The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for most graduate schools in the United States


Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Reading Comprehension test questions

Question 1:

There are many ways of sending secret messages. An interesting method was used by a Chinese General called Pingyo, 2000 years ago. Pingyo's army was far from their homeland. Between the soldiers and home there were many enemies. But Pingyo sent letters to his king and the enemy could not read them. He sent them like this: A strong messenger was chosen from among the soldiers. His hair was cut off and a letter was written on his baldhead. Then he was dressed as a poor farmer and sent home. His journey lasted many weeks. During this time his hair grew and covered the message. The enemy stopped him many times. He was searched but the letter was not found. When he reached the king's palace his hair was cut off again and the letter was read to the King.

Which sentence explains the manner in which the message hid?

Correct Answer: D (During .........the message).

Explanation

The passage concerns the description about a primitive method of sending messages that was adopted by a Chinese General. The question asks us to find the sentence that explains the way in which the message hid on the head of the messenger which is explained best in the tenth sentence. There is a tendency to confuse the answer with the sixth and seventh sentences but the correct and exact answer is contained in the tenth one only.

Question 2:

It is said that once three old men set out on a journey together. One of them was bald, the second was a philosopher and the third was a barber. At nightfall they decided that each one of them should sit for watch turn by turn. The barber was to keep watch first of all, the philosopher after that and the bald man last of all. So, the philosopher and the bald man went to sleep and the barber was on watch. for some time he kept awake but in the end, he felt tired of it and he thought of some diversion as otherwise it was difficult for him to pass time. Then he took out the razor from his box and shaved the head of the philosopher. At the fixed time he woke up the philosopher and himself went to sleep. When the philosopher got up and felt his head all over, he was startled and said in surprise, "It was my turn but this wretched fellow has awakened bald man."

Which sentence conveys the comic theme?

Correct Answer: A (When the philosopher ................ bald man.")

Explanation

The comic theme in the passage is carried by the ninth and the last sentence in the passage as it narrates the comic turn that the narrated incident took eventually. The correct answer is therefore, option (a).

Question 3:

At low tide he walked over the sands to the headland and round the corner to the little bay facing the open sea.It was inaccessible by boat because seams of rock jutted out and currents swirled round them treacherously.But you could walk there if you chose one of the lowest ebb tides that receded a very long way. You could not linger on the expedition, for once the tide was on the turn, it came in rapidly. for this reason very few people cared to explore the little bay and the cave at the back of it. But the unknown always drew this man like a magnet. He found the bay fresh and unuttered, as it was completely covered by the sea at high tide. The cave looked mysteriously dark, cool and inviting, and he penetrated to the farthest corner where he discovered a wide crack, rather like a chimney. He peered up and thought he could see a patch of daylight.

The adventurous streak in the protagonist's character finds an explanation in:

Correct Answer: B (But the unknown ................ a magnet.)

Explanation

The passage provides us with an explanation about a place near the shore that has been unexplored and we are offered a passing view of a man who goes ahead to explore this place. The only sentence that says clearly about his adventurer traits is the sixth sentence that explains him to be attracted to such places like a magnet. This is thus our correct answer.

Question 4:

Whenever their hold on power has been challenged, politicians have moved to protect themselves by centralizing power in their own hands while simultaneously seeking refuge in the politics of populism. This has led to the "deinstitutionalization of Indian politics": The death of regional satraps and party workers. in other words, in order to establish direct contact with the masses for mobilizing electoral support, politicians have consciously bypassed fickle regional satraps and party workers and have thereby undermined the possibility of establishing a system of impersonal authority based on the "procedural rationality of democracy". Paradoxically, while personal rule at one level may have enabled politicians to reach out and appeal directly to the masses, at another level it has actually weakened their hold on power, because it has made them even more vulnerable to anti- incumbency waves. Indeed, by dismantling factions and replacing link-men at the party and institutional level, politicians have attenuated not only their own political parties but also the administrative machinery - the very vehicles which could effectively have implemented their 'populist' schemes stand functioned as arenas for accommodating new demands.

Which sentence describes the consequences of the problem?

Correct Answer: D (Paradoxically, ........ anti- incumbency waves.)

Explanation

The fourth sentence in the passage reaches the consequences that the problem of centralization of power that the politicians undertake, therefore the option (d) is the correct answer.