GRE-VERBAL Free Sample Questions

The philosopher's latest treatise was largely a _______ of her earlier, more optimistic work; where she once saw promise in societal structures, she now perceives only entrenched, pernicious systems.

The councilwoman's reputation for being _______ was well-earned; she would equivocate and hedge for weeks before taking a firm stance on any controversial issue.

The following passage discusses the economic concept of a Giffen good. "A Giffen good is a rare type of inferior good that defies standard economic theory. For most products, a price increase leads to a decrease in quantity demanded, a principle known as the law of demand. However, for a Giffen good, a price increase results in an increase in quantity demanded. This paradoxical behavior occurs because the income effect of the price change dominates the substitution effect. For this to happen, the good must be a significant portion of a consumer's budget and must be an inferior good, meaning demand for it decreases as consumer income rises. A classic, though debated, example is the potato during the Irish famine. As potato prices rose, impoverished families, who relied on potatoes as a dietary staple, could no longer afford more expensive foods like meat. Consequently, they had to spend even more of their limited income on potatoes, the cheapest available calorie source, thus increasing the quantity demanded despite the price rise." Based on the passage, which of the following is the primary reason a Giffen good exhibits paradoxical demand behavior?

While the new CEO was known for his (i)_______ management style, his decisions were surprisingly (ii)_______, often incorporating feedback from even the lowest-level employees and deviating from his own initial pronouncements.

The following passage analyzes the use of unreliable narrators in literature. "The unreliable narrator, a character whose credibility has been seriously compromised, is a powerful tool in fiction for exploring the subjectivity of truth and experience. This narrative device forces readers to question the very foundation of the story they are consuming, transforming them from passive recipients of information into active investigators. Rather than accepting the narrator's account at face value, the reader must scrutinize inconsistencies, biases, and omissions to piece together a more objective reality. This creates a profound dramatic irony, as the reader often becomes aware of the narrator's self-deception or manipulation long before the narrator does, if ever. The effectiveness of this technique lies in its ability to mirror the complexities of real-world perception, where personal histories and motivations invariably color the telling of any story." According to the passage, which of the following are effects of using an unreliable narrator? (Select TWO that apply)

Despite the veneer of _________, the diplomat was a shrewd negotiator, adept at securing advantages for his country while maintaining an air of friendly cooperation.

Based on the passage about Giffen goods, is the following statement true or false? 'A good must be both a dietary staple and a significant portion of a consumer's budget to be classified as a Giffen good.'

This passage discusses the philosophical concept of 'qualia'. Qualia, the subjective, qualitative properties of experience, represent the 'what it is like' aspect of consciousness. Examples include the redness of red, the pang of jealousy, or the taste of a lemon. The problem of qualia is a central challenge to physicalist theories of mind, which hold that the universe, including the mind, is entirely physical. The 'knowledge argument' famously illustrates this challenge: Imagine Mary, a brilliant neuroscientist who has lived her entire life in a black-and-white room. She knows every physical fact about human color vision. She knows how specific wavelengths of light stimulate the retina and the exact neurological processes that occur when someone sees the color red. The question is: if Mary is released from the room and sees red for the first time, does she learn something new? Proponents of qualia argue she does; she learns 'what it is like' to see red. Since she already knew all the physical facts, this new knowledge must be of a non-physical property—a quale. This suggests that a complete physical description of the world is not a complete description of the world, leaving a critical explanatory gap. What is the primary function of the 'Mary's room' thought experiment in the passage?

The intern, hoping to impress her famously _______ manager, submitted a report that was exhaustive and detailed, but which unfortunately omitted the executive summary he always demanded.

Far from being a _________ of the study's conclusions, the professor was its most vociferous critic, publishing a lengthy rebuttal that questioned its methodology and data.