Looking At More Complex GRE Verbal Aptitude Questions

First, the answers from the previous sample GRE aptitude test questions:

Verbal (Pt. I):

1.(A),   2. (E),  3. (D), 4. (B), 5. (B)

2. Quantitative (Pt. I)

1. (A), 2. (E), 3. (C), 4. (D), 5. (C)


Verbal (Pt. II):

1. (D), 2. (D), 3. (C), 4. (C), 5. (E)


Quantitative (Pt. II):

1. (C), 2. (B), 3. (B), 4. (D), 5. (A)

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Now, lest any readers believe the GRE questions were typically as easy as those in the last blog, let's look at a few examples of more complex ones. We will start out with a series requiring filling in the correct word pair in given blanks for a sentence, then go to one example each of a passage which must be read, then interpreted-analyzed and responses given. Here goes:

Verbal (I): (5 minutes)

Each sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating a word has been omitted. Choose the pair of words which best fits:

1. It is true that seeds of some plants have _____ after two hundred years of dormancy, but reports that viable seeds have been found in ancient tombs such as the pyramids are entirely_______:

(A) revived: empirical

(B) germinated: unfounded

(C) endured: irrelevant

(D)  erupted:reasonable

(E) proliferated: substantiated

2. The most technologically advanced societies have been responsible for the greatest ______  indeed, savagery seems to be in direct proportion to_______:

(A) wars: viciousness

(B) catastrophes: ill will

(C) atrocities: development

(D)inventions: know-how

(E) triumphs:civilization

3. The combination of ______ and ______ in Edmund's speech can be startling, especially when he slyly slips in some juicy vulgarity amid the mellifluous circumlocutions of a gentleman of the old school.

(A) tact: innocence

(B) raciness: ribaldry

(C) piousness: modesty

(D) elegance: earthiness

(E)propriety: bashfulness

4. Every new theory not only must _____ the valid predictions of the old theory, but must also explain why those predictions ______ within the range of that old theory.

(A)organize: failed

(B)generate: faltered

(C) promote: functioned

(D)refute: evolved

(E) accommodate: succeeded

5. Human reaction to the realm of thought is often as strong as that to sensible presences; our higher moral life is based on the fact that ______ sensations actually present may have a weaker influence on our action than do the ideas of _____ facts.

(A) disturbing: ordinary

(B) material: remote

(C) emotional : impersonal

(D) definitive: controversial

(E) familiar: symbolic


Verbal (II): (5 minutes)

Read the passage provided then choose the correct letter referencing some part of the passage - with conclusions stated or implied:

The Food and Drug Administration has recently proposed severe restrictions on the use of antibiotics to promote the health and growth of meat animals. Medications added to feeds kill many microorganisms but also encourage the appearance of bacterial strains that are resistant to anti-infective drugs. Already, for example, penicillin and tetracyclines are not as effective therapeutically as they once were. The drug resistance is chiefly conferred by tiny circlets of genes called plasmids, that can exchanged between different strains and even different species of bacteria. Plasmids are also one of the two kinds of vehicles (the other being viruses) that molecular biologists depend on when performing gene transplant experiments. Even present guidelines forbid the laboratory use of plasmids bearing genes for resistance to antibiotics. Yet, while congressional debate rages over whether or not to toughen these restrictions on scientists in their laboratories, little congressional attention has been focused on an ill-advised agricultural practice that produces known deleterious effects.

1. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with:

(A) discovering methods of eliminating harmful microorganisms without subsequently generating drug resistant  bacteria.

(B) explaining reasons for congressional inaction on the regulation of gene transplant experiments

(C) describing a problematic agricultural practice and its serious genetic consequences

(D) verifying the therapeutic ineffectiveness of anti-infective drugs.

(E) evaluating recently proposed restrictions intended to promote the growth of meat animals.

2. According to the passage, the exchange of plasmids between different bacteria can result in which of the following?

(A) Microorganisms resistant to drugs

(B) Therapeutically useful circlets of genes

(C) Anti-infective drugs like penicillin

(D) Viruses for use by molecular biologists

(E) Vehicles for performing gene transplant experiments

3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes that those in favor of stiffening the restrictions on gene transplant research should logically also:

(A) encourage experiments with any plasmids except those bearing genes for antibiotic research

(B) question the addition of anti-infective drugs to livestock feed

(C) resist the use of penicillin and tetracyclines to kill microorganisms

(D) agree to the development of meatier livestock through the use of antibiotics

(E) favor congressional debate and discussion of all science and health issues


4. The author's attitude toward the development of bacterial strains  that render antibiotic drugs ineffective can best be described as:

(A) indifferent,  (B) perplexed, (C) pretentious, (D) insincere, (E) apprehensive


Verbal-Analytical (III): (6 minutes:)

Read the passage then answer the questions on it which follow:

The work week in a small business is a five-day work week running from Monday through Friday. In each workweek, activities L, M, N, O and P must all be done, but the work is subject to the following restrictions:

L must be done earlier in the week than O but not earlier than P

M must be done earlier in the week than N and not earlier than O.

No more than one of the activities can be done on any one day

1. Which of the following is an acceptable schedule of activities with the activities listed from left to right in the order from Monday through Friday:

(A) L, M, N, O, P,

(B)M,N, O, M, N

(C) O, N. L, P, M

(D) P, O, L, M. L

(E) P, O, L, M , N

2. Which of the following pairs of activities could be done on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, of some week:

(A) L and O

(B) M and L

(C) M and P

(D) N and O

(E) O and M

3. If P is earlier than M on the schedule for some week, which of the following must also be true of that schedule?

(A) L is earlier than M

(B) N is earlier than M

(C) N is earlier than O

(D) O is earlier than L

(E) O is earlier than P


4. If P and N were done on Thursday and Friday, respectively, which of the following must be true?

(A) L is done on Tuesday

(B) L is done on Wednesday

(C) M is done on Monday

(D) O is done on Tuesday

(E) O is done on Wednesday


5. Which of the following could appear on the schedule for some week?

(A) L on Friday

(B) M on Thursday

(C) N on Monday

(D) O on Monday

(E) P on Tuesday


6. The one day of the week for which any one of the five activities could be scheduled while still allowing the other four activities to be scheduled is:

(A) Monday

(B) Tuesday

(C) Wednesday

(D) Thursday

(E) Friday

Answers tomorrow!

(Note that if you plan to try this portion of the sample test under relatively consistent conditions with the actual one,  you should take no more than 16 minutes.)