Some GRE Questions (Verbal Ability)

Antonym Directions: In each of the following antonym questions, a work printed in capital letters precedes five lettered words or phrases. From these five lettered words or phrases, pick the one most nearly opposite in meaning to the capitalized word.

1. HONE:

(A) broaden

(B) twist

(C) dull

(D) weld

(E) break

2. PHLEGMATIC:

(A) dogmatic

(B) ardent

(C) haphazard

(D) self-assured

(E) abstracted

3. BANALITY:

(A) tentative interpretation

(B) concise summation

(C) accurate delineation

(D) laundatory remark

(E) novel expression

Analogy Directions: Each of the following analogy questions presents a related pair of words linked by a colon. Five lettered pairs of words follow the linked pair. Choose the lettered pair of words whose relationship is most like the relationship expressed in the original linked pair.

4. THIRST : DRIVE ::

(A) inebriety : excess

(B) success : ambition

(C) indifference : passion

(D) taste : gusto

(E) smell : sense

5. SKULDUGGERY : SWINDLER ::

(A) surgery : quack

(B) quandary : craven

(C) chicanery : trickster

(D) forgery : speculator

(E) cutlery : butcher

Sentence Completion Directions: Each of the following sentence completion questions contains one or two blanks. These blanks signify that word or set or works has been left out. Below each sentence are five words or sets of words. For each blank, pick the word or set of words that best reflects the sentence's overall meaning.

6. According to one optimistic hypothesis, the dense concentraion of entrepreneurs and services in the cities would incubate new functions, ---- them, and finally export them to other areas, and so the cities, forever breeding fresh ideas, would ---- themselves repeatedly.

(A) immunize...perpetuate

(B) isolate...revitalize

(C) foster...deplete

(D) spawn...imitate

(E) nurture...renew

7. Man is a ---- animal, and much more so in his mind than in his body: he may like to go alone for a walk, but he hates to stand alone in his ----.

(A) gregarious...opinions

(B) conceited...vanity

(C) singular...uniqueness

(D) solitary...thoughts

(E) nomadic...footsteps

Reading Comprehension Directions: Each of the following reading comprehension questions is based on the content of the following passage. Read the passage and then determine the best answer choice for each question. Base your choice on what this passage states directly or implies, not on any information you may have gained elsewhere.

The stability that had marked the Iroquois Confederacy's generally pro-British position was shattered with the overthrow of James II in 1688, the colonial uprisings that followed in Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland, and the commencement of King William's War against Louis XIV of France. The increasing French threat to English hegemony in the interior of North America was signalized by French-led or French-inspired attacks on the Iroquois and on outlying colonial settlements in New York and New England. The high point of the Iroquois response was the spectacular raid of August 5,1689, in which the Iroquois virtually wiped out the French Village of Lachine, just outside Montreal. A counterraid by the French on the English village of Schenectady in March, 1690, instilled an appropriate measure of fear among the English and their Iroquois allies.

The Iroquois position at the end of the war, which was formalized by treaties made during the summer of 1701 with the British and the French, and which was maintained throughout most of the eighteenth century, was one of "aggressive neutrality" between the two competing European powers. Under the new system the Iroquois initiated a peace policy toward the "far Indians," tightened their control over the nearby tribes, and induced both English and French to support their neutrality toward the European powers by appropriate gifts and concessions.

By holding the balance of power in the sparsely settled borderlands between English and French settlements, and by their willingness to use their power against one or the other nation if not appropriately treated, the Iroquois played the game of European power politics with effectiveness. The system broke down, however, after the French became convinced that the Iroquois were compromising the system in favor of the English and launched a full-scale attempt to establish French physical and juridical presence in the Ohio Valley, the heart of the borderlands long claimed by the Iroquois. As a consequence of the ensuing Great War for Empire, in which Iroquois neutrality was dissolve and European influence moved closer, the play-off system lost its efficacy and a system of direct bargaining supplanted it.

8. The author's primary purpose in this passage is to

(A) denounce the imperialistic policies of the French

(B) disprove the charges of barbarism made against the Indian nations

(C) expose the French government's exploitation of the Iroquois balance of power

(D) describe and assess the effect of European military power on the policy of an Indian nation

(E) show the inability of the Iroquois to engage in European-style diplomacy

9. With which of the following statements would the author be LEAST likely to agree?

(A) The Iroquois were able to respond effectively to French acts of aggression.

(B) James II's removal from the throne caused dissension to break out among the colonies.

(C) The French begrudged the British their alleged high standing among the Iroquois.

(D) Iroquois negotiations involved playing one side against the other.

(E) The Iroquois ceased to hold the balance of power early in the eighteenth century.

Some GRE sample questions (Verbal Ability)

Antonym Directions: In each of the following antonym questions, a work printed in capital letters precedes five lettered words or phrases. From these five lettered words or phrases, pick the one most nearly opposite in meaning to the capitalized word.

1. EQUIVOCATE:

(A) yield

(B) penury

(C) condescend

(D) pledge

(E) denounce

2. OPULENCE:

(A) transience

(B) penury

(C) solitude

(D) generosity

(E) transparency

Analogy Directions: Each of the following analogy questions presents a related pair of words linked by a colon. Five lettered pairs of words follow the linked pair. Choose the lettered pair of words whose relationship is most like the relationship expressed in the original linked pair.

3. EPHEMERAL : PERMANENCE ::

(A) erratic : predictability

(B) immaculate : cleanliness

(C) commendable : reputation

(D) spurious : emulation

(E) mandatory : obedience

4. NONPLUSSED : BAFFLEMENT ::

(A) discomfited : embarrassment

(B) parsimonious : extravagance

(C) disgruntled : contentment

(D) despicable : contempt

(E) surly : harassment

5. OGLE : OBSERVE ::

(A) haggle : outbid

(B) clamor : dispute

(C) discern : perceive?

(D) flaunt : display

(E) glare : glower

Sentence Completion Directions: Each of the following sentence completion questions contains one or two blanks. These blanks signify that word or set or works has been left out. Below each sentence are five words or sets of words. For each blank, pick the word or set of words that best reflects the sentence's overall meaning.

6. It may be useful to think of character in fiction as a function of two ---- impulses: the impulse to individualize and the impulse to ----.

(A) analogous...humanize

(B) disparate...aggrandize

(C) divergent...typify

(D) comparable...delineate

(E) related...moralize

7. There are any number of theories to explain these events and, since even the experts disagree, it is ----  the rest of us in our role as responsible scholars to ---- dogmatic statements.

(A) paradoxical for...abstain from

(B) arrogant of...compensate from

(C) incumbent on...refrain from

(D) opportune for...quarrel over

(E) appropriate for...issue forth

Reading Comprehension Directions: Each of the following reading comprehension questions is based on the content of the following passage. Read the passage and then determine the best answer choice for each question. Base your choice on what this passage states directly or implies, not on any information you may have gained elsewhere.

According to the theory of plate tectonics, the lithosphere (earth's relatively hard and solid outer layer consisting of the crust and part of the underlying mantle) is divided into a few dozen plates that vary in size and shape; in general, these plates move in relation to another. They move away from one another at a mid-ocean ridge, a long chain of sub-oceanic mountains that forms a boundary between plates. At a mid-ocean ridge, new lithosphere material in the form of hot magma pushes up from the earth's interior. the injection of this new lithospheric material from below causes the phenomenon known as sea-floor spreading.

    Given that the earth is not expanding in size to any appreciable degree, how can "new" lithosphere be created at a mid-ocean ridge? For new lithosphere material must be destroyed somewhere else. This destruction takes place at a boundary between plates called a subduction zone. At a subduction takes place at a boundary between plates called a subduction zone. At a subduction zone, one plate is pushed down under another into the red-hot mantle, where over a span of millions of years it is absorbed into the mantle.

    In the early 1960's, well before scientists had formulated the theory of plate tectonics, Princeton University professor Harry H. Hess proposed the concept of sea-floor spreading. Hess's original hypothesis described the creation and spread of ocean floor by means of the upwelling and cooling of magma from the earth's interior. Hess, however, did not mention rigid lithospheric plates. The subsequent discovery that the oceanic crust contains evidence of  periodic reversals of the earth's magnetic field helped confirm Hess' hypotheses. According to the explanation formulated by Princeton's F.J. Vine and D.H. Matthews, whenever magma wells up under a mid-ocean ridge, the ferromagnetic minerals within the magma become magnetized in the direction of the geomagnetic field. As the magma cools and hardens into dock, the direction and the polarity of the geometric field are recorded in the magnetized volcanic rock. Thus, when reversals of the earth's magnetic field occur, as they do at intervals of from 10,000 to around a million years, they produce a series of magnetic stripes paralleling the axis of the rift. Thus, the oceanic crust is live a magnetic tape recording, but instead of preserving sounds or visuals images, it preserves the history of earth's geomagnetic field. the boundaries between stripes reflect reversals of the magnetic field; these reversals can be dated independently. Given this information, geologists can deduce the rate of sea-floor spreading from the width of the stripes. (Geologists, however, have yet to solve the mystery of exactly how the earth's magnetic fields comes to reverse itself periodically.)

8. According to the passage, a mid-ocean ridge differs from a subduction zone in that

(A) it marks the boundary line between neighboring plates

(B) only the former is located on the ocean floor

(C) it is a site for the emergence of new lithospheric material

(D) the former periodically distrupts the earth's geomagnetic field

(E) it is involved with lithospheric destruction rather than lithospheric creation

9. It can be inferred from the passage that a new lithospheric material in injection from below

(A) the plates become immobilized in a kind of gridlock

(B) it is incorporated into an underwater mountain ridge

(C) the earth's total mass is altered

(D) it reverses its magnetic polarity

(E) the immediately adjacent plates sink

10. According to the passage, lithospheric material at the site of a subduction zone

(A) rises and it polarized

(B) sinks and is reincorporated

(C) slides and is injected

(D) spreads and is absorbed

(E) diverges and is consumed

Some GRE sample questions (Verbal Ability)

Antonym Directions: In each of the following antonym questions, a work printed in capital letters precedes five lettered words or phrases. From these five lettered words or phrases, pick the one most nearly opposite in meaning to the capitalized word.

1. PRODIGAL:

(A) nomad

(B) sycophant

(C) gifted child

(D) economical person

(E) antagonist

2. ARTIFICE:

(A) edifice

(B) sincerity

(C) prejudice

(D) creativity

(E) affirmation

Sentence Completion Directions: Each of the following sentence completion questions contains one or two blanks. These blanks signify that word or set or works has been left out. Below each sentence are five words or sets of words. For each blank, pick the word or set of words that best reflects the sentence's overall meaning.

3. The earth is a planet bathed in light; it is therefore ----- that many of the living organisms that have evolved on the earth have ----- the biologically advantageous capacity to trap light energy.

(A) anomalous...engendered

(B) unsurprising...developed

(C) predictable...forfeited

(D) problematic...exhibited

(E) expectable...relinquished

4. Relatively few politicians willingly forsake center stage, although a touch of --- on their parts now and again might well increase their popularity with the voting public.

(A) garrulity

(B) misanthropy

(C) self-effacement

(D) self-dramatization

(E) self-doubt

Analogy Directions: Each of the following analogy questions presents a related pair of words linked by a colon. Five lettered pairs of words follow the linked pair. Choose the lettered pair of words whose relationship is most like the relationship expressed in the original linked pair.

5. CIRCUITOUS : ROUTE ::

(A) problematic : solution

(B) devious : argument?

(C) gullible : incredulous

(D) enigmatic : dumbfounded

(E) deferential : sycophantic

Reading Comprehension Directions: Each of the following reading comprehension questions is based on the content of the following passage. Read the passage and then determine the best answer choice for each question. Base your choice on what this passage states directly or implies, not on any information you may have gained elsewhere.

Jame's first novels used conventional narrative techniques: explicit characterization, action which related events in distinctly phased sequences, settings firmly outlined and specifically described. But this method gradually have way to a subtler, more deliberate, more diffuse style of accumulation of minutely discriminated details whose total significance the reader can grasp only by constant attention and sensitive inference. His later novels play down scenes of abrupt and prominent action, and do not so much offer a succession of sharp shocks as slow piecemeal additions of perception. The curtain is not suddenly drawn back from shrouded things, but is slowly moved away.

Such a technique is suited to Jame's essential subject, which is not human action itself but the states of mind which produce and are produced by human actions and interactions. James was less interested in what characters do, than in the moral and psychological antecedents, realizations, and consequences which attend their doings. This is why he more often speaks of "cases" than of actions. His stories, therefore, grow more and more lengthy while the actions they relate grow simpler and less visible; not because they are crammed with adventitious and secondary events, digressive relief, or supernumerary characters, as overstuffed novels of action are; but because he presents in such exhaustive detail every nuance of his situation. Commonly the interest of a novel is in the variety and excitement of visible actions building up to a climatic event which will settle the outward destinies of characters with storybook promise of permanence. A James novel, however, possesses its characteristic interest in carrying the reader through a rich analysis of the mental adjustments of characters to the realities of their personal situations as they are slowly revealed to them through exploration and chance discovery.

7. The passage supplies information for answering for answering which of the following questions?

(A) Did James originated information for answering which of the following questions?

(B) Is conventional narrative techniques strictly chronological in recounting action?

(C) Can novels lacking overtly dramatic incident sustain the reader's interest?

(D) Were Jame's later novels more acceptable to the general public than his earlier ones?

(E) Is James unique in his predilection for exploring psychological nuances of character?

8. According to the passage, Jame's later novels differ from his earlier ones in their

(A) preoccupation with specifically described settings

(B) ever-increasing concision and tautness of plot

(C) levels of moral and psychological complexity

(D) development of rising action to a climax

(E) subordination of psychological exploration to dramatic effect

9. The author's attitude toward the novel of action appears to be one of

(A) pointed indignation

(B) detached neutrality

(C) sharp derision

(D) strong partisanship

(E) mild disapprobation

How to Memorize Barron’s GRE® Wordlist?

If you are planning to take the GRE exam, then you must have good collection of vocabulary. If you are already in practice of reading novels, magazines, and English news papers, then you might have a good collection of words. But, not everyone does follow this practice. To boost GRE Verbal skills, memorizing GRE Verbal words is something which you can not afford to avoid.

But, not everyone is gifted to memorize words easily; especially Barron’s book, which consists of 50 Verbal Words list and it’s not a child’s play to remember all the words. Only few students are capable of reading words list few times and remembering all 3500 words in a short period of time. If you are not that lucky, then here are some ways to memorize Barron’s GRE words in order to deal with GRE Verbal section.

1. Brute Force Memorizing

2. Creating Association between Words

3. Creating Word to Picture Association

4. Use Flash Cards

Brute Force – Word Memorizing

To follow this approach, you need to set a target for yourself. Have a target of 4 to 6 wordlists per week or 1 word list per day or as per your comfort. But before moving to the next wordlist, make sure that you can recollect all the words from your previous learnt list. You can again revise all the wordlist by mixing them up.

Creating Association between words

Almost every word is associated to different words that is called synonym to that word. When you come across a new word, try to find all the synonyms related to that and try to memorize atleast one synonym. This could be little arduous to follow, but if you are struggling to find a way to remember, then it could help.

In Barron’s 3500 words, you will find many words or synonym to that word. If you find a word in List 2 its synonym could be register as main word in another list, go back to List 2 and write the word you found in another list.

Creating Word to Picture Association

This is known as picture dictionary .You might think it’s very necessary to have a picture dictionary, and how long it would take to associate a picture to a word?

If you cannot create an image to associate to a word, you should think twice about taking the GRE test. This method might be time consuming; you may be required to spend more time trying to memorize the picture than the word itself.

GRE Verbal Flash Cards

Flash cards are one of the best ways of memorizing the words. You can either buy flash card or make it at your own.  It’s simple and immensely helpful in learning new words.

Mistakes To Avoid For The GRE Test

1. Losing Track of Time in the GRE Test

You will have to pay high price for the questions you do not answer in the GRE. As you advance towards the end of the section and time is about to end, move rapidly. Allot equal time for questions, keeping in mind that you must answer all of them.

Leaving a GRE Test question unanswered will negatively impact your performance.

2. Losing Time on Questions in the GRE Test

Don't get stuck on one particular question for too long. You will lose precious time and miss questions you could have easily done. This is observed for both the sections in the GRE Test. By the time you have finished your GRE preparations, you should have a good estimate of how much time you can give to a particular question in the GRE Test.

3. Hurrying Through First Few Questions in GRE Test

Our natural tendency is to proceed quickly in the beginning but this should be avoided during the GRE Test as the first few questions impact your GRE Scores more than the later ones. Make sure to double check EVERY answer for the first ten questions.

4.  Delaying Registration for the GRE Test

Students are often found to delay GRE Registration, trying to decide the optimal time. As a consequence, they are not able to study seriously for the GRE. It is observed that once a student has registered for the GRE Test, she/he can make a GRE study plan based on the time available. Also, by delaying GRE Registration, you might not be able to get the date of your choice.

5. GRE Test: Verbal Section Mistakes

GRE Antonyms: Do not cram GRE word meanings. When looking for the meaning of a word, understand its usage and look for the secondary meaning(s) of the word.

GRE RC's: The answer choice may repeat part of the passage nearly word for word. Such answer choices may seem tempting, but they may not be the correct answer. Apart from these commonly observed errors, taking free GRE sample tests will help you level out such mistakes. Just remember, a constant approach is the key to doing well on the GRE Test.

GRE Universities - G to H

Gainesville-Family-Inst

Gallaudet-University

Gannon-University

Gardner-Webb

Garrett-Evangelical

General-Theological-Sem

Geneva-College

George-Fox-University

George-Mason-University

George-Washington

Georgetown-College

Georgetown-University

Georgia-Coll-State-Univ

Georgia-CollState-Dublin

Georgia-CollState-Macon

Georgia-CollState-Milled

Georgia-Inst-Tech

Georgia-Southern

Georgia-Southwestern

Georgia-State

Georgian-Court

Goddard-College

Golde-Gate-Baptist-Sem

Golden-Gate-Seminary

Golden-Gate-University

Golden-State-Theology

Goldey-Beacom

Gonzaga-University

Gooding-Nursing

Gordon-College

Gordon-Conwell-Seminary

Goucher-College

Governors-State

Grace-College-Sem

Grace-University

Graceland-University

Grad-Coll-Union-Univ

Graduate-Institute

Graduate-Theological

Grambling-State

Grand-Canyon-Univ

Grand-Valley-State

Gratz-College

Greenville-College

Gwynedd-Mercy-College

Hamline-University

Hampton-University

Hardin-Simmons

Harding-University

Hartford-Seminary

Harvard-University

Hastings-College

Hawaii-Pacific

Hazelden-Foundation

Hebrew-College

Hebrew-Union-College

Heidelberg-College

Hellenic-College

Henderson-State

Heritage-College

High-Point-University

Hofstra-University

Hollins-University

Holy-Apostles-College

Holy-Family-University

Holy-Names-College

Hood-College

Hood-Theological-Sem

Hope-Intl-University

Houston-Baptist

Houston-Grad-Theology

Howard-University

Hult-Intl-Business

Humanistic-Studies

Humboldt-State

Humphreys-College

Hunter-College-CUNY

Huntington-College

Huron-Intl-University

Huron-University

Husson-College

GRE Universities - E to F

Earlham-College

Earlham-Religion

East-Carolina-University

East-Central-University

East-Stroudsburg

East-Tennessee

Eastern-Acupuncture

Eastern-Baptist-Sem

Eastern-Connecticut

Eastern-Illinois

Eastern-Kentucky

Eastern-Mennonite

Eastern-Michigan

Eastern-Nazarene

Eastern-New-Mexico

Eastern-Oregon

Eastern-University

Eastern-Virginia-Med

Eastern-Washington

Eastman-Music

Economics-Institute

Eden-Theological

Edgewood-College

Edinboro-PA

Elizabeth-City

Elmhurst-College

Elmira-College

Elms-College

Elon-University

Embry-Riddle

Emerson-College

Emmanuel-College

Emmanuel-Religion

Emory-University

Emperors-College

Emporia-State

Endicott-College

Episcopal-Divinity

Episcopal-Theological

Erikson-Institute

Erskine-College

European-Grad-School

Evangel-University

Evangelical-Seminary-PR

Evangelical-Theology

Evergreen-State

Fairfield-University

Fairleigh-Dickinson

Faith-Baptist-Seminary

Faith-Seminary

Fashion-Institute-SUNY

Faulkner-University

Fayetteville-State

Felician-College

Ferris-State

First-Natl-Naturopathy

Fisk-University

Fitchburg-State

Five-Branches

Five-Towns-College

Florida-AM-University

Florida-Atlantic

Florida-Coastal-Law

Florida-Gulf-Coast

Florida-Insti-Chinese

Florida-Institute-Tech

Florida-Intl-Univ

Florida-Metropolitan

Florida-Southern

Florida-State

Fontbonne-University

Fordham-University

Forest-Institute-Psych

Fort-Hays-State

Fort-Valley-State

Framingham-State

Francis-Marion

Franciscan-Steubenville

Franciscan-Theology

Frank-Lloyd-Wright

Franklin-Pierce-Law

Franklin-Pierce

Franklin-University

Freed-Hardeman

Fresno-Pacific

Friends-University

Frostburg-State

Fuller-Theological

Furman-University