advertisement does not show the behavior that the ad seeks to discourage, however, the question asks for a weakener, not a strengthener.
12. Oust, ostracize. “Although” implies an action that you wouldn’t ordinarily expect from “gregarious,” or friendly, animals; they would be unfriendly. The “otherwise” in “continued presence would otherwise undermine” implies that bonobos sometimes do something to exclude others. “Oust” (expel) and “ostracize” (exclude from a group) have slightly different meanings but work because they give the sentence the same overall meaning. “Imperil” and “jeopardize” both mean something like “endanger,” but this pair does not oppose “continued presence” as directly as do “oust” and “ostracize.” Neither “patronize” nor “safeguard” means anything similar to exclude, so they are not correct either.
13. Plain, frank. Since his training “discouraged indirection,” you can expect a word like direct. The word “open” suggests that the Commander wanted to be candid. “Plain” and “frank” both suggest unornamented but not necessarily unfriendly speech. “Brusque,” on the other hand, suggests a discourteous bluntness. “Profane” (irreverent or disrespectful), “pert” (attractive in a neat and stylish way), and “boisterous” (rowdy or rambunctious) do not fit with the desired meaning.
14. Scotch, stymie. “Though” suggests that the word is opposed to gentility, and so you might expect something like behave coarsely toward. The word “impeding” provides a more precise idea: the blank requires something like aggressively block. “Scotch,” which means abruptly end, and “stymie,” which means thwart, are both good. “Obviate” (prevent or preclude), and “eliminate” are tempting, but don’t quite have the right meaning because they imply preventing the other player from playing, rather than impeding his or her progress.” The word “anticipate” is also tempting, because it is often helpful to be able to anticipate an opponent’s play in a game, but this word has no match and so cannot be correct. “Underscore” (emphasize) doesn’t have a match either but also doesn’t fit meaning-wise.
15. Exacerbate, aggravate. Since panic attacks eventually lead to “a 75% increase in the frequency of symptoms,” they make the effects of diabetes much worse. “Exacerbate” and “aggravate” have precisely this meaning. In some contexts, “hinder” and “impede,” which mean to block something, would mean to make worse, but blocking the symptoms of a disease would actually help. “Degrade” is a negative word, meaning demote, debase, or impair, but none of its meanings work here. “Indemnify,” which means to secure against hurt or loss, doesn’t fit either.
16. (D). The passage says that the medication has been shown to be less effective when taken after grapefruit consumption because grapefruit consumption has been shown to affect the binding of the medication to pain receptors. It can be concluded that effective binding is needed to enable the full effectiveness of the medication, as answer choice (D) states. Regarding choice (A), the passage says that grapefruit or grapefruit juice ingested within an hour will “significantly” diminish the effectiveness of the medication. This does not mean that grapefruit or grapefruit juice ingested more than an hour before the medication is ingested will have no effect on the medication; it may have a mild effect. Regarding choice (B), the passage speaks only of taking the medication after ingesting grapefruit; it says nothing about what might happen when eating grapefruit after taking the medication. As for choice (C), while the passage discusses one kind of pain receptor, this does not mean that these are the only pain receptors in the brain. Answer (E) is out of scope. The passage offers no information about possible research or design of new migraine medications.
17. (A). The author presents Goldfarb’s view in the first paragraph and then highlights an omission in Goldfarb’s thesis in the second paragraph. Answer choice (B) is incorrect because “original” contradicts the text—the author recounts the opinions of Goldfarb and Boal. Choice (C) is wrong, as the author does not “deride” anything, and the word “established” is not supported by the text. Answer (D) is eliminated because there is no contrast nor opposing ideas—Goldfarb neglected to mention that something he discussed was quite uncommon, but Goldfarb’s ideas do not oppose Boal’s. Similarly, regarding choice (E), no reconciliation is attempted and there are still no opposing ideas.
18. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The first statement must be true, as the second paragraph indicates that some American audiences consider passive behavior polite. The second statement must be true since, according to the last sentence of the second paragraph, Boal criticized passivity because it “cancels theater’s political potential.” The third statement is a good match for this sentence from the first paragraph: “Whereas television or film, for instance, has no room for active dialogue, theater does because the performers and audience are present in the space together.”
19. 1st only. In the first paragraph, the passage describes the interaction between the Polish audience and the cast; in the second paragraph, the author states that American “high class” behavior involves remaining quiet in the theater. Together, these two pieces of information support the first statement. The second statement is incorrect—the passage states that the audience “read into,” or interpreted, the anti-czarist language as a critique of the Soviet regime; while the play may very well have been intended that way, this cannot be inferred from the given information. The comparison concerning education in the third statement is unjustified because the passage only states that the live element is unique to theater.
20. (D). The word “irony” is an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected. Choice (A) is not ironic—the medical term pablum means a passively absorbed nutrition, and babies receive the baby food Pablum in a passive way. Choices (B), (C), and (E) may be true, but also do not fit the definition of ironic. Answer (D) is indeed ironic—the word now means nearly the opposite of what was originally intended. Only answer choice (D) presents this kind of ironic twist.