Verbal Diagnostic Test No 2 Legend: E=Easy; M=Medium difficulty; H= Hard
Total 15 Qs; Maximum Time 25 minutes
Q. No.1 SC E Source: gmatclub
Responding to the worsening famine, relief efforts were provided by the United States to assist by airlifting food from nearby Kenya to remote airfields in the interior of Somalia for distribution, thus bypassing congested ports and reducing the need to send out convoys.
(A)Responding to the worsening famine, relief was provided by the United States by airlifting food from nearby Kenya to remote airfields in the interior of Somalia for distribution, and bypassing congested ports and reducing the need to send out convoys
(B) Responding to the worsening famine, the United States provided relief by airlifting food from nearby Kenya to remote airfields in the interior of Somalia for distribution, and bypassing congested ports and reducing the need to send out convoys
(C) Responding to the worsening famine, the United States provided relief by airlifting food from nearby Kenya to remote airfields in the interior of Somalia for distribution, bypassing congested ports and reducing the need to send out convoys
(D) Responding to the worsening famine, the United States decided to provide relief by airlifting food from nearby Kenya to remote airfields in the interior of Somalia for distribution, thus bypassing congested ports and reducing the need to send out convoys.
(E)Responding to the worsening famine, relief provided by the United States to airlift food from nearby Kenya to remote airfields in the interior of Somalia for distribution, thus bypassing congested ports and reducing the need to send out convoys
OA and OE
Misplaced modification; The United States should come after the comma the phrase after ‘and bypassing’ is a fragment
Correct modification but the phrase after and bypassing’ is a fragment
Correct modification ; Correct choice
‘ decided to provide’ is distortion of original meaning
Misplaced modification after the initial modifier.
OA: C
Q. No. 2 CR M Source (
Magoosh)
Z-300 is a particularly fast new sports car, popular among young drivers. It is an expensive model, and relatively few are on the roads. Two months ago, seven different young people in Catoville were arrested for operating the Z-300 at excessive speeds on local roads while having a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit. Since then, a police watch group has reported that Catoville traffic cops frequently have been pulling over drivers of the Z-300 and testing them for alcohol: the total number of Z-300 drivers stopped and tested is five times greater than the total number of drivers of all other makes or models stopped and tested.
Which of following conclusions can most properly be drawn from the information above?
A) Drivers of the Z-300 exceed local speed limits by much higher margins than that by which they exceed highway speed limits.
B) Some drivers of the Z-300 are unfairly subjected to delays.
C) The Catoville traffic cops have provided an effective deterrent to drunk driving within Catoville.
D) Drivers of fast sports cars are more likely to drive under the influence of alcohol than drivers of any other make or model of car.
E) In the past month, the rate of arrests for drunk driving are much higher for drivers of the Z-300 than it is for drivers of any other make or model of cars.
OA: B
OE not given by company
Q. No.3 SC E Source: gmatclub
Presently the East African country is focused on privatization of state-owned enterprises, expansion of democracy and political freedom, and de-escalation of interethnic conflicts and ousting corruption.
(A)Presently the East African country is focused on privatization of state-owned enterprises, expansion of democracy and political freedom, and de-escalation of interethnic conflicts and ousting corruption.
(B)Presently the East African country is focused on privatization of state-owned enterprises, expansion of democracy and political freedom, de-escalation of interethnic conflicts and ouster of corruption.
(C)Presently the East African country is focused on privatization of state-owned enterprises, expansion of democracy and political freedom, and de-escalating interethnic conflicts and on ousting corruption.
(D)Presently the East African country is focused on privatization of state-owned enterprises, on expansion of democracy and political freedom, and de-escalation of interethnic conflicts and on ousting of corruption.
(E)Presently the East African country is focused on privatization of state-owned enterprises, expanding democracy and political freedom, and on de-escalation of interethnic conflicts and ousting corruption.
OA and OE
A: ousting corruption; the gerund form ‘ousting’ and the ‘and’ after freedom are unparallel forms
B. Correct list parallelism
C. The ‘and’ after freedom is unparallel
D. The same error a in C; missing out ‘on’ for the noun de-escalation’ is prepositional unparallellism
E. The same error as in E
OA: B
Q. No.4 CR M Source:
Magoosh 3. A senator, near the end of his first six-year term and running for reelection, made the claim: "Citizens of our state are thriving. While national unemployment levels have remained high, our state unemployment rate has been at astonishingly low levels for eleven years running. Clearly, everyone in our state has benefitted from the economical packages I have introduced during my time in the Senate. Therefore, grateful citizens of our state ought to vote for my second term." (Source
Magoosh)
This argument is most vulnerable to what criticism?
A) It takes a condition to be the effect of something that has happened only after the condition already existed.
B) It introduces several different types of evidence, not all of which are compatible with one another.
C) It conflates political conditions with economic conditions.
D) The economical packages introduced by the senator may not have been as beneficial to citizens of other states.
E. Even if what the senator is saying is true, it may not be in his self-interest to argue in favor of it.
OA and OE
OA is A;
OE not provided by the company
Q. No.5 SC H Source: gmatclub
Nelson Mandela is the most unfortunate of men, yet the embodiment of endurance: extant in time of ruthless government and civil discrimination, and finding himself cast on the tender mercies of a corrupt court; possessing a high order of compliance and compromise, still proscribed politically and socially; the most patriotic, yet falling the victim of wile; but finally now living his life respected by mankind
A. Nelson Mandela is the most unfortunate of men, yet the embodiment of endurance: extant in time of ruthless government and civil discrimination, and finding himself cast on the tender mercies of a corrupt court; possessing a high order of compliance and compromise, still proscribed politically and socially; the most patriotic, yet falling the victim of wile; but finally now living his life respected by mankind
B Nelson Mandela is the most unfortunate of men, yet the embodiment of endurance: extant in times of ruthless government and civil discrimination finding himself cast on the tender mercies of a corrupt court possessing a high order of compliance and compromise, still proscribing politically and socially, the most patriotic, yet fallen the victim of wile, but finally now living his life respected by mankind
C. Nelson Mandela is the most unfortunate of men, yet the embodiment of endurance: extant in times of ruthless government and civil discrimination, finding himself cast on the tender mercies of a corrupt court; possessing a high order of compliance and compromise, still proscribing politically and socially, the most patriotic, yet the fallen victim of wile, but finally now living his life respected by mankind
D. Nelson Mandela was and is both the most unfortunate of men and yet the embodiment of endurance: extant in times of ruthlessness and civil discrimination, finding himself cast on the tender mercies of a corrupt court possessing a high order of compliance and compromise, still proscribed politically and socially, the most patriotic, yet fallen the victim of wile, and finally now living his life respected by mankind
E. Nelson Mandela was most unfortunate of men, yet the embodiment of endurance: extant in times of ruthless government and civil discrimination, finding himself cast on the tender mercies of a corrupt court, possessing a high order of compliance and compromise, still proscribed politically and socially, the most patriotic, yet fallen the victim of wile, but finally now living his life respected by mankind
OA and OE:
On such complicated passages just look for some minor grammar errors and eliminate them first
A. The conjunction’ and” after civil discrimination spoils the flow of parallelism
B. ‘Still proscribing politically and socially’ is diction ally wrong; it may imply that Mandela proscribed somebody else.
C. The same error as in B
D. - a corrupt court possessing a high order of compliance and compromise- distorts the original meaning
OA: E
Q. No.6 CR M Source: Kaplan
The rate of violent crime in this state is up 30 percent from last year. The fault lies entirely in our court system; recently our judges' sentences have been so lenient that criminals can now do almost anything without fear of a long prison term. (Source Kaplan)
The argument above would be weakened if it were true that
:
85 percent of the other states in the nation have lower crime rates than does this state.
B. White collar crime in this state has also increased by over 25 percent in the last year.
C. 35 percent of the police in this state have been laid off in the last year due to budget cuts.
D. Polls show that 65 percent of the population in this state opposes capital punishment.
E. The state has hired 25 new judges in the last year to compensate for deaths and retirements
OA and OE
If we can show that something besides the court system may explain the increase in
crime we would weaken the argument. The author assumes that there is no other
cause. Tackle the choices, looking for another cause besides the allegedly lenient
court sentences.
(A) Does not compare one state to another. The argument's scope is the crime rate
increase in this particular state only. In (B), the fact that white collar crime is also on
the rise strengthens rather than weakens the argument. (C) presents an alternative
explanation for the increase in crime (reduction in police). As for (D), what if 65
percent of people in the state oppose capital punishment? This provides little insight
into why crime has gone up since last year. (E) tells us that numerous judges have
been replaced in the last year. It is possible that the new judges are more lenient,
but this would only strengthen the author's argument..
OA: C.
Questions 7, 8 and 9 are based on the passage below sourced from Kaplan
The rich analyses of Fernando Braudel and his fellow Annales historians have made significant contributions to historical theory and research. In a departure from traditional historical approaches, the Annales historians assume (as do Marxists) that history cannot be limited to a simple recounting of conscious human actions, but must be understood in the context of forces that underlie human behavior. Braudel was the first Annales historian to gain widespread support for the idea that history should synthesize data from social sciences, especially economics, to provide a broader historical view of human societies over time although Febvre (8) and Bloch, founders of the Annales school, originated this approach).
Braudel conceived of history as the dynamic interaction of three temporalities. The first of these, the evenementielle, involved short-lived dramatic "events," such as battles, revolutions, and the actions of great men, which had preoccupied traditional historians like Carlyle. Conjonctures was Braudel's term for the larger, cyclical processes that might last up to half a century. The longue duree, a historical wave of great length, was for Braudel the most fascinating of the three temporalities. Here he focused on those aspects of everyday life that might remain relatively unchanged for centuries. What people ate, what they wore, their means and routes of travel—for Braudel these things create "structures" that define the limits of potential social change for (17)hundreds of years at a time.
Braudel's concept of the longue duree extended the perspective of historical space as well as time. Until the Annales school, historians had taken the juridical political unit—the the nation-state, duchy, or whatever—as their starting point. Yet, when such enormous time spans are considered, geographical features may have more significance for human populations than national borders. In his doctoral thesis, a seminal work on the Mediterranean during the reign of Philip II, Braudel treated the geohistory of the entire region as a "structure" that exerted myriad influences on human life ways since the first settlements on the shores of the Mediterranean (24) Sea.
And so the reader is given such arcane information as the list of products that came to Spanish shores from North Africa, the seasonal routes followed by Mediterranean sheep and their (27)shepherds, and the cities where the best ship timber could be bought.
Braudel has been faulted for the imprecision of his approach. With his Rabelaisian delight in concrete detail, Braudel vastly extended the realm of relevant phenomena; but this very achievement made it difficult to delimit the boundaries of observation, a task necessary to beginning any social investigation. Further, Braudel and other Annales historians minimize the differences among the social sciences. Nevertheless, the many similarly designed studies aimed at both professional and popular audiences indicate that Braudel asked significant (33) questions which traditional historians had overlooked.
Q. No.7 RC E Source: Kaplan
The author refers to the work of Febvre and Bloch in order to
illustrate the limitations of the Annales tradition of historical investigation
B. suggest the relevance of economics to historical investigation
C. debate the need for combining various sociological approaches
D. show that previous Annales historians anticipated Braudel's focus on economics
E. demonstrate that historical studies provide broad structures necessary for economic analysis
OA and OE;
A; No limitations expressed by Febvre and Bloch wrong
B: No suggestion of the relevance of economics is implied in Febvre and Bloch’s approach; They simply foresaw it.
C No such debate by the said historians is mentioned in the passage
D. Correct Choice
E. No demonstrations introduced by Febvre and Bloch
OA: D
Q. No.8 RC M Source: Kaplan
The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. show how Braudel's work changed the conception of Mediterranean life held by previous historians.
B. evaluate Braudel's criticisms of traditional and Marxist historiography
C. contrast the perspective of the longue duree with the actions of major historical figures
D. illustrate the relevance of Braudel's concepts to other social sciences
E. outline some of Braudel's influential conceptions and distinguish them from conventional approaches
OE
The main purpose is to broadly sketch Braudel's philosophy on the connection between economies through the ordinary business of life in vast expanses contrasting his approach to other types of historians. Therefore Choice E brings about that phenomenon vividly
OA: E.
Q. No.9 RC H Source: Kaplan
According to the passage, all of the following are aspects of Braudel's approach to history EXCEPT that
A.he attempted to unify various social sciences
B. studied social and economic activities that occurred across national boundaries
C. pointed out the link between increased economic activity and the rise of nationalism
D. examined seemingly unexciting aspects of everyday life
E. visualized history as involving several different time frames
OA and OE
OE not available; Gmatclub’s explanation given
Except nationalism as stated in Choice C, all other aspects have been mentioned in the passage. A is mentioned in lines 30 and 31, B in line 25, 26 and 27, D in line 15, 16 and 17 and E in line 13.
OA: C
Q. No.10 SC H Source: gmatclub
According to Alistair Maclean’s novel, the invincible mountainous terrain of Navarone in the sea of Aegean was of utmost military importance to the German throughout the Second World war , because they realized that,
if they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril. A. if they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril
B. if they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British could be liable to be in peril
(C)If they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British would be always in peril
(D) if they were not to exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril
their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril, should they fail to exploit its strategic location
OA and OE
The conditional and the main clause are in the same tense; the main sentence should be in be in the future modal test
Could be liable to be is redundant and awful
Correct choice with the conditional clause in simple past and the main clause in future modal
Correct subjunctive is “ were they not to exploit and not if they were not too; Secondly, this is no hypothetical wish; So not an apt choice for subjunctive use
Should’ is used in the place of it. Normally it denotes some future happening. Hence the main clause cannot be in the past tense, logically
OA: C
Q. No.11 CR M Source: gmatclub
An application for (Department of Housing and Urban Development) HUD funding requires review at every stage of the process. Evaluation by a community-based local board whose charge is to rank proposals based on their likelihood of achieving agreed-upon community goals is the first stage of the application process. Since there are rarely adequate federal resources to fund all proposals submitted, it follows that those proposals that do not receive a high ranking from the local board are unlikely to be funded. Applicants who decide to proceed after receiving and assessing their ranking at the community level submit a formal application to the HUD office in Washington, D.C. Because requirements for formal applications are strict, some applications are disqualified for technical reasons by the national HUD office. Those applicants who are successful at the national level must make it over yet another hurdle: they must tender a technical submission to their regional HUD office. The technical submission emphasizes programmatic and fiscal accountability. Clearly, only those who are able to make their way through the application process and to meet programmatic, technical, and fiscal demands at the community, national, and regional level will receive and retain funding. (Source:
Magoosh)
In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
A. The first states the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second provides support for that conclusion.
B. The first serves as an intermediate conclusion that supports a further conclusion stated in the argument; the second states the position that the argument as a whole opposes.
C. The first provides support for an intermediate conclusion that supports a further conclusion stated in the argument; the second states that intermediate conclusion.
D. The first provides support for the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second provides evidence that supports an objection to that conclusion.
E. The first is an intermediate conclusion that supports a further conclusion stated in the passage; the second supports the conclusion of the argument.
OA and OE
The first sentence in boldface is an intermediate conclusion that summarizes the outcome of the ranking of HUD applications by a community- based board. The final sentence of the passage is the conclusion of the argument as a whole. The second sentence in boldface is an intermediate conclusion that supports the conclusion as a whole by making clear that programmatic and fiscal accountability must be demonstrated by HUD funding applicants at the technical submission phase. Language from the second sentence in boldface is repeated in the concluding sentence that speaks of programmatic, technical, and fiscal requirements of the application process.
(A) is incorrect. Readers should be able to quickly eliminate (A) because the first sentence in boldface does not state the conclusion of the argument as a whole. Instead, the first sentence is an intermediate conclusion that deals only with the first stage of the HUD funding application process. The passage as a whole describes three stages of this funding process. The second sentence in bold does not provide support for the first bold sentence.
(B) is incorrect. One of the statements in (B) is correct. The first sentence in bold does serve as an intermediate conclusion that supports a further conclusion stated in the argument. [See explanation for (E) above.] However, the second clause in (B) is incorrect. The second boldfaced sentence is supportive information, not in opposition to any argument.
Incidentally, students who have a tendency to overanalyze may be challenged by the fact that (B) reads, “The first serves as an intermediate conclusion… and (E) reads “The first is an intermediate conclusion…”
For the purpose of this question “serves” and “is” mean the same thing.
(C) is incorrect. Readers who have difficulty distinguishing between an intermediate conclusion and a further conclusion in the argument may be challenged by this question. The first sentence in boldface is an intermediate conclusion; the second sentence in boldface is an intermediate conclusion that supports the conclusion of the argument as a whole. (C) suggests a link between the first bolded sentence and the second bolded sentence. Not so; the bolded sentences are independent statements.
(D) is incorrect. Readers should be able to quickly eliminate (D) because the second sentence in boldface does not provide evidence that supports an objection to the conclusion as a whole. The first sentence in boldface is an intermediate conclusion that some readers may view as supporting the conclusion of the argument as a whole. But, in reality, no objection exists in the passage.
(E) The first sentence in boldface is an intermediate conclusion that summarizes the outcome of the ranking of HUD applications by a community- based board. The final sentence of the passage is the conclusion of the argument as a whole. The second sentence in boldface is an intermediate conclusion that supports the conclusion as a whole by making clear that programmatic and fiscal accountability must be demonstrated by HUD funding applicants at the technical submission phase. Language from the second sentence in boldface is repeated in the concluding sentence that speaks of programmatic, technical, and fiscal requirements of the application process.
OA: E
Q. No.12 SC H Source: gmatclub
At the end of the meetings, which are regularly held in key cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai, members of the Alumni pass a hat around to collect whatever funds it takes to rent halls, pay for snacks, and electricity
(A) At the end of the meetings, which are regularly held in key cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, members of the Alumni association pass a hat around to collect whatever funds it takes to rent halls, pay for snacks and electricity
(B) At the end of the meetings, which are regularly held in key cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, members of the Alumni association pass a hat around to collect whatever funds it takes to rent halls, to pay for snacks and electricity
(C) At the end of the meetings, which are regularly held in key cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore Delhi and Chennai, members of the Alumni association pass a hat around to collect whatever funds needed to pay for hall rent, snacks and electricity
(D) Members of the Alumni association at the end of the meetings, which are regularly held in key cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore Delhi and Chennai, pass a hat around to collect whatever funds, needed to pay for hall rent, snacks and electricity
(E) Members of the Alumni association pass a hat around to collect whatever funds needed to pay for hall rent, snacks, and electricity at the end of the meetings, which are regularly held in key cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore Delhi and Chennai.
OE
Funds it takes to rent halls pay for snacks and electricity- unparallel; the conjunction ‘and’ is missed after halls’ or it should be “to rent hall, to pay for snacks and clear electrify bill.
Same error as in A.
Correct list parallelism maintained Correct choice
‘Members of the Alumni association at the end of the meetings’ Members only at the end of the meetings? Wrong word order.
Pay for hall rent, snacks, and electricity at the end of the meetings; The text means to say that fund collection is done at the end of the meetings. It doesn’t mean that payment is made at the end of meetings. A subtle distortion of meaning created by wrong word order
OA: C
Q. No.13 CR H Source: gmatclub
Consolidated Papers buys 70% of its sugarcane bagasse needs from Converged Sugars on a yearly contract, for making quality onion paper. At one point, Converged Sugars seriously contemplated making onion paper from its own mill site, but the overall production costs turned out to be as high as that of paper mill, because of low scales of economy and marketing muscle, leaving very little margins for the sugar mill; In addition, bagasse, is given free cost ex. factory to the paper mills ; Thus the well, established paper mills are a stumbling block for the sugar mills for making paper. But, Converged Sugars, an ace strategist, still decided to make onion paper at its site.
If the above factors were true, what is the reason for venturing into this apparently paradox on the part of the sugar mill?
A; The cost of production is low for the paper mill because it makes large quantities of onion paper;
B: Though bagasse is free, the transportation is high
C; Bagasse either has to be evacuated or used up before turning dry; else it may end up in fire.
D; The first right of refusal lies with the paper mill for the termination of the yearly contract before its due date
E. There is hardly any paper mill that can match Consolidated Papers either in size or in marketing
OA : C.
OE: Whether profitable or not, storing a fire hazard is dangerous. If for some reason, paper mill delays clearance, it may lead to disastrous results.
Q. No.14 SC E Source: gmatclub
Some climatologists, while admitting that the burning of fossil fuels have raised the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and have caused an increase in the level of global temperature, argue that both these effects are contributing to an abundance of plant mass and thereby leading to heightened consumption of CO2 levels, and bringing down the temperature
(A) Some climatologists, while admitting that the burning of fossil fuels have raised the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and have caused an increase in the level of global temperature, argue that both these effects are contributing to an abundance of plant mass and thereby leading to heightened consumption of CO2 levels, and bringing down the temperature,
(B) While admitting that the burning of fossil fuels raise the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and cause an increase in the level of global temperature, some climatologists argue that both these effects are contributing to an abundance of plant mass and thereby leading to heightened consumption of CO2 levels, bringing down the temperature
C. While admitting that the burning of fossil fuels has raised the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and has caused an increase in the level of global temperature, some climatologists have argued that both these effects have contributed to an abundance of plant mass and thereby have lead to heightened consumption of CO2 levels, having brought down the temperature
(D) Some climatologists, while admitting that the burning of fossil fuels raises the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and causes an increase in the level of global temperature, argue that both these effects contribute to an abundance of plant mass, thereby leading to heightened consumption of CO2 levels, and bringing down the temperature
(E) Some climatologists, while admitting that the burning of fossil fuels raises the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and causes an increase in the level of global temperature, argue that both these effects are contributing to an abundance of plant mass and thereby leading to heightened consumption of CO2 levels, bringing down the temperature
OE and OA
A; burning and have caused: S- number agreement error.
Burring --- raise and cause --- S-V mismatch
Burning and raising are every day universal features; use of present perfect tense is inappropriate.
Correct Choice
‘are contributing is not so apt as contribute; There should be conjunction between the toe modifiers leading to and……….. bringing down
OA: D
Q. No.15 SC E Source: gmatclub
Albert Einstein, one of the most popular scientists this world has ever seen, helped
solve many mysteries of Physics on such vital areas like theories of relativity, gravitational lensing, and the photon theory together with the quantum theory of atomic motion
(A) Solve many mysteries of Physics on such vital areas like theories of relativity, gravitational lensing, and the photon theory together with
(B) Solve many mysteries of Physics in such vital areas as theories of relativity, gravitational lensing, the photon theory and
(C) To solve many mysteries of Physics about such vital areas as theories of relativity, gravitational lensing, the photon theory along with
(D) The solving of many mysteries of Physics around such vital areas like theories of relativity, gravitational lensing, the photon theory in addition to
(E) the solving of many mysteries of Physics on vital areas such as theories of relativity, gravitational lensing, the photon theory as well as
OA and OE
Norms of list parallelism require that the last arm should be separated by an ‘and’ from the previous arms’ It does not matter if the last arm is a two-factor phrase conjugated by ‘along with’ or ‘in addition to’ or ‘as well as’. Both of these factors will be taken as a single arm, and that single arm should be separated by an ‘and’ from the previous arms.
A. ‘such vital areas like’ is wrong; should be ‘such vital areas as’
B. Proper use of list parallelism; correct choice
Camasses the ‘and’ after gravitational lensing
D. Same as in C
E. Same as in C and D.
OA: B
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16 Jan 2014, 01:09
