Practice GRE verbal-ability questions in reading comprehension, text-completion, and sentence-equivalence with clear explanations (with downloadable pdf).
Preparing for the GRE Verbal section can feel overwhelming—there’s reading comprehension that tests your ability to understand complex passages, text completion that challenges your grasp of context and vocabulary, and sentence equivalence that checks if you can balance meaning and nuance.
The best way to get comfortable with all of these is through practice.
In this article, you’ll work with 27 verbal ability questions for GRE, divided into two sections like the actual exam: Section 1 contains 12 questions and Section 2 has 15 questions. The mix mirrors official distributions across reading comprehension, text completion, and sentence equivalence.
If you want a little more practice, you can check out our GRE practice set on Udemy containing over 930+ questions on text completion and sentence equivalence.
GRE Verbal Ability Questions practice set
The real computer-based GRE gives you 18 minutes for the first verbal section (12 questions) and 23 minutes for the second (15 questions), totaling 41 minutes for 27 questions.
This practice set mirrors that: treat each block as its own timed set. Aim for ~1.5 minutes per question on average.
Each question includes a clear explanation. First, complete Section 1 in 18 minutes. Then move on to Section 2 for 23 minutes. After finishing, review your answers thoroughly. This simulates real GRE pacing and helps train your timing discipline.
If you want to take a printout of this test, here’s a downloadable pdf for you:
You might also check out our guide to solving verbal ability questions for GRE.
Section 1: (12 questions, 18 minutes) (Level: Medium)
Reading Comprehension
(Read the passage and answer the questions based on its content. Select the best answer from the options given.)
Passage 1
Many scientists argue that climate models are not crystal balls but tools for understanding possible futures. While they cannot predict the weather on a specific day decades ahead, they can reveal long-term patterns such as rising global temperatures or more frequent extreme storms.
Q1.
According to the passage, the main value of climate models lies in their ability to:
A. Accurately forecast daily weather for many years in advance
B. Demonstrate the precise timing of natural disasters
C. Show general trends and patterns in climate over long periods
D. Replace traditional meteorological studies entirely
E. Eliminate uncertainty about the future
Passage 2
In recent years, libraries have transformed from quiet repositories of books into vibrant community centers. Many now host workshops, provide free internet, and offer spaces for collaboration, showing that their role extends well beyond lending printed material.
Q2.
The author’s main point is that modern libraries:
A. No longer prioritize books at all
B. Have expanded their functions to meet community needs
C. Have abandoned their traditional identity
D. Are in decline because of digital technology
E. Should restrict themselves to lending books
Passage 3
While the printing press is often celebrated for spreading knowledge, its impact was not immediately universal. Literacy rates remained low for centuries, meaning that the benefits of printed books were initially confined to small groups before gradually expanding to larger populations.
Q3.
What does the passage suggest about the early impact of the printing press?
A. It instantly made knowledge accessible to everyone
B. It was limited by the fact that many people could not read
C. It reduced the importance of literacy in society
D. It failed to spread knowledge even among literate groups
E. It was considered a failure by historians of the time
Passage 4
Some argue that social media weakens attention spans, but others point out that it also trains users to process information rapidly. By forcing readers to filter vast amounts of content in seconds, these platforms may actually sharpen certain cognitive skills, even while undermining others.
Q4.
Which of the following best captures the author’s view of social media?
A. It only harms attention and provides no benefits
B. It improves all forms of intelligence equally
C. It can have both positive and negative effects on mental skills
D. It is beneficial mainly because it reduces reading time
E. It makes people completely incapable of focusing
Passage 5
The decline of traditional letter writing has worried some cultural critics, who see it as a loss of thoughtful communication. Yet others argue that new digital forms—such as long emails or detailed messages—can preserve, and even expand, opportunities for reflective expression.
Q5.
The passage suggests that digital communication:
A. Has entirely destroyed reflective writing
B. Offers no replacement for letters in modern society
C. Can serve as a medium for thoughtful communication
D. Is always less valuable than handwritten correspondence
E. Should replace all other traditional forms of expression
Passage 6
Although critics often dismiss historical novels as mere embellishments of fact, they can provide valuable insight into how societies remember their past. By interweaving imaginative detail with archival accuracy, such narratives reveal less about objective history than about the values and anxieties of the time in which they are written.
Q6.
The author of the passage suggests that historical novels are valuable primarily because they:
A. Accurately reconstruct events that conventional historians often overlook
B. Highlight the social concerns of the era in which they were composed
C. Provide readers with a more entertaining version of the past
D. Challenge the reliability of archival documents
E. Encourage the abandonment of objective historical study
Text Completion
Select the option that best completes the sentence. For two- or three-blank questions, choose the option in which all words fit logically and grammatically.
Q.7
The historian argued that the empire’s collapse was not the result of sudden invasion but rather the outcome of years of _____ within its political system.
A. prosperity
B. instability
C. tolerance
D. expansion
E. unity
Q.8
Although the new medication was initially praised as a (i) _____ discovery, follow-up studies revealed such severe side effects that its reputation quickly turned into a (ii) _____.
A. (i) groundbreaking (ii) disappointment
B. (i) trivial (ii) triumph
C. (i) groundbreaking (ii) triumph
D. (i) disastrous (ii) disappointment
E. (i) trivial (ii) disappointment
Q.9
The novel’s popularity rests on its ability to present a story that is (i) _____ enough to entertain, yet layered with themes so (ii) _____ that scholars continue to debate them, making the book both a cultural phenomenon and an academic (iii) _____.
A. (i) simple (ii) profound (iii) puzzle
B. (i) obscure (ii) superficial (iii) delight
C. (i) straightforward (ii) profound (iii) puzzle
D. (i) obscure (ii) profound (iii) puzzle
E. (i) simple (ii) superficial (iii) delight
Sentence Equivalence questions
Select the two words that, when inserted into the blank, produce complete sentences with the same meaning.
Q.10:
The economist argued that the government’s policy of heavy spending was meant to _____ the slowing economy, even if it risked increasing national debt.
A. stimulate
B. weaken
C. revive
D. exhaust
E. damage
F. bolster
Q.11:
The patient’s account was so _____ that even experienced therapists struggled to separate actual memories from imagined events.
A. vivid
B. coherent
C. fantastic
D. elaborate
E. realistic
F. precise
Q.12:
Although the author’s style appears simple at first, it soon reveals itself as deeply _____, filled with hidden meanings and subtle references.
A. superficial
B. complex
C. intricate
D. plain
E. obscure
F. elaborate
Correct Answers: B. complex, C. intricate
Section 2 (15 questions, 23 minutes) (Level: Hard)
Reading Comprehension:
Q.13
The economist’s model was lauded for its elegance but criticized for its tenuous applicability. While it neatly accounted for market behavior under highly controlled assumptions, its predictive power diminished sharply when tested against the complexities of real-world conditions, suggesting a gap between theoretical precision and practical relevance.
What can be inferred about the economist’s model from the passage?
A. It was rejected because its mathematical foundations were unsound
B. Its relevance was limited because real markets rarely conform to its assumptions
C. It was widely accepted as the most reliable tool for predicting market trends
D. The model was successful because it simplified complex realities
E. Economists generally prefer elegant models over practical ones
Q.14
Unlike traditional theories of language acquisition, which emphasize imitation and repetition, contemporary research stresses the role of innate cognitive structures. Children appear capable of generating novel sentences that they could not have merely copied, implying that language learning is as much about internal predisposition as external exposure.
The passage implies that contemporary researchers would most likely criticize older theories for:
A. Overestimating the creativity of children in learning language
B. Neglecting the role of inherited mental capacities in language development
C. Failing to acknowledge the importance of social interaction in speech
D. Assuming that repetition alone can explain linguistic complexity
E. Underestimating the memorization skills of children
Q.15
The painter’s late work, once dismissed as incoherent experiments, is now recognized as a pivotal step toward abstraction. What was once perceived as the decline of a career is now appreciated as an audacious exploration of form, paving the way for subsequent artistic movements.
Which of the following best describes the shift in critical opinion about the painter’s late work?
A. From cautious admiration to outright rejection
B. From indifference to hostility
C. From perceiving the work as regressive to recognizing it as innovative
D. From acknowledgment of technical skill to criticism of its lack of originality
E. From celebration of abstraction to preference for realism
Q.16
In scientific research, replication is often portrayed as a safeguard against error. Yet replication crises in several disciplines reveal that repeating an experiment does not always yield the same results. This inconsistency raises questions not only about methodological rigor but also about the assumption that scientific truth is easily reproducible.
The primary purpose of the passage is to:
A. Argue that replication is the most reliable measure of scientific truth
B. Demonstrate that replication failures undermine the credibility of all science
C. Highlight the limitations of replication as a guarantor of accuracy
D. Suggest that replication crises are exaggerated by the media
E. Call for abandoning replication as a scientific practice
(Q. 17 and 18 are based on the following passage)
Historians have long quarrelled over the primary engines of the Industrial Revolution. A familiar account privileges impersonal economic forces: capital accumulation, market expansion and the fortuitous concentration of raw materials. This teleological narration, however, risks telescoping complex causality into a single vector. Recent scholarship suggests a more capacious synthesis. Institutional frameworks and macroeconomic preconditions were necessary. They were not, the revisionists argue, sufficient. What appears decisive in the comparative record is the conjunction of dispersed artisanal know-how, dense informal networks that transmitted tacit skills, and cultural dispositions toward experimentation and iterative improvement. These cultural and social substrates amplified the malleability of local labour practices and increased the salience of incremental technical refinements. Thus, the explanatory burden should be shared: technological opportunity and capital flow provided openings; social and cultural matrices determined whether and how those openings were exploited.
Q.17:
Which one of the following can most reasonably be inferred from the passage?
A. The author rejects any causal role for capital accumulation in the Industrial Revolution.
B. The author contends that institutional reforms alone explain the timing of industrialization.
C. The author believes that the interaction of material conditions and social networks best accounts for regional variation in industrialization.
D. The author argues that technological innovation was purely accidental and unrelated to social context.
E. The author asserts that cultural predispositions are the only factor worth studying.
Q.18:
Which one of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the author’s argument that cultural dispositions and artisanal networks were pivotal in explaining why some regions industrialized and others did not?
A. Archival surveys reveal that artisanal knowledge networks were negligible in many early industrializing towns.
B. New evidence shows that property-right reforms uniformly preceded artisanal network growth across all regions.
C. Statistical analyses indicate that religious attitudes toward work were constant across regions with and without industrialization.
D. Case studies show that variations in capital availability perfectly correlate with subsequent levels of industrial output.
E. Robust quantitative models demonstrate that technological adoption rates alone predict industrialization outcomes with high accuracy.
(Q. 19 and 20 are based on the upcoming passage.)
Research on memory reconsolidation has complicated conventional models of recall. The reconsolidation framework posits that each act of retrieval renders a memory labile; during the reconsolidation window the memory can incorporate new information or be distorted by suggestion. For jurisprudence this is consequential. Eyewitness testimony is often collected after witnesses have been exposed to post-event narratives, media reports and law-enforcement questioning that may introduce misleading details. If memories are routinely altered upon retrieval, then a witness’s later confidence is a poor proxy for veridicality. The author does not contend that all testimonial evidence is worthless. Rather, the claim is narrower and more pragmatic: legal systems should recognise the epistemic fragility of recalled memories and adopt procedures that minimise contamination during retrieval and documentation.
Q.19:
The primary purpose of the passage is to:
A. argue that all eyewitness testimony should be excluded from trials because memory is inherently unreliable.
B. summarise reconsolidation research and urge cautious procedural reforms to reduce contamination of recollection.
C. demonstrate that media reports are the sole cause of testimonial error.
D. defend the current legal reliance on witness confidence as a reliable indicator of truth.
E. propose that memory reconsolidation enhances the accuracy of testimony through repeated retrieval.
Q.20
The author’s recommendation that legal systems “adopt procedures that minimise contamination during retrieval and documentation” depends on which one of the following assumptions?
A. Post-event information introduced after retrieval cannot alter a memory once it has reconsolidated.
B. Legal practitioners are already fully aware of reconsolidation research and routinely apply its findings.
C. Minimising exposure to misleading post-event information during retrieval will reduce the incidence of memory distortion.
D. Witnesses who are confident after repeated questioning are necessarily telling the truth.
E. Memory reconsolidation occurs only in laboratory conditions and not in real-world settings.
Q.21
The philosopher’s prose, though often accused of being (i) _____, is in fact carefully constructed: its density is less a defect than a deliberate attempt to capture concepts so (ii) _____ that ordinary language risks reducing them to trivialities.
A. (i) obscure (ii) elusive
B. (i) lucid (ii) transparent
C. (i) ponderous (ii) superficial
D. (i) obscure (ii) superficial
E. (i) lucid (ii) elusive
Q.22
Even though the expedition leader was admired for his (i) _____, his unwillingness to accommodate dissenting opinions revealed a streak of (ii) _____.
A. (i) pragmatism (ii) obstinacy
B. (i) arrogance (ii) humility
C. (i) decisiveness (ii) dogmatism
D. (i) prudence (ii) openness
E. (i) charisma (ii) flexibility
Q.23
While the playwright’s early works were dismissed as mere (i) _____, critics later recognised that beneath the entertaining surface lay a (ii) _____ commentary on social norms, making her oeuvre far more (iii) _____ than previously acknowledged.
A. (i) frivolity (ii) trenchant (iii) consequential
B. (i) triviality (ii) superficial (iii) forgettable
C. (i) frivolity (ii) satirical (iii) influential
D. (i) banality (ii) trenchant (iii) inconsequential
E. (i) frivolity (ii) obscure (iii) negligible
Q. 24
Although the scientist’s tone in public debates appeared (i) _____, his private correspondence reveals a temperament both (ii) _____ and (iii) _____, suggesting that the image he projected was more strategic than genuine.
A. (i) conciliatory (ii) irascible (iii) volatile
B. (i) combative (ii) irascible (iii) steadfast
C. (i) aloof (ii) insecure (iii) steady
D. (i) conciliatory (ii) insecure (iii) volatile
E. (i) conciliatory (ii) irascible (iii) steady
Q.25
The critic’s review was so _____ that readers could scarcely determine whether she admired the novel or despised it.
A. ambiguous
B. equivocal
C. candid
D. laudatory
E. explicit
F. transparent
Q.26
Although the statesman was celebrated for his oratory, his arguments were often _____, impressing the audience more with their style than with their substance.
A. specious
B. fallacious
C. cogent
D. incisive
E. persuasive
F. sound
Q. 27.
The committee’s decision to delay the project was seen as _____, since no new evidence had emerged to justify postponement.
A. capricious
B. arbitrary
C. prudent
D. judicious
E. deliberate
F. calculated
So, how did you do on the test?
Did you find yourself rushing through the tougher RC passages, or getting stuck between two close choices in the text completion and sentence equivalence questions? That’s completely normal—the GRE Verbal section is designed to test precision and endurance, not just vocabulary.
The important part is reviewing your mistakes, understanding why the right answers work, and noticing the traps you fell for. Each practice round like this builds sharper instincts and stronger pacing. The next time you attempt a set, aim to stay within the official time frame and see how much smoother it feels.
Need more practice? Check out our Udemy Practice set for GRE containing 930+ questions.
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