Gre verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning With Explanations

 Sample Question 1 Answers. 
Blank (i) 
Blank (ii) 
Blank (iii) 
(A) overshadowed
(D) enhance
(G) plausibility of our hypotheses
(B) invalidated
(E) obscure
(H) certainty of our entitlement
(C) illuminated
(F) underscore
(I) superficiality of our theories
Explanation 
The overall tone of the passage is clearly complimentary. To understand what the author of the 
book is being complimented on, it is useful to focus on the second blank. Here, we must 
determine what word would indicate something that the author is praised for not permitting. 
The only answer choice that fits the case is 
“
obscure,
”
since enhancing and underscoring are 
generally good things to do, not things one should refrain from doing. Choosing 
“
obscure
”
7

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clarifies the choice for the first blank; the only choice that fits well with 
“
obscure
”
is 
“
overshadowed.
”
Notice that trying to fill the first blank before filling the second blank is hard 
—
each choice has at least some initial plausibility. Since the third blank requires a phrase that 
matches 
“
enormous gaps
”
and 
“
sparseness of our observations,
”
the best choice is 
“
superficiality of our theories.
”
Thus, the correct answer is Choice A (overshadowed), Choice E (obscure) and Choice I 
(superficiality of our theories)
. 
2
. In parts of the Arctic, the land grades into the landfast ice so _______ that you can walk off the
coast and not know you are over the hidden sea.
Sample Question 3 Answers. 
(A) permanently
(B) imperceptibly
(C) irregularly
(D) precariously
(E) relentlessly
Explanation 
The word that fills the blank has to characterize how the land grades into the ice in a way that 
explains how you can walk off the coast and over the sea without knowing it. The word that 
does that is "imperceptibly"; if the land grades imperceptibly into the ice, you might well not 
know that you had left the land. Describing the shift from land to ice as permanent, irregular, 
precarious, or relentless would not help to explain how you would fail to know.