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Submitted 2009-05-13 04:20:23

GRE #12

1. Although adolescent maturational and develop-
mental states occur in an orderly sequence, their
timing----with regard to onset and duration.
(A) lasts (B) varies (C) falters
(D) accelerates (E) dwindles

2. Many of the earliest colonial houses that are still
standing have been so modified and enlarged that
the----design is no longer----.
(A) pertinent—relevant
(B) intended.. necessary
(C) embellished.. attractive
(D) appropriate.. applicable
(E) initial.. discernible

3. While the delegate clearly sought to----the opti-
mism that has emerged recently, she stopped short
of suggesting that the conference was near collapse
and might produce nothing of significance.
(A) substantiate (B) dampen
(C) encourage (D) elucidate
(E) rekindle

4. The old man could not have been accused of----
his affection; his conduct toward the child betrayed
his----her.
(A) lavishing.. fondness for
(B) sparing.. tolerance of
(C) rationing.. antipathy for
(D) stinting.. adoration of
(E) promising.. dislike of

5. A leading chemist believes that many scientists have
difficulty with stereochemistry because much of the
relevant nomenclature is----, in that it combines
concepts that should be kept----.
(A) obscure.. interrelated
(B) specialized.. intact
(C) subtle.. inviolate
(D) descriptive.. separate
(E) imprecise.. discrete

6. Among the many----of the project, expense
cannot be numbered; the goals of the project’s
promoters can be achieved with impressive----.
(A) highlights.. efficiency
(B) features.. savings
(C) disadvantages.. innovation
(D) claims.. speed
(E) defects.. economy

7. Though science is often imagined as a-----
exploration of external reality, scientists are no
different from anyone else: they are----human
beings enmeshed in a web of personal and
social circumstances.
(A) fervent.. vulnerable
(B) neutral.. rational
(C) painstaking.. careless
(D) disinterested.. passionate
(E) cautious.. dynamic

8. DRAWBRIDGE: CASTLE::
(A) lawn: house (B) gangway: ship
(C) aisle: stage (D) hallway: building
(E) sidewalk: garage

9. INSULIN: PANCREAS::
(A) bile: liver (B) menthol: eucalyptus
(C) oxygen: heart (D) honey: bee
(E) vanilla: bean

10. TALON: ERAGLE::
(A) fang: snake (B) hoof: horse
(C) quill: porcupine (D) tusk: elephant
(E) claw: panther

11. ARTICULATE: CLEARLY::
(A) orate: strongly (B) shout: loudly
(C) lecture: willfully (D) malign: incoherently
(E) jest: belligerently

12. NUANCE: DISTINCTION::
(A) remnant: preservation
(B) shade: spectrum
(C) hint: suggestion
(D) trace: existence
(E) splinter: disintegration

13. URBANE: GAUCHERIE::
(A) confident: coterie
(B) calculating: imposture
(C) diffident: goodwill
(D) fearful: destruction
(E) guileless: chicanery

14. VOTING: FOLL CALL::
(A) termination; cloture
(B) amendment: constitution
(C) majority: concession
(D) quorum: filibuster
(E) investigation: legislation

15. DEMUR: QUALMS::
(A) placate: pique
(B) obligate: benevolence
(C) atrophy: rehabilitation
(D) manipulate: experience
(E) waver: irresoluteness

16. MISER: THRIFT::
(A) performer: artistry
(B) chauvinist: patriotism
(C) mimic: ridicule
(D) politician: compromise
(E) scientist: discovery

Of Homer’s two epic poems, the Odyssey has always
been more popular than the Iliad, perhaps because it
includes more features of mythology that are accessible
to readers. Its subject (to use Maynard Mack’s cate-
gories) is “life-as-spectacle,” for readers, diverted by its
various incidents, observe its hero Odysseus primarily
from without; the tragic Iliad, however, presents “life-as-
experience”: readers are asked to identify with the mind
of Achilles, whose motivations render him a not particu-
larly likable hero. In addition, the Iliad, more than the
Odyssey, suggests the complexity of the gods’ involve-
ment in human actions, and to the extent that modern
readers find this complexity a needless complication, the Iliad is less satisfying than the Odyssey, with its simpler ‘scheme of divine justice. Finally, since the Iliad presents
a historically verifiable action, Troy’s siege, the poem
raises historical questions that are absent from the
Odyssey’s blithely imaginative world.

17. The author uses Mack’s “categories” (lines 4-5)
most probably in order to
(A) argue that the Iliad should replace the Odyssey
as the more popular poem
(B) indicate Mack’s importance as a commentator
on the Iliad and the Odyssey
(C) suggest one way in which the Iliad and the
Odyssey can be distinguished
(D) point out some of the difficulties faced by
readers of the Iliad and the Odyssey
(E) demonstrate that the Iliad and the Odyssey
can best be distinguished by comparing their
respective heroes

18. The author suggests that the variety of incidents in
the Odyssey is likely to deter the reader from.
(A) concentrating on the poem’s mythological
features
(B) concentrating on the psychological states of
the poem’s central character
(C) accepting the explanation that have been
offered for the poem’s popularity
(D) accepting the poem’s scheme of divine justice
(E) accepting Maynard Mack’s theory that the
poem’s subject is “life-as-spectacle”

19. The passage is primarily concerned with
(A) distinguishing arguments
(B) applying classifications
(C) initiating a debate
(D) resolving a dispute
(E) developing a contrast

20. It can be inferred from the passage that a reader of
the Iliad is likely to have trouble identifying with the
poem’s hero for which of the following reasons?
(A) The hero is eventually revealed to be unheroic.
(B) The hero can be observed by the reader
only from without.
(C) The hero’s psychology is not historically
verifiable.
(D) The hero’s emotions often do not seem
appealing to the reader.
(E) The hero’s emotions are not sufficiently
various to engage the reader’s attention.

Flatfish, such as the flounder, are among the few
vertebrates that lack approximate bilateral symmetry
(symmetry in which structures to the left and right of the
body’s midline are mirror images). Most striking among
(5) the many asymmetries evident in an adult flatfish is eye
placement: before maturity one eye migrates, so that in
an adult flatfish both eyes are on the same side of the
head. While in most species with asymmetries virtually
all adults share the same asymmetry, members of the
(10)starry flounder species can be either left-eyed (both eyes
on the left side of head) or right-eyed. In the waters
between the United States and Japan, the starry flounder
populations very from about 50 percent left-eyed off the
United States West Coast, through about 70 percent left-
(15)eyed halfway between the United States and Japan, to
nearly 100 percent left-eyed off the Japanese coast.
Biologists call this kind of gradual variation over a
certain geographic rang a “cline” and interpret clines as
strong indications that the variation is adaptive, a
(20)response to environmental differences. For the starry
flounder this interpretation implies that a geometric
difference (between fish that are mirror images of one
another) is adaptive, that left-eyedness in the Japanese
starry flounder has been selected for, which provokes a
(25)perplexing questions: what is the selective advantage in
having both eyes on one side rather than on the other?
The ease with which a fish can reverse the effect of
the sidedness of its eye asymmetry simply by turning
around has caused biologists to study internal anatomy,
(30)especially the optic nerves, for the answer. In all flatfish
the optic nerves cross, so that the right optic nerve is
joined to the brain’s left side and vice versa. This
crossing introduces an asymmetry, as one optic nerve
must cross above or below the other. G. H. Parker
(35)reasoned that if, for example, a flatfish’s left eye
migrated when the right optic nerve was on top, there
would be a twisting of nerves, which might be mechani-
cally disadvantageous. For starry flounders, then, the
left-eyed variety would be selected against, since in a
(40)starry flounder the left optic nerve is uppermost.
The problem with the above explanation is that the
Japanese starry flounder population is almost exclusively
left-eyed, an natural selection never promotes a purely
less advantageous variation. As other explanations
(45)proved equally untenable, biologists concluded that
there is no important adaptive difference between left-
eyedness and right-eyedness, and that the two character-
istics are genetically associated with some other adap-
tively significant characteristic. This situation is one
(50)commonly encountered by evolutionary biologists, who
must often decide whether a characteristic is adaptive or
selectively neutral. As for the left-eyed and right-eyed
flatfish, their difference, however striking, appears to be
an evolutionary red herring.

21. According to the passage, starry flounder differ
from most other species of flatfish in that starry
flounder
(A) are not basically bilaterally symmetric
(B) do not become asymmetric until adulthood
(C) do not all share the same asymmetry
(D) have both eyes on the same side of the head
(E) tend to cluster in only certain geographic
regions

22. The author would be most likely to agree
with which of the following statements
about left-eyedness and right-eyedness in
the starry flounder?
I. They are adaptive variations by the starry
flounder to environmental differences.
II They do not seem to give obvious selective
advantages to the starry flounder.
III They occur in different proportions in different
locations.
(A) I only (B) II only (C) I and III only
(D) II and III only (E) I, II, and III

23. According to the passage, a possible disadvantage
associated with eye migration in flatfish is that the
optic nerves can
(A) adhere to one another
(B) detach from the eyes
(C) cross (D) stretch (E) twist

24. Which of the following best describes the
organization of the passage as a whole?
(A) A phenomenon is described and an
interpretation presented and rejected.
(B) A generalization is made and supporting
evidence is supplied and weighed.
(C) A contradiction is noted and a resolution is
suggested and then modified.
(D) A series of observations is presented
and explained in terms of the dominant theory.
(E) A hypothesis is introduced and corroborated
in the light of new evidence.

25. The passage supplies information for answering
which of the following questions?
(A) Why are Japanese starry flounder mostly
left-eyed?
(B) Why should the eye-sidedness in starry
flounder be considered selectively neutral?
(C) Why have biologists recently become
interested in whether a characteristic is
adaptive or selectively neutral?
(D) How do the eyes in flatfish migrate?
(E) How did Parker make his discoveries about
the anatomy of optic nerves in flatfish?

26. Which of the following is most clearly similar to a
cline as it is described in the second paragraph of
the passage?
(A) A vegetable market in which the various
items are grouped according to place of origin
(B) A wheat field in which different varieties of
wheat are planted to yield a crop that will
bring the maximum profit
(C) A flower stall in which the various species
of flowers are arranged according to their price
(D) A housing development in which the length
of the front struts supporting the porch of each
house increases as houses are built up the hill
(E) A national park in which the ranger stations
are placed so as to be inconspicuous, and yet as
easily accessible as possible

27. Which of the following phrases from the passage
best expresses the author’s conclusion about the
meaning of the difference between left-eyed and
right-eyed flatfish?
(A) “Most striking” (line 4)
(B) “variation is adaptive” (line 19)
(C) “mechanically disadvantageous” (lines 37- 38)
(D) “adaptively significant” (lines 48-49)
(E) “evolutionary red herring” (line 54)

28. VAGUE:
(A) expressive (B) felicitous
(C) well-defined (D) nearly perfect
(E) closely matched

29. FOCUS:
(A) disappear (B) disperse (C) link
(D) activate (E) layer

30. PROLOGUE:
(A) soliloquy (B) trilogy (C) analogue
(D) dialogue (E) epilogue

31. DISARM:
(A) hold close (B) put on guard
(C) challenge (D) entertain
(E) instruct

32. INFLATE:
(A) converge (B) inhibit (C) audit
(D) minimize (E) detect

33. INDIGENOUS:
(A) thoughtful (B) acquired (C) redundant
(D) unworthy (E) sterile

34. QUELL:
(A) foment (B) divert (C) confirm
(D) convoke (E) delay

35. EGRESS:
(A) entrance (B) decline
(C) wide variation (D) inadequate amount
(E) lateral movement

36. PIED:
(A) delicately formed (B) precisely detailed
(C) solid-colored (D) smooth
(E) luminous

37. GAINSAY:
(A) fail (B) destroy
(C) speak in support of
(D) receive compensation for
(E) regard with disgust

38. COMPLAISANCE:
(A) churlishness (B) emptiness
(C) difficulty (D) swiftness
(E) vibrancy

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Question Popularity: Submitted 2009-05-13 04:20:23

Question Popularity:
Submitted 2009-05-13 04:20:23