Section 4. Verbal Reasoning
- A How would we characterize the task of explaining something that we can
barely access? A good prediction is “impossible.” The answer is A. - C and D The trigger is the colon, which indicates that the second part of the
sentence will clarify the “contradictions...in his worldview.” The contradiction
concerns his moral positions and his behavior. While he was willing to make
claims about morality, he was less willing to practice them. The correct
answers are thus C and D. - B and E Start with the first blank. If the declaration was “well-considered”
then what it “could hardly be thought of as” (in other words, what it is not) is
negative—eliminate A and C. The answer is B. For the second blank, the signal
“still” indicates that the types of murmurs are the opposite of what you’d
expect from an inoffensive statement. The best answer is “disapproval.” - A and F Start with the first blank: What kind of material would the book be
obscured in if it were only accessible to academic circles? The best answer is
“jargon.” Move on to the second blank. The author feels that the inaccessibility
is always lamentable, but particularly now, so he considers the case “upsetting.”
The best answer is “disheartening.” - A and E Start with the second blank. If his friends take his good-naturedness
at face value, then he is probably opposed to “inauthenticity.” The best match is
“subterfuge.” Now go to the first blank. The characteristic being referred to is
his good-naturedness. The best match for that is “geniality.” - D The key clue here is that whatever characteristic she had was frowned
upon in the “hyper-specialized” discipline. We can thus predict that her
characteristic is the opposite of hyper-specialization. A good prediction is
“wide.” The best match is “eclecticism.” - C “Porous” is used in a negative context, so eliminate A and D. The author
mentions that “materialism” has merit, so eliminate B. The author does not
indicate that materialism is meaningless, so eliminate E. The answer is C. - Sentence 7 “Quantum physics shows us...” The only question in the passage
is, “But what are we to make of consciousness?” The answer comes two
lines later, “Quantum physics has an answer: the question is senseless.” The
explanation for this answer is the following sentence. - C The author mentions “how much progress has been made in various
scientific disciplines” when explaining its “vaunted status among the
sciences.” The clue “but” tells us that the author’s point in this sentence is
in contrast to the point of the following sentence. The question, “But what
about consciousness?” serves to highlight materialism’s shortcomings, so the
mention of progress is most likely meant to “explain materialism’s popularity.” - C The passage discusses the shortcomings of the materialist position to show
that, as long as neuroscientists are committed to this position, they will never
be able to explain consciousness. The best answer is C. - A We want to find the answer showing that the relatively lower price of
Kantanistan computers won’t stimulate Ertrulian computer buyers to switch
over to Kantanistan computers. Choice A does this by showing a competing
reason for Ertrulians to buy Ertrulian computers. Though the computers
made in Ertrulia might be more expensive, they are also higher quality, thus
justifying the higher price that Ertrulians would have to pay.
CHAPTER 2 ■ GRE DIAGNOSTIC TEST 6101-GRE-Test-2018_001-106.indd 61 17/05/17 10:13 am