Table Of ContentG R A D U A T E R E C O R D E X A M I N A T I O N S®
General Test
Practice Book
This practice book contains
(cid:2) one full-length paper-based GRE General Test
(cid:2) test-taking strategies
(cid:2) sample verbal and quantitative questions with explanations
(cid:2) sample analytical writing topics, scored sample essays, and
reader commentary
Visit the GRE Web site at www.gre.org for
additional test preparation resources.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The test-taking strategies in this publication are appropriate for use at a paper-based administration and
do not pertain to the computer-based General Test. Individuals planning to take the computer-based General Test are advised
to prepare for the test using GRE POWERPREP® software.
Listening.
Learning.
Leading.
This book is provided FREE with test registration by the Graduate Record Examinations Board.
IMPORTANT
The verbal and quantitative sections in the GRE General Test in this publication contain questions
written and administered prior to 1995. For this reason, some of the material covered in the questions
may be dated. For example, a question may refer to a rapidly changing technology in a way that was
correct in the 1980s and early 1990s, but not now. In addition, Educational Testing Service® ETS® has
revised and updated its standards and guidelines for test questions so some questions may not meet
current standards. Questions that do not meet current ETS standards, and would not appear in GRE
tests administered today, are marked with an asterisk (see pages 35 and 44).
Note to Test Takers: Keep this practice book until you receive your score report.
The book contains important information about scoring.
EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE, ETS, the ETS logos, GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATIONS,
GRE, POWERPREP, e-rater are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service. ScoreItNow! is a trade-
mark of Educational Testing Service. Copyright © 2004 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents Purpose of the GRE
General Test
Purpose of the GRE General Test ......................3
Structure of the GRE General Test....................3
The GRE General Test is designed to help graduate
Scores Reported..................................................4 school admission committees and fellowship sponsors
assess the qualifications of applicants to their pro-
Preparing for the GRE General Test..................4
grams. It measures verbal, quantitative, and analytical
Test-Taking Strategies ........................................5 writing skills that you have acquired over a long
Review of the Verbal Section period of time.
Overview................................................................6 Any accredited graduate or professional school, or
How the Verbal Section is Scored.........................6 any department or division within a school, may
Antonyms...............................................................6 require or recommend that its applicants take the
Analogies................................................................6 GRE General Test. The scores can be used by admis-
Sentence Completions...........................................7 sions or fellowship panels to supplement undergradu-
Reading Comprehension Questions ......................7 ate records and other qualifications for graduate
study. The scores provide common measures for
Review of the Quantitative Section
comparing the qualifications of applicants and aid in
Overview................................................................9
the evaluation of grades and recommendations.
How the Quantitative Section is Scored.............10
Quantitative Comparison Questions...................10
Structure of the GRE
Problem Solving—Discrete
Quantitative Questions.....................................10
General Test
Problem Solving—Data
Interpretation Questions...................................11
The paper-based GRE General Test contains five
Review of the Analytical Writing Section sections. In addition, one unidentified pretest section
Overview..............................................................12 may be included and this section can appear in any
How the Analytical Writing Section is Scored...12 position in the test after the analytical writing
Present Your Perspective on an Issue Task...........13 section. Questions in the pretest section are being
Analyze an Argument Task..................................20 pretested for possible use in future tests and answers
will not count toward your scores.
Taking the Practice GRE General Test............27
Total testing time is up to 33/ hours. The direc-
4
Evaluating Your Performance...........................27
tions at the beginning of each section specify the
Verbal and Quantitative Sections........................27
total number of questions in the section and the time
Analytical Writing Section..................................27
allowed for the section. The analytical writing section
Additional Preparation........................................28
will always be first. The verbal and quantitative
Practice GRE General Test ..............................29 sections may appear in any order, including an uniden-
tified verbal or quantitative pretest section. Treat each
Appendices
section presented during your test as if it counts.
A– Analytical Writing Scoring Guides and
Score Level Descriptions ..............................51
B– Verbal and Quantitative
Interpretive Tables........................................54
C– Analytical Writing Topics, Sample Scored
Essay Responses at Selected Score Points,
and Reader Commentary..............................56
Answer Sheets..................................................63
3
Typical Paper-Based GRE General Test administrative procedures for the paper-based Gen-
Sections eral Test online at www.gre.org, or by contacting
Educational Testing Service (see the GRE Information
Section Number of Questions Time
and Registration Bulletin).
Analytical Writing 1 Issue task* 45 min. Before taking the practice General Test, it is
1 Argument task* 30 min. important to become familiar with the content of
Verbal 38 per section 30 min. per section each of the sections of the test. You can become
(2 sections) familiar with the verbal and quantitative sections by
Quantitative 30 per section 30 min. per section reading about the skills the sections measure, how the
(2 sections) sections are scored, reviewing the strategies for each
Pretest** Varies 30 min. of the question types, and reviewing the sample
questions with explanations. Determine which
*For the Issue task, two essay topics will be presented and you will choose one. The Argument task does
not present a choice of topics; instead, one topic will be presented. strategies work best for you. Remember—you can do
**An unidentified verbal or quantitative pretest section may be included and may appear in any order after
the analytical writing section. very well on the test without answering every ques-
tion in each section correctly.
Scores Reported Everyone—even the most practiced and confident
of writers—should spend some time preparing for the
Three scores are reported on the General Test: analytical writing section before arriving at the test
1. a verbal score reported on a 200–800 score scale, center. It is important to review the skills measured,
in 10-point increments, how the section is scored, scoring guides and score
2. a quantitative score reported on a 200–800 score level descriptions, sample topics, scored sample essay
scale, in 10-point increments, and responses, and reader commentary.
3. an analytical writing score reported on a 0–6 To help you prepare for the analytical writing
score scale, in half-point increments. section of the General Test, the GRE Program has
published the entire pool of topics from which your
If you answer no questions at all in a section (verbal,
test topics will be selected. You might find it helpful
quantitative, or analytical writing), that section will
to review the Issue and Argument pools. You can
be reported as a No Score (NS).
view the published pools on the Web at
Descriptions of the analytical writing abilities
www.gre.org/pracmats.html or obtain a copy by
characteristic of particular score levels are available
writing to GRE Program, PO Box 6000, Princeton,
in the interpretive leaflet enclosed with your score
NJ 08541-6000.
report, in the Guide to the Use of GRE Scores, and on
The topics in the analytical writing section relate
the GRE Web site at www.gre.org.
to a broad range of subjects—from the fine arts and
humanities to the social and physical sciences—but
Preparing for the GRE
no topic requires specific content knowledge. In fact,
each topic has been field-tested to ensure that it
General Test
possesses several important characteristics, including
the following:
Preparation for the test will depend on the amount of
• GRE test takers, regardless of their field of study
time you have available and your personal prefer-
or special interests, understood the topic and
ences for how to prepare. At a minimum, before you
could easily discuss it.
take the GRE General Test, you should know what to
• The topic elicited the kinds of complex thinking
expect from the test, including the administrative
and persuasive writing that university faculty
procedures, types of questions and directions, the
consider important for success in graduate
approximate number of questions, and the amount of
school.
time for each section.
• The responses were varied in content and in the
The administrative procedures include registra-
way the writers developed their ideas.
tion, date, time, test center location, cost, score-
reporting procedures, and availability of special
testing arrangements. You can find out about the
4
Test-Taking Strategies Test, you may work only on the section the test
center supervisor designates and only for the time
IMPORTANT NOTE: Test-taking strategies allowed. You may not go back to an earlier section of
appropriate for the verbal and quantitative the test after the supervisor announces, “Please stop
sections of the paper-based General Test are work” for that section. The supervisor is authorized to
different from those that are appropriate for dismiss you from the center for doing so. All answers
taking the verbal and quantitative sections of the must be recorded on your answer sheet. Answers
computer-based General Test. Be sure to follow recorded in your test booklet will not be counted.
the appropriate strategies for the testing format in Given the time constraints, you should avoid waiting
which you will be testing. Paper-based testing until the last five minutes of a test administration to
strategies should not be used if you take the record answers on your answer sheet.
computer-based test. Some questions on the General Test have only
four response options (A through D). All GRE
answer sheets for the paper-based test contain re-
Verbal and Quantitative Sections sponse positions for five responses (A through E).
Therefore, if an E response is marked for a four-
When taking a verbal or quantitative section of the
option question, it will be ignored. An E response for
paper-based General Test, you are free, within any
a four-option question is treated the same as no
section, to skip questions that you might have
response (omitted).
difficulty answering and to come back to them later
during the time provided to work on that section. Analytical Writing Section
You may also change the answer to any question you
In the paper-based General Test, the topics in the
recorded on the answer sheet by erasing it completely
analytical writing section will be presented in the test
and filling in the oval corresponding to your desired
book and you will handwrite your essay responses on
answer for that question.
the answer sheets provided. Make sure you use the
Each of your scores will be determined by the
correct answer sheet for each task.
number of questions for which you select the best
It is important to budget your time. Within the
answer from the choices given. Questions for which
45-minute time limit for the Issue task, you will need
you mark no answer or more than one answer are not
to allow sufficient time to choose one of the two
counted in scoring. Nothing is subtracted from a
topics, think about the issue you’ve chosen, plan a
score if you answer a question incorrectly. Therefore,
response, and compose your essay. Within the 30-
to maximize your scores on the verbal and quantita-
minute time limit for the Argument task, you will
tive sections of the paper-based test, it is better for
need to allow sufficient time to analyze the argument,
you to answer each and every question and not to
plan a critique, and compose your response. Although
leave any questions unanswered.
GRE readers understand the time constraints under
Work as rapidly as you can without being careless.
which you write and will consider your response a
This includes checking frequently to make sure you
“first draft,” you still want it to be the best possible
are marking your answers in the appropriate rows on
example of your writing that you can produce under
your answer sheet. Since no question carries greater
the testing circumstances.
weight than any other, do not waste time pondering
Save a few minutes at the end of each timed task
individual questions you find extremely difficult or
to check for obvious errors. Although an occasional
unfamiliar.
spelling or grammatical error will not affect your
You may want to work through a verbal or quanti-
score, severe and persistent errors will detract from
tative section of the General Test quite rapidly, first
the overall effectiveness of your writing and thus
answering only the questions about which you feel
lower your score.
confident, then going back and answering questions
During the actual administration of the General
that require more thought, and concluding with the
Test, you may work only on the particular writing
most difficult questions if there is time.
task the test center supervisor designates and only for
During the actual administration of the General
the time allowed. You may not go back to an earlier
5
section of the test after the supervisor announces, Directions*
“Please stop work,” for that task. The supervisor is
Each question below consists of a word printed in
authorized to dismiss you from the center for doing so.
capital letters followed by five lettered words or
Following the analytical writing section, you will
phrases. Choose the lettered word or phrase that is
have the opportunity to take a 10-minute break.
most nearly opposite in meaning to the word in
capital letters. Since some of the questions require
Review of the Verbal Section you to distinguish fine shades of meaning, be sure
to consider all the choices before deciding which
one is best.
Overview
Sample Question
The verbal section measures your ability to analyze
DIFFUSE:
and evaluate written material and synthesize informa-
(A) concentrate
tion obtained from it, to analyze relationships among
(B) contend
component parts of sentences, to recognize relation-
(C) imply
ships between words and concepts, and to reason
(D) pretend
with words in solving problems. There is a balance of
(E) rebel
passages across different subject matter areas: hu-
manities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Strategies for Answering
The verbal section contains the following ques-
• Remember that antonyms are generally confined
tion types:
to nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
• Antonyms
• Look for the word that is most nearly opposite to
• Analogies
the given word.
• Sentence Completions
• Try to define words precisely.
• Reading Comprehension Questions
• Make up a sentence using the given word to
How the Verbal Section is Scored help establish its meaning.
• Look for possible second meanings before
Scoring of the verbal section of the paper-based
choosing an answer.
General Test is essentially a two-step process. First, a
• Use your knowledge of prefixes and suffixes to
raw score is computed. The raw score is the number
help define words you don’t know.
of questions for which the best answer choice was
Answer
given. The raw score is then converted to a scaled
score through a process known as equating. The The best answer is (A). Diffuse means to permit or
equating process accounts for differences in difficulty cause to spread out; only (A) presents an idea that is
among the different test editions; thus, a given scaled in any way opposite to diffuse.
score reflects approximately the same level of ability
Analogies
regardless of the edition of the test that was taken.
Analogies measure your ability to recognize
Antonyms
• relationships among words and concepts they
Antonyms measure your represent
• vocabulary • parallel relationships
• ability to reason from a given concept to its
Directions*
opposite
In each of the following questions, a related pair of
words or phrases is followed by five lettered pairs of
words or phrases. Select the lettered pair that best
expresses a relationship similar to that expressed in
the original pair.
* The directions are presented as they appear on the actual test.
6
Sample Question Sample Question
COLOR : SPECTRUM : Early ________ of hearing loss is ________ by the
(A) tone : scale fact that the other senses are able to compensate for
(B) sound : waves moderate amounts of loss, so that people frequently
(C) verse : poem do not know that their hearing is imperfect.
(D) dimension : space (A) discovery . . indicated
(E) cell : organism (B) development . . prevented
(C) detection . . complicated
Strategies for Answering
(D) treatment . . facilitated
• Establish a relationship between the given pair
(E) incidence . . corrected
before reading the answer choices.
Strategies for Answering
• Consider relationships of kind, size, spatial
contiguity, or degree. • Read the incomplete sentence carefully.
• Read all of the options. If more than one seems • Look for key words or phrases.
correct, try to state the relationship more • Complete the blank(s) with your own words; see
precisely. if any options are like yours.
• Check to see that you haven’t overlooked a • Pay attention to grammatical cues.
possible second meaning for one of the words. • If there are two blanks, be sure that both parts of
• Never decide on the best answer without reading your answer choice fit logically and stylistically
all of the answer choices. into the sentence.
• After choosing an answer, read the sentence
Answer
through again to see if it makes sense.
The relationship between color and spectrum is not
Answer
merely that of part to whole, in which case (E) or
even (C) might be defended as correct. A spectrum is The statement that the other senses compensate
made up of a progressive, graduated series of colors, as for partial loss of hearing indicates that the hearing
a scale is of a progressive, graduated sequence of tones. loss is not prevented or corrected; therefore, choices
Thus, (A) is the correct answer choice. In this (B) and (E) can be eliminated. Furthermore, the
instance, the best answer must be selected from a ability to compensate for hearing loss certainly does
group of fairly close choices. not facilitate the early treatment (D) or the early
discovery (A) of hearing loss. It is reasonable, how-
Sentence Completions
ever, that early detection of hearing loss is complicated
Sentence completions measure your ability to recog- by the ability to compensate for it. The best answer
nize words or phrases that both logically and stylisti- is (C).
cally complete the meaning of a sentence.
Reading Comprehension Questions
Directions*
Reading comprehension questions measure your
Each sentence below has one or two blanks, each
ability to
blank indicating that something has been omitted.
• read with understanding, insight, and
Beneath the sentence are five lettered words or sets
discrimination
of words. Choose the word or set of words for each
• analyze a written passage from several
blank that best fits the meaning of the sentence as
perspectives
a whole.
Passages are taken from the humanities, social
sciences, and natural sciences.
Directions*
The passage is followed by questions based on its
content. After reading the passage, choose the best
answer to each question. Answer all questions
following the passage on the basis of what is stated or
* The directions are presented as they appear on the actual test. implied in the passage.
7
Sample Question According to the passage, the two antithetical ideals
of photography differ primarily in the
Picture-taking is a technique both for annexing the
(A) value that each places on the beauty of the
objective world and for expressing the singular self.
Photographs depict objective realities that already exist, finished product
though only the camera can disclose them. And they (B) emphasis that each places on the emotional
(5) depict an individual photographer’s temperament, dis-
impact of the finished product
covering itself through the camera’s cropping of reality.
(C) degree of technical knowledge that each requires
That is, photography has two antithetical ideals: in the
first, photography is about the world, and the photogra- of the photographer
pher is a mere observer who counts for little; but in the (D) extent of the power that each requires of the
(10) second, photography is the instrument of intrepid,
photographer’s equipment
questing subjectivity and the photographer is all.
(E) way in which each defines the role of the
These conflicting ideals arise from a fundamental
uneasiness on the part of both photographers and view- photographer
ers of photographs toward the aggressive component in
Strategies for Answering
(15) “taking” a picture. Accordingly, the ideal of a photogra-
pher as observer is attractive because it implicitly denies • Read the passage closely, then proceed to the
that picture-taking is an aggressive act. The issue, of questions.
course, is not so clear-cut. What photographers do can-
or
not be characterized as simply predatory or as simply,
(20) and essentially, benevolent. As a consequence, one ideal of Skim the passage, then reread the passage
picture-taking or the other is always being rediscovered closely as you answer the questions. You may
and championed. want to try it both ways with sample questions
An important result of the coexistence of these two
to see what works best for you.
ideals is a recurrent ambivalence toward photography’s
• Answer questions based on the content of the
(25) means. Whatever the claims that photography might
make to be a form of personal expression on a par with passage.
painting, its originality is inextricably linked to the pow- • Separate main ideas from supporting ideas.
ers of a machine. The steady growth of these powers has
• Separate the author’s own ideas from informa-
made possible the extraordinary informativeness and
tion being presented.
(30) imaginative formal beauty of many photographs, like
Harold Edgerton’s high-speed photographs of a bullet • Ask yourself...
hitting its target or of the swirls and eddies of a tennis – What is this about?
stroke. But as cameras become more sophisticated, more – What are the key points?
automated, some photographers are tempted to disarm
– How does the main idea relate to other ideas
(35) themselves or to suggest that they are not really armed,
in the passage?
preferring to submit themselves to the limits imposed by
premodern camera technology because a cruder, less – What words define relationships among ideas?
high-powered machine is thought to give more interest-
Answer
ing or emotive results, to leave more room for creative
(40) accident. For example, it has been virtually a point of The best answer to this question is (E). Photography’s
honor for many photographers, including Walker Evans
two ideals are presented in lines 7–11. The main
and Cartier-Bresson, to refuse to use modern equipment.
emphasis in the description of these two ideals is on
These photographers have come to doubt the value of the
camera as an instrument of “fast seeing.” Cartier-Bresson, the relationship of the photographer to the enterprise
(45) in fact, claims that the modern camera may see too fast. of photography, with the photographer described in
This ambivalence toward photographic means deter-
the one as a passive observer and in the other as an
mines trends in taste. The cult of the future (of faster and
active questioner. (E) identifies this key feature in the
faster seeing) alternates over time with the wish to return
to a purer past — when images had a handmade quality. description of the two ideals—the way in which each
(50) This nostalgia for some pristine state of the photographic ideal conceives or defines the role of the photogra-
enterprise is currently widespread and underlies the pher in photography. (A) through (D) present aspects
present-day enthusiasm for daguerreotypes and the work
of photography that are mentioned in the passage,
of forgotten nineteenth-century provincial photographers.
but none of these choices represents a primary
Photographers and viewers of photographs, it seems, need
(55) periodically to resist their own knowingness. difference between the two ideals of photography.
8
Review of the Quantitative Math Symbols and Other Information
The following information applies to all questions in
Section
the quantitative sections.
• These common math symbols may be used:
Overview
x < y (x is less than y)
x(cid:2)y (x is not equal to y)
The quantitative section measures your basic math-
ematical skills, your understanding of elementary (the nonnegative square root of x,
mathematical concepts, and your ability to reason where x ≥ 0)
|x| (the absolute value of x, where x is a
quantitatively and solve problems in a quantitative
real number)
setting. There is a balance of questions requiring
n! (n factorial: the product of the first n
arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis.
positive integers)
These are content areas usually studied in high
m (cid:3) n (line m is parallel to line n)
school.
m n (line m is perpendicular to line n)
Arithmetic
A
Questions may involve arithmetic operations, powers,
operations on radical expressions, estimation, per- B C(∠ABC is a right angle)
cent, absolute value, properties of integers (e.g., • Numbers: all numbers used are real numbers.
divisibility, factoring, prime numbers, odd and even • Figures:
integers), and the number line. – the positions of points, angles, regions, etc.,
can be assumed to be in the order shown;
Algebra
angle measures are positive
Questions may involve rules of exponents, factoring
– a line shown as straight can be assumed to be
and simplifying algebraic expressions, understanding
straight
concepts of relations and functions, equations and
– figures lie in a plane unless otherwise
inequalities, solving linear and quadratic equations
indicated
and inequalities, solving simultaneous equations,
– do not assume figures are drawn to scale
setting up equations to solve word problems, coordi-
unless stated
nate geometry, including slope, intercepts, and graphs
It is important to familiarize yourself with the basic
of equations and inequalities, and applying basic
mathematical concepts in the GRE General Test.
algebra skills to solve problems.
The publication Math Review is available as a down-
Geometry
load on the GRE Web site at www.gre.org/
Questions may involve parallel lines, circles, triangles pracmats.html and provides detailed information on
(including isosceles, equilateral, and 30°–60°–90° the content of the quantitative section.
triangles), rectangles, other polygons, area, perimeter, The quantitative section contains the following
volume, the Pythagorean Theorem, and angle question types:
measure in degrees. The ability to construct proofs is • Quantitative Comparison Questions
not measured. • Problem Solving – Discrete Quantitative
Questions
Data Analysis
• Problem Solving – Data Interpretation
Questions may involve elementary probability, basic
Questions
descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode, range,
Questions emphasize understanding basic principles
standard deviation, percentiles), and interpretation of
and reasoning within the context of given
data in graphs and tables (line graphs, bar graphs,
information.
circle graphs, frequency distributions).
9
How the Quantitative Section is Strategies for Answering
Scored • Avoid extensive computation if possible. Try to
estimate the answer.
The quantitative section of the paper-based General
• Consider all kinds of numbers before deciding. If
Test is scored the same way as the verbal section.
under some conditions Column A is greater
First, a raw score is computed. The raw score is the
than Column B and for others, Column B is
number of questions for which the best answer choice
greater than Column A, choose “the relation-
was given. The raw score is then converted to a
ship cannot be determined from the information
scaled score through a process known as equating.
given,” and go to the next question.
The equating process accounts for differences in
• Geometric figures may not be drawn to scale.
difficulty among the different test editions; thus a
Comparisons should be made based on the given
given scaled score reflects approximately the same
information, together with your knowledge of
level of ability regardless of the edition of the test
mathematics, rather than on exact appearance.
that was taken.
Answer to Question 1
Quantitative Comparison Questions
denotes 10, the positive square root of 100. (For
Quantitative comparison questions measure your any positive number x, denotes the positive number
ability to: whose square is x.) Since 10 is greater than 9.8, the
• reason quickly and accurately about the relative best answer is (B). It is important not to confuse this
sizes of two quantities question with a comparison of 9.8 and x where
• perceive that not enough information is pro- x2(cid:2)100. The latter comparison would yield (D) as
vided to make such a decision the correct answer because x2(cid:2)100 implies that
Directions* either x(cid:2)10 or x(cid:2)(cid:4)10, and there would be no way
to determine which value x would actually have.
Each of the sample questions consists of two quanti-
ties, one in Column A and one in Column B. There Answer to Question 2
may be additional information, centered above the Since ((cid:4)6)4 is the product of four negative factors,
two columns, that concerns one or both of the and the product of an even number of negative
quantities. A symbol that appears in both columns numbers is positive, ((cid:4)6)4 is positive. Since the
represents the same thing in Column A as it does in product of an odd number of negative numbers
Column B. is negative, ((cid:4)6)5 is negative. Therefore, ((cid:4)6)4
You are to compare the quantity in Column A is greater than ((cid:4)6)5 since any positive number
with the quantity in Column B and decide whether: is greater than any negative number. The best
(A) The quantity in Column A is greater. answer is (A). It is not necessary to calculate that
(B) The quantity in Column B is greater. ((cid:4)6)4 (cid:2)1,296 and that ((cid:4)6)5 (cid:2)(cid:4)7,776 in order to
(C) The two quantities are equal. make the comparison.
(D) The relationship cannot be determined from the
Problem Solving – Discrete
information given.
Note: Since there are only four choices, NEVER Quantitative Questions
MARK (E).**
Discrete quantitative questions measure
Sample Questions • basic mathematical knowledge
• your ability to read, understand, and solve a
Column A Column B
problem that involves either an actual or an
1. 9.8 abstract situation
2. ((cid:4)6)4 ((cid:4)6)5
Directions*
Each of the following questions has five answer
choices. For each of these questions, select the best of
the answer choices given.
*The directions are presented as they appear on the actual test.
**The answer sheet contains five choices for the verbal and quantitative sections.
10
