Practice Test 2 - GRE Verbal Reasoning

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

Select the answer choice that best completes the sentence. The review was so _____ that even the novel's admirers called it more an attack than an assessment.
A city introduced a "smart parking" app designed to reduce traffic by directing drivers to available spaces. After implementation, city sensors recorded that average downtown vehicle speed during peak hours increased slightly. Yet air-quality monitors showed a rise in nitrogen dioxide (NO $_2$ ) concentrations in the same area and time window. The city also expanded curbside pickup zones for delivery services, which reduced the number of general parking spaces on several major streets. Which explanation best accounts for the situation described?
Select the answer choice that best completes the sentence. The CEO presented the layoffs as a temporary measure; nevertheless, internal memos describing long-term restructuring made her assurances seem _____.
Read the passage and answer the question. In the arts, originality is often treated as the highest virtue, leading to the suspicion that imitation is inherently inferior. Yet imitation can be a method of learning and even a source of innovation. Artists frequently begin by copying established techniques, not to produce replicas for their own sake but to internalize constraints and develop control. Moreover, many celebrated "original" works are transformations of existing forms: they recombine familiar elements or shift them into new contexts. The more useful distinction, then, is not between originality and imitation but between unreflective copying and purposeful adaptation. When creators understand what they borrow and why, imitation becomes a tool for generating variation rather than a barrier to it. Evaluating creativity requires attention to process and intent, not just to whether a work appears unprecedented. The author's main objective is to:
Read the passage and answer the question. Artificial-intelligence "personal tutors" are increasingly promoted as a way to deliver individualized instruction at scale. Advocates point to systems that adapt problem sequences to a student's performance and provide immediate feedback, features that can be pedagogically useful. Yet the prevailing narrative sometimes treats personalization as synonymous with understanding. Many tutoring systems infer mastery from patterns of answers, but such inferences can be brittle: a student may guess correctly, memorize procedures, or misunderstand concepts in ways that remain hidden until tasks change. Additionally, the claim that AI tutors will reduce educational inequality often assumes that schools possess the infrastructure, training, and time to integrate these tools effectively, and that students have stable access outside the classroom. None of this precludes meaningful benefits, especially for practice-intensive subjects. But the more sweeping promises—of replacing human guidance or neutralizing structural disparities—appear to rest on a thin account of what instruction and learning actually entail. The author's attitude toward AI personal tutors can best be described as…
Select the answer choice that best completes the sentence. The consultant recommended a ____ timeline, warning that overly aggressive targets would force shortcuts and increase the likelihood of costly errors.
Read the passage and answer the question. In archaeology, residue analysis of pottery can reveal what foods were cooked or stored, but interpretation is complicated by the fact that lipids can migrate between soil and ceramic over time. A set of experiments buried replica pots in different soils for two years and then measured fatty-acid profiles. The researchers found that pots buried in nutrient-rich soil acquired measurable amounts of plant-derived lipids even when the pots had never contained plants. Some commentators took this result to mean that residue analysis is too contaminated to be useful. However, the experiment also showed that the "intrusive" lipids had a distinct isotopic signature that differed from lipids produced by cooking. By combining chemical profiles with contextual evidence—such as hearth locations and wear patterns—archaeologists can still infer likely vessel use, albeit with more caution than earlier studies sometimes displayed. The sentence beginning with "Some commentators took this result to mean" plays which role?
A market research firm surveyed 1,200 subscribers to an online newspaper and found that 68% of respondents would be willing to pay $2 more per month for a new feature that summarizes long articles. The newspaper's editor concludes that adding the feature and raising subscription prices by $2 will increase total subscription revenue. Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
Far from attacking the theory, the essay's chief aim is to _____ it, tracing how the idea arose without judging its merits.
A materials scientist claims that adding a small amount of graphene to a polymer substantially improves the polymer's resistance to cracking. The scientist cites (1) lab tests in which polymer samples with 0.5% graphene by weight showed a 35% increase in measured fracture toughness compared with pure polymer samples, using the same testing protocol; (2) microscopy images described in the lab notes indicating that cracks in the graphene-infused samples followed more tortuous paths; (3) a replication attempt by another lab that found only a 10% increase but noted differences in how the graphene was dispersed; and (4) a cost estimate suggesting that adding graphene would raise material costs by 8%. Which of the following best characterizes the support for the author's claim?
The committee's decision to approve the risky merger despite repeated warnings from analysts struck many shareholders as ______, a judgment call made without due regard for the company's long-term stability.
A university committee recommends replacing a single high-stakes final exam in introductory biology with three shorter exams spread across the semester. The committee observes that in sections that piloted the change, the withdrawal rate fell from 12% to 7%. It also reports that average attendance at review sessions increased, suggesting students studied more consistently rather than cramming. On these grounds, the committee concludes that the department should adopt the three-exam format for all sections next year. The author relies on which of the following as a premise?
A literary scholar claims that a recently discovered anonymous poem was likely written by Author S. The scholar cites (1) a stylometric analysis showing that the poem's distribution of function words (e.g., "and," "but," "though") is closer to Author S's known works than to those of five contemporaries; (2) a letter from Author S mentioning "a small verse I sent to the northern journal," though the letter does not quote the poem; (3) an editor's note from the northern journal stating that it sometimes published submissions under anonymity; and (4) a thematic comparison noting that the poem's central metaphor resembles one in Author S's earlier essay. Which statement best evaluates how the author uses evidence?
Read the passage and answer the question. A marine biology article reported on a tagging study of juvenile loggerhead turtles conducted off the coast of South Carolina. Researchers captured 64 turtles between July 10 and August 2, 2019, and attached satellite tags programmed to transmit location data every 6 hours. The article stated that 52 of the 64 tags transmitted for at least 30 days, while 19 transmitted for at least 90 days. The researchers defined "nearshore" as waters within 20 kilometers of the coastline and reported that, during the first 14 days after release, 41 turtles remained nearshore for at least 80% of their recorded locations. The article also noted that sea-surface temperature during the capture period ranged from 27.1°C to 29.4°C. It did not report turtle mass or carapace length. According to the passage, which of the following is true?
In "Her chapter on tariffs is an excursus; the main argument resumes in chapter five," what does "excursus" most nearly mean?
Passage: In linguistics, some theorists claim that creole languages are structurally simpler than older languages because they arose rapidly from contact situations. The claim is often supported by pointing to features such as reduced inflectional morphology in certain creoles. If creoles are simpler, the argument goes, they can offer a window into the basic building blocks of grammar. Other linguists challenge both the empirical and conceptual basis of this view. Empirically, creoles can exhibit complex syntax and nuanced tense-aspect systems; conceptually, "simplicity" is difficult to define without privileging certain grammatical features over others. What looks like reduction in one domain may be offset by elaboration in another. A more recent line of research avoids global claims about simplicity and instead examines specific pathways of change in contact settings. By tracking which features tend to be retained, lost, or innovated under particular social conditions, researchers aim to explain creole formation without treating creoles as exceptional or deficient. The emphasis shifts from ranking languages to understanding processes. Question: Which of the following best describes the role of the final sentence ("The emphasis shifts from ranking languages to understanding processes.")?
Select the answer choice that best completes the sentence. The historian argued that the speech was less a spontaneous outburst than a _____ effort, carefully crafted to appeal to multiple audiences at once.
Select the answer choice that best completes the sentence. The researcher's conclusion was necessarily _____, since the experiment lasted only two weeks and could not capture seasonal changes in behavior.
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. Although the professor's lectures were once famous for their (i) ______, drawing crowds of eager listeners, they have since become so (ii) ______ that only a handful of students still attend.
Passage: In ecology, the term "keystone species" is sometimes used loosely to mean any organism that is charismatic or locally abundant. In its stricter sense, however, a keystone species is one whose removal triggers disproportionate changes in community structure relative to its biomass. The concept was introduced to explain why certain predators, though not numerous, can stabilize diversity by preventing a few competitors from dominating. This stricter definition implies a methodological caution. If researchers identify a species as "keystone" merely because many other species interact with it, they may confuse connectedness with impact. A plant visited by many pollinators could be highly connected but replaceable if similar plants can fill its role. For that reason, ecologists increasingly rely on removal experiments or natural experiments—such as disease outbreaks—to estimate whether the loss of a candidate species actually reorganizes the system. The second paragraph serves primarily to:

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