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Admission Tests GRE GRE General Test Exam Practice Test

Demo: 42 questions
Total 407 questions

GRE General Test Questions and Answers

Question 1

The following appeared as a letter to the editor from the owner of a skate shop in Central Plaza.

"Two years ago the city council voted to prohibit skateboarding in Central Plaza. They claimed that skateboard users were responsible for litter and vandalism that were keeping other visitors from coming to the plaza. In the past two years, however, there has been only a small increase in the number of visitors to Central Plaza. and litter and vandalism are still problematic. Skateboarding is permitted in Monroe Park, however, and there is no problem with litter or vandalism there. In order to restore Central Plaza to its former glory, then, we recommend that the city lift its prohibition on skateboarding in the plaza."

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

Options:

Question 2

The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a Batavia newspaper

"The department of agriculture in Batavia reports that the number of dairy farms throughout the country is now 25 percent greater than it was 10 years ago. Dunne this same time period, however, the price of milk at the local Excello Food Market has increased from SI.50 to over S3.00 per gallon. To prevent farmers from continuing to receive excessive profits on an apparently increased supply of milk, the Batavia government should begin to regulate retail milk prices Such regulation is necessary to ensure fair prices for consumers."

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation

Options:

Question 3

The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a Batavia newspaper

"The department of agriculture in Batavia reports that the number of dairy farms throughout the country is now 25 percent greater than it was 10 years ago. During this same time period, however, the price of milk at the local Excello Food Market has increased from SI.50 to over $3.00 per gallon. To prevent farmers from continuing to receive excessive profits on an apparently increased supply of milk, the Batavia government should begin to regulate retail milk prices Such regulation is necessary to ensure fair prices for consumers."

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation

Options:

Question 4

The following appeared in a letter from the owner of the Sunnyside Towers apartment complex to its manager.

"Last week, all the showerheads in the first three buildings of the Sunnyside Towers complex were modified to restrict maximum water flow to one-third of what it used to be. Although actual readings of water usage before and after the adjustment are not yet available, the change will obviously result in a considerable savings for Sunnyside Corporation, since the corporation must pay for water each month. Except for a few complaints about low water pressure, no problems with showers have been reported since the adjustment. Clearly, modifying showerheads to restrict water flow throughout all twelve buildings in the Sunnyside Towers complex will increase our profits further."

Write a response in which you examine the stated and or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

Options:

Question 5

Claim: Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need in order to thrive.

Reason: It is primarily in cities that a nation's cultural traditions are preserved and generated.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.

Options:

Question 6

The following appeared in a memo from the president of Bower Builders, a company that constructs new homes.

"A nationwide survey reveals that the two most-desired home features are a large family room and a large, well-appointed kitchen. A number of homes in our area built by our competitor Domus Construction have such features and have sold much faster and at significantly higher prices than the national average. To boost sales and profits, we should increase the size of the family rooms and kitchens in all the homes we build and should make state-of-the-art kitchens a standard feature. Moreover, our larger family rooms and kitchens can come at the expense of the dining room, since many of our recent buyers say they do not need a separate dining room for family meals."

Write a response in which you examine the stated and or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

Options:

Question 7

Colleges and universities should require their students to spend at least one semester studying in a foreign country.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with (lie claim. In developing and supporting your position- be sure to address the most compelling reasons and or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

Options:

Question 8

No act is done purely for the benefit of

Claim: others

All actions—even those that seem to be done

for other people—are based on self-interest.

Reason-

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.

Options:

Question 9

The landmasses that we see on Earth today have moved around the globe, smashing together and splitting apart several times over the past 3 billion years. These cycles of (i)_________and (ii)_________have affected Earth's crust and underlying mantle, its atmosphere and climate, and the life ii supports.

Options:

A.

stability

B.

collapse

C.

entropy

D.

dispersal

E.

amalgamation

F.

renewal

Question 10

The story lines of silent dramas may often have been_________. yet within those basic narrative outlines,

the true artists among silent-film actors could express emotional shadings that have no analogue in spoken

Options:

A.

language.

B.

implausible

C.

incredible

D.

conventional

E.

elemental

F.

rudimentary

G.

confusing

Question 11

Other company insiders have recently offered testimony that_________several of the more lurid anecdotes found in

Belmer's account, though that testimony hardly minimizes the company's culture of malfeasance and mismanagement.

Options:

A.

tempers

B.

corroborates

C.

outdoes

D.

exploits

E.

foreshadows

Question 12

Discussions of the collapse of the lowland Maya are not new. However, it might be better to say that Maya civilization as a whole did not collapse, although many zones did experience profound change. Because societies are not bounded, unitary entities. collapses are rarely total, and continuity is a normal pan of collapse At the end of the Classic period [200-900 C.E.]. the institution of divine kingship and many of the well-known markers of elite culture such a-, caned stelae [slabs erected for funerals or commemorative purposes] and hieroglyphic polychromes [multicolored artistic pottery] ended, but Maya civilization continued in modified form with many important features intact (e.g.. literacy, war. art. the production of fine ceramics). In some cases large buildings were constructed in the Postclassic period [900-1512 C.E.], but the transition to the Early Postclassic [900-1200 C.E.] era is distinctive for a decrease in elite goods and contexts. The variability in artifact changes during the Terminal Classic [800-900 C.E.] and into the Postclassic. even within artifact classes (e.g.. line versus unslipped ceramics), suggests weaker centralized control than during the Classic period. Site abandonments in the Terminal Classic indicate the collapse of the functional ability of Maya states, but sites that survived show that Maya civilization continued albeit without divine kingship and much of the spectacle around it.

According to the passage, which of the following statements about the institution of divine kingship is true?

Options:

A.

It remained strong through the end of the Classic period.

B.

It was not a feature of the Poslclassic period.

C.

Its demise led to the collapse of Maya civilization.

D.

Its importance has been overestimated by many scholars.

E.

Its spectacle became too onerous a burden for Maya society to support.

Question 13

Like paleontologists who interpret timescales from fossil evidence, we infer the history of star formation in the Milks' Way galaxy from the heavy-element composition of its stars. According to the big bang theory of the origin of the universe, the first gas clouds—and the first generation of stars formed from them—were composed of pure hydrogen and helium; most heavier elements— iron and calcium, for example—came later, created by explosions of supernovas, massive stars in their death thaws. Loaded with heavy elements, material ejected from supernovas enriched the interstellar gas clouds from which the next generation of stars formed, the level of heavy elements increasing with succeeding generations. Because most stars live for many billions of years and because the Milky Way is thus composed of multiple stellar generations, comparing the number of stars of low heavy-element abundance with those of high heavy-element abundance enables astronomers to untangle the history of star formation in the Milky Way.

The passage implies that if a star contains calcium, then the

Options:

A.

star does not belong to the first generation of stars

B.

star does not contain any hydrogen or helium

C.

calcium was not formed by the explosion of a supernova

Question 14

The poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) was the premier Black writer of poetry that used the dialect of rural African Americans of the southern United States. Although Dunbar's works were both popular with readers am! acclaimed by literary critics during his lifetime, after the First World War a radical shift occurred, at least in critical opinion of his poetry, and twentieth-century critical evaluation of his work has been generally negative. Some critics attacked his work on social grounds for failing to challenge plantation stereotypes of African Americans. Other critics, such as the poet James Weldon Johnson, argued from aesthetic grounds that dialect poetry in general was too limited as an artistic medium, and capable of producing only two effects: pathos and humor. The negative critical trend only began to reverse itself in the 1970s, when scholars began to emphasize the importance of mythic, psyclwlogical. and historical dimensions of Dunbar's works, focusing on the interior and exterior realities of African American life after the Civil War.

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage concerning Litrary critics’ evaluations of Dunbar's poetry?

Options:

A.

During Dunbar's lifetime, critics did not commonly evaluate his works according to aesthetic criteria.

B.

Negative critical evaluations of Dunbar's poetry on social grounds caused his work to become less popular with the reading public in the period following the First World War.

C.

In the period between the First World War and the 1970s, critics did not commonly evaluate Dunbar's works in terms of psychological and historical considerations.

D.

A reversal of a negative critical trend led to wider popularity of Dunbar's works among the reading public in the 1970s.

E.

In the 1970s, scholars began to reevaluate Dunbar's work in the light of James Weldon Johnson's criticism of the limitations of dialect poetry.

Question 15

Experimental magazine essays are quite in vogue, but many of the characteristic that now seem innovative will doubtless look (1)________in thirty years" time; a vaunted self-consciousness will look affected, a fractured style, far from appearing (ii)________ will appear (lii)________instead.

Options:

A.

mannered

B.

groundbreaking

C.

foreign

D.

radical

E.

conventional

F.

pretentious

G.

quaint

Question 16

Because they require abstraction and generalization, many theories end up_________practical relevance as they tail to capture the richness and complexity of phenomena encountered in real settings.

Options:

A.

lacking

B.

enshrining

C.

elevating

D.

repudiating

E.

wanting

F.

supplanting

Question 17

One difficulty in convincing early scientists that craters fanned as a result of impacts from space is that most craters are circular. Impacts could come in at any angle, and experiments firing projectiles in the laboratory show that low-angle impacts lead to elliptical craters, not circular ones. Furthermore, while there was rarely evidence of any impacting object, there was often silicate melt around, suggesting that craters were caused by volcanic processes. The breakthrough in understanding crater origin was the recognition that the shock caused by the impacting object—not the object itself—creates a circular crater some twenty Times larger than the diameter of the impactor. The impact also generates enough heat to largely vaporize the impactor and melt the native rock.

What can be inferred from the passage about the silicate melt found around craters?

Options:

A.

It was not caused exclusively by volcanic processes.

B.

It led early scientists to consider volcanic activity as a cause of crater formation.

C.

It can probably be explained by the intense heat caused by impact

Question 18

There is a long-standing historical presumption that social custom during ihe early years of the United States forbade women from public speaking. In fact, though, the standard mode of education of the 1790s and early 1800s. which emphasized oral recitation and performance, taught girls that educated and well-spoken women had an important role to play in American society. By depicting skilled speech as a necessary talent for women in a civilized society, elocutionary education encouraged a certain degree of female ambition and even political involvement. Transmitted via standard, inexpensive schoolbooks. this message reached virtually all who read schoolbooks or attended schools. This environment did not last long, however: even by the 1S10s. attitudes about women's education had changed considerably.

The passage suggests that women's education during the IS 10s differed from women's education during the 1790s and early 1800s in that women's education during the 1810s

Options:

A.

placed less emphasis on public speaking

B.

emphasized the relationship between rhetorical skills and civic virtue

C.

assumed that women could become politically active

D.

was based on a more modem vision of what constituted civilized society

E.

suffered from the reduced availability of inexpensive textbooks

Question 19

Edited collections of scholarly essays generally lend to be somewhat uneven: they suffer from the_______ subject matter of the various essays, the lack of an overarching and consistent thesis, and the variable quality of the contributions.

Options:

A.

intriguing

B.

heterogeneous

C.

comprehensive

D.

disparate

E.

mediocre

F.

engaging

Question 20

Recent research has questioned the long-standing view of pearly mussels as exclusively suspension feeders (animals that strain suspended particles from water) that subsist on phytoplankton (mostly algae). Early studies of mussel feeding were based on analyses of gut contents, a method that has three weaknesses. First, material in mucus-bound gut contents is difficult to identify and quantify. Second, material found in the gut may pass undigested out of the mussel, not contributing to its nutrition. Finally, examination of gut contents offers limited insight into the mechanisms and behaviors by which mussels acquire food. Modem studies suggest that pearly mussels feed on more than just algae and may use other means than suspension feeding. Pedal feeding (sweeping up edible material with a muscular structure called the foot) has been observed in juvenile pearly mussels.

Besides the phytoplankton pearly mussels capture from the water column, their guts also contain small animals, protozoans, and detritus (nonliving particulate organic material). Recent studies show that mussels can capture and assimilate bacteria as well, a potentially important source of food in many fresh waters. Another potential source of food for mussels is dissolved organic matter. Early studies showing that pearly mussels could take up simple organic compounds were largely discounted because such labile (unstable) compounds are rarely abundant in nature. Nevertheless, recent work on other bivalves suggests that dissolved organic matter may be a significant source of nutrition.

Of this complex mix of materials that pearly mussels acquire, what is actually required and assimilated? Stable-isotope analyses of mussels taken from nature and of captive-reared mussels are beginning to offer some insight into this question. Nichols and Garling showed that pearly mussels in a small river were omnivorous, subsisting mainly on particles less than 2S micrometers in diameter, including algae, detritus, and bacteria. Bacterially derived carbon was apparently the primary source of soft-tissue carbon. However, bacteria alone cannot support mussel growth, because they lack the necessary long-chain fatty acids and sterols and are deficient in some amino acids. Bacteria may supplement other food resources, provide growth factors, or be the primary food In habitats such as headwater streams, where phytoplankton is scarce. Juvenile mussels have been most successfully reared m the laboratory on diets containing algae high in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Thus, it appears that the pearly mussel diet in nature may consist of algae, bacteria, detritus, and small animals and that at least some algae and bacteria may be required as a source of essential biochemicals.

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the research findings of Nichols and Garling?

Options:

A.

They are based on analyses of gut contents of pearly mussels.

B.

They suggest that pearly mussels are unable to assimilate bacteria.

C.

They demonstrate the importance to pearly mussels of long-chain fatty acids.

D.

They contradict the long-standing view mentioned at the beginning of the passage.

E.

They shed light on a puzzling phenomenon detailed in the second paragraph.

Question 21

Mathematicians have sometimes acknowledged that_________is a requirement for creativity: for example. Poincare described explicitly a time when he experienced an insight after an incubation period, a period during which the unconscious mind was at work.

Options:

A.

intelligence

B.

preparation

C.

motivation assistance

D.

collaboration

Question 22

A company has assets worth SI50.000 and liabilities worth S70.000. giving it an asset-to-liability ratio of approximately 2.1. The company will borrow x dollars, and the amount borrowed will be added to both the assets and the liabilities. If the asset-to-liability ratio is to be greater than 1.2 after the money is borrowed, which of the following could be the value of x ?

Indicate all such values.

Options:

A.

300.000

B.

320.000

C.

340.000

D.

360.000

Question 23

Options:

A.

Quantity A is greater.

B.

Quantity B is greater.

C.

The two quantities are equal.

D.

The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Question 24

A)

B)

C)

D)

E)

Options:

A.

Option A

B.

Option B

C.

Option C

D.

Option D

E.

Option E

Question 25

The lengths of the sides of triangle RST are 3. 4. and v. Which of the following inequalities specifies those values of y for which each angle measure of mangle RST is less than 90° ?

A)

B)

C)

D)

E)

Options:

A.

Option A

B.

Option B

C.

Option C

D.

Option D

Question 26

The figure shows a semicircle intersected by a straight line in the rectangular coordinate system. What is the area of the shaded region?

Options:

A.

π - 2

B.

π - 4

C.

4π - 2

D.

4π - 4

E.

16π - 2

Question 27

Options:

A.

Quantity A is greater.

B.

Quantity B is greater.

C.

The two quantities are equal.

D.

The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Question 28

The circle graph above shows the results of a survey conducted at a high school in which each student was asked to name one favorite sport, if any. Of the students who named a favorite sport, what percent of students named either baseball or hockey?

Options:

A.

15.75%

B.

21%

C.

28%

D.

31.5%

E.

42%

Question 29

Of the 2.896 people who voted on a certain issue. the number who voted yes and the number who voted no are shown in the table. classified by age-group. Which of the following statements are true?

Indicate all such statements.

Options:

A.

Of all the people who voted- the number of voters from the 40-to-49 age-group was more than the number of voters from any of the other age-groups shown.

B.

There were more votes of no on the issue than votes of yes.

C.

The median age of all the people who voted was in the 50-to-59 age-group.

Question 30

Exhibit.

A group of 3 different investors is to be randomly selected from the 5 investors shown. What is the probability that, for at least 2 of the 3 investors selected, the number of shares of Stock X purchased and then sold will be less than 1.5 times the corresponding number for stock Y?

A)

B)

C)

D)

E)

Options:

A.

Option A

B.

Option B

C.

Option C

D.

Option D

E.

Option E

Question 31

Of the 67 children residing on a certain street, 52 children enjoy biking and 21 children enjoy roller-skating. If all but 5 of the children enjoy biking or roller-skating or both, how many of the children enjoy either biking or roller-skating, but not both biking and roller-skating?

Options:

A.

11

B.

31

C.

51

D.

61

E.

62

Question 32

In the at-plane, line k intersects the rectangle shown at points P and O. Which of the following represents the slope of line k ?

A)

B)

C)

D)

E)

Options:

A.

Option

B.

Option

C.

Option

D.

Option

E.

Option

Question 33

A certain train will travel from City A to City B. and then back to City A along the same route. The train is scheduled to spend a total of T hours traveling lime for the round-trip. The train travels from City A to City B in 13 hours, traveling at an average speed of 25 miles per hour. If the train is to arrive exactly on schedule, at what average speed must the train travel from City B to City A ?

A)

B)

C)

D)

E)

Options:

A.

Option

B.

Option

C.

Option

D.

Option

E.

Option

Question 34

Options:

A.

Quantity A is greater.

B.

Quantity B is greater.

C.

The two quantities are equal.

D.

The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Question 35

Exhibit.

Options:

A.

Quantity A is greater.

B.

Quantity B is greater.

C.

The two quantities are equal.

D.

The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Question 36

In sets A and B shown, I < v < y < z. Which of the following statement is about .1 and H must be true? Indicate all such statements.

Options:

A.

The average (arithmetic mean) of the numbers in A is equal to the average of the numbers in B.

B.

The median of the numbers in A is equal to the median of the numbers in B.

C.

The range of the numbers in A is greater than the range of the numbers in B.

Question 37

Options:

A.

Quantity A is greater.

B.

Quantity B is greater.

C.

The two quantities are equal.

D.

The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Question 38

All applicants for a certain job will take a skills test. An applicant who scores 80 percent or greater on the test has a probability of 0.65 of being hired.

Options:

A.

Quantity A is greater.

B.

Quantity B is greater.

C.

The two quantities are equal.

D.

The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Question 39

Options:

A.

Quantity A is greater.

B.

Quantity B is greater.

C.

The two quantities are equal.

D.

The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Question 40

What is the range of the seven numbers in the set T ?

A)

B)

C)

D

Options:

A.

Option A

B.

Option B

C.

Option C

D.

Option D

Question 41

The three children in the Alden family contributed 30 percent of the amount budgeted for savings. The oldest child contributed SI50 more than the youngest child, and the middle child contributed $60 more than the youngest child. What was the median of the amounts that the children contributed to savings ?

Options:

A.

$230

B.

$270

C.

$290

D.

$300

E.

$380

Question 42

A list of the names of the people of the entire 1990 foreign-born population in neighborhood V was generated, with each person's name appearing once. The names of 2 different people will be randomly selected from the list. Which of the following is closest to the probability that both names selected will be names of people whose region of origin was "Other"?

Options:

A.

0.01

B.

0.11

C.

0.39

D.

0.49

Demo: 42 questions
Total 407 questions