GRE Verbal : GRE Verbal Reasoning
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Verbal
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Example Questions
Example Question #1201 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
William Wordsworth describes __________ days spent amidst nature and nature's tranquility in his literary works, particularly in the well-known poem entitled Daffodils.
lugubrious
halcyon
ephemeral
wanton
enervating
halcyon
In his poems, Wordsworth writes about halcyon days spent in the serenity and calm of nature. Thus, the best fit in describing his naturalistic poetry is to describe the days he portrays as halcyon.
Example Question #1202 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
The __________ boxer often took his fighting outside the ring, getting into minor scuffles everywhere he went.
noisome
torpid
phlegmatic
bellicose
insular
bellicose
We're looking for a word that describes the boxer as being very war-like and eager to fight, so the answer is "bellicose," which means exactly that—aggressive and willing to fight.
Example Question #1203 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
The speaker's __________ lecture caused a large amount of controversy among the students.
tendentious
irreproachable
incomprehensible
extemporized
tortuous
tendentious
The sentence notes that the speaker's lecture "caused a large amount of controversy." The correct answer will reflect this ability to cause a strong reaction. "Tendentious," meaning biased or dogmatic, is the best choice among the answers.
Example Question #1204 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
The __________ reading assigment was difficult for many students to even finish, let alone comprehend.
complacent
heralded
tortuous
deferential
affable
tortuous
The book is mentioned to be "difficult" to "comprehend" by most students. This means the correct answer will reflect this difficulty. "Tortuous," meaning indirect and painfully long-winded, is the best choice among the answers.
Example Question #1205 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
The __________ movement was finding difficulty gaining traction and growing.
fortified
luminous
nascent
populist
heralded
nascent
The movement had "difficulty gaining traction and growing." This indicates the correct answer will show the movement was not very strong. "Nascent," meaning new or emerging, is the best choice among the answers.
Example Question #1206 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
The __________ illness showed itself as the patient lost fifty pounds in just a few months.
uplifting
tendentious
contentious
debilitating
immoderate
debilitating
The illness has caused the patient to lose "fifty pounds in a few months." This means the illness is severely harming the patient. "Debilitating," meaning weakening or draining, is the best answer choice.
Example Question #1207 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Angry villagers swung torches and pitchforks, and the __________ mob that they constituted threatened looked like it might become violent at any moment.
volatile
ostensible
contrite
onerous
aberrant
volatile
We're looking for an adjective that means something like unstable and conveys how a situation might grow worse. Since "volatile" means liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse, "volatile" is the correct answer.
Example Question #1208 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Many players viewed the old coach's speeches as being __________, and impossible to challenge in any way.
incognito
incoherent
inexplicable
inchoate
inerrant
inerrant
The players are "unable to challenge" the coach's speeches. This means the correct answer will indicate this inability to question the coach's words. "Inerrant," meaning completely correct and without errors, is the best choice among the answers.
Example Question #961 : Text Completion
"The __________ duke didn't really care which of the warring factions claimed the throne, so long as it bribed him to support its cause."
venal
insipid
invidious
guileful
timorous
venal
We're looking for an adjective that conveys how easily the duke is bribed. Since "venal" means "susceptible to bribery," it is the correct answer.
Example Question #962 : Text Completion
Because the supplies only arrived __________, the explorers never knew when they were going to run out of food, so they took to learning how to forage and hunt.
fortuitously
sporadically
salubriously
benignly
facetiously
sporadically
We're looking for an adverb that describes how the explorers didn't receive supplies on a regular schedule, but rather, received them at random. Because "sporadic" means "occurring at irregular intervals or only in a few places; scattered or isolated," "sporadically" is the best answer choice.
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