Verbal Section (GRE)

Directions: Select the two answer choices that, when used to complete the sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning.

Prominent scientists and intellectuals cast Professor Dawkins as the __________ of a selfish culture, accusing him and his fellow socio-biologists of setting the cultural stage for the “I got mine” age of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.

Directions: For the given question, select one entry for the blank from the given choices, to best complete the text.

But in recent years the parallel has taken a less flattering turn. Opinion has long been divided on Bloom. Some regard him as little more than a blowhard, the promulgator - in indigestible prose - of theories both ___________ - a pontificator, a narcissist, a mountebank. Others - by far the majority in the popular press - have anointed him the critic of the age.

Directions: For the given question, select one entry for the blank from the given choices, to best complete the text.

For the past century or so, philosophy has primarily entailed ___________ deep truths about the nature of human existence - questions about reason, knowledge, values, and free will. Philosophy can seem like a lonely ivory-tower vigil, but the old school holds that sitting and thinking is still the best way to do it.

All of the following can be inferred from the passage about Hemingway's style of writing, except

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Ernest Hemingway’s style of writing cultivated a mass following for him not only while he was alive but also after his death. Most essayists and critics agree that Hemingway abhorred the use of adjectives and used nouns exhaustively in order to prevent his characters from being bigger than life. Others have accused Hemingway of being rather bland in the description of his characters and transferring the onus onto the readers to build the characters in the way that seems fit to them. Another belief that has emerged about his writing is that he made the characters and their dialogues stay in our heads by laying selective emphasis and by the use of repetition. Hemingway himself acknowledged that he did most of his work in his head and that any sentence, before it could be penned down, had to fit his standards of comprehension and brevity. Hemingway acknowledged that he sometimes felt that his style of writing was more suggestive than direct and that the reader had to involve himself to not miss the subtle nuances of his (Hemingway’s) writings.

In the context of the passage as a whole, “craftsmanship” in sentence 7 is closest in meaning to:

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Outsourced healthcare, especially expensive surgeries, is a trend that is catching the fancy of the patients both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. However, the similarity ends here as the reasons for healthcare being outsourced to nations like India are different in the two nations. Patients in USA prefer overseas treatment because of high costs associated with healthcare in the US. Patients in the UK, however, prefer going overseas for surgeries because of a huge backlog of surgeries and the long waiting period.
The United Kingdom operates its healthcare on a model that can best be called a socialist model of cooperation and shared responsibility. The healthcare in the nation is managed by the government by using a portion of the tax collections. The policy is all-inclusive and everyone is entitled to subsidized and sometimes free healthcare, irrespective of the patient’s ability to pay. This leaves room for considerable craftsmanship in the construction of socialist systems. All the employees of the public healthcare system are government employees. Surprisingly, this model of socialist, government run healthcare services has reported a higher satisfaction rate among the patients than the private sector model prevalent in the United States. The socialist model also eliminated the need for a medical insurance industry because of the affordability of treatment. According to one estimate, if America were to move to a socialist healthcare model like that of U.K., Cuba, Switzerland, and were to provide healthcare insurance to all its citizens, the American healthcare industry could still save $100 billion. However, the present scenario is that the healthcare industry is making huge profits even as many in need of medical care suffer.

What is the thematic highlight of the passage?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Like ethics, morality, in whatever degree it exists in a mortal, sits rather easy on their wearer’s shoulders. A rascal would perhaps recount with more sadistic glee of having made a sucker out of an unsuspecting soul, than how an upright and honest official would describe his stand against corruption and the efforts to corrupt him. For an ordinary Cuban citizen, trapped in a nation battling international embargoes of all sorts, the contest between morality aided by legality, and the need to stock one’s larder is really a no-show because morality does not fill hungry stomachs. One’s amenability to shedding one’s scruples grows in direct proportion to the shortage of what one is seeking. While an over-fed American, in his native country, might turn his nose up at non-organic lettuce, and choose instead to pick up his vegetables from a store that sells ‘certified organic only’, a sterner test of his resolution would only be possible in a setting when, let’s say, he is staying in Cuba for an year. For a nation which has always been the favored child of abundance, and where power, at least in the ‘pioneer years’ flowed from the barrel of the gun, much has always been there for the asking, and the rest was obtained by force, it is easy to be moral.

Which of the following if true, would most strengthen the conclusion?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Smart people are the catalysts for progress but sometimes they cause immeasurable harm while trying to do good. An eccentric millionaire, Jonathan Holden, living in America in the early 20th century set up a trust that invested two and a half million dollars in a series of trusts at 5% compounding interest. Though such trusts were not uncommon, what was unprecedented about these trusts was that they had a lock-in period of either 500 years or 1000 years. By the time of maturity, it is estimated that the Unitarian Church, one of the beneficiaries of Holden’s generosity will have a wealth of around 25 billion dollars. The State of Pennsylvania, beneficiary of a 1000 years trust, will have a cool $ 425 trillion. The amount of the payout for the State of Pennsylvania, meant by Holden as a tribute to his hero - Benjamin Franklin, and meant to obviate the need for the denizens of the State to ever pay income tax again, might achieve its objective, but would end up bankrupting the United States.

In the context of the passage as a whole, “amenability” in sentence 5 is closest in meaning to

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Like ethics, morality, in whatever degree it exists in a mortal, sits rather easy on their wearer’s shoulders. A rascal would perhaps recount with more sadistic glee of having made a sucker out of an unsuspecting soul, than how an upright and honest official would describe his stand against corruption and the efforts to corrupt him. For an ordinary Cuban citizen, trapped in a nation battling international embargoes of all sorts, the contest between morality aided by legality, and the need to stock one’s larder is really a no-show because morality does not fill hungry stomachs. One’s amenability to shedding one’s scruples grows in direct proportion to the shortage of what one is seeking. While an over-fed American, in his native country, might turn his nose up at non-organic lettuce, and choose instead to pick up his vegetables from a store that sells ‘certified organic only’, a sterner test of his resolution would only be possible in a setting when, let’s say, he is staying in Cuba for an year. For a nation which has always been the favored child of abundance, and where power, at least in the ‘pioneer years’ flowed from the barrel of the gun, much has always been there for the asking, and the rest was obtained by force, it is easy to be moral.

In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Outsourced healthcare, especially expensive surgeries, is a trend that is catching the fancy of the patients both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. However, the similarity ends here as the reasons for healthcare being outsourced to nations like India are different in the two nations. Patients in USA prefer overseas treatment because of high costs associated with healthcare in the US. Patients in the UK, however, prefer going overseas for surgeries because of a huge backlog of surgeries and the long waiting period.
The United Kingdom operates its healthcare on a model that can best be called a socialist model of cooperation and shared responsibility. The healthcare in the nation is managed by the government by using a portion of the tax collections. The policy is all-inclusive and everyone is entitled to subsidized and sometimes free healthcare, irrespective of the patient’s ability to pay. This leaves room for considerable craftsmanship in the construction of socialist systems. All the employees of the public healthcare system are government employees. Surprisingly, this model of socialist, government run healthcare services has reported a higher satisfaction rate among the patients than the private sector model prevalent in the United States. The socialist model also eliminated the need for a medical insurance industry because of the affordability of treatment. According to one estimate, if America were to move to a socialist healthcare model like that of U.K., Cuba, Switzerland, and were to provide healthcare insurance to all its citizens, the American healthcare industry could still save $100 billion. However, the present scenario is that the healthcare industry is making huge profits even as many in need of medical care suffer.

What is the role of the last sentence, 'For a nation which has always been the favored child of abundance, and where power, at least in the 'pioneer years' flowed from the barrel of the gun, much has always been there for the asking, and the rest could be obtained by force, it is easy to be moral' in the passage?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Like ethics, morality, in whatever degree it exists in a mortal, sits rather easy on their wearer’s shoulders. A rascal would perhaps recount with more sadistic glee of having made a sucker out of an unsuspecting soul, than how an upright and honest official would describe his stand against corruption and the efforts to corrupt him. For an ordinary Cuban citizen, trapped in a nation battling international embargoes of all sorts, the contest between morality aided by legality, and the need to stock one’s larder is really a no-show because morality does not fill hungry stomachs. One’s amenability to shedding one’s scruples grows in direct proportion to the shortage of what one is seeking. While an over-fed American, in his native country, might turn his nose up at non-organic lettuce, and choose instead to pick up his vegetables from a store that sells ‘certified organic only’, a sterner test of his resolution would only be possible in a setting when, let’s say, he is staying in Cuba for an year. For a nation which has always been the favored child of abundance, and where power, at least in the ‘pioneer years’ flowed from the barrel of the gun, much has always been there for the asking, and the rest was obtained by force, it is easy to be moral.

Which of the following explains the most likely reason for the happiness of the residents of the author's building?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

The residents of my building are very happy as many other old buildings in our, the older part of the city, are undergoing redevelopment. Residents of the buildings that are undergoing redevelopment are happy as the builders not only demolish and rebuild the buildings, but also provide more covered space and in-building parking to the residents once the building is reconstructed. In return, the builders usually keep the ground floor of the new building as their fee and develop it as a showroom or other commercial space.