GRE Verbal : GRE Verbal Reasoning
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Verbal
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Example Questions
Example Question #1411 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Fill in the blank with the best answer.
The cellist delivered a(n) _________ performance which demonstrated none of the passion and improvisation she was once known for.
ephemeral
exhaustive
perfunctory
meticulous
vogue
perfunctory
"Perfunctory" describes something superficially or hastily performed. In this context, the cellist, normally a passionate and improvising player, has a performance which is the opposite—either it's bad, boring, or rushed. No words adequately match with bad or boring, so rushed works.
Example Question #1412 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
George’s __________ nature became obvious when Martha’s small flub made him fly off the handle.
bucolic
equivocal
saturnine
quiescent
irascible
irascible
“Irascible” means quick to anger. This is the only choice that describes a person who reacts violently to a small “flub” or mistake.
Example Question #1413 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
Harris’s friends were worried by the ___________ poems he often wrote.
witty
ethereal
lugubrious
transcendent
sardonic
lugubrious
“Lugubrious” means overly gloomy or sad. It is the only choice that would make friends worry.
Example Question #1414 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
Critics dismissed the new TV show as “unoriginal” and “a __________ re-tread of every show of its kind we've seen in the last few years.”
banal
cogent
spurious
dogmatic
laconic
banal
The TV show is described as "unoriginal," and "banal" is the only synonym for that here. It means unoriginal and uninspiring.
Example Question #1415 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
Always needing a spotlessly clean working space, the man was __________ in dusting and organizing his office.
impartial
carefree
feeble
fastidious
apprehensive
fastidious
The man is obviously not "carefree," and there's nothing to show he is "apprehensive," "impartial," or "feeble." "Fastidious" makes the most sense.
Example Question #1416 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The __________ piece of jewelry shone brighter than any other in the store, but was fake and actually close to worthless.
ostentatious
genuine
economical
controversial
spurious
ostentatious
The answer needs to mean “showy, but not actually as good as it appears on the surface." "Ostentatious" means this.
Example Question #1417 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The __________ girl sat in the back and rarely spoke up in class, afraid to draw attention to herself.
diffident
enigmatic
intransigent
intrepid
effusive
diffident
The girl is obviously shy and afraid, which means she is "diffident."
Example Question #1418 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
As a newcomer to the subject, the student had to persevere and make sense of the __________ writings he found in his research.
cognizant
cogent
erudite
irksome
loquacious
erudite
The writings seem to be complicated and obscure, and thus hard to get through for a newcomer. This is the meaning of "erudite."
Example Question #1419 : Gre Verbal Reasoning
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The __________ subjects covered by the conference's talks range from robotics and programming to meditation and literature.
eclectic
hermeneutic
ostentatious
reviled
perceptive
eclectic
“Eclectic” denotes a broad or all-encompassing range of something, in this case, of subjects covered by the talks. As the sentence shows, the talks cover robotics to literature, which certainly represents a wide range of topics.
Example Question #1107 : Parts Of Speech In One Blank Texts
Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.
The recent transformation of the television show into season-long narratives has allowed television writers to tell more complex and __________ stories.
multifaceted
succinct
inane
unremarkable
desultory
multifaceted
The key word in the above sentence is “complex,” and its use with “and” tells you to look for a synonym of “complex.” Of the four answer choices, only "multifaceted" is a synonym for “complex.”
All GRE Verbal Resources
