GRE Exam Verbal Ability Miscellaneous

Questions 1 and 2 are based on this passage
A portrait type that appeared with relentless frequency in eighteenth-century England is the familiar image of a gentleman poised with one hand inside his partially unbuttoned waistcoat. Standard interpretations of this portrait posture offer observations of correspondence—demonstrating either that it mirrors actual social behavior or that it borrows from classical statuary. Such explanations, however, illuminate neither the source of this curious convention nor the reason for its popularity. It is true that in real life the “hand-in” was a common stance for elite men. Still, there were other ways of comporting the body that did not become winning portrait formulas. And even if the “hand-in” portrait does resemble certain classical statues, what accounts for the adoption of this particular pose?

Question 1
In the context of the passage as a whole, the primary function of the sentence in lines 10-12 is to
(A) emphasize the influence of a particular social class on the conventions of eighteenth-century English portraiture
(B) account for the origin of a particular type of behavior frequently represented in eighteenth-century English portraiture
(C) acknowledge a historical basis for two competing hypotheses about a particular portrait type
(D) question the relevance of certain evidence frequently cited in support of an explanation for a particular portrait type
(E) concede that one explanation for the prevalence of a particular portrait type has a basis in fact For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.

Question 2
Which of the following might provide an explanation for the popularity of hand-in portraits that would satisfy the author of the passage?
(A) An eighteenth-century English etiquette manual discussing the social implications of the “hand-in” stance
(B) A comprehensive catalogue of eighteenth-century English portraits that showed what proportion of portraits depicted gentlemen in the “hand-in” stance
(C) A passage from an eighteenth-century English novel in which a gentleman considers what stance to adopt when his portrait is painted

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GRE Other Question

At Company Y, the ratio of the number of female employees to the number of male employees is 3 to 2. If there are 150 female employees at the company, how many male employees are there at the company? Questions 1 and 2 are based on this passage.
Biologists generally agree that birds and dinosaurs are somehow related to one another. The agreement ends there. Hypotheses regarding dinosaurian and avian evolution are unusually diverse—and often at odds with one another. Confusion consequently reigns over a broad spectrum of unanswered questions dealing with avian origins and the biology of dinosaurs and early birds. This confusion has been exacerbated by a paucity of serious attempts to synthesize and evaluate available data on the details of avian and dinosaurian evolution. Too often, the job of summarizing current knowledge of these subjects has fallen to well-meaning but naïve lay authors or reporters. Consequently, both the public and the scientific community have often been misled by widespread dissemination of sensational but weakly founded hypotheses.

Question 1
The passage suggests that which of the following could help remedy the problem described in
(A) An article written by a biologist for the general public summarizing current theories about avian and dinosaurian evolution
(B) A close examination of available data on avian and dinosaurian evolution
(C) A new hypothesis regarding the connection between avian and dinosaurian evolution

Question 2
In the context in which it appears, “sensational” ( ) most nearly means
(A) dramatic
(B) false
(C) excellent
(D) eminent
(E) horrifying