GRE Review

ISU Student Success Center

Verbal Section

Reading Comprehension

Many questions on the GRE will ask you to read a passage and to answer questions based on
your reading. Don’t waste time carefully reading the whole passage the first time you see it!
You’re reading to earn points, not to paraphrase the writer’s argument.

Reading Comprehension questions may be 1 to 6 paragraphs long and may be followed by 1

to 6 questions. Reading Comprehension questions can have good answers and better
answers. Don’t select one answer until you’ve considered all of them.

The Questions

❖ Reading Comprehension questions come in three formats:

o Multiple Choice: one right answer
o Multiple Choice: more than one right answer
o Text Selection: highlight the part of the text that answers the question

❖ Reading Comprehension questions come in three types:

o Recognition (the answer is explicitly in the reading)
o Reasoning (the answer is not explicitly in the reading and must be inferred)
o Vocabulary

Your Approach

❖ Use your scratch paper: write down ABCDE and cross the corresponding answers off as
you eliminate them. This strategy is especially important for negative questions (“Which
of these is not…”).

❖ Skim the passage first to find the main idea.

o read the first and last sentences of each paragraph
o read the last sentence of each paragraph
o jot down a few words that express
▪ the main idea
▪ the kind of writing it is: explaining? arguing? problem-posing?
▪ the author’s tone and point of view

❖ Analyze the question and reword it so it tells you what you’re looking for—you might start
with “what” or “why.” Reword negative questions as positive questions and cross answers
that fit them off on your scratch paper.

Example: “The passage states that Jordan did all of the following EXCEPT…”

Rewording: Which of these did Jordan do?

 o If it asks about a specific word or idea in the passage,
▪ Skim the text until you see a keyword from the question and then start
reading carefully about four lines before that word. Read until about four
lines after.
▪ Predict an answer to the question before you look at the choices.
o If it asks a broader question,
▪ Reread the passage carefully to find the answer.
▪ If you can predict an answer to the question before you look at the choices,
great; more often, you’ll move straight to the answer choices.

❖ Read the answers and eliminate any that you can.

❖ Choose the remaining answer closest to your prediction and go on.

Be careful!

❖ In reading questions, pay careful attention to the number of concepts you’re being
asked about. If the question mentions two concepts, eliminate any answer that applies to
only one--and vice-versa.
❖ Pay close attention to words like must, every, all, each, totally, always, least, except, and
not, and avoid all over-general answer choices.
❖ Readings require no outside knowledge, so don’t worry about readings which include
technical terms you don’t know. Most other readers don’t know them either, and the
questions won’t be about them.
❖ Watch out for (and eliminate) answer choices that include elements not specifically
mentioned in the passage.
GRE Review
ISU Student Success Center
Verbal Section

Practice Test: Reading Comprehension

First Passage

Among the more interesting elements of etymology is the attempt to derive the meaning of
seemingly nonsensical expressions. Take, for instance, the increasingly archaic rural phrase
“to buy a pig in a poke.” For centuries, the expression has been used to signify the purchase
of an item without full knowledge of its condition, and it relates to the common Renaissance
practice of securing suckling pigs for transport to market in a poke, or drawstring bag.
Unscrupulous sellers would sometimes attempt to dupe purchasers by replacing the
suckling pig with a cat, considered worthless at market. An unsuspecting or naïve buyer
might fail to confirm the bag’s contents; a more urbane buyer, though, would be sure to
check and—should the seller be dishonest—“let the cat out of the bag.”

For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select
all that apply.

1. Which of the following phrases from the passage would help the reader infer the
meaning of the word urbane as used in context?

A. “increasingly archaic rural phrase”

B. “without full knowledge”
C. “unsuspecting or naïve buyer”

2. Select a sentence in which the author makes deliberate use of a seemingly nonsensical
expression.

Second Passage

Toqueville, apparently, was wrong. Jacksonian America was not a fluid, egalitarian society
where individual wealth and poverty were ephemeral conditions. At least so argues E.
Pessen in his iconoclastic study of the very rich in the United States between 1825 and 1850.

Pessen does present a quantity of examples, together with some refreshingly intelligible
statistics, to establish the existence of an inordinately wealthy class. Though active in
commerce or the professions, most of the wealthy were not self-made but had inherited
family fortunes. In no sense mercurial, these great fortunes survived the financial panics
that destroyed lesser ones. Indeed, in several cities the wealthiest one percent constantly
increased its share until by 1850 it owned half the community’s wealth. Although these
observations are true, Pessen overestimates their importance by concluding from them that
the undoubted progress toward inequality in the late eighteenth century continued in the
Jacksonian period and that the United States was a class-ridded, plutocratic society even
before industrialization.
For each of questions 3-4, select one answer choice.

3. According to the passage, Pessen indicates that all of the following were true of the
very wealthy in the United States between 1825 and 1850 EXCEPT:

A. They formed a distinct upper class

B. Many of them were able to increase their holdings.
C. Some of them worked as professionals or in business.
D. Most of them accumulated their own fortunes
E. Many of them retained their wealth in spite of financial upheavals.

4. Which of the following best states the author’s main point?

A. Pessen’s study has overturned the previously established view of the social and
economic structure of early-nineteenth-century America.
B. Toqueville’s analysis of the United States in the Jacksonian era remains the
definitive account of this period.
C. Pessen’s study is valuable primarily because it shows the continuity of the
social system in the United States throughout the nineteenth century.
D. The social patterns and political power of the extremely wealthy in the United
States between 1825 and 1850 are well documented.
E. Pessen challenges a view of the social and economic systems in the United
States from 1825 to 1850, but he draws conclusions that are incorrect.

Third Passage

The first smallpox prevention methods were inoculations, intentional infections with active
diseased matter that typically caused a mild illness, and would later result in immunity.
Modern epidemiologists believe that inoculated patients were less likely to contract a fatal
case of tuberculosis because the contracted the disease through skin contact, not inhalation.
However, due to extreme disparities in the type and amount of virus used, health
practicioners could offer no real prediction of how severe a case a given patient might
contract after being inoculated, Inoculation diffrs from vaccination, which uses a standard
dose of dead or weakened virus culture and therefore poses a much lower risk of fatal
infection. After a smallpox vaccine was developed inte the 1790s, inoculation gradually fell
from favor and was eventually banned in numerous jursidictions.

For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select
all that apply.

5. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?

A. Vaccination replaced inoculation because it was a safer method of protecting

against disease.
B. Two random doses of a vaccine were likely to be more similar than two
random doses of an inoculum
C. Prior to the 1790a, live virus cultures were often used in tuberculosis
inoculations.
6. In the context in which it appears, “disparities” most nearly means which of the
following?

A. incapacities
B. vulnerabilities
C. inconsistencies
D. resemblances
E. ineffectiveness

Fourth Passage

When marine organisms called phytoplankton photosynthesize, they absorb carbon dioxide
dissolved in seawater, potentially causing a reduction in the concentration of atmospheric
carbon dioxide, a gas that contributes to global warming. However, phytoplankton flourish
only in surface waters where iron levels are sufficiently high. Martin therefore hypothesized
that adding iron to iron-poor regions of the ocean could help alleviate global warming.
While experiments subsequently confirmed that such a procedure increases phytoplankton
growth, field tests have shown that such growth does not significantly lower atmospheric
carbon dioxide. When phytoplankton utilize carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, the carbon
becomes a building block for organic matter; but the carbon leaks back into the atmosphere
when predators consume the phytoplankton and respire carbon dioxide.

For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select
all that apply.

7. It can be inferred from the passage that Martin’s hypothesis includes which of the
following elements?

A. A correct understanding of how phytoplankton photosynthesis utilizes carbon

dioxide
B. A correct prediction about how the addition of iron to iron-poor waters would
affect phytoplankton growth
C. An incorrect prediction about how phytoplankton growth would affect the
concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

8. It can be inferred that the author of the passage mentions predators (line 10)
primarily in order to

A. help explain why Martin’s hypothesis is incorrect

B. identify one effect of adding iron to iron-poor waters
C. indicate how some carbon dioxide is converted to solid organic matter
D. help account for differences in the density of phytoplankton between different
regions of the ocean
E. point out a factor that was not anticipated by the scientists who conducted the
field tests mentioned in the passage.
Fifth Passage

Scholars of early Buddhist art agree that Buddha images in human form emerged around
the first century AD in the regions of Mathura, located in central India, and Gandhara, now
part of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Uncertainty exists, however, about whether Mathura or
Gandhara has the stronger claim to primacy. Those who believe that anthropomorphic
sculptures of the Buddha first appeared in Gandhara point out that earlier Buddhist art was
usually aniconic and that bas relief was far more common than sculpture. They argue that
Greek influence in Gandhara promoted the development of the new style and form of
representation of the divine. Other scholars make the case for indigenous development of
such representations in Mathura, citing a centuries-long record of iconic art in pre-Buddhist
traditions. They don’t reject all foreign influence, but they argue that local traditions
provided a strong foundation for the development of Buddhist sculpture.

Art historians bolster their arguments by highlighting distinctive features of the sculptures
from each region. For example, the artists of Gandhara sculpted their Buddhas in heavy,
pleated drapery, similar to that of Greek statues. Wavy lines indicating hair also reflect
Greek influence. Matura Buddhas, on the other hand, are portrayed wearing lighter robes
draped in a monastic style, often with part of the shoulder and chest left bare. Elongated
earlobes and strong facial features characterize Mathura images of the Buddha, whereas
Gandhara images possess more angular features. Sorting out dates and directions of
influence has proven difficult, but the totality of evidence suggests that the Buddha image
evolved simultaneously in both regions and was shaped by the predominant cultural
influences in each region.

9. Which of the following, if true, would those who believe that anthropomorphic images
of Buddha originated in Gandhara be likely to cite as evidence for their viewpoint?

A. Pre-Buddhist subcultures in the Gandhara region created representations of

their deities in human form.
B. Mathuran Buddhas’ lightweight robes appear to have been modelled on the
real robes of people who lived in a warm climate.
C. Gandharan artists were isolated from the larger society and not exposed to
influences from outside the region.
D. Rulers from the Mathura region had political ties to Greek rulers and
frequently exchanged gifts with them.
E. The hairstyles worn by Gandharan Buddhas are similar to those depicted on
Greek pottery from the same period.

10. According to the passage, Buddhist art

A. first appeared in regions that are now part of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan
B. experienced a period during which human representations of the Buddha were
not common.
C. characteristically portrayed figures with elongated earlobes and strong facial
features.
D. began to appear in the medium of bas relief as a result of Greek influence.
E. was more influenced by foreign artworks than by indigenous artistic traditions.
GRE Review
ISU Student Success Center
Verbal Section

Answer Key: Reading Comprehension (Set Two)

First Passage: 1. C 2. Final sentence

Second Passage: 3. D 4. E

Third Passage: 5. A and B 6. C

Fourth Passage: 7. A and B and C 8. A

Fifth Passage: 9. E 10. B