GRE – Graduate Record Examination. Структура и оценивание

As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

In surveys Mason City residents rank water sports (swimming, boating, and fishing) among their favorite recreational activities. The Mason River flowing through the city is rarely used for these pursuits, however, and the city park department devotes little of its budget to maintaining riverside recreational facilities. For years there have been complaints from residents about the quality of the river’s water and the river’s smell. In response, the state has recently announced plans to clean up Mason River. Use of the river for water sports is, therefore, sure to increase. The city government should for that reason devote more money in this year’s budget to riverside recreational facilities.

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on the assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of popular music without imitating it. Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies’ sound is distinctively his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass’s classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music. Yet this use of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of popular music. His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.

Sample Multiple-choice Questions — Select One Answer Choice

The passage addresses which of the following issues related to Glass’s use of popular elements in his classical compositions?

A. How it is regarded by listeners who prefer rock to the classics

B. How it has affected the commercial success of Glass’s music

C. Whether it has contributed to a revival of interest among other composers in using popular elements in their compositions

D. Whether it has had a detrimental effect on Glass’s reputation as a composer of classical music

E. Whether it has caused certain of Glass’s works to be derivative in quality

Answer: E 

Sample Multiple-choice Questions — Select One or More Answer Choices

Consider each of the three choices separately and select all that apply.

The passage suggests that Glass’s work displays which of the following qualities?

A. A return to the use of popular music in classical compositions

B. An attempt to elevate rock music to an artistic status more closely approximating that of classical music

C. A long-standing tendency to incorporate elements from two apparently disparate musical styles

Answer: A and C

Sample Select-in-Passage Question

Select the sentence that distinguishes two ways of integrating rock and classical music.

Answer:
“His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.”

1. It is refreshing to read a book about our planet by an author who does not allow facts to be (1)__________ by politics: well aware of the political disputes about the effects of human activities on climate and biodiversity, this author does not permit them to (2)__________ his comprehensive description of what we know about our biosphere. He emphasizes the enormous gaps in our knowledge, the sparseness of our observations, and the (3)__________, calling attention to the many aspects of planetary evolution that must be better understood before we can accurately diagnose the condition of our planet.

Answer choices for question 1.

Blank (1)	Blank (2)	Blank (3)
overshadowed	enhance	plausibility of our hypotheses
invalidated	obscure	certainty of our entitlement
illuminated	underscore	superficiality of our theories

Answer: overshadowed, obscure, and superficiality of our theories

2. From the outset, the concept of freedom of the seas from the proprietary claims of nations was challenged by a contrary notion — that of the _______ of the oceans for reasons of national security and profit.

promotion

exploration

surveying

conservation

appropriation

Answer: appropriation

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.

Although it does contain some pioneering ideas, one would hardly characterize the work as __________.

A. orthodox

B. eccentric

C. original

D. trifling

E. conventional

F. innovative

Answer: C and F

Sample Multiple-choice Questions — Select One Answer Choice

1. The figure below shows a circle with center C and radius 6. What is the sum of the areas of the two shaded regions?

A. . 

B. 

C.  

D.  

E. 

Answer: D

Sample Multiple-choice Questions — Select One or More Answer Choices

Each employee of a certain company is in either Department X or Department Y, and there are more than twice as many employees in Department X as in Department Y. The average (arithmetic mean) salary is $25,000 for the employees in Department X and is $35,000 for the employees in Department Y. Which of the following amounts could be the average salary for all of the employees in the company?

Indicate all such amounts.