GRE® Revised General Test: Verbal Reasoning Question Types
The GRE Verbal Reasoning section of the GRE revised General
Test contains three types of questions:
·
Reading Comprehension
·
Text Completion
·
Sentence Equivalence
Reading Comprehension questions appear in sets; Text
Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions are independent.
Reading
Comprehension Questions
There are three types of Reading Comprehension questions:
Multiple-choice
Questions—Select One Answer Choice: These
are the traditional multiple-choice questions with five answer choices of which
you must select one.
Multiple-choice
Questions—Select One or More Answer Choices: These provide three answer choices and ask
you to select all that are correct; one, two, or all three of the answer choices
may be correct. To gain credit for these questions, you must select all the
correct answers, and only those; there is no credit for partially correct
answers.
Select-in-Passage: The question asks you to click on the
sentence in the passage that meets a certain description. To answer the
question, you choose one of the sentences and click on it; clicking anywhere on
a sentence will highlight it.
Sample questions 1 to 3 below are based on this passage:
Policymakers must confront the dilemma that fossil fuels
continue to be an indispensable source of energy even though burning them
produces atmospheric accumulations of carbon dioxide that increase the
likelihood of potentially disastrous global climate change. Currently,
technology that would capture carbon dioxide emitted by power plants and
sequester it harmlessly underground or undersea instead of releasing it into
the atmosphere might double the cost of generating electricity. But because
sequestration does not affect the cost of electricity transmission and
distribution, delivered prices will rise less, by no more than 50 percent.
Research into better technologies for capturing carbon dioxide will undoubtedly
lead to lowered costs.
Sample Multiple-choice Question—Select One Answer Choice
1. The passage
implies which of the following about the current cost of generating
electricity?
A. It is higher
than it would be if better technologies for capturing carbon dioxide were available.
B. It is somewhat
less than the cost of electricity transmission and distribution.
C. It constitutes
at most half of the delivered price of electricity.
D. It is dwelt on
by policymakers to the exclusion of other costs associated with electricity
delivery.
E. It is not fully
recovered by the prices charged directly to electricity consumers.
Answer: C. It constitutes at most half of the
delivered price of electricity.
Sample Multiple-choice Question—Select One or More Answer Choices
Consider each of the three choices separately and select all
that apply.
2. The passage
suggests that extensive use of sequestration would, over time, have which of
the following consequences?
A. The burning of
fossil fuels would eventually cease to produce atmospheric accumulations of
carbon dioxide.
B. The proportion
of the delivered price of electricity due to generation would rise and then
decline.
C. Power plants
would consume progressively lower quantities of fossil fuels.
Answer: B. The proportion of the delivered price
of electricity due to generation would rise and then decline.
Sample Select-in-Passage Question
3. Select the
sentence that explains why an outcome of sequestration that might have been
expected would not occur.
Sample questions 4 to 6 below are based on this passage:
Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in
classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States
during the 1960’s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of
popular music without imitating it. Glass based two symphonies on music by rock
musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies’ sound is distinctively
his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass’s classical music,
which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock
music. Yet this use of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of
popular music. His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract
classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than
the classics.
Sample Multiple-choice Question—Select One Answer Choice
4. The passage
addresses which of the following issues related to Glass’s use of popular
elements in his classical compositions?
A. How it is
regarded by listeners who prefer rock to the classics
B. How it has
affected the commercial success of Glass’s music
C. Whether it has
contributed to a revival of interest among other composers in using popular
elements in their compositions
D. Whether it has
had a detrimental effect on Glass’s reputation as a composer of classical music
E. Whether it has
caused certain of Glass’s works to be derivative in quality
Answer: E. Whether it has caused certain of
Glass’s works to be derivative in quality
Sample Multiple-Choice Question—Select One or More Answer Choices
Consider each of the
three choices separately and select all that apply.
5. The passage
suggests that Glass’s work displays which of the following qualities?
A. A return to the
use of popular music in classical compositions
B. An attempt to
elevate rock music to an artistic status more closely approximating that of
classical music
C. A long-standing
tendency to incorporate elements from two apparently disparate musical styles
Answer: A (A return to the use of popular music
in classical compositions) and C (A long-standing tendency to incorporate
elements from two apparently disparate musical styles)
Sample Select-in-Passage Question
6. Select the
sentence that distinguishes two ways of integrating rock and classical music.
Answer: “His music is not a version of popular music packaged
to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock
rather than the classics.”
Text Completion Questions
Text Completion questions include a passage composed of one
to five sentences with one to three blanks. There are three answer choices per
blank, or five answer choices if there is a single blank. There is a single
correct answer, consisting of one choice for each blank. The examinee receives no
credit for partially correct answers.
Sample Text Completion Questions
Directions: For each blank select one entry from the
corresponding column of choices. Fill all blanks in the way that best completes
the text.
Text Completion Question 1.
It is refreshing to read a book about our planet by an
author who does not allow facts to be BLANK
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 BLANK
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 BLANK,
calling attention to the many aspects of planetary evolution that must be
better understood before we can accurately diagnose the condition of our
planet.
Answer choices for question 1.
|
Blank 2
|
Blank 3
|
|
|
overshadowed
|
enhance
|
plausibility of our hypotheses
|
|
invalidated
|
obscure
|
certainty of our entitlement
|
|
illuminated
|
underscore
|
superficiality of our theories
|
Answer: overshadowed, obscure, and superficiality
of our theories
Answer to Question 1 in Context:
It is refreshing to read a book about our planet by an
author who does not allow facts to be overshadowed
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 obscure
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 superficiality
of our theories, calling attention to the many aspects of planetary
evolution that must be better understood before we can accurately diagnose the
condition of our planet.
Text Completion Question 2.
Vain and prone to violence, Caravaggio could not handle
success: the more his BLANK as an artist increased,
the more BLANK his life
became.
Answer choices for question 2.
|
Blank 2
|
|
|
temperance
|
tumultuous
|
|
notoriety
|
providential
|
|
eminence
|
dispassionate
|
Answer: eminence and tumultuous
Answer to Question 2 in Context:
Vain and prone to violence, Caravaggio could not handle
success: the more his eminence as an artist increased,
the more tumultuous his life
became.
Text Completion Question 3.
The author’s BLANK
style renders a fascinating subject, the role played by luck in everyday life,
extraordinarily BLANK.
Answer choices for question 3.
|
Blank 2
|
|
|
soporific
|
pedantic
|
|
lucid
|
tedious
|
|
colloquial
|
opaque
|
Answer: soporific and tedious
Answer to Question 3 in Context:
The author’s soporific
style renders a fascinating subject, the role played by luck in everyday life,
extraordinarily tedious.
Text Completion Question 4.
From the outset, the concept of freedom of the seas from the
proprietary claims of nations was challenged by a contrary notion—that of the BLANK of the oceans for reasons
of national security and profit.
A. promotion
B. exploration
C. surveying
D. conservation
E. appropriation
Answer: E. appropriation
Answer to Question 4
in Context:
From the outset, the concept of freedom of the seas from the
proprietary claims of nations was challenged by a contrary notion—that of the appropriation of the oceans for
reasons of national security and profit.
Sentence Equivalence Questions
Sentence Equivalence questions consist of a single sentence,
one blank, and six answer choices. These questions require the examinee to
select two of the answer choices. The examinee receives no credit for partially
correct answers.
Sample Sentence Equivalence Questions
Directions: 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.
1. Although it does contain
some pioneering ideas, one would hardly characterize the work as BLANK.
A. orthodox
B. eccentric
C. original
D. trifling
E. conventional
F. innovative
Answer: C (original) and F (innovative)
2. The corporation expects
only BLANK increases in sales
next year despite a yearlong effort to revive its retailing business.
A. dynamic
B. predictable
C. expanding
D. modest
E. slight
F. volatile
Answer: D (modest) and E (slight)
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