GRE Verbal Practice Test

Topic 1.1 · Apply it

Cities are often several degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside, a pattern known as the urban heat island. Dark roofs and pavement absorb sunlight and release it as heat after sunset, while the scarcity of vegetation removes the cooling effect of water evaporating from leaves. Green roofs (layers of soil and plants installed on top of buildings) have been promoted as a remedy. Measurements bear out part of the claim: a planted roof can be dramatically cooler than a conventional one on a summer afternoon. Yet researchers caution that the benefit to the street below is modest unless green roofs are widespread, because most of the cooling occurs at roof level, well above where people walk. For residents, the more reliable gains may come from street trees, which shade the very surfaces pedestrians touch.

Which of the following best states the main point of the passage?

Topic 1.1 · Concept check

Cities are often several degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside, a pattern known as the urban heat island. Dark roofs and pavement absorb sunlight and release it as heat after sunset, while the scarcity of vegetation removes the cooling effect of water evaporating from leaves. Green roofs (layers of soil and plants installed on top of buildings) have been promoted as a remedy. Measurements bear out part of the claim: a planted roof can be dramatically cooler than a conventional one on a summer afternoon. Yet researchers caution that the benefit to the street below is modest unless green roofs are widespread, because most of the cooling occurs at roof level, well above where people walk. For residents, the more reliable gains may come from street trees, which shade the very surfaces pedestrians touch.

According to the passage, the cooling effect of green roofs is modest at street level primarily because

Topic 1.1 · Apply it

Cities are often several degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside, a pattern known as the urban heat island. Dark roofs and pavement absorb sunlight and release it as heat after sunset, while the scarcity of vegetation removes the cooling effect of water evaporating from leaves. Green roofs (layers of soil and plants installed on top of buildings) have been promoted as a remedy. Measurements bear out part of the claim: a planted roof can be dramatically cooler than a conventional one on a summer afternoon. Yet researchers caution that the benefit to the street below is modest unless green roofs are widespread, because most of the cooling occurs at roof level, well above where people walk. For residents, the more reliable gains may come from street trees, which shade the very surfaces pedestrians touch.

The author's attitude toward claims made for green roofs is best described as

Topic 1.1 · Apply it

Many of the best-known Victorian novels first reached readers not as books but in installments, published monthly or weekly in magazines. Critics have sometimes treated serialization as a commercial constraint that pushed authors toward padding and cliffhangers. Recent scholarship complicates this view. Because installments appeared over many months, readers discussed unfolding plots in letters and reviews, and some authors adjusted later chapters in response. Serialization, on this account, was less a limitation than a conversation: it allowed a novel to be shaped, in part, by the audience it addressed. The skeptics are not entirely wrong, since some serialized novels do sag in the middle, but the form also made possible a responsiveness that the finished, bound book could not offer.

The primary purpose of the passage is to

Topic 1.1 · Apply it

Many of the best-known Victorian novels first reached readers not as books but in installments, published monthly or weekly in magazines. Critics have sometimes treated serialization as a commercial constraint that pushed authors toward padding and cliffhangers. Recent scholarship complicates this view. Because installments appeared over many months, readers discussed unfolding plots in letters and reviews, and some authors adjusted later chapters in response. Serialization, on this account, was less a limitation than a conversation: it allowed a novel to be shaped, in part, by the audience it addressed. The skeptics are not entirely wrong, since some serialized novels do sag in the middle, but the form also made possible a responsiveness that the finished, bound book could not offer.

The phrase "less a limitation than a conversation" suggests that serialization

Topic 1.1 · Apply it

Many of the best-known Victorian novels first reached readers not as books but in installments, published monthly or weekly in magazines. Critics have sometimes treated serialization as a commercial constraint that pushed authors toward padding and cliffhangers. Recent scholarship complicates this view. Because installments appeared over many months, readers discussed unfolding plots in letters and reviews, and some authors adjusted later chapters in response. Serialization, on this account, was less a limitation than a conversation: it allowed a novel to be shaped, in part, by the audience it addressed. The skeptics are not entirely wrong, since some serialized novels do sag in the middle, but the form also made possible a responsiveness that the finished, bound book could not offer.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the view of the "recent scholarship" described in the passage?

Topic 1.1 · Concept check

Many of the best-known Victorian novels first reached readers not as books but in installments, published monthly or weekly in magazines. Critics have sometimes treated serialization as a commercial constraint that pushed authors toward padding and cliffhangers. Recent scholarship complicates this view. Because installments appeared over many months, readers discussed unfolding plots in letters and reviews, and some authors adjusted later chapters in response. Serialization, on this account, was less a limitation than a conversation: it allowed a novel to be shaped, in part, by the audience it addressed. The skeptics are not entirely wrong, since some serialized novels do sag in the middle, but the form also made possible a responsiveness that the finished, bound book could not offer.

The author concedes that

Topic 1.1 · Apply it

Economists once assumed that people treat money as fully interchangeable: a dollar is a dollar, whatever its source. Studies of "mental accounting" suggest otherwise. People who receive a tax refund, for instance, are more likely to spend it on luxuries than they would be to spend an equivalent raise spread across their paychecks, even though the two sums are identical. The finding matters for policy: how a benefit is delivered may change what recipients do with it.

The example of the tax refund serves primarily to

Topic 1.1 · Apply it

Economists once assumed that people treat money as fully interchangeable: a dollar is a dollar, whatever its source. Studies of "mental accounting" suggest otherwise. People who receive a tax refund, for instance, are more likely to spend it on luxuries than they would be to spend an equivalent raise spread across their paychecks, even though the two sums are identical. The finding matters for policy: how a benefit is delivered may change what recipients do with it.

It can be inferred that a policymaker who wanted recipients to save a benefit rather than spend it might

Topic 1.1 · Concept check

Economists once assumed that people treat money as fully interchangeable: a dollar is a dollar, whatever its source. Studies of "mental accounting" suggest otherwise. People who receive a tax refund, for instance, are more likely to spend it on luxuries than they would be to spend an equivalent raise spread across their paychecks, even though the two sums are identical. The finding matters for policy: how a benefit is delivered may change what recipients do with it.

As used in the passage, "interchangeable" most nearly means

Topic 1.2 · Apply it

Although the senator's speech was praised for its eloquence, critics noted that it was strikingly ______ on details, offering few concrete proposals.

Choose the word or words that best complete the text.

Topic 1.2 · Apply it

The scientist's findings, far from being ______, were soon confirmed by three independent laboratories.

Choose the word or words that best complete the text.

Topic 1.2 · Apply it

Her ______ manner (she rarely spoke more than a few words at meetings) led colleagues to underestimate how strongly she held her views.

Choose the word or words that best complete the text.

Topic 1.2 · Apply it

The museum's new director, determined to ______ the institution's reputation for stuffiness, introduced late-night openings and interactive exhibits.

Choose the word or words that best complete the text.

Topic 1.2 · Apply it

Rather than ______ the earlier theory outright, the author refines it, preserving its central insight while correcting its errors.

Choose the word or words that best complete the text.

Topic 1.2 · Apply it

The committee's report was (i) ______: it acknowledged the program's successes but did not (ii) ______ its considerable costs.

Choose the word or words that best complete the text.

Topic 1.2 · Apply it

Because the evidence was largely ______, the jury was asked to infer the defendant's presence from a pattern of indirect clues.

Choose the word or words that best complete the text.

Topic 1.2 · Apply it

The novelist's later work is marked by a ______ that contrasts sharply with the ornate, sprawling sentences of her early books.

Choose the word or words that best complete the text.

Topic 1.2 · Apply it

Far from being a ______ reader, the young Darwin devoured books on geology and natural history.

Choose the word or words that best complete the text.

Topic 1.2 · Apply it

The policy's effects proved ______: they appeared not immediately but only after several years.

Choose the word or words that best complete the text.

Topic 1.3 · Apply it

The professor's explanation was so ______ that even students new to the subject followed it easily.

Choose the pair of words that both complete the sentence and give it the same meaning.

Topic 1.3 · Apply it

Despite years of setbacks, the inventor remained ______, convinced that her design would eventually work.

Choose the pair of words that both complete the sentence and give it the same meaning.

Topic 1.3 · Apply it

The ambassador's remarks were deliberately ______, allowing each side to read its own preferred meaning into them.

Choose the pair of words that both complete the sentence and give it the same meaning.

Topic 1.3 · Apply it

The once-thriving port became ______ after the river silted up and trade moved elsewhere.

Choose the pair of words that both complete the sentence and give it the same meaning.

Topic 1.3 · Apply it

The critic's review was unusually ______: she praised nearly every aspect of the production.

Choose the pair of words that both complete the sentence and give it the same meaning.

Topic 1.3 · Apply it

Scientists were ______ about the startling claim until other teams could reproduce the results.

Choose the pair of words that both complete the sentence and give it the same meaning.

Topic 1.3 · Apply it

The town's water supply, once ______, now runs short every summer.

Choose the pair of words that both complete the sentence and give it the same meaning.