GRE RC for Practice- 1 | Verbal Reasoning for GRE PDF Download

Passage 1

Should we really care for the greatest actors of the past could we have them before us? Should we find them too different from our accent of thought, of feeling, of speech, in a thousand minute particulars which are of the essence of all three? Dr. Doran's long and interesting records of the triumphs of Garrick, and other less familiar, but in their day hardly less astonishing, players, do not relieve one of the doubt. Garrick himself, as sometimes happens with people who have been the subject of much anecdote and other conversation, here as elsewhere, bears no very distinct figure. One hardly sees the wood for the trees. On the other hand, the account of Betterton, "perhaps the greatest of English actors," is delightfully fresh. That intimate friend of Dryden, Tillatson, Pope, who executed a copy of the actor's portrait by Kneller which is still extant, was worthy of their friendship; his career brings out the best elements in stage life. The stage in these volumes presents itself indeed not merely as a mirror of life, but as an illustration of the utmost intensity of life, in the fortunes and characters of the players. Ups and downs, generosity, dark fates, the most delicate goodness, have nowhere been more prominent than in the private existence of those devoted to the public mimicry of men and women. Contact with the stage, almost throughout its history, presents itself as a kind of touchstone, to bring out the bizarrerie, the theatrical tricks and contrasts, of the actual world.

Q1: In the expression "One hardly sees the wood for the trees", the author apparently intends the word trees to be analogous to
(a) features of Doran's language style
(b) details learned from oral sources
(c) personality of a famous actor
(d) detail's of Garrick's life
(e) stage triumphs of an astonishing player
Ans: (b)
The 'wood' refers to the bigger picture, the 'trees' to the details. One apparently does not get a picture of Garrick the man, but one does get along and interesting record of his triumphs. We are also told that Garrick has been the subject of much conversation and anecdote. Hence the 'trees' refers to the details of Garrick's life learned mainly from oral sources.

Q2: The doubt referred to in line 7 concerns whether
(a) the stage personalities of the past would appeal on a personal level to people like the author
(b) their contemporaries would have understood famous actors
(c) the acting of famous stage personalities would appeal to us today
(d) Garrick was as great as he is portrayed
(e) historical records can reveal personality
Ans: (a)
"Should we care for the greatest actors 'means' should we like them". The author goes on to ask whether we would find their ways and ideas too different from our own. These are the doubts that he raises. The author is not really concerned whether we would like their acting. Hence, A is the best answer.

Q3: Information supplied in the passage is sufficient to answer which of the following questions?
(Select ALL answer choices that apply)
(a) Who did Doran think was probably the best English actor?
(b) What did Doran think of Garrick?
(c) Would the author give a definite answer to the first question posed in the passage?
Ans: (a) , (c)
The quotation marks around "perhaps the greatest of English actors," tell us that the author is quoting from the book he is reviewing, and hence the author of that book, Doran, thinks Betterton was probably the best. Doran writes "long and interesting records of the triumphs of Garrick" but we cannot infer Doran's opinion of the actor from that. The author would not give a definite answer to the question because he says the writings of Doran "do not relieve one of the doubt". We can answer question A with the word 'Betterton' and question C with the word 'no'. 

Passage 2

A sanctuary may be defined as a place where Man is passive and the rest of Nature active. Till quite recently Nature had her own sanctuaries, where man either did not go at all or only as a tool-using animal in comparatively small numbers. But now, in this machinery age, there is no place left where man cannot go with overwhelming forces at his command. He can strangle to death all the nobler wild life in the world to-day. To-morrow he certainly will have done so, unless he exercises due foresight and self-control in the mean time.

There is not the slightest doubt that birds and mammals are now being killed off much faster than they can breed. And it is always the largest and noblest forms of life that suffer most. The whales and elephants, lions and eagles, go. The rats and flies, and all mean parasites, remain. This is inevitable in certain cases. But it is wanton killing off that I am speaking of to-night. Civilized man begins by destroying the very forms of wild life he learns to appreciate most when he becomes still more civilized. The obvious remedy is to begin conservation at an earlier stage, when it is easier and better in every way, by enforcing laws for close seasons, game preserves, the selective protection of certain species, and sanctuaries.

I have just defined a sanctuary as a place where man is passive and the rest of Nature active. But this general definition is too absolute for any special case. The mere fact that man has to protect a sanctuary does away with his purely passive attitude. Then, he can be beneficially active by destroying pests and parasites, like bot-flies or mosquitoes, and by finding antidotes for diseases like the epidemic which periodically kills off the rabbits and thus starves many of the carnivora to death. But, except in cases where experiment has proved his intervention to be beneficial, the less he upsets the balance of Nature the better, even when he tries to be an earthly Providence.

Q4: The author implies that his first definition of a sanctuary is
(a) totally wrong
(b) somewhat idealistic
(c) unhelpful
(d) indefensible
(e) immutable
Ans: (b)
The author says in sentence two that his previous definition was "too absolute". Yet he admits that the less man "upsets the balance of Nature" the better. Hence his definition is not entirely right (because it is too idealistic) but it is not entirely wrong either. It is now easy to eliminate answers A, C, D, and E because they are strongly negative.

Q5: The author's argument that destroying bot-flies and mosquitoes would be a beneficial action is most weakened by all of the following except
(a) parasites have an important role to play in the regulation of populations
(b) the elimination of any species can have unpredictable effects on the balance of nature
(c) the pests themselves are part of the food chain
(d) these insects have been introduced to the area by human activities
(e) elimination of these insects would require the use of insecticides that kill a wide range of insects
Ans: (d)
In "except" questions find the true statements first. In this case find four statements that weaken the idea that destroying pests is beneficial. That means finding statements that show that it is not a good idea to destroy the pests. Answers A, B, C, and E give reasons why destroying these insects might be a mistake. D, however, is the right answer because it suggests that eliminating these insects might not be wrong, since they are not even natural inhabitants of the area.

Q6: It can be inferred that the passage is
(a) part of an article in a scientific journal
(b) extracted from the minutes of a nature club
(c) part of a speech delivered to an educated audience
(d) a speech delivered in a court of law
(e) from a polemical article published in a magazine
Ans: (c)
From the words "I am speaking of tonight" (line 15) we can infer that the words were delivered orally, and not during the day time. The only possible answer is C.

Q7: The purpose of the final paragraph is
(a) to sum up the main points of the author's argument
(b) to urge a solution to an increasingly pressing problem
(c) to qualify the author's definition of an important term
(d) to propose a program
(e) to suggest that man should not intervene in natural environments
Ans: (c)
The author is modifying or qualifying his earlier definition of a sanctuary. Examiners are fond of the word 'qualify' as many students do not know this meaning of the word.

Q8: Answer this question based on the information in the paragraph below.

It has been suggested that long-term prisoners, on release from jail, be given a reasonable state pension to reduce the likelihood of their resorting to crime. Most people instinctively reject the suggestion as they feel it would be like rewarding criminal activity.

The supporters of the prisoners' pension scheme have criticized those who reject this possibility, by claiming that for the critics...

Which of the following is the most logical completion of the sentence above?
(a) emotion is more important than justice
(b) punishment for criminals is more important than crime prevention
(c) crime prevention is not an important issue
(d) money has too high a value
(e) the law should not be concerned with what happens after jail
Ans: (b)
Those critics who reject the idea of pensions for ex-prisoners are rejecting the scheme 'instinctively' because they do not want to 'reward' crime. So for these people it is more important to be seen to oppose crime than it is to be seen to reduce the chances of the offenders committing a crime. This does not mean that they do not attach importance to crime prevention (eliminate C), nor that they are too concerned with money (eliminate D). The issue is more about punishing criminals, and so punishment is more important than crime prevention (correct answer B). 'Emotion' is not the issue so A is incorrect, and so is E which does not follow from anything in the argument.