GRE-TEST Online Practice Questions and Answers

A divide between aesthetic and technical considerations has played a crucial role in mapmakiug and cartographic scholarship. Some nineteenth-century cartographers, for instance, understood themselves as technicians who did not care about visual effects, while others saw themselves as landscape painters. That dichotomy structured the discipline of the history of cartography. Until the 1980s, in what Blakemore and Harley called "the 'Old is Beautiful' paradigm." scholars largely focused on maps made before 1800. marveling at their beauty and sometimes regretting the decline of the pre-technical age. Early mapmaking was considered art while modem cartography was located within the realm of engineering utility. Alpers. however, has argued that this boundary would have puzzled mapmakers in the seventeenth century, because they considered themselves to be visual engineers.

It can be inferred from the passage that, beginning in the 1980s. historians of cartography

A. placed greater emphasis on the beauty of maps made after 1800

B. expanded their range of study to include more material created after 1800

C. grew more sensitive to the way mapmakers prior to 1800 conceived of their work

D. came to see the visual details of maps as aesthetic objects rather tlian practical cartographic aids

E. reduced the attention they paid to the technical aspects of mapmaking

Mathematicians have sometimes acknowledged that_________is a requirement for creativity: for example. Poincare described explicitly a time when he experienced an insight after an incubation period, a period during which the unconscious mind was at work.

A. intelligence

B. preparation

C. motivation assistance

D. collaboration

The_________of biographies of antebellum capitalists is particularly striking in contrast with the abundance of life stones of industrialists in later eras.

A. brevity

B. banality

C. utility

D. paucity

E. triteness

F. dearth

The complex topic of whether bilingualism enhances cognitive functions beyond language, the so-called "bilingual advantage." is an intensely debated subject. Research results can be influenced by many variables, including the definition of bilingualisni itself. The previous focus on what was perceived to be a classical case of bilingualism (early, simultaneous acquisition of more than one language) has been largely replaced by a more inclusive definition. based on the ability to communicate rather than a perfect command. Indeed, improvement in cognitive functions has been reported after only one week of an intensive language course. Conversely, inactive bilinguals. who were early balanced bilinguals in their childhood but moved to an exclusive use of one language in later life, perform differently from active bilinguals and more like monolinguals.

Iii the context of the passage as a whole, the reference to "improvement in cognitive functions" primarily serves to

A. reiterate one of the main benefits of being bilingual

B. provide support for a particular research approach to bilingualism

C. illustrate how language acquisition promotes learning in general

D. emphasize the ease with which a person can learn a second language

E. encourage an intensive approach to language acquisition

Discussions of the collapse of the lowland Maya are not new. However, it might be better to say that Maya civilization as a whole did not collapse, although many zones did experience profound change. Because societies are not bounded, unitary entities. collapses are rarely total, and continuity is a normal pan of collapse At the end of the Classic period [200 900C.E.]. the institution of divine kingship and many of the well-known markers of elite culture such as carved stelae [slabs erected for funerals or commemorative purposes] and hieroglyphic polychromes [multicolored artistic pottery) ended, but Maya civilization continued in modified form with many important features intact (e.g.. literacy, war. art. the production of fine ceramics). In some cases large buildings were constructed in the Postclassic period [900-1512 C.E.], but the transition to the Early Postclassic [900-1200 CXj era is distinctive for a decrease in elite goods and contexts. The variability in artifact changes during the Terminal Classic [800-900 C.E.] and into the Postclassic. even within artifact classes (e.g.. fine versus unslipped ceramics), suggests weaker centralized control than during the Classic period. Site abandonments in the Terminal Classic indicate the collapse of the functional ability of Maya states, but sites that survived show that Maya civilization continued albeit without divine kingship and much of the spectacle around it. The passage suggests which of the following about Maya living after the Terminal Classic in "sites that survived"?

A. Their customs were identical to those of their ancestors.

B. Their pottery was totally utilitarian in nature.

C. They no longer created caned stelae.

D. They stopped erecting large buildings.

E. They did not use written language.

A. Quantity A is greater.

B. Quantity B is greater.

C. The two quantities are equal.

D. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

In triangle ABC, AB = 9 and BC = 12- Which of the following values could be the perimeter of triangle ABC?

Indicate all such values.

A. 21

B. 25

C. 28

D. 36

E. 43

F. 47

The graph summarizes the responses from 4.500 respondents who rated their degree of confidence in each of eight United States institutions. Each respondent gave each institution one of five confidence ratings: high, moderate, little, none, or undecided.

Of the respondents who did not rate their degree of confidence in the federal government undecided, approximately what fraction rated their degree of confidence in that institution little or none?

A. Option A

B. Option B

C. Option C

D. Option D

E. Option E

Company A had 47 employees a! the beginning of 2001 and 78 employees at the beginning of 2008. Company B had 53 employees at the beginning of 2004 and 90 employees at the

beginning of 2013.

A. Quantity A is greater.

B. Quantity B is greater.

C. The two quantities are equal.

D. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

The average (arithmetic mean) of a set of n test scores is 70. If a new score of 90 is added to the set. the average of the set of scores will be 72. What is the value of w?

A. 9