Verbal tests 1

It was not for a(n) _____ of effort that Emerson found himself near the middle of the class; after all, he was attending one of the most competitive law programs in the country. diminution want surge excess lack lessening

Answers: (B), (E) The keywords 'he was attending...competitive' show that Emerson position at the middle of the class did not result from his lack of effort. (A) diminution means reduction in the size of something (B) want, as a second definition, means lack (C) surge is a sudden increase (D) excess is too much (E) lack fits perfectly (F) It was not for a lessening of effort does not work idiomatically

Had the committee any (i) ______________ that it was being investigated for fraud, surely it would have been more (ii) ______________ in trying to cloak any venality. Blank (i) question inkling hindsight Blank (ii) suspicious hesitant diligent

"Cloak any venality" is the key phrase, which roughly translated means hide any wrongdoing. Therefore, if the company knew, or had an inkling, it was being investigated for fraud, it would have been careful, or been more diligent, to cover up any wrongdoing.

For a writer with a reputation for both prolixity and inscrutability, Thompson, in this slim collection of short stories, may finally be intent on making his ideas more ________________ to a readership looking for quick edification. aesthetic prescient palatable inaccessible transcendent

"Prolixity" and "inscrutability" convey that this person's writing is really, really difficult to understand (inscrutable) and is really wordy (prolix). The "finally intent" indicates that Thompson is now making his works easier to read. (C) means agreeable and satisfactory for. (A) is incorrect because aesthetic, which means relating to beauty, doesn't quite capture the sentence that the books have become more accessible to readers. Just because something is beautiful does not mean it is successful. (B) is a word that describes having a good sense of future events. (C) The answer. (D) is the opposite of the blank. (E) implies something that goes beyond the normal. The focus of the sentence is the fact that Thompson has made his idea more easy to digest. Transcendent is a word leaning in the other direction.

For one undertaking such a complex dissertation, Marcus gave a remarkably ________ response when the committee asked him a probing question, thereby creating the impression that he had only a superficial knowledge of the subject.

(A) facile and (D) shallow are the correct answers. The clues are "creating impression...only a superficial knowledge". Therefore the response has to be a synonym with superficial. A second definition of facile is superficial knowledge, so facile and shallow are correct.

In the last few decades, technological progress has proceeded at such a dizzying rate that, beyond the obvious advantages a given technology confers on the user, the non-specialist becomes ________ when pressed to explain how anything really works.

(B) bewildered and (D) nonplussed are the correct answers. The clues are "technological progress...proceeding...dizzying degree...non-specialist" Because technology has changed so quickly, non-specialist becomes confused when forced to explain answer. Bewildered and nonplussed synonyms for confused.

Pearson's prose has become increasingly ________ : even those who once extolled his intricate metaphors now believe that the excessive use of such language only serves to undermine any semblance of narrative. unguarded ornate embellished vague lucid truculent

(B) ornate and (C) embellished are the correct answers. The clues are "once extolled...intricate metaphors...excessive use". Pearson was once praised for his metaphors, now he overuses them. Therefore his language has become more vague, difficult to understand, embellished. Obviously many of these words can fit. When this is the case, always remember, two answers have to be similar words. The two synonyms, (B) and (C) work because they both mean to become more decorated and detailed. As Pearson uses more intricate metaphors his prose becomes more ornate.

Some minor governmental bungling in the environmental sector can ____________ what many watchdog organizations are declaiming as gross negligence: indeed entire swathes of once fertile land now gone barren ____________ flaws in state policy. Blank (i) certainly mitigate clearly misrepresent hardly account for Blank (ii) cannot solely be attributed to can eventually be traced to result directly from

(C), (D) This is a very difficult sentence to crack open. A good approach is to plug in answer choices and see which ones result in a coherent and logical meaning. While this may not sound very time-efficient, on a difficult sentence like this one, you are likely to waste more time trying to figure out the sentence (but probably to no avail). When plugging in those answer choices, of course we want to keep in mind a couple of keywords from text. First, we see the colon and the word "indeed," which means there is some elaboration in this sentence. The first half and the second half convey the same message. Besides that, take note of the parallel between "minor governmental bungling" and "gross negligence." These are similar, but there's a key difference between "minor" and "gross." This connection makes the first blank look a bit easier to work with, so we'll start there. But if we try to make a prediction, it's a bit tricky--either "explain" or "can't explain," for example, COULD make sense, depending on the intended message. That's why we start plugging in answer choices, here; it's too hard to make a reasonable guess beforehand. Only (C) hardly account for makes sense. Bungling can neither "mitigate" nor "misrepresent" negligence. Once the first blank is clear, take a quick step back and check if the sentence makes a bit more sense. From the meaning of that first part of the sentence, we can possibly make a prediction for the second half or just continue plugging in. Keep in mind that plugging in like this is second-tier strategy! It's much better to predict the answer before looking at choices whenever possible. For the second blank, we need (D) cannot solely be attributed to create a logical and coherent meaning. Some small errors on the government's part (the "minor bungling" from the beginning) cannot be entirely blamed for the fact that entire areas of land have gone barren (the "gross negligence"). The relationship of these two problems, "flaws" and barren land, is the same as the relationship between the two problems in the first half of the sentence. Again, that's because this is an elaboration sentence, as shown by "indeed."

irreparable

(of an injury or loss) impossible to rectify or repair: they were doing irreparable damage to my heart and lungs.

Because reading on the Web entails quickly scanning and sorting through a deluge of information, many wonder if our level of engagement with the text has been ____________ or if the ability to read closely and carefully is one that can be ____________ if we simply spend more time immersed in a book. Blank (i) irreparably compromised tentatively disrupted permanently restored Blank (ii) fully reactivated further degraded summarily disregarded

A - D (A) irreparably compromised, on the other hand, implies that "the level of engagement" may always be compromised. The 'or' in the sentence indicates that we need an opposite to (A). (D) fully reactivated supplies this contrast.

FAQ: I don't understand the phrase "hold us in thrall." "To thrall" is literally to enslave somebody. I Googled it and found that this expression is always used to denote its literary meaning. Can you explain this.

A: Great question! "Hold us in thrall" can be used either to mean "exciting" or "enslave" (or something less powerful than "enslave" like "confine or detain"). It might be more useful to consider the meaning of "hold in thrall" as "captivating." Something that is "captivating" can either be so interesting we can't look away, or more literally, if we are "captivated" we are captured or held in submission. This is the other meaning.

FAQ: Doesn't juvenile mean "still developing?" Wouldn't that make sense?

A: If we used the word "juvenile" in the first blank, it would mean that the special effects only appeal to children. It's very often a negative word, and we need something positive for that first blank. Only occasionally is "juvenile" a neutral word, and that's usually in a more technical (medical or legal) sense.

Freudianism sits alongside Marxism and Darwinism in the pantheon of modern theories held to be so revelatory that they not only gained the adherence of Western intelligentsia but shaped the broader culture. During the first half of the twentieth century, an air of intrigue and mystery hovered around Freud's newly anointed practitioners: psychotherapists. They occupied a strange universe, speaking in a language so incomprehensible but seemingly authoritative that it alternately awed and scared the average man on the street. Psychotherapy is no longer an intellectual movement today as it once was. But in the form of modern professional "caring," it has assumed a new role, which is to provide a peculiar sort of substitute friendship — what we might call "artificial friendship" — for lonely people in a lonely age.

According to the passage "the American conception of what happiness is" at least partially results from - opposing points of view - disputes amongst academicians - historical documents - only one prominent school of thought - popular forms of entertainment Answer: (A) The passage says psychotherapy has influenced "the American conception..." How today's psychotherapy came to be can be traced through "conflicts that gave rise..." This best supports (A). (B) is misleading. While academicians are part of the conflict, the conflict did not happen amongst academicians but between academics and professionals. (C) is out of scope - 'historical documents' are never mentioned. (D) is tempting but we have to remember that while psychotherapy shaped the American conception of happiness, psychotherapy itself was shaped by a broad range of factors (clinicians, academics, elites, etc.). So the "one school of thought" mentioned in the answer choice is vague. Is it referring to psychotherapy or all the other schools of thought that influenced psychotherapy? (E) The passage does not specifically mention the medical establishment. Saying that psychotherapy in some way relates to the medical establishment is a little tenuous.

Dickens is so brilliant a stylist, his vision of the world so idiosyncratic and yet so telling, that one might say that his subject is his unique rendering of his subject, in an echo of Rothko's statement, "The subject of the painting is the painting"—except of course, Dickens's great subject was nothing so subjective or so exclusionary, but as much of the world as he could render. If Dickens's prose fiction has "defects"—excesses of melodrama, sentimentality, contrived plots, and manufactured happy endings—these are the defects of his era, which for all his greatness Dickens had not the rebellious spirit to resist; he was at heart a crowd-pleaser, a theatrical entertainer, with no interest in subverting the conventions of the novel as his great successors D.H. Lawrence, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf would have; nor did he contemplate the subtle and ironic counterminings of human relations in the way of George Eliot and Thomas Hardy, who brought to the English novel an element of nuanced psychological realism not previously explored. Yet among English writers Dickens is, as he once called himself, part-jesting and part-serious, "the inimitable."

According to the passage, as a result of Dicken's disinclination to subvert the conventions of his time, his prose fiction is characterized by "unique rendering of his subject" "ironic counterminings" "contrived plots" "nuanced psychological realism" "world so idiosyncratic Answer: (C) According to the passage Dickens, "...no interest in subverting..." Therefore, Dickens novels contained much of what other typical novels contained: "excess of melodrama, sentimentality..." This matches up best with (C). (B) and (D) describe the work of those who differed from Dickens in their approach to novels. (A) describes Dickens' work, but does not answer the question.

Compared to regulations in other countries, those of the United States tends to be narrower in scope, with an emphasis on manufacturing processes and specific categories of pollution, and little or no attention to the many other factors that affect environmental quality. An example is the focus on controlling pollution rather than influencing decisions about processes, raw materials, or products that determine environmental impacts. Regulation in the United States tends to isolate specific aspects of production processes and attempts to control them stringently, which means that some aspects of business are regulated tightly, although sometimes not cost-effectively, while others are ignored. Other countries and several American states have recently made more progress in preventing pollution at its source and considering such issues as product life cycles, packaging waste, and industrial energy efficiency.

According to the passage, as a result of stringent regulation of specific aspects of the production process other aspects of the production process are - regulated slightly less - adversely affected - given undue consideration - provided greater autonomy - virtually overlooked The supporting text can be found in the first paragraph "which means that some aspects...are ignored." This leads us to answer choice (E). (A), while tempting, is not the same thing as saying that other aspects are ignored. The passage indicates that these other aspects are overlooked completely. (B) is not supported by the context. It may be tempting to think that if other aspects are virtually overlooked they must be adversely, or negatively, affected. This reasoning, however, is too much of an inference.

Had Walter Alvarez not asked his father, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez, how long the clay had taken to deposit, the younger Alvarez may not have thought to use iridium, an element rarely found on earth but more plentiful in meteorites, to answer this question. Iridium, in the form of microscopic grains of cosmic dust, is constantly raining down on the planet. The Alvarezes reasoned that if the clay layer had taken a significant amount of time to deposit, it would contain detectable levels of iridium. The results were startling: far too much iridium had shown up. The Alvarez hypothesis, as it became known, was that everything—not just the clay layer—could be explained by a single event: a six-mile-wide asteroid had slammed into Earth, killing off not only the forams but also the dinosaurs and all the other organisms that went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period.

According to the passage, it can most likely be inferred that iridium - can be used by scientists to determine the duration of an event - causes mass extinctions in a short period - gathers excessively in clay deposits - helps scientists determine the orientation of the magnetic field - leads to inaccurate conclusions regarding the chronology of an event Answer: (A) The passage says, "how long...iridium...answer this question." This best supports (A). (B) is wrong because iridium does not cause extinctions. (C) is tempting because the iridium did gather in a specific clay deposit once, but we can't extrapolate a general trend from that. The passage does not say it normally does so, as in the present tense "gathers" implies, nor that it gathers excessively—that is, more than in other places or more than is appropriate. (D) is wrong because iridium does not relate to magnetic fields. (E) is incorrect because the passage suggests that iridium provides accurate, not inaccurate, conclusions about chronology.

The Alvarezes concluded that a meteorite was responsible for a mass extinction because - dinosaurs were prone to the effects of iridium - it could account for the heightened presence of an element - cosmic dust in the form of iridium constantly makes its way to the Earth's surface - the scaglia rossa had a sudden gap in traceable iridium - the scientific community was unable to provide a more valid hypothesis

Answer: (B) Based on the startling amount of iridium that the Alvarezes found they concluded that only a meteorite could have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. This matches up best with (B). (A) is wrong because dinosaurs were not effected by the iridium itself but by the meteorite. (C), while mentioned in the passage, does not answer the question. (D) is wrong because the scaglia rossa showed a gap in foraminifera, not iridium. (E) is incorrect because the passage does not mention the scientific community, nor does it imply that the Alvarez's explanation was a default one.

new words

Answer: (B) The argument contends that Green Peas is taking advantage of its location in a rich neighborhood. Notice the word 'remote' though. One important consideration is transporting costs. If it costs a lot of money to ship to Luxville, then the Green Peas store is justified in charging more there. (B) effectively takes care of that objection. Unless (B) is known, the argument is open to this objection. (A) is incorrect because the argument relates to all items, not just specialty ones. (C) The focus of the argument is Green Peas, not other stores. Yet a possible line of reasoning is that if we compare the prices of similar goods at stores in Luxville to the prices of those in Oak City, we can see if Green Peas in Luxville is overcharging. But imagine the stores in Luxville all charge more for the same goods than stores in Oak Town. Does that directly address the conclusion that Green Peas is taking advantage of its location? All stores in Luxville may simply have to pay more for shipping (see (B)); they are not trying to overcharge the wealthy. (D) is wrong since household income does not relate to the argument. (E), like (D) and (C), is out of scope.

Whether the writer's most recent work will ____________ his status as a great novelist is debatable; that, with this work, he continues to create probing narratives that capture a country in the midst of turmoil is unassailable. alter cement degrade concern diminish

Answer: (B) The novelist 'continues to create...' shows that this latest work is excellent. Therefore it clearly should not (A) alter his work. Meaning, it is not debatable whether it will alter his work. Therefore, (A) does not work. (D) is too vague and doesn't work stylistically. Only (B) cement creates a complete, logical meaning for the sentence: the writer's recent work is clearly great (the fact is unassailable--not open to question) but will it be the work that clearly establishes/cements the writer's status as a great novelist? That's what is debatable. Thus, (B).

Thomas Chippendale, the 17th Century English designer, was renowned for his ____________ style: even typically prosaic furniture pieces were ornately embellished. plebeian cosmopolitan rococo intuitive austere

Answer: (C) 'Ornately embellished' indicates we need a word meaning heavily decorated in the blank. (A) plebeian refers to members of a lower class (B) cosmopolitan means well-versed in many different cultures (C) rococo means heavily embellished (D) intuitive does not fit the context (E) austere describes a lack of embellishment

What are these cues, and how can we prove their role in the perception of speech? It is not possible to obtain this information simply by carrying out an acoustic analysis of natural speech: this would tell us what acoustic information is present but not what features of the signal are actually used by listeners in order to identify speech sounds. The best an acoustic description can do is give us a rough idea as to what a cue might be. But to learn about listener's perception, we need a different approach.

Answer: (C) (A) The passage only states that an acoustic description is not sufficient in understanding the perception of speech. The passage does not recommend a particular means of understanding the perception of speech. (B) The passage does point out the shortcomings of a method: a purely acoustic description of speech perception. This is not the same thing as a line of research. (C) The passages describes the complexity of human perception in order to show how an acoustic description of perception is not up to the task of explaining the former. (C) captures this nicely. (D) The passage does not actually prescribe (recommend) a particular approach. (E) The passage does a lot more than warn against using acoustic cues. It describes the complexity of our auditory perception.

In August 27th, 1883, the Indonesian island of Krakatoa, home to a highly volatile volcano, disappeared overnight in a display of stunning geological prowess that continued ____________ even after the island had vanished, as a series of massive seismic shocks created a tsunami with waves of 150-feet high that traveled nearly a thousand miles. furtively haphazardly undiminished hypothetically retroactively

Answer: (C) In the form of a tsunami, the geological prowess is still on display even after the island has disappeared. Therefore, the prowess has not lessened, or remains undiminished. (A) is out, because there is nothing secretive about a massive tsunami. (B) means lacking a purpose, random. (D) is wrong, because the event actually happened. (E) doesn't work because the effects of the tsunami can't go back in time.

The first paragraph of the passage implies which of the following concerning sound and communication? - A lack of redundancy in certain signals does not preclude communication. - The excess of sound encoded in speech serves as an encumbrance to the exchange of information. - Many features of a sound can be lost without necessarily compromising communication between two speakers. - The human processing of acoustic sound does not depend on contextual factors. - Some languages depend on social cues in order for speakers to be mutually intelligible.

Answer: (C) The paragraph says "the speech situation...decode the message". Redundancy implies that some features of the sound without hurting communication. (A) is incorrect because there is not enough information in the passage to support the contention that having no redundancy allows for communication. (B) is incorrect because nowhere does the passage say that the redundancy negatively affects communication. (D) is wrong because the passage mentions the importance of contextual factors. (E) is incorrect because while the statement may be true in the real world, it is not supported by the passage.

The stage of daytime talk shows has become our Roman coliseum - the audience, hissing and booing, ____________ the "culprit," who is forced to justify some unseemly behavior. conciliates remediates lauds execrates stymies

Answer: (D) The blank needs to match the words 'hissing and booing.' (A)conciliates means to placate, make peace with (B)remediates means to improve (C)lauds means to praise (D)execrates means to express great loathing for (E)stymies means to prevent

Proponents of the uniformitarian view would most likely argue that - the clay layer actually contained foram too small for Alvarez to detect - the absence of foram suggested a mass extinction - iridium could likely be found in the clay layer - that the lack of forams in the clay reflected a gap in the fossil record - the orientation of the earth's magnetic field is capable of reversing

Answer: (D) The uniformitarian view is "any apparent extinctions" were a gap in the fossil record. This matches up best with (D). (A) is wrong because a gap is not the same thing as tiny forams. (B) is the opposite of what they would think (C) is incorrect since uniformitarian view does not relate to iridium (E) is incorrect because the uniformitarian view relates to fossil record

Whether the network renews the latest pilot series ____________ the critical assumption that the audience will not only empathize with a male protagonist very different from it, but will continue to do so once he begins to commit acts that are clearly reprehensible. invites supports stems from indulges in hinges upon

Answer: (E) The key to this sentence is to identify that the series may get canceled. Its success depends/rests on the creator's assumption that the audience is going to watch a television show that features an unpleasant lead actor. (E) hinges upon is a synonym for depends on/rests on.

Which of the following regarding Dickens can be inferred from the passage? - He was aware of the stylistic conventions of his time. - He preferred to be exhaustive rather than selective. - He greatly influenced James Joyce and Virginia Woolf.

Answers: (A) and (B) (A) is supported by "Dickens had not the rebellious..." Clearly, he was aware of the conventions. (B) is supported by "as much of the world..." Dickens was exhaustive because tried to include everything in his novels. (C) is not supported by the passage because it says that Dickens had "no interest in subverting...", the way these other authors did.

Those cognitive psychologists who focus on the way in which the brain processes text are, for the most part, not fully swayed by the traditionalist rhetoric that we learn more while immersed in the pages of a book than in the virtual pages of an e-reader, and believe that a(n) ______________ assessment will require more rigorous testing. unequivocal clear unenlightened pending professional erudite

Answers: (A), (B) It is a good idea to simplify this long sentence, focusing on the keywords: 'not fully swayed...'. This is the psychologists need more testing to be fully swayed. Therefore, a definitive assessment will require more testing. While 'definitive' is the perfect word, the correct answers are (A), (B), which show that sometimes the word doesn't quite match up with your word. You will need to show a little latitude, and always make sure to pick related words as the answer ('unequivocal' means 'clear.') (A) unequivocal means clear with no room for doubt. An assessment that is unequivocal means that everybody agrees on the issue in the sentence (B) clear is a synonym for unequivocal (C) unenlightened means uninformed (D) pending describes the results to the question. (E) professional somewhat fits the context but it does not have a similar word amongst the answer choices (F) erudite means scholarly. 'Erudite' and 'professional' are different words and should not be thought of as creating synonymous sentences

Despite creating the impression that his replies are ungoverned by any forethought, the mayor—even in his most seemingly impassioned moments—is plainly _____________ in his responses to the media. - measured - studied - candid - forthcoming - critical - outspoken

Answers: (A), (B) The 'despite' shows that we need an answer that is the opposite of "ungoverned by...forethought." Basically, the mayor comes across as spontaneous but he is actually the opposite of this. (A) and (B) are using second definitions of the words. In both cases the words mean 'planned, deliberate.' Synonym pairs (C) and (D) are not the opposite of spontaneous. The other synonym pairs, (E) and (F), are not the opposite of spontaneous either. One can be spontaneously critical.

Her potential unrealized, Martha was ultimately a victim of her environment, _____ by those around her who insisted that she forsake her artistic dreams for a routine, but predictable life.

Answers: (A), (C) 'Potential unrealized', 'forsake dreams...' imply that Martha was limited by those around her. (A) stultified means limited in growth (B) assuaged means placated (C) hampered means held back (D) motivated does not fit context (E) spurned means rejected, snubbed (F) galvanized, while a synonym for motivated, does not fit the context and is the opposite of the word in the blank

In claiming that there are overarching commonalities among every culture, Jungenfreud perhaps (i) ____________ his case: while there are most likely universal belief systems and recurrent myths spanning both time and civilizations, depending on the level of (ii) ____________ of a scholar's criteria, surely not all societies display the exact same characteristics--it is one thing to say that every people has an elaborate view of the afterlife (as Jungenfreud does); it is another to show uncanny parallels between the particulars of this afterlife (as Jungenfreud fails to do).

Answers: (A), (E) While daunting, this TC is not as difficult as it is lengthy. Simplifying the sentence we can gather that Jungenfreud believes that cultures are very similar ('overarching commonalities'). The sentence notes that all cultures are similar depending on how general one is being. For example, note the last sentence describes how Jungenfreud's take on the afterlife is very general. Thus how specific, or level of specificity, is important in making Jungenfreud's claim. So in saying that all cultures are the same, Jungenfreud overstates his case. While tempting, (B) misrepresents does not make logical sense. Why would he misrepresent his own case? Rather Jungenfreud is misrepresenting the issue of cultural similarity.

During interrogation, the suspect affected a frightened persona, hoping that such a display of cravenness would deflect the authorities' suspicion, as they were looking for someone who had pulled off several very ______________ crimes. - heinous - audacious - brazen - foolhardy - obvious - conspicuous

Answers: (B), (C) This is a tough question because so many of the answer choices seem to work. Remember though, we are looking for a pair of similar words. Therefore we can get rid of (A) and (D). (E) and (F) are tempting, and they are similar words. To say that someone pulled off an obvious crime sounds a bit absurd. Also, it suggests that the person isn't too bright. The suspect is very crafty. Notice the clues, "...a display of cravenness..." He is pretending to be the opposite of how he behaved during the crimes, i.e., (B) and (C). FAQ: Don't "audacious," "brazen," and "foolhardy" all mean the same thing? Although an "audacious" person and a "foolhardy" person may end up doing the same thing (something dangerous), the words have different meanings. "Foolhardy" means reckless. It's a negative word, without question. It is used to describe fools, after all. "Audacious" means bold, which is more positive . (It can be negative, depending on the context, but it isn't necessarily so). A "foolhardy" person takes foolish chances for no good reason. An "audacious" person is brave, possibly even inspired. "Brazen" is more similar to "audacious."

_____ by a swarm of tabloid reporters, their camera flashes creating an incessant whir, the celebrity made a quick escape into a limousine with tinted windows.

Answers: (B), (D) The keywords are 'swarm', 'incessant whir.' The idea is that the reporters are surrounding the celebrity aggressively, the sound of their cameras adding to the assault. (A) indulged means that somebody is enjoying him/herself (B) harried means harassed (C) mollified means soothed (D) besieged means to be surrounded and harassed (E) disbarred means to be excluded (F) feted means to be celebrated

The popularization of science by writers with a knack for making the abstruse ____________ is not an exclusively modern calling. Indeed the origins of this specific craft harken back to Voltaire, who, in his Elements of the Philosophy of Newton, made the ____________ writing of the revered British physicist digestible to a lay audience. Blank (i) ordinary pellucid unapproachable Blank (ii) greatly cherished practically inscrutable virtually unknown

Answers: (B), (E) 'Popularization' implies making that which is abstruse, or difficult to understand, easy to understand. (B) pellucid means clear and easy to understand. In the second blank we have an example of the abstruse work that Voltaire made 'digestible.' (E) practically inscrutable, meaning almost unfathomable, matches up best.

Unlike many poets, who are inspired by ____ settings, Harrison relied on urban backdrops to summon his muse.

Answers: (B), (E) 'Unlike' signals that most poets favor the opposite of an urban backdrop. The opposite of urban would be rural. (A) unpopulated isn't quite the opposite of urban, nor does it have a matching word (B) pastoral relates to the countryside (C) typical does not fit context (D) unknown does not fit context (E) rustic relates to the countryside (F) sentimental relates to emotions

Cave paintings recently found hundreds of feet below the surface in southern France suggest that prehistoric man viewed animals as central to both his rituals and existence. Whether this focus results from the idolization or subjugation remains ____________ - for every painting of a beast riddled with spears, there exists another in which man is depicted in a far more ____________ role, arms outspread as though in obeisance.

Answers: (B), (E) It is uncertain whether paintings idolize or subjugate animals. (B) equivocal meaning open interpretation best fits this context. 'As though in obeisance', or in respect, matches up best with (E) deferential. (F) sacerdotal simply means priestly, which is a strange way to describe someone acting deferentially towards a beast.

When sketching, Pablo Picasso moved with a ______ that made his creations all the more astonishing - he could finish an entire work in the time many artists took to arrange their implements.

Answers: (B), (F) The keywords, 'he could finish...' show that Picasso moved quickly. (A) purity does not denote speed (B) celerity, a very difficult word, means speed, swiftness (C) fecklessness is idleness (D) semblance means outward appearance. Does not match context (E) deliberations means to do something carefully and slowly (F) swiftness means speed

As editors, each of the two writers served as a(n) (i) ________ the other's rhetorical excesses, so that each submitted news articles free of unnecessary (ii) ________. Blank (i) inspiration for check on foil for Blank (ii) bias equivocations embellishments

Answers: (B), (F) The words "excesses" and "unnecessary" show that the writers use too many words. But as editors they help each other so that their writing is free of (F) embellishments. The word check has another definition—something that restrains. In this case, the writers each restrain the other's tendency to use too many fancy words (which is the definition of embellish, in this context).

Special effects in movies are ____________, in that unlike the story, whose permutations seem to have long ago been ____________, they continue to evolve: if we were magically beamed years into the future (of course that story has been told numerous times before), the special effects would ____________; the story would be awfully familiar.

Answers: (B), (F), (H) 'Unlike' shows that there is a contrast between special effects and story. Special effects continue to evolve. They are (B) exciting. The different types of stories, on the other hand, have been (F) exhausted. The third blank continues this idea: in the future special effects will still be exciting. They will still (H) hold us in thrall.

The Green Peas Grocery Store in the remote wealthy enclave of Luxville charges more than the Green Peas Grocery Store in Oak City charges for the same items. Clearly, on any given item, the Green Peas grocery franchise is taking advantage of its location in Luxville to reap higher profits on that item.

In evaluating the argument, it would be most useful to compare - the selection of specialty items in the Oak City location with the selection of specialty items in the Luxville location - the cost of transporting merchandise to the Oak City location with the comparable cost to the Luxville location - the average cost of the same or comparable items at other grocery stores in Oak City with the average cost at other stores in Luxville - The percent of average household income spent on groceries in Oak City with the comparable percentage in Luxville - The cost of these items in Oak City and in Luxville with the cost at other Green Peas stores throughout the state.

Environmental regulation in the United States is also more prescriptive than elsewhere, in the sense of requiring specific actions, with little discretion left to the regulated firm. There also is a great reliance on action-forcing laws and technology standards. In using the term "prescriptive" (second paragraph), the passage points out that "little discretion (IS) left to the regulated firm." This line matches up best with (D). (A) is incorrect because it is not supported by the lines above. It may be tempting, however, because it sounds like something that could be true in the real world. (B) takes the quoted part above and changes its meaning. Just because little discretion is left to the firm does not mean that firms don't take an interest. (C) is not supported. (E), like (A), has a general ring of truth to it. The passage even mentions something about "some aspects of business...are ignored." However, "aspects of business" is not the same as an entire corporation. Also, (E) doesn't refer to the use of "prescriptive."

In saying that American firms tend to be "prescriptive", the author of the passage implies that - environmental policy is, to some extent, controlled by firms - regulated firms tend to show little interest in environmental regulation - most firms are incapable of conforming to stringent regulations - firms are given little to no say in environmental policy - the government allows many firms to go unregulated

To understand why this occurred and what it means for American culture, one must study the fractious history of the mental health field over the last six decades. It is a complicated story, with a staggering variety of terms, schools, leaders, and techniques, so any overview must necessarily leave out many important details. But from even just a synopsis of the conflicts that gave rise to today's culture of psychotherapy — battles over who would hold the truest title to physician of the mind, tensions between scientists and clinicians, academics and professionals, elites and the public — we can see more clearly how psychotherapy has profoundly shaped the American conception of what happiness is and how we can achieve it.

In the context in which it appears 'fractious' most nearly means - amicable - breaking apart - submerged - based in fact - tumultuous Answers: (E) The passage says that the history of psychotherapy is full of conflict. Therefore the history has been a tumultuous one. Tumultuous means marked by disorder and discord. Select the sentence that describes a reason that psychotherapists were initially regarded as different by most. The question asks for why most people thought psychotherapists were distinct from others. The sentence that contains "an air of intrigue and mystery" only tells us THAT psychotherapists were regarded as different not WHY they were regarded in such a manner. The following sentence provides this information: psychotherapists spoke in a "language so incomprehensible".

One reason we are able to recognize speech, despite all the acoustic variation in the signal, and even in very difficult listening conditions, is that the speech situation contains a great deal of redundancy—more information than is strictly necessary to decode the message. There is, firstly, our general ability to make predictions about the nature of speech, based on our previous linguistic experience—our knowledge of the speakers, subject matter, language, and so on. But in addition, the wide range of frequencies found in every signal presents us with far more information than we need in order to recognize what is being said. As a result, we are able to focus our auditory attention on just the relevant distinguishing features of the signal—features that have come to be known as acoustic cues.

The primary purpose of the passage is to - recommend a particular means of learning about a complex phenomenon - point out the shortcomings in a line of research - explain a process and discuss why one approach will not yield desirable results - prescribe an approach to understand with greater specificity a physiological process - warn researchers against relying on a specific methodology

In the mid-1970's, Walter Alvarez, a geologist, was studying Earth's polarity. It had recently been learned that the orientation of the planet's magnetic field reverses, so that every so often, in effect, south becomes north and vice versa. Alvarez and some colleagues had found that a certain formation of pinkish limestone in Italy, known as the scaglia rossa, recorded these occasional reversals. The limestone also contained the fossilized remains of millions of tiny sea creatures called foraminifera. Alvarez became interested in a thin layer of clay in the limestone that seemed to have been laid down around the end of the Cretaceous Period. Below the layer, certain species of foraminifera—or forams, for short—were preserved. In the clay layer, there were no forams. Above the layer, the earlier species disappeared and new forams appeared. Having been taught the uniformitarian view, which held that any apparent extinctions throughout geological time resulted from 'the incompleteness of the fossil record' rather than an actual extinction, Alvarez was not sure what to make of the lacuna in geological time corresponding to the missing foraminifera, because the change looked very abrupt.

It can be inferred from the passage that had the scaglia rossa not exhibited a certain geological property then which of the following would most likely have been true? - Walter Alvarez would not have used the distribution of foraminifera in limestone as the basis for a conjecture. - Scientists would have been unable to determine a shift in the Earth's magnetic fields. - The rocks would not have been of any immediate utility to scientists. - Iridium still would have been used to substantiate a hypothesis regarding the extinction of dinosaurs. - The gap in foraminifera fossil record would have served an immediate purpose.

The US Constitution established both gold and silver as the basis of US currency: that is to say, it established a bimetallic standard for currency. This remained in place for about a century, until the Coinage Act of 1873, which embraced a "gold only" standard, a monometallic standard, effectively dropping silver as the basis of currency. Over the next several decades, advocates of bimetallism and advocates of the "gold only" standard fiercely debated. The "gold only" advocates, such as William McKinley, argued that shifts in the relative value of the two precious metals could lead to wild fluctuations in the values of currency in a bimetallic system. Early in the United States history, Alexander Hamilton had tried to fix the gold-silver exchange rate by fiat, but of course, such restraints only inhibit the natural development of a free market.

It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes that government attempts to control exchange rates - compromise the workings of a free economy - will inevitably lead to fiscal collapse - are usually favorable in the short-term - run counter to the tenets of the United States - lead to a greater chance for inflation The line, "such restraints only inhibit the natural development of a free market", allows us to infer that the author of the passage believes that government intervention ("Hamilton...fiat") holds back the free market. This matches up best with (A). (B) is too strong. (C) sounds plausible but is not supported by text on exchange rates. (D) is not supported by the text. (E) is tempting because the passage talks about a greater chance of inflation but that is in regards to increasing the money supply, not to exchange rates.

These contrasts are illustrated nicely in a 1974 book that used a hare and tortoise analogy to compare air quality regulation in the United States and Sweden. While the United States (the hare) codified ambitious goals in statutes that drove industry to adopt new technologies under the threat of sanctions, Sweden (the tortoise) used a more collaborative process that stressed results but worked with industry in deciding how to achieve them. In the end air quality results were about the same. Similar results have been found in other comparative analyses of environmental regulation. For example, one study of a multinational firm with operations in the United States and Japan found that pollution levels in both countries were similar, despite generally higher pollution abatement expenditures in the United States. The higher costs observed in the United States thus were due in large part, not to more stringent standards, but to the higher regulatory transaction costs. Because agencies in different countries share information about technologies, best practices, and other issues, the pollution levels found acceptable in different countries tends to be quite similar.

It can be inferred that, compared to the United States, Japan spent less on ensuring strict standards minimizing pollution regulating firms research and development environmental cleanup According to the passage, the U.S. had "higher regulatory transaction costs" than did Japan. Therefore, we can infer that Japan spent less on (C). (A) is wrong. While the passage stresses the U.S. focus on strict standards, in relation to Japan, nothing is mentioned on this issue. (B) is a really tempting answer choice, but the passage doesn't say that the U.S. (i.e. the government & people) spends more on pollution, only that one specific company did: "...one study of a multinational firm [...] found that pollution levels in both countries were similar, despite generally higher pollution abatement expenditures in the United States." It makes the companies pay more (since it has stricter regulations), but we don't know that the U.S. itself pays more. (D)is wrong because research and development are not mentioned. (E)environmental cleanup is too broad. Higher pollution abatement costs is not the same as higher environmental cleanup costs.

Rubens, for all his high-flown rhetoric, churns out book reviews that have come to seem _______________: from decades of critiquing other's prose, he now relies on a familiar and tired formula. scathing perfunctory erudite mawkish draconian

Not much context here—just a straightforward clue to match with tough vocabulary. "Familiar and tired" matches up best with (B).

Despite the eloquence of Bryant's arguments, history strongly favored the "gold-only" standard. The argument that increasing the money supply would lead to greater prosperity strikes us now as naïve: of course, we now understand that increasing the monetary supply can lead to runaway inflation, which hurts everyone. Furthermore, gold did not remain as limited as the advocates of bimetallism imagined. In the 1890s, scientists discovered a cyanide process that allowed workers to extract pure gold from much lower grade ore, thus significantly increasing domestic gold production. Additionally, the discovery of two immense gold deposits in South Africa substantially increased world gold supply. Thus, the "gold only" standard allowed for ample currency, and even robust prosperity in the 1920s, so bimetallism died a quiet death.

The "cyanide process" mentioned in the last paragraph does which of the following? - Serves as a countermeasure to actions taken by advocates of the "gold only" standard - Provides evidence against an argument of those opposed to a "gold only" standard - Illustrates one way in which controlling the money supply can lead to inflation - Argues against the position adopted by William Jennings Bryant. - Offers up a compelling reason governments should be favor of bimetallism. The cyanide process increased the gold supply. Advocates of bimetallism believed that the gold supply was limited, and thus a "gold standard" was a bad idea. So, this is an argument of those who opposed the "gold standard", and the cyanide process is evidence against this position. Hence (B). (A) is wrong because the passage doesn't talk about actions taken by "gold only" advocates. (C) is wrong because the cyanide process does not relate to controlling the money supply. (D) is tempting, but remember Bryan never mentioned the lack of gold, he was focused on social inequality. (E) is wrong because the cyanide process argues against bimetallism, insofar as the case for bimetallism is based on the purported lack of gold.

Unemployment was high in the depression caused by the Panic of 1893, and many argued that these economic challenges had been triggered by abandoning bimetallism. One of the more prominent advocates of bimetallism was William Jennings Bryant: indeed, bimetallism was the very center of his presidential campaigns in 1896 and 1900, both of which he lost to McKinley. Bryant articulated the popular view that a "gold only" standard limited the money supply, and thus favored those who were already quite wealthy, against the interests of working people of all professions. He famously expressed this argument in his "Cross of Gold" speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention, in which he argued that continuing the "gold only" standard would "crucify" the honest laboring classes on a "cross of gold."

The author of the passage believes that William Jennings Bryant's argument that a gold standard favors the rich to be - somewhat relevant, because it accounts for a common trend seen throughout the history of bimetallism - lacking validity, because it believes increasing the money supply will benefit a segment of the population - without merit, because it is not based on actual historical accounts - not entirely accurate, because it overemphasizes the role of silver in regulating the money supply - partially correct, because it described some of the class differences between the rich and the poor According to the passage, Bryan believes that a gold standard would hurt the poor because it would cut them off from the money supply. Increasing the money supply on the other hand, he argued, would allowed the poor access to wealth ("...limited the money supply...against the interests of working people..."). Bryan, however, overlooked inflation, and thus his argument was not valid: more money would not help the poor. This leads us to answer (B). (A) is wrong because the argument is not relevant. (C) is wrong. While the passage agrees that Bryan's argument is without merit, it does not mention inaccurate historical accounts. (D) ignore Bryan's overlooking of inflation and adds information not supported by the passage (Bryan never overemphasizes the role of silver). (E) is wrong because it says partially correct.

Linguist: Each language has a word that captures a concept or emotional state in a way that no other language does. To capture such a breadth of expression, an artificial language should be created that contains words corresponding to all the different concepts and emotional states captured by the world's languages. That is not to say that such a language would contain as many words as there are in all the world's languages. Rather, only for those words that have no corresponding word in another language. While such a plan is hugely ambitious, the resulting language would be more thorough than any existing language. Answer: (E) The conclusion assumes that thoroughness, as it relates towards a language, can be defined as encompassing "the range of concepts and emotional states..." That is, there is nothing else that accounts for a language's thoroughness. This leads us to (E).

The conclusion drawn above depends on which of the following assumptions? - Extinct languages do not offer up words that capture concepts and emotional states in ways that fundamentally differ from those of existing languages. - Many languages have words that virtually overlap in the meaning they convey. - Each year hundreds of the world's languages go extinct, once there are no longer any native speakers remaining. - It is possible for one person to learn all of the world's existing languages. - The range of concepts and emotional states is the only indication of a language's thoroughness. (A) contrasts existing and extinct languages. Not relevant. (B) does not relate to the discussion. On the surface, it looks like it may weaken the point but it does not do so. Even if it did, we are dealing with an assumption. (C) is a general fact that is irrelevant. (D) sounds like it weakens the argument, if anything.

Jupiter has 2.5 times more mass than all the other planets of the solar system combined and is 11 times as large as Earth in diameter. Jupiter is so large that scientists believe it almost became a star: as the gases and dust contracted to form the planet, gravitational forces created tremendous pressure and temperature inside the core—as high as tens of thousands of degrees. But there was not enough mass available to create the temperature needed to start a fusion reaction such as that of the Sun (above 27,000,000 Fahrenheit, or 15,000,000 Celsius, at the Sun's core); thus Jupiter has been cooling down ever since. Even so, Jupiter radiates about as much heat as it receives from the Sun.

The passage is mainly concerned with - the size of Jupiter relative to other planets in the solar system - differences between the sun and Jupiter - how Jupiter's mass has affected its development - the temperature of a planet's core during a fusion reaction - amount of power radiated by Jupiter

Language acquisition has long been thought of as a process of imitation and reinforcement. Children learn to speak, in the popular view, by copying the utterances heard around them, and by having their response strengthened by the repetitions, corrections, and other reactions that adults provide. In recent years, it has become clear that this principle will not explain all the facts of language development. Children do imitate a great deal, especially in learning sounds and vocabulary; but little of their grammatical ability can be explained in this way. Two kinds of evidence are commonly used in support of this criticism - one based on the kind of language children produce, the other on what they do not produce

Which of the following casts doubt on the "popular view"? - Upon hearing the word 'goose', a small child utters 'gooses' when a group of the birds flies by. - A child continues to say 'nobody don't like me', despite his mother repeatedly correcting him by saying, 'nobody likes me.' - A 5-year-old girl, upon seeing a film, tells her friend, "I watched a film." Answers: (A), (B) The popular view has it that children "learn to speak...copying..." Therefore, answer choices that contain words that adults would not use, but which follow a standard grammatical pattern are the answers. (A) is an answer because an adult would say 'geese.' Also 'gooses' follows a standard grammatical pattern of adding an 's'. The last line mentions "seem unable to...invited to do so." (B) is an answer because it provides an example of a child speaking ungrammatically despite his mother trying to correct him. (C) introduces a common grammatical pattern that is used by adults. Therefore, the girl could have easily learned 'watched' by listening to an adult. Therefore (C) is not an answer.

The first piece of evidence derives from the way children handle irregular grammatical patterns. When they encounter such irregular past-tense forms as went and took or such plural forms as mice and sheep, there is a stage when they replace these by forms based on the regular patterns of the language. They say such things as wented, taked, mices, mouses, and sheeps. Evidently, children assume that grammatical usage is regular, and try to work out for themselves what the forms 'ought' to be - a reasoning process known as analogy. They could not have learned these forms by a process of imitation. The other kind of evidence is based on the way children seem unable to imitate adult grammatical constructions exactly, even when invited to do so.

Which of the following grammatical constructions would be consistent with the "'ought'" in the second paragraph? 'Bringed' 'Found' 'Geeses' Answers: (A) and (C) The "ought" refers to how children learn analogously. For example, if they heard "-ed" paired with many past tense verbs, they will try to use "-ed" as an ending for all verbs. This "ought" therefore, refers to constructions that are not real words. (A) gives an example of such a case. Instead of using the irregular tense (brought), children add "-ed" to bring. Found is the correct form. A child would think 'finded' is what the past tense of find "ought" to be. Thus (B) is incorrect. According to the passage a child would think the plural form of 'geese' is 'geeses.' Not the 'geese' is the plural form of 'goose.' Therefore (C) is correct.

For the time being, at least, the director's intent is ______________: he has remained reticent during interviews, and even viewers have had wildly divergent interpretations over the film. suspect unambiguous equivocal hostile diffident

equivocal The director isn't saying much about the film ("remained reticent"), and viewers can't seem to agree ("wildly divergent..."). Therefore, the director's intent is unknown, open to interpretation. (C) works best. (A) is wrong because there is nothing in the sentence to suggest that the intent was dubious. (B) is the opposite of the blank. (D) is not supported by the context. (E) means lacking confidence. It is not supported by the context.