GRE Verbal Reasoning Questions

1. The success of the business venture ____ his expectations; he never thought that the firm would prosper.

2. The journalist (1)____ the efforts of the drug squad to control drug peddling, claiming that they had actually (2)____ the problem.

3. Since the Romans failed to subjugate the tribes in Northern Britain, they built a wall in a (1)____ attempt to (2)____ the natives. After all, what wall can (3)____ the determined?

4. The professor became increasingly ____ in later years, flying into a rage whenever he was opposed.

5. The Basset Hound appeared in France in the first part of the 16th century. The breed got its name from a French word "bas," which means "low." The rich, who had a strong (1)____ for hunting, developed a breed (2)____ animals in dense brush. The breed was recognized in 1885. However, it did not enter the ten top widely spread dogs in the US. No sooner than in the second half of the 20th century did Basset Hounds acquired popularity. Now, the breed is loved for its appearance and (3)____ personality.

6. For much of history and in many cultures, (1) ____ professional teachers was an option available only to a small elite. Thus, until (2) ____ recently, the vast majority of people were educated by parents, especially during early childhood. The earliest (3) ____ education in the West began in the late 17th century and early 18th century in some German States.

7. Before outsiders first visited their land they knew nothing about the (1) ____ of others or the government or the modern life. However in the 1980s miners found gold in the region and soon thousands of miners rushed into the area which resulted in the (2) ____ of the Yanomamis' homeland. During that time 20 % of them died due to many reasons. Today they try hard to (3) ____ their land and traditions, which doesn't seem so easy to do.

8. Facebook is the largest social network on the web in terms of traffic. Primarily (1)____ on students, Facebook has been gaining market share (2) ____ and more significantly a supportive user base nowadays. Since their launch in 2004, they have been able to obtain over 20 million users in the U.S. alone and (3) ____ worldwide to other English-speaking countries, with more to follow in the future.

9. Insects do not have (1) ____ as sharp as that of mammals or birds. The insect compound eye is more familiar to movement and so it cannot (2) ____ position distant objects. So, insects tend to take a rather unsteady flight path to navigate to a particular object. For example, in order to locate the caterpillar, the wasp needs to balance the odour signals (3) ____ by its two antennae.

10. A last attempt is being made to move the beetles to a specially designed pile of rubble that (1) ____ their existing habitat. But experts stress that there is only a slim chance that the (2) ____ will succeed.