GRE Verbal Flashcards: Resolve Paradox Discrepancy

What this deck covers

This deck focuses on Resolve Paradox Discrepancy, giving you a quick way to review the definitions, rules, and examples that matter most for GRE Verbal.

How to use these flashcards

Work through these flashcards in short sessions. Try to answer each prompt before flipping the card, then revisit any cards you miss until the explanation feels automatic.

Flashcard 1: Identify the best resolution move: a policy reduces emissions, yet air quality worsens; why?

Answer: Other pollutants increased or weather trapped pollution despite lower emissions. External factors can counteract emission reductions, leading to poorer air quality despite policy efforts.

Flashcard 2: Identify the best resolution move: sales rose, yet profits fell; what must be added?

Answer: Costs rose enough to outweigh the higher revenue. Increased expenses can negate revenue gains, making both sales increase and profit decline consistent.

Flashcard 3: Which wording in an answer choice often signals a useful resolution mechanism?

Answer: Qualifiers like "only if," "except," "in some cases," or "for a subset". Such language introduces nuances that differentiate scenarios, allowing both facts to coexist.

Flashcard 4: Which option best resolves: a town adds more buses, yet ridership declines?

Answer: Routes or schedules became less convenient, or alternatives became cheaper. Changes in convenience or competition can offset capacity increases, leading to lower usage.

Flashcard 5: What is the most common logical move used to resolve a discrepancy?

Answer: Show the two claims refer to different groups, times, or conditions. Differentiating contexts allows both claims to hold true without direct opposition.

Flashcard 6: Which option best resolves: a museum raised ticket prices, yet attendance increased?

Answer: Higher prices funded improvements or signaled prestige, increasing demand. Price hikes can enhance perceived value or fund attractions, boosting attendance counterintuitively.

Flashcard 7: What is the primary task in a Resolve-the-Paradox question on GRE Verbal?

Answer: Choose the option that makes both facts true by adding a missing detail. This task requires selecting an answer that reconciles apparent contradictions by providing additional context that harmonizes both facts.

Flashcard 8: Which option best resolves: an island has few predators, yet bird nesting success is low?

Answer: Food scarcity, parasites, or harsh weather reduces chick survival. Alternative threats undermine expected benefits from low predation, explaining poor nesting outcomes.

Flashcard 9: Which option type is a classic trap: it explains only one side of the paradox?

Answer: A one-sided explanation that strengthens one fact but ignores the other. These traps appear explanatory but leave the paradox intact by neglecting the conflicting element.

Flashcard 10: Identify the best resolution move: a new highway reduces commute time, yet congestion rises; why?

Answer: Induced demand increased traffic volume enough to raise congestion. Added capacity attracts more users, increasing overall traffic and congestion despite initial time savings.

Flashcard 11: Which answer type is most often wrong in Resolve-the-Paradox questions?

Answer: A choice that merely restates one fact without reconciling both. These options fail to address the conflict, as they do not integrate or explain the opposing fact.

Flashcard 12: What is the role of a "hidden assumption" in a paradox question?

Answer: It is an unstated premise that, when corrected, removes the conflict. Identifying and challenging an implicit but flawed assumption dissolves the apparent contradiction.

Flashcard 13: Identify the best resolution move: a company hires more staff, yet output per worker drops; why?

Answer: New hires were inexperienced or training time reduced productivity per worker. Integration challenges with new staff can temporarily lower efficiency, aligning hiring with reduced productivity.

Flashcard 14: Identify the best resolution move: a store cuts prices, yet customers buy less; why?

Answer: Lower price signaled lower quality or the product mix changed. Perceived devaluation or altered offerings can deter purchases, explaining reduced sales despite lower prices.

Flashcard 15: Identify the best resolution move: a city adds police, yet crime increases; why?

Answer: Reporting or detection increased, raising recorded crime without more crime. Enhanced detection inflates statistics without actual crime rising, reconciling added police with higher reports.

Flashcard 16: Which kind of answer choice usually resolves a discrepancy most directly?

Answer: A choice that introduces a relevant distinction or hidden variable. Such choices resolve paradoxes by clarifying overlooked differences that eliminate the perceived inconsistency.

Flashcard 17: What is the key test to confirm an option truly resolves the paradox?

Answer: It must make both statements simultaneously plausible and consistent. The resolution must integrate both elements of the paradox into a coherent, non-contradictory scenario.

Flashcard 18: Which option is most likely to resolve: a product is popular, yet few repeat purchases occur?

Answer: It is bought mainly as a one-time item (gift, trial, durable good). Non-recurring purchase patterns reconcile high initial popularity with low repeat business.

Flashcard 19: Identify the best resolution move: a drug works in trials, but fails in practice; why?

Answer: Real-world patients differ (dosage, adherence, comorbidities, selection). Variations in real-world application create discrepancies between controlled trials and practical outcomes.

Flashcard 20: Identify the best resolution move: a study finds coffee linked to illness, yet coffee drinkers live longer; how?

Answer: A confounder differs (health behavior, income) or the populations differ. Underlying variables can explain positive longevity despite negative correlations in isolated studies.

Flashcard 21: Which option best resolves: a forest had more rainfall, yet river levels fell?

Answer: More water infiltrated/evaporated or upstream withdrawals increased. Loss mechanisms reduce net water flow, reconciling higher precipitation with diminished river levels.

Flashcard 22: What relationship between statements defines a paradox/discrepancy in GRE passages?

Answer: Two claims seem inconsistent but are both presented as true. A paradox arises when two statements appear mutually exclusive yet are both asserted as factual in the passage.

Flashcard 23: What should you do first when you read a discrepancy prompt?

Answer: Paraphrase the two conflicting facts as a single clear contradiction. Rephrasing sharpens focus on the core inconsistency, aiding in identifying resolving factors.

Flashcard 24: Identify the best resolution move: average test scores rose, yet more students failed; how?

Answer: Score distribution shifted: more high scores and more very low scores. A bimodal shift raises the mean through top performers while increasing failures at the bottom.

Flashcard 25: Identify the best resolution move: a species is protected, yet its numbers decline; why?

Answer: Another limiting factor persists (habitat loss, disease, food shortage). Persistent external threats maintain decline despite protection, harmonizing the two observations.