GRE Diagnostic Test - Verbal - Solutions

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Test Questions

1. GRATUITOUS:
(A) voluntary
(B) arduous
(C) solicitous
(D) righteous
(E) befitting

Correct Answer: (E)
Solution: You may not recognize GRATUITOUS in isolation, but you probably understand it in the phrase: "Gratuitous sex and violence." GRATUITOUS means "freely given, uncalled for." The opposite is BEFITTING. The answer is (E).

2. OMNIPOTENT:
(A) unabated
(B) feeble
(C) tractable
(D) sententious
(E) sedulous

Correct Answer: (B)
Solution: "Omni" means "all," and "pot" means "power." So, OMNIPOTENT means "all-powerful." The opposite is FEEBLE. The answer is (B).

3. SOLACE:
(A) adopt
(B) dishearten
(C) omit
(D) relieve
(E) feign

Correct Answer: (B)
Solution: SOLACE means "to comfort, to console." The opposite is DISHEARTEN--to discourage. The answer is (B).

4. ANARCHY : GOVERNMENT ::
(A) confederation : state
(B) trepidation : courage
(C) serenity : equanimity
(D) surfeit : food
(E) computer : harddrive

Correct Answer: (B)
Solution: Paraphrase: "ANARCHY is the lack of GOVERNMENT." Now, a CONFEDERATION does not lack STATES. However, TREPIDATION is the lack of COURAGE. The answer is (B).

5. DISQUIETUDE : ANXIOUS ::
(A) magnitude : unabridged
(B) isolation : sequestered
(C) cupidity : bellicose
(D) embellishment : overstated

Correct Answer: (E)
Solution: DISQUIETUDE is ANXIETY. Similarly, NONPLUS is PERPLEXITY. The answer is (E). Choice (B) is a close second-best. SEQUESTERED does mean ISOLATED. However, the pair NONPLUS and PERPLEXED offers a stronger relationship because both words describe a mental state, as do both words of the pair DISQUIETUDE and ANXIOUS.

6. STOKE : SMOTHER ::
(A) incinerate : heat
(B) animate : enervate
(C) contest : decry
(D) acknowledge : apprehend
(E) garrote : asphyxiate

Correct Answer: (B)
Solution: To STOKE a fire is to stir it up or feed it. Hence, STOKE and SMOTHER are antonyms. Now, ANIMATE means to bring to life, to energize; and ENERVATE means to weaken, to debilitate. Hence, ANIMATE and ENERVATE are also antonyms. The answer is (B).

7. Because of his success as a comedian, directors were loath to consider him for ............... roles.
(A) supporting
(B) leading
(C) dramatic
(D) comedic
(E) musical

Correct Answer: (C)
Solution: If the public expects a comedian to always make them laugh, then they might not accept a comedian in a serious role. Hence, the directors would be loath (reluctant) to cast a comedian in a dramatic role. The answer is (C).

8. Man has no choice but to seek truth, he is made uncomfortable and frustrated without truth--thus, the quest for truth is part of what makes us ............... .
(A) noble
(B) different
(C) human
(D) intelligent
(E) aggressive

Correct Answer: (C)
Solution: If man has no choice but to seek truth, then this is an essential characteristic of man. In other words, it is part of what makes us human. The answer is (C).

9. Though he claimed the business was ..............., his irritability ............... that claim.
(A) sound . . belied
(B) expanding . . supported
(C) downsizing . . vindicated
(D) static . . contradicted
(E) booming. . affirmed

Correct Answer: (A)
Solution: If the business was not sound, his irritability would belie (contradict) his claim that the business was sound. The answer is (A).

Passage for Question 10:
As Xenophanes recognized as long ago as the sixth century before Christ, whether or not God made man in His own image, it is certain that man makes gods in his. The gods of Greek mythology first appear in the writings of Homer and Hesiod, and, from the character and actions of these picturesque and, for the most part, friendly beings, we get some idea of the men who made them and brought them to Greece.

But ritual is more fundamental than mythology, and the study of Greek ritual during recent years has shown that, beneath the belief or skepticism with which the Olympians were regarded, lay an older magic, with traditional rites for the promotion of fertility by the celebration of the annual cycle of life and death, and the propitiation of unfriendly ghosts, gods or demons. Some such survivals were doubtless widespread, and, prolonged into classical times, probably made the substance of Eleusinian and Orphic mysteries. Against this dark and dangerous background arose Olympic mythology on the one hand and early philosophy and science on the other.

In classical times the need of a creed higher than the Olympian was felt, and Aeschylus, Sophocles and Plato finally evolved from the pleasant but crude polytheism the idea of a single, supreme and righteous Zeus. But the decay of Olympus led to a revival of old and the invasion of new magic cults among the people, while some philosophers were looking to a vision of the uniformity of nature under divine and universal law.

10. The main idea of the passage is that
(A) Olympic mythology evolved from ancient rituals and gave rise to early philosophy
(B) early moves toward viewing nature as ordered by divine and universal law coincided with monotheistic impulses and the disintegration of classical mythology
(C) early philosophy followed from classical mythology
(D) the practice of science, i.e., empiricism, preceded scientific theory

Correct Answer: (B)
Solution: Most main idea questions are rather easy. This one is not--mainly, because the passage itself is not an easy read. Recall that to find the main idea of a passage, we check the last sentence of the first paragraph; if it's not there, we check the closing of the passage. Reviewing the last sentence of the first paragraph, we see that it hardly presents a statement, let alone the main idea. Turning to the closing line of the passage, however, we find the key to this question. The passage describes a struggle for ascendancy amongst four opposing philosophies: (magic and traditional rites) vs. (Olympic mythology) vs. (monotheism [Zeus]) vs. (early philosophy and science). The closing lines of the passage summarize this and add that Olympic mythology lost out to monotheism (Zeus), while magical cults enjoyed a revival and the germ of universal law was planted. Thus the answer is (B).

As to the other choices, (A) is false. "Olympic mythology [arose] on one hand and early philosophy and science on the other" (closing to paragraph two); thus they initially developed in parallel. (C) is also false. It makes the same type of error as (A). Finally, (D) is not mentioned in the passage.

If you missed questions 1-3:
Your score indicates that you need to study Antonym questions. Click Antonyms for a review of this type of problem.

If you missed questions 4-6:
Your score indicates that you need to study Analogy questions. Click Analogies for a review of this type of problem.

If you missed questions 7-9:
Your score indicates that you need to study Sentence Completion questions. Click Sentence Completions for a review of this type of problem.

If you missed Question 10:
Your score indicates that you need to study Main Idea questions. Click Main Idea Questions for a review of this type of problem.

If you perform at this level on a complete GRE Verbal section, your score would be as follows: