GRE GRE Certifications GRE-TEST Questions & Answers

• Question 171:

  Some archaeologists speculate that the Americas might have been initially colonized between 40.000 and 25.000 years ago. However, to support this theory it is necessary to explain the absence of generally accepted habitation sites for that time interval in what is now the United States. Australia, which has a smaller land area than the United States, has many such sites, supporting the generally accepted claim that the continent was colonized by humans at least 40.000 years ago. Australia is less densely populated (resulting in lower chances of discovering sites) and with its overall greater aridity would have presented conditions less favorable for hunter-gatherer occupation. Proportionally, at least as much land area has been lost from the coastal regions of Australia because of postglacial sea- level rise as in the United States, so any coastal archaeological record in Australia should have been depleted about as much as a coastal record in the United States. Since there are so many resource-rich rivers leading inland from the United States coastline, it seems implausible that a growing population of humans would have confined itself to coasts for thousands of years. If inhabitants were present 25.000 years ago. the chances of their appearing in the archaeological record would seem to be greater than for Australia.

  The author of the passage implies that, in what is now the United States, archaeological evidence of inhabitation in the period from 40.000 to 25.000 years ago is lacking because that region

  A. had its oldest habitation sites inundated following a postglacial rise in sea level

  B. has many resource-rich rivers that facilitated the dispersal of its early inhabitants from an initial concentration in coastal areas

  C. was sparsely populated until about 25.000 years ago

  D. was colonized less than 25.000 years ago

  E. was inhabited only by hunter-gatherers until 25.000 years ago

  Correct Answer: D

• Question 172:

  Lohr's (i)_________the trappings of literary celebrity creates a Romantic aura tor him: by distancing himself from all public discourse about himself or his work. Lohr becomes an even greater, albeit more (ii)_________. celebrity than most authors manage in all their interviews and memoirs.

  A. refusal to wear

  B. renowned

  C. eagerness to understand

  D. appealing

  E. inability to renounce

  F. mysterious

  Correct Answer: AE

• Question 173:

  In the brushland of Klanos Island, seeds of the plant Emmenan the penduliflora normally stay dormant for years and germinate only after a brushfire. The resulting plants quickly mature, produce seed, and then die. It is the nitrogen dioxide in (he smoke that induces the seeds lo germinate. Because automobiles are being introduced on Klanos. and their exhaust contains nitrogen dioxide, the plants will probably be seen throughout Klanos every year.

  Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

  A. All efforts to reduce the frequency and intensity of brushfires on Klanos have failed.

  B. Fires clear much of the brush in the habitat off. penduliflora. allowing germinating seeds to receive enough sunlight to grow.

  C. A small amount of nitrogen dioxide, such as is contained in the exhaust of two or three automobiles, is sufficient to induce the germination of nearby seeds off. penduliflora.

  D. The seeds of some of the other plants that are found on Klanos do not germinate unless the seed coat that protects the kernel of the seed is cracked by intense heat.

  E. Fires in the habitat off. penduliflora entirely destroy the plant's seeds in the places where the fires bum most intensely.

  Correct Answer: B

• Question 174:

  In the 1980s the press release announcing the discovery of a new fundamental particle turned a once_______

  hypothesis of interest to no more than a few hundred physicists into an undisputed fact of global significance.

  A. cogent

  B. fungible

  C. recondite

  D. preeminent

  E. discretionary

  Correct Answer: C

• Question 175:

  The politician's record while in office, though (i)_________- hardly accounts for her high standing three decades later

  --a standing all the more (it)_________because of continuing assaults on her reputation during those years.

  A. bewildering

  B. admirable

  C. unappreciated

  D. unusual regrettable

  E. persistent

  Correct Answer: BD

• Question 176:

  While prudence is recognized as a kind of virtue, there is nonetheless a tendency to view someone who is prudent as. in some sense._________. too narrow and dull to partake of spontaneously arising opportunities.

  A. timid

  B. laudable

  C. wanting

  D. inculpable

  E. exemplary

  F. deficient

  Correct Answer: CF

• Question 177:

  In 1995 the United States National Park Service reintroduced wolves into Yellowstone National Park, from which they had been eliminated decades before by overhunting. Biologists hoped the reintroduction would return the park's mix of animals to a more natural state. After the wolves disappearance, the population of their onetime prey, the elk. had burgeoned. Subsequently, new tree growth declined as multiplying elk browsed young trees, denuding certain areas of the park. Following the wolves" return, the elk population declined and young trees rebounded. Most scientists attribute the vegetation changes to the wolves1 return. However. Ration observes that Yellowstone has not had a harsh winter since wolf numbers reached high levels and suggests that elk may not have needed to resort to trees for food.

  It can be inferred from the passage that the scientists would he most likely to cite which of the following in support of their view?

  A. The correlation between the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and the decline of the elk population

  B. The correlation between wolves' disappearance from Yellowstone and the growth of the elk population

  C. The correlation between the rebounding of Yellowstone's trees and the pattern of its winters since 1995

  Correct Answer: A

• Question 178:

  Economists use two competing models to describe the effects of commercial advertising--advertising as market competition and advertising as market power. The market competition model holds that the fundamental function of advertising is lo provide information about products and brands. It is argued that information in ads permits greater marketplace efficiencies, such as lower prices and reduced monopoly power. In a similar vein, much discussion regarding political advertising has rested on its informational value. Does political advertising provide political information and help voters make informed decisions'1 Nelson argues that promoting bars of soap in commercial ads is no different than promoting political ideas ideology from political candidates in political ads. on the grounds that information is being distributed m both cases. Others, such as Ferguson and Jamieson, disagree with Nelson's proposition. Ferguson, for example, pointed out that choosing a political candidate is more like buying an experience good (where the quality is hard to evaluate prior to purchase) rather than a search good (where the quality is easily evaluated before the purchase). According to Ferguson, claims in political ads do not have true informational value, because it is difficult for voters to draw inferences about the future deeds of a candidate from what the ads say Furthermore. Jamieson argues that political ads reshape the public image of political candidates and change voters feelings about the candidates with subtle emotional cues but without substantive information upon which to base a reasoned judgment.

  In the context of the passage as a whole, the highlighted sentence serves primarily to

  A. present an objection to Nelsons soap-bar analogy

  B. illustrate the distinction between experience goods and search goods

  C. describe the consensus among economists about the informational value of political speech

  D. make a claim about the predictability of voter behavior

  E. indicate the basis for Ferguson s characterization of the process of choosing a political candidate

  Correct Answer: E

• Question 179:

  Discussions of the collapse of the lowland Maya are not new. However, it might be better to say that Maya civilization as a whole did not collapse, although many zones did experience profound change. Because societies are not bounded, unitary entities. collapses are rarely total, and continuity is a normal pan of collapse At the end of the Classic period [200 900C.E.]. the institution of divine kingship and many of the well-known markers of elite culture such as carved stelae [slabs erected for funerals or commemorative purposes] and hieroglyphic polychromes [multicolored artistic pottery) ended, but Maya civilization continued in modified form with many important features intact (e.g.. literacy, war. art. the production of fine ceramics). In some cases large buildings were constructed in the Postclassic period [900-1512 C.E.], but the transition to the Early Postclassic [900-1200 CXj era is distinctive for a decrease in elite goods and contexts. The variability in artifact changes during the Terminal Classic [800-900 C.E.] and into the Postclassic. even within artifact classes (e.g.. fine versus unslipped ceramics), suggests weaker centralized control than during the Classic period. Site abandonments in the Terminal Classic indicate the collapse of the functional ability of Maya states, but sites that survived show that Maya civilization continued albeit without divine kingship and much of the spectacle around it. The passage suggests which of the following about Maya living after the Terminal Classic in "sites that survived"?

  A. Their customs were identical to those of their ancestors.

  B. Their pottery was totally utilitarian in nature.

  C. They no longer created caned stelae.

  D. They stopped erecting large buildings.

  E. They did not use written language.

  Correct Answer: C

• Question 180:

  Not only do the brains of people with great memories appear anatomically_________those of control subjects, but in terms of general cognitive ability, great memorizers appear to be well within the normal range.

  A. superior to

  B. incomparable to

  C. younger than

  D. independent of

  E. indistinguishable from

  Correct Answer: C