Verbal Reasoning Section D

20 Questions
30 minutes
For Questions 1 through 6, select one entry for each blank. Fill the blank in the way that best
completes the text.
1. While hiking through the forest, Sylvie noticed a _________ of wildlife, much less than she had
observed during her previous outing.
A. compendium
B. plethora
C. miscellany
D. surfeit
E. paucity
2. In 1895, the invention of the wireless radio (i) _____ the public's fancy; not only was its inventor,
Guglielmo Marconi celebrated, but its practical advantages also (ii) _____ those of the written letter.
Blank (i)
A. aroused
B. embroiled
C. saddled

Blank (ii)
D. approximated
E. surpassed
F. mimicked

3. Many fashions that were considered daring in their time have been so widely worn and imitated
that many formerly (i)_________ styles are no longer seen as (ii)_________.
Blank (i)
A. revealing
B. significant
C. provocative

Blank (ii)
D. commonplace
E. outlandish
F. enduring

4. Adequate care of mental patients cannot be (i)_________ by the judicial system, much to the
chagrin of those who hoped that recent court decisions would have a (ii)_________ effect upon such
treatment facilities.
Blank (i)
A. ravaged
B. pacified
C. assured

Blank (ii)
D. salutary
E. subtle
F. inconsequential

5. Eminent domain, which gives the state (i)_________ to (ii)_________ private land, is seen by some
as a holdover from more tyrannical times. It belies the notion that a home is (iii)_________ place, a
cherished possession that, to its owner, is far more than mere brick and mortar.
Blank (i)
A. incentive
B. authority
C. motivation

Blank (ii)
D. defend
E. seize
F. exculpate

Blank (iii)
G. a presumptuous
H. an ordinary
I. a sacred

6. A bowl of milk is synonymous with a feline diet, and indeed, many cat lovers treat their pets to
an occasional bowl based on the (i)_________ belief that it is good for them. No matter how much
cats may relish the taste, however, milk is actually (ii)_________ rather than (iii)_________ for
felines.
Blank (i)
A. canny
B. spurious
C. attested

Blank (ii)
D. healthful
E. delectable
F. deleterious

Blank (iii)
G. repellent
H. innocuous
I. appetizing

For Question 7 refer to the following passage:

Hurricane Zach came ashore on the east coast of the United States in 1907. Another hurricane named
Zach threatened islands off the coast of Florida in 1990. The National Hurricane center has a policy of
retiring names given to these storms so that no two storms could ever have the same name.
7. Which of the following, if true, best reconciles the discrepancy described above?
A. Hurricane Zach of 1907 came ashore in a different part of the country from the
Zach of 1990.
B. In 1990, the hurricane center did not originally believe Zach would gain enough
strength to become a hurricane.
C. The hurricane center first became aware of the 1907 Hurricane Zach when old
weather records were discovered in 1995.
D. The Hurricane Zach of 1990 was a category 4 hurricane.
E. Records of Hurricane Zach of 1907 indicate that Zach came ashore very late in the
hurricane season.
For Questions 8 through 11, refer to the following passage:
Few areas of neurobehavioral research seemed more promising in the early sixties than those
investigating the relationship between protein synthesis and learning. The conceptual framework for
this research was derived directly from molecular biology, which had shown that genetic information
is stored in nucleic acids and expressed in proteins. Why not acquired information as well? The first
step toward establishing a connection between protein synthesis and learning seemed to be to block
memory, essentially, to cause amnesia, by interrupting the production of proteins.
Early studies focused on using a non-lethal dosage of puromycin that could, it first appeared,
thoroughly inhibit brain protein synthesis as well as reliably produce amnesia. Before the actual
connection between protein synthesis and learning could be established however, doubts began to
arise as to whether inhibition of protein synthesis was in fact the method by which puromycin
produced amnesia. First, other drugs, glutarimides--themselves potent protein-synthesis inhibitors-either failed to cause amnesia in some situations where it could easily be induced by puromycin or
produced an amnesia with a different time course from that of puromycin. Second, puromycin was
found to inhibit protein synthesis by breaking certain amino-acid chains, and the resulting fragments
were suspected of being the actual cause of amnesia in some cases. Third, puromycin was reported to
cause abnormalities in the brain, including seizures. Thus, not only were decreased protein synthesis
and amnesia dissociated, but alternative mechanisms for the amnestic action of puromycin were also
readily suggested.
Puromycin, then, turned out to be a disappointment. It came to be regarded as a poor agent for
amnesia studies, although, of course, it was poor only in the context of our original paradigm of
protein-synthesis inhibition. The response by several researchers was simply to change drugs rather

than our conceptual orientation. After many such disappointments, however, it now appears unlikely
that we will make a firm connection between protein synthesis and learning merely by pursuing the
approaches of the past. The amnesic agents often interfere with memory in ways that seem unrelated
to their inhibition of protein synthesis. More importantly, the notion that the interruption of
intensification of protein production in the brain can be related in cause-and-effect fashion to learning
now seems simplistic and unproductive. Remove the battery from a car and the car will not go. Drive
the car a long distance at high speed and the battery will become more highly charged. Neither of
these facts proves that the battery powers the car; only a knowledge of the overall automotive system
will reveal its mechanism of locomotion and the role of the battery within that system.
8. According to the author, neurobehavioral researchers based their belief that there was a connection
between protein synthesis and acquired information on
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

conventional theories about information acquisition

research in molecular biology
new methods of synthesizing protein
detailed investigations of amnesia
studies on the effects of puromycin

9. According to the passage, what was the response of some researchers after puromycin came to be
perceived as a poor agent for amnesia studies?
A. They ceased experimenting with puromycin, and shifted to other promising proteinsynthesis inhibitors.
B. They ceased experimenting with puromycin, and re-examined through experiments
the relationship between genetic information and acquired information.
C. They continued to experiment with puromycin, but applied their results to other
facets of memory research.
D. They continued to experiment with puromycin, but also tried other protein-synthesis
inhibitors.
E. They continued to experiment with puromycin until a new neuroanatomical
framework was developed.
10. Which of the following statements would be most likely to come after the last sentence of the
passage?
A. The failures of the past, however, must not impede further research into the
amnestic action of protein-synthesis inhibitors.
B. It is a legacy of this research, therefore, that molecular biology's genetic models
have led to disagreements among neurobehaviorists.
C. The ambivalent status of current research, however, should not deter
neurobehaviorists from exploring the deeper connections between protein
production and learning.
D. It is important in the future, therefore, for behavioral biochemists to emphasize
more strongly the place of their specific finding within the overall protein-synthesis
model of learning.
E. It is important in the future, therefore, for behavioral biochemists to focus on the
several components of the total learning system.
11. The main idea of the passage is to demonstrate that

A. the cause and effect relationship of learning is connected to puromycin production

B. the claim that glutarimides inhibit the synthesis of proteins is false
C. alternative routes of amino acid chain production would facilitate the learning
process
D. the original assertion that protein synthesis affects the retrieval of information
remains unproven
E. the splintering of amino acids is critical in the introduction of amnesia
For questions 12 through 15, select the two answer choices that, when used to complete the
sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that
are alike in meaning.
12. The ______ doctor of internal medicine received an honorary degree from his alma mater in
further recognition of his humanitarian work in Zambia.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.

humble
illustrious
brilliant
illustrative
celebrated
dignified

13. The Director of Marketings ________ assistant kept making suggestions about how to shoot the
product launch until the photographer finally told him to sit down and be quiet, which he did.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.

officious
overbearing
condescending
supercilious
meddlesome
diligent

14. The young people were not so ______ as their elders when it came to accepting the imposition of
martial law including curfews beginning at 5 p.m.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.

alterable
resilient
amenable
adaptable
tractable
movable

15. At the end of the meeting, the participants released a joint statement pledging to continue their
dialogue in an effort to improve the ______ relations over trade differences.
A. taut
B. stressed
C. tense

D. strained
E. difficult
F. demanding
For Questions 16 through 17, refer to the following passage:
When discussing Civil War-era narratives, critics almost invariably refer to slave narratives published
before 1865. However, many ex-slaves wrote about their return to the South after the war, and about
reunions with their former masters. These significant postbellum narratives have been largely ignored.
What is perhaps most striking about many of these narratives is the incidence of emotionally charged
reunions between the protagonists and their former owners. In many instances, long-standing class
differences were surprisingly bridged, and reconciliation occurred between black and white. One of
the most important of such accounts was written by Frederick Douglass himself.
The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass contains what is probably the most famous scene of
reconciliation in postbellum narrative. In the summer of 1877, Douglass returned to Talbot County
hoping to see his former master, Thomas Auld. Auld, by then more than eighty years old, was much
weaker than the young man that Douglassnow an international celebrityhad hated and feared.
Believing it unseemly to speak words of bitterness and reproach to a man so close to death, Douglass
made an effort to make peace with Auld. After all, said Douglass, I regarded both of us as victims
of the system.
This idea of mutual victimization was certainly not something Douglass had argued in his previous
autobiographical accounts of slavery. Nevertheless, like many slave narrators in the postbellum era, he
was not averse to showing slaverys harmful effects on whites as well as blacks. In the end,
Douglasss reunion with Auld is described as joyful.
Accounts such as the one written by Douglass were often criticized or condemned by other opponents
of slavery. To some, including many modern observers, the narrative appeared to undermine the longstanding abolitionist scorn for the patriarchal justification of slavery. Moreover, one of the chief
results of antebellum slave narratives was that the sentimental image of the relationship between slave
and master was discredited. But Douglass rejected such attacks on personal, cultural, and political
grounds. He believed that his narrative was not one of weakness but strength, the strength to hold on
to the past despite its painful associations.
16. According to the passage, during their reunion, Douglasss behavior towards Auld was motivated
by his
A. belief that all slaveowners were morally blameless
B. conclusion that Auld was too advanced in years to change his attitudes and thus any
hostility at that point would have been pointless
C. sympathy for Aulds failing health and recognition of what they shared in common
D. reluctance to voice negative opinions about his view of slavery
E. fear that a confrontation with so aged a man would threaten Auld's health
17. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the publication of antebellum slave
narratives?
A. The writers of the narratives found the strength to confront their pasts.
B. They represented a continuation of the tendency of slaves to write autobiographical
works.

C. They caused some readers to attack the abolitionist movement.

D. The narratives were, for the most part, ignored.
E. They are more frequently the focus of critical analysis than are postbellum slave
narratives.
For Questions 18 through 20, refer to the following passage:
The six-year period from 1914 to 1919 was an era of rapid growth and change in the American
economy. Demand for labor grew rapidly, while the supply of labor did not. This was partly due to a
loss of male workers during World War I (over two million men served in the military on behalf of the
U.S. war effort), as well as to a vast curtailment of immigration during the last half of the decade.
While more than one million immigrants arrived annually in the U.S. between 1900 and 1914, just
over one million arrived in total from 1915 to 1919.
Although a substantial increase in salaried employment among women kept the work force from
shrinking, the labor pool did not grow between 1914 and 1919, the exact period during which
manufacturing industries were undergoing great expansion. The tight labor market caused
unemployment to reach an all-time low of 1.4 percent in 1918.
Simultaneously, the federal government dramatically increased its intervention in labor-related
issues, requiring a maximum 48-hour work week for railroad workers with the passage of the
Adamson Act in 1916, and actively mediated labor disputes, especially through the National War
Labor Board, whose arbitrators often awarded the labor side an eight-hour workday. State
governments strengthened the maximum-hours laws for women at the same time that many women
were entering the labor market. There is little doubt that the increase in power that labor unions
enjoyed during this period forced some of these political changes.
18. According to the passage, all of the following contributed to the shortening of the workday
EXCEPT
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

legislation passed by the government on behalf of workers

actions taken by the government to initiate the rapid expansion of the economy
restrictive laws protecting womens labor activities
the influence of labor unions on politicians
rulings by the National War Labor Board in favor of the labor force

19. The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about the reduction of
immigration during the war?
A. It helped to force the implementation of federal and state legislation that mandated a
reduced work week.
B. It helped to cause the rapid expansion of the economy.
C. It would not have happened had there been shorter work weeks.
D. It made it difficult for the military to expand at an appropriate rate.
E. It was a factor in producing an extremely low rate of unemployment.
20. The passage is most relevant to which of the following areas of study?
A.
B.
C.
D.

political theory
anthropology
international economics
labor history

E. immigration demographics