Best GRE Reading Comprehension Tips

GRE Verbal Reading Comprehension Sample Questions

Here are few GRE reading comprehension practice questions with answers to give you an idea:

Sample 1

The Green Peas Grocery Store in the remote wealthy enclave of Luxville charges more than the Green Peas Grocery Store in Oak City charges for the same items. Clearly, on any given item, the Green Peas grocery franchise is taking advantage of its location in Luxville to reap higher profits on that item.

In evaluating the argument, it would be most useful to compare

Select the answer.

1. the selection of specialty items in the Oak City location with the selection of specialty items in the Luxville location.
2. the cost of transporting merchandise to the Oak City location with the comparable cost to the Luxville location.
3. the average cost of the same or comparable items at other grocery stores in Oak City with the average cost at other stores in Luxville.
4. the percent of average household income spent on groceries in Oak City with the comparable percentage in Luxville.
5. the cost of these items in Oak City and in Luxville with the cost at other Green Peas stores throughout the state.

Explanation:

What we want to explain are the higher prices, for the same items, in Luxville. The argument takes a firm stand: the Luxville store is just taking advantage of its location. Implicitly, the author is saying: the Luxville store has no valid reason for charging high prices. If there were a valid reason, that would call this entire argument into question.

(B) is the correct answer. If Luxville remote, transportation to that location could be an issue, and if the additional transportation needs adds an extra cost, this would be a valid reason for charging more in the Luxville store. It would call the argument into question.

Sample 2

Downtown Greensborough is a major financial center, in which many citizens either drive or rely on public transportation to get to work. This setup has led up to a spate in the number of pedestrians who have been struck and killed by vehicles. In an effort to curb the number of pedestrian-related fatalities, Greensborough has installed speed reduction signs at the six city intersections in which the highest numbers of fatalities have occurred in the last year. The Greensborough city government predicts that the number of pedestrian fatalities will significantly decrease once the speed reduction signs have been installed.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the validity of the conclusion?

Select the answer.

1. Some of those who drive to work in downtown Greensborough have a valid driver’s license.
2. The number of annual pedestrian fatalities outside the downtown area is far less than in the downtown area.
3. The six intersections in which the signs are installed are responsible for a majority of pedestrian deaths in downtown Greensborough.
4. The new speed reduction signs will be in neon orange and prominently placed.
5. Red light cameras, which are used to catch motorists running red lights, were installed yet the number of pedestrian fatalities did not decrease.

Explanation:

In this case, what the test writers are doing is anticipating a possible weakness in the argument. Essentially, they are defusing a potential objection by showing how that objection is no longer valid. For example, if someone said, “hey your argument has a gap in it because it is only based on six intersections, which isn’t the same as the entire downtown area.” The correct answer, (C), retorts, “Well, most of the pedestrian deaths happen at those six intersections.”

Sample-3

For much of the 20th century, paleontologists theorized that dinosaurs, like reptiles, were ectothermic, their body temperature regulated externally. These scientists, however, based their conclusions on faulty reasoning, claiming that scaly skin was common to all ectotherms (birds, which are ectothermic, do not have scaly skin) and that the dinosaur’s size could account for ectothermy (some adult dinosaurs weighed as little as ten pounds). Supplanting this theory is an entirely new line of thought: dinosaurs were actually mesothermic, neither warm- nor cold-blooded. By taking this middle ground, some paleontologists maintain that dinosaurs were faster than a similar-sized reptile yet did not require as much food as a similar-sized mammal. To substantiate this theory, paleontologists intend to study how birds, the dinosaur’s closest extant relative, might have at one time been mesothermic.

The two parts in parentheses serve to do which of the following?

Select the answer.

1. Summarize two claims that the author of the passage ultimately repudiates.
2. Highlight commonalities between birds and dinosaurs.
3. Provide rebuttals to commonly held views regarding physical aspects of dinosaurs.
4. Describe a recent theory that the author of the passage supports.
5. Furnish information regarding contradictory notions of dinosaur behavior.

Explanation:

Notice the structure of the sentence, “based their conclusions on faulty reasoning, claiming that scaly skin was common to all ectotherms.

The bolded part is the specific claim. Look at part in parentheses and how it relates to the bolded part above:

(birds, which are ectothermic, do not have scaly skin).

This is a clear denial of the boldfaced part. The exact same thing happens with the second claim of scientists:

“…the dinosaur’s size could account for ectothermy.”

Here is the objection (in parentheses) that states the boldfaced part is untrue:

(some adult dinosaurs weighed as little as ten pounds).

This points to answer (C): “Provides a rebuttal to a commonly held view regarding the physical aspects of dinosaurs” — the commonly held view is that dinosaurs are ectotherms simply because they have scaly skin.