GRE Verbal – Practice Questions

241.It comes as no surprise that societies have codes of behavior; the character of the codes, on the other hand, can often be.

(A) predictable
(B) unexpected
(C) admirable
(D) explicit
(E) confusing

242. The characterization of historical analysis as a form of fiction is not likely to be received by either historians or literary critics, who agree that history and fiction deal with orders of experience.

(A) quietly … significant
(B) enthusiastically … shifting
(C) passively … unusual
(D) sympathetically … distinct
(E) contentiously … realistic

243. For some time now, has been presumed not to exist: the cynical conviction that everybody has an angle is considered wisdom.

(A) rationality
(B) flexibility
(C) diffidence
(D) disinterestedness
(E) insincerity

244. The of mass literacy coincided with the first industrial revolution; in turn, the new expansion in literacy, as well as cheaper printing, helped to nurture the of popular literature.

(A) building … mistrust
(B) reappearance … display
(C) receipt … source
(D) selection … influence
(E) emergence … rise

245. Although ancient tools were preserved, enough have survived to allow us to demonstrate an occasionally interrupted but generally _ progress through prehistory.

(A) partially … noticeable
(B) superficially … necessary
(C) unwittingly … documented
(D) rarely … continual
(E) needlessly … incessant

246.In parts of the Arctic, the land grades into the land fast ice so that you can walk off the coast and not know you are over the hidden sea.

(A) permanently
(B) imperceptibly
(C) irregularly
(D) precariously
(E) slightly

247. Kagan maintains that an infant’s reactions to its first stressful experiences are part of a natural process of development, not harbingers of childhood unhappiness or signs of adolescent anxiety.

(A) prophetic
(B) normal
(C) monotonous
(D) virtual
(E) typical

248.An investigation that is _ can occasionally yield new facts, even notable ones, but typically the appearance of such facts is the result of a search in a definite direction.

(A) timely
(B) unguided
(C) consistent
(D) uncomplicated
(E) subjective

249.Like many eighteenth-century scholars who lived by cultivating those in power, Winckelmann neglected to neutralize, by some gesture of comradeship, the resentment his peers were bound to feel because of his the high and mighty.

(A) quixotic … intrigue with
(B) enigmatic … familiarity with
(C) propitiatory … involvement with
(D) salutary … questioning of
(E) unfeigned … sympathy for

250.In a society that worships efficiency, it is difficult for a sensitive and idealistic person to make the kinds of decisions that alone spell success as it is defined by such a society.

(A) bureaucratic … edifying
(B) pragmatic … hardheaded
(C) rational … well-intentioned
(D) competitive … evenhanded
(E) modern … dysfunctional

251.Because they had expected the spacecraft Voyager 2 to be able to gather data only about the planets Jupiter and Saturn, scientists were the wealth of information it sent back from Neptune twelve years after leaving Earth.

(A) disappointed in
(B) concerned about
(C) confident in
(D) elated by
(E) anxious for

252.Wearing the latest fashions was exclusively the of the wealthy until the 1850’s, when mass production, aggressive entrepreneurs, and the availability of the sewing machine made them the middle class.

(A) aspiration … disagreeable to
(B) vexation … superfluous for
(C) bane … profitable to
(D) prerogative … accessible to
(E) obligation … popular with

253.Linguists have now confirmed what experienced users of ASL—American Sign Language—have always implicitly known: ASL is a grammatically language in that it is capable of expressing every possible syntactic relation.

(A) limited
(B) economical
(C) complete
(D) shifting
(E) abstract

254.He was regarded by his followers, as something of , not only because of his insistence on strict discipline, but also because of his adherence to formal details.

(A) a martinet … rigid
(B) an authority … sporadic
(C) a tyrant … reluctant
(D) a fraud … conscientious
(E) an acolyte … maniacal

255. The influence of the Timaeus among early philosophical thinkers was , if only because it was the sole dialogue in Europe for almost 1,000 years.

(A) pervasive … available
(B) inestimable … suppressed
(C) unnoteworthy … abridged
(D) underestimated … studied
(E) circumscribed … translated

256.The Gibsons were little given to in any form; not one of them was afraid of , of being and seeming unlike their neighbors.

(A) humility … absurdity
(B) excellence … mediocrity
(C) anger … confrontation
(D) conformism … singularity
(E) ostentation … eccentricity

257.Even after against the of popular sovereignty were included, major figures in the humanistic disciplines remained skeptical about the proposal to extend suffrage to the masses.

(A) recommendations … continuation
(B) safeguards … excesses
(C) arguments … introduction
(D) provisions … advantages
(E) laws … creation

258. A recent survey shows that, while ninety-four percent of companies conducting management- training programs open them to women, women are only seventy-four percent of those programs.

(A) protesting against
(B) participating in
(C) displeased by
(D) allowed in
(E) refused by

259.Thomas Paine, whose political writing was often flamboyant, was in private life a surprisingly man: he lived in rented rooms, ate little, and wore drab clothes.

(A) simple
(B) controversial
(C) sordid
(D) comfortable
(E) discourteous

260.Their of loyalties is first to oneself, next to kin, then to fellow tribe members, and finally to compatriots.

(A) merging
(B) hierarchy
(C) definition
(D) judgment
(E) cognizance

261.The belief that science destroys the arts appears to be supported by historical evidence that the arts have only when the sciences have been .

(A) declined … attacked
(B) flourished … neglected
(C) matured … unconcerned
(D) succeeded … developed
(E) floundered … constrained

261.The action and characters in a melodrama can be so immediately _ that all observers can hiss the villain with an air of smug but enjoyable .

(A) spurned … boredom
(B) forgotten … condescension
(C) classified … self-righteousness
(D) plausible … guilt
(E) gripping … skepticism

262.In the design of medical experiments, the need for assignment of treatments to patients must be the difficulty of persuading patients to participate in an experiment in which their treatment is decided by chance.

(A) independent … amended by
(B) competent … emphasized by
(C) mechanical … controlled by
(D) swift … associated with
(E) random … reconciled with

263.Though dealers insist that professional art dealers can make money in the art market, even an knowledge is not enough: the art world is so fickle that stock-market prices are by comparison.

(A) amateur’s … sensible
(B) expert’s … erratic
(C) investor’s … booming
(D) insider’s … predictable
(E) artist’s … irrational

264. Although economists have traditionally considered the district to be solely an agricultural one, the of the inhabitants’ occupations makes such a classification obsolete.

(A) productivity
(B) diversity
(C) predictability
(D) profitability
(E) stability

265.The author of this book _ overlooks or minimizes some of the problems and shortcomings in otherwise highly successful foreign industries in order to the points on which they excel and on which we might try to emulate them.

(A) accidentally … exaggerate
(B) purposely … emphasize
(C) occasionally … counterbalance
(D) intentionally … confuse
(E) cleverly … compound

266.Crosby’s colleagues have never learned, at least not in time to avoid embarrassing themselves, that her occasional air of befuddlement a display of her formidable intelligence.

(A) genuine … dominates
(B) alert … contradicts
(C) acute … precludes
(D) bogus … presages
(E) painstaking … succeeds

267.To ensure the development and exploitation of a new technology, there must be a constant of several nevertheless distinct activities.

(A) interplay
(B) implementation
(C) comprehending
(D) improvement
(E) exploration

268.Some customs travel well; often, however, behavior that is considered the epitome of at home is perceived as impossibly rude or, at the least, harmlessly bizarre abroad.

(A) novelty
(B) eccentricity
(C) urbanity
(D) coarseness
(E) tolerance

269.The of the early Greek philosophers’ attempts to explain the operations of the cosmos led certain later thinkers to inquire into the of human reason.

(A) difficulty … origin
(B) meaning … supremacy
(C) complexity… reality
(D) equivocations … subtlety
(E) failures … efficacy

270.Ever prey to vagrant impulses that impelled him to his talents on a host of unworthy projects, his very nonetheless enhanced his reputation, for the sheer energy of his extravagance dazzled observers.

(A) undermine … enthusiasm
(B) isolate … selectiveness
(C) display … affability
(D) squander … dissipation
(E) implicate … genius

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