Wordzone – October 2013

The verbal section of the GRE tests your verbal reasoning abilities. Questions based on text completion and sentence equivalence depend greatly on vocabulary, so a powerful vocabularly plays an instrumental role in achieving a good score.

GRE VOCABULARY WORDS

Choose the option that is closest in meaning to the main word and complete the sentence.

1. compendium (kuhm-pen-dee-uhm)
At the beginning of the fiscal year, the managing comittee published a _____ of the significant changes in its management policies. (a) dossier (b) summary (c) newsletter

2. dross (dros)
After the earthqauke struck, the once bustling market was now buried under layers of _____. (a) debris (b) petals (c) swatches

3. timorous (tim-er-uhs)
While a handful of soldiers were brave to revolt, the majority was ___ to go against the dictator. (a) fearful (b) intrepid (c) eager

4. onerous (on-er-uhs)
In the wake of recent thefts, the security arrangements at the art gallery have become an ____ task for the curator. (a) nostalgic (b) tivial (c) burdensome

5. expurgate (ek-sper-geyt)
The censor board had to ____ a few portions of the popular sitcom because its content was considered unsuitable for certain sections of the society. (a) conjure (b) include (c) delete

6. interdict (n-ter-dikt)
For years, the Coast Guard has been working closely to ____ the flow of illegal weapons.
(a) prohibit (b) permit (c) camouflage

7. repugnant (ri-puhg-nuhnt)
What was ____ about the ad-hoc ommittee was that it exacerbated the very problem it was created to solve. (a) objectionable (b) pleasing (c) defunct

8. predilection (pred-l-ek-shuhn)
As strange as it may sound, one of the most ruthless dictators in history, Adolf Hitler had a great ____ for comedy.
(a) reaction (b) liking (c) hatred

9. etiolate (ee-tee-uh-leyt)
It was shocking to see Sam’s athletic body _____within months of his being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy
(a) strengthen (b) contort (c) weaken

10. mendacious (men-dey-shuhs)
The consumer court recently ordered the withdrawal of a product that claimed to help its users lose weight in a few days on grounds of ____ advertising.
(a) genuine (b) contentious (c) false

ANSWERS:
1. B, 2. A, 3. A, 4. C, 5. C,
6. A, 7. A, 8. B, 9. C, 10. C

Volume 3 Issue 4