GRE Verbal Sample Questions Set U

Categories: GRE (The Graduate Records Examination)

Question.6. Complete the paragraph from the given words.

It is refreshing to read a book about our planet by an author who does not allow facts to be (i)_____ by politics: well aware of the political disputes about the effects of human activities on climate and biodiversity, this author does not permit them to (ii)______ his comprehensive description of what we know about our biosphere. He emphasizes the enormous gaps in our knowledge, the sparseness of our observations, and the (iii)______, calling attention to the many aspects of planetary evolution that must be better understood before we can accurately diagnose the condition of our planet.

Fill in the blanks from the following:

Answer: i (A), ii (E), iii (I)

Directions: Questions 7 to 9 are based on the passage provided below.

Passage 3: Should we really care for the greatest actors of the past? Could we have them before us? Should we find them too different from our accent of thought, of feeling, of speech, in a thousand minute particulars which are of the essence of all three? Dr. Doran's long and interesting records of the triumphs of Garrick, and other less familiar, but in their day hardly less astonishing, players, do not relieve one of the doubt. Garrick himself, as sometimes happens with people who have been the subject of much anecdote and other conversation, here as elsewhere, bears no very distinct figure. One hardly sees the wood for the trees. On the other hand, the account of Betterton, "perhaps the greatest of English actors," is delightfully fresh. That intimate friend of Dryden, Tillatson, Pope, who executed a copy of the actor's portrait by Kneller which is still extant, was worthy of their friendship; his career brings out the best elements in stage life. The stage in these volumes presents itself indeed not merely as a mirror of life, but as an illustration of the utmost intensity of life, in the fortunes and characters of the players. Ups and downs, generosity, dark fates, the most delicate goodness, have nowhere been more prominent than in the private existence of those devoted to the public mimicry of men and women. Contact with the stage, almost throughout its history, presents itself as a kind of touchstone, to bring out the bizarrerie, the theatrical tricks and contrasts, of the actual world.

Question.7. In the expression ‘One hardly sees the wood for the trees’, the author apparently intends the word trees to be analogous to

A. Features of Doran’s language style

B. Details learned from oral sources

C. Personality of a famous actor

D. Details of Garrick’s life

E. Stage triumphs of an astonishing player

Answer: (b)

Question.8. The doubt referred to concerns whether

A. the stage personalities of the past would appeal on a personal level to people like the author

B. their contemporaries would have understood famous actors

C. the acting of famous stage personalities would appeal to us today

D. Garrick was as great as he is portrayed

E. historical records can reveal personality

Answer: (a)

Question.9. Information supplied in the passage is sufficient to answer which of the following questions? (Select only one answer choice.)

A. Who did Doran think was probably the best English actor?

B. What did Doran think of Garrick?

C. Would the author give a definite answer to the first question posed in the passage?

Answer: (a) & (c)

Question.10. Answer this question based on the information in the paragraph below.

It has been suggested that long-term prisoners, on release from jail, be given a reasonable state pension to reduce the likelihood of their resorting to crime. Most people instinctively reject the suggestion as they feel it would be like rewarding criminal activity. The supporters of the prisoners' pension scheme have criticized those who reject this possibility, by claiming that for the critics.

Which of the following is the most logical completion of the sentence above?

A. emotion is more important than justice

B. punishment for criminals is more important than crime prevention

C. crime prevention is not an important issue

D. money has too high a value

E. the law should not be concerned with what happens after jail

Answer: (b)

Directions: For questions 11 and 12 complete the sentences with the appropriate word(s)

Question.11. Melvin’s little sister was so_____ that she would believe anything he told her, and his burgeoning sense of maturity rendered him increasingly loath to gull her.

A: dogged

B: tenable

C: fractious

D: frivolous

E: credulous

Answer: (e)

Question.12. Jean Valjean, the protagonist in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables, spends the bulk of his lengthy _____ plotting a very clever set of revenge schemes, which he executes upon his escape.

A: ruination

B: peregrination

C: immolation

D: rumination

E: incarceration

Answer: (e)