Practice Test 10 - GRE Verbal Reasoning

20 questions. Answer them in any order, then submit to see your score and every explanation.

The reviewer offered ______ critique of the debut novel, one that left the young author devastated, since nearly every paragraph drew fresh criticism rather than any words of encouragement.
Passage: Linguists interested in language revitalization often distinguish between increasing the number of speakers and increasing the range of contexts in which a language is used. A study of a minority language introduced after-school classes for children and reported improved vocabulary test scores, but observers noted that many children still switched to the dominant language during play. A different initiative focused on adult workplaces, encouraging employees to conduct routine meetings in the minority language. Surveys indicated that participants felt less anxious about making mistakes over time, and the language began to appear in written agendas and internal emails. However, the program reached relatively few families with young children. A third report tracked intergenerational transmission. It found that households in which at least one caregiver regularly used the minority language for ordinary directives (e.g., chores, meals) were more likely to have children who initiated conversations in that language. The report also noted that children who encountered the language in multiple domains—home, school, and community institutions—were most likely to sustain usage. Question: Based on the passage, which conclusion can be drawn by combining information from multiple paragraphs?
Read the passage and answer the question. Some educators propose replacing traditional letter grades with "mastery transcripts" that record specific competencies a student has demonstrated. Advocates contend that grades compress diverse skills into a single symbol that obscures what students can actually do; a transcript organized by competencies, they argue, would better guide instruction and reduce incentives for superficial learning aimed only at point accumulation. Skeptics respond that the new system may simply relocate, rather than remove, inequity. If schools define competencies differently, then a "mastery" label could be incomparable across districts, benefiting students from well-resourced schools whose competencies are more expansive or more easily certified. Colleges and employers, facing a flood of idiosyncratic transcripts, might revert to proxies such as school reputation, thereby amplifying the very status signals the reform seeks to weaken. To address these concerns, some reformers propose a hybrid model: competencies would be locally taught but aligned to shared regional benchmarks, and transcripts would include both competency evidence and limited summary indicators. The aim is not to abolish evaluation, but to make it more transparent and portable while preserving enough standardization for external audiences. The author introduces the skeptics' response in the second paragraph primarily in order to:
The engineer's final report, intended for a lay audience entirely unfamiliar with fluid dynamics, used deliberately ______ language, replacing complex formulas with everyday comparisons and simple analogies.
Select the answer choice that best completes the sentence. Even though the dataset was unusually large, the analyst's conclusions remained _____, because the sampling method systematically excluded rural participants.
Complete the sentence: The hiker's _____ preparation, which included extra water, maps, and a first-aid kit, proved wise when the trail washed out.
The new manager's ______ approach to problem-solving, which involved careful analysis before any action was taken, contrasted sharply with her predecessor's impulsive, often reckless style.
A school district replaced printed textbooks with digital versions for all ninth-grade science classes. After the change, average end-of-term assessment scores rose from 78 to 82, while scores in tenth-grade science (which did not switch materials) remained steady. Teachers reported that the digital platform's built-in quizzes allowed them to identify misunderstandings earlier in the term. Since the district is seeking cost-effective ways to improve science achievement, and digital licenses cost no more than the printed books they replaced, the superintendent argues that the district should adopt digital textbooks for all ninth-grade core subjects. Which statement best represents the author's conclusion?
For each blank, choose the word or phrase that best contributes to a clear, logical sentence. Choose one answer for each blank: the choices for the first blank are labeled A–C; the choices for the second blank are labeled D–F. Because the trade negotiations had been marked by unusual (i)_____, with both delegations emerging from months of talks on remarkably cordial terms, seasoned observers were (ii)_____ when the entire deal collapsed abruptly over a single minor clause.
Select the answer choice that best completes the sentence. The historian cautioned that the diary entries were ____ sources: they offered vivid detail, but the writer's strong political loyalties likely shaped what was recorded.
After being deceived by several fraudulent charities in recent years, he became thoroughly ______ of any organization soliciting donations, assuming even reputable groups were likely running scams.
The editorial's _____ purpose was to urge readers to vote for the school bond; its brief history of the district was mere background.
Read the passage and answer the question. Some conservationists argue that reintroducing large predators is the most direct way to restore degraded ecosystems, because predators can suppress herbivore populations and thereby allow vegetation to recover. In one well-known case, the return of wolves coincided with fewer elk browsing in river valleys and with increased growth of young willows. However, later monitoring showed that willow recovery also tracked changes in river flow and in beaver activity, both of which altered soil moisture. Rather than rejecting predator reintroduction, ecologists now emphasize the need to distinguish between a "trophic cascade," in which predators indirectly benefit plants, and a "hydrologic driver," in which water dynamics do most of the work. The distinction matters for policy: if hydrology is the main driver, then relocating predators to a drought-stricken basin may yield little vegetation recovery unless water management changes as well. Accordingly, the most responsible studies treat predator presence as one potential contributor among several, not as a single master variable. The primary function of the highlighted sentence is to:
During the quarterly review, the manager criticized the intern for displaying ______ attitude toward deadlines, noting that he consistently turned in assignments weeks after they were originally due.
Select the answer choice that best completes the sentence. The city's new transit plan aims to ____ congestion by encouraging commuters to switch from private cars to buses and trains during peak hours.
A city's transportation department reports that after it replaced several downtown traffic lights with roundabouts, average vehicle delay at those intersections fell by 22% and the number of injury accidents fell by 15% over the next year. Because the department's budget for intersection upgrades is limited, it should prioritize roundabouts rather than installing additional adaptive-signal systems, which are more expensive to maintain and have shown only modest delay reductions in prior pilot programs. Which of the following best states the conclusion of the argument?
A museum director observes that attendance at evening events rose by 40% after the museum began offering a short, free lecture before each event. Because the lecture requires only existing staff time and no additional marketing expenses, the director argues that the museum should add a pre-event lecture to all weekend daytime programs as well. Which of the following best states the conclusion of the argument?
Passage: In art history, the category "primitive art" was long used by European critics to describe objects produced outside the academic traditions of the West. The label suggested immediacy and authenticity, and it allowed modernist artists to claim inspiration from forms they portrayed as uncorrupted by convention. Museums adopted the term as well, often arranging such works to highlight formal qualities rather than cultural contexts. Postcolonial scholars have criticized this practice on two fronts. First, the category compresses diverse societies into a single imagined stage of development, implying that Western art represents a later, more sophisticated endpoint. Second, by stripping objects of their ritual and social functions, museums can convert them into aesthetic commodities and obscure the histories of extraction through which collections were assembled. More recently, curators have experimented with alternative modes of display that foreground provenance, community collaboration, and the changing meanings objects acquire over time. These approaches do not deny that viewers may respond to form, but they resist the notion that form can be cleanly separated from power. The broader aim is to replace a classificatory habit with a more accountable narrative about how art circulates. Question: Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
After waiting three hours only to be told the appointment had been cancelled without notice, Maria was ______, her voice trembling as she demanded an explanation from the clerk.
Read the passage and answer the question. Marine biologists have long used the presence of certain plankton species as indicators of water quality, assuming that the species' abundance directly reflects nutrient levels. However, in coastal regions with strong currents, plankton distributions can be shaped as much by physical transport as by local chemistry. A multi-year sampling program along one coastline found that after storms, indicator species sometimes surged in bays where nutrient measurements remained unchanged. To explain this pattern, the researchers modeled current-driven mixing and showed that offshore plankton blooms could be swept into bays within days, temporarily inflating indicator counts. This does not mean nutrient monitoring is irrelevant; rather, it suggests that biological indicators should be interpreted alongside physical data, especially when management decisions depend on short-term fluctuations. Without that context, a seemingly "improving" bay could simply be one that has recently received an influx of plankton from elsewhere. The primary function of the highlighted sentence is to:

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