Verbal Reasoning Section - ETS

Describe and practice program analysis including strategies such as step-wise
refinement, solution by analogy, use of previously developed subalgorithms.
Select and use the correct control structure for a given problem including input,
output, assignment, conditional, looping, and method calls. Use features of an
OOP ...

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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.

Reading comprehension passages are drawn from the physical sciences, the
biological sciences, the social sciences, the arts and humanities, and
everyday topics, and are based on material found in books and periodicals,
both academic and nonacademic. The passages range in length from one
paragraph to four or five paragraphs.


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.

Answer: "But because sequestration does not affect the cost of
electricity transmission and distribution, delivered prices will rise less,
by no more than 50 percent."



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 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 1 |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 1 |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 c