Admission Test Section One : Verbal GRE-Verbal Prüfungsfragen mit Lösungen:

1. While there will always be a need for social programs geared toward alleviating the poverty of individuals,
the community is perhaps the more relevant level for public policy intervention, especially in rural areas. It
has been recognized that social isolation within urban ghettos is a structural characteristic of urban
poverty, but rural poverty is marked by physical isolation as well. This uniqueness makes rural community
poverty particularly intractable, requiring policies that account for the cost of isolation. It is possible to
provide vocational training for individuals anywhere, but if there are no jobs within the community for
those individuals, the training is largely wasted. The current transition to a service-based economy and
deregulation in transportation (resulting in disproportionately higher transportation costs for relatively
isolated areas) have only exacerbated the growing social and economic distress in rural America,
underscoring the need to redefine poverty and redirect the focus of our funding agencies and
policy-makers in accordance with the new definition. What's needed is a more holistic view on an
aggregate level, where poverty is properly seen as a condition of the local social structure, with income
only one of the salient parameters.
The author seeks to draw which of the following distinctions between urban ghettos and impoverished
rural communities?

A) Residents of urban ghettos typically have better jobs than residents of rural communities.
B) Funding agencies are more likely to recognize poverty in an urban ghetto than in a rural community.
C) Poverty is more common in rural communities than in urban ghettos.
D) Impoverished individuals feel more isolated in urban ghettos than in rural communities.
E) Job training programs are more accessible in urban ghettos than in rural communities.

2. OSCILLATE : PENDULUM ::

A) swim : pool
B) shake : earthquake
C) purchase : product
D) travel : automobile
E) obligate : promise

3. Mount Vesuvius, a volcano located between the ancient Italian cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, has
received much attention because of its frequent and destructive eruptions. The most famous of these
eruptions occurred in A. D. 79. The volcano had been inactive for centuries. There was little warning of
the coming eruption, although one account unearthed by archaeologists says that a hard rain and a
strong wind had disturbed the celestial calm during the preceding night. Early the next morning, the
volcano poured a huge river of molten rock down upon Herculaneum, completely burying the city and
filling in the harbor with coagulated lavA. Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain, cinders, stone and
ash rained down on Pompeii. Sparks from the burning ash ignited the combustible rooftops quickly. Large
portions of the city were destroyed in the conflagration. Fire, however, was not the only cause of
destruction. Poisonous sulphuric gases saturated the air. These heavy gases were not buoyant in the
atmosphere and therefore sank toward the earth and suffocated people. Over the years, excavations of
Pompeii and Herculaneum have revealed a great deal about the behavior of the volcano.
By analyzing data, much as a zoologist dissects a specimen animal, scientist have concluded that the
eruption changed large portions of the area's geography. For instance, it turned the Sarno River from its
course and raised the level of the beach along the Bay of Naples. Meteorologists studying these events
have also concluded that Vesuvius caused a huge tidal wave that affected the world's climate. In addition
to making these investigations, archaeologists have been able to study the skeletons of victims by using
distilled water to wash away the volcanic ash. By strengthening the brittle bones with acrylic paint,
scientists have been able to examine the skeletons and draw conclusions about the diet and habits of the
residents. Finally, the excavations at both Pompeii and
Herculaneum have yielded many examples of classical art, such as jewelry made of bronze, which is an
alloy of copper and tin. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius and its tragic consequences have provided us
with a wealth of data about the effects that volcanoes can have on the surrounding areA. Today
volcanologists can locate and predict eruptions, saving lives and preventing the destruction of cities and
cultures.
Scientists analyzed data about Vesuvius in the same way that a zoologist ___ a specimen.

A) describes in detail
B) studies by cutting apart
C) chart
D) answer not available
E) photographs

4. Marie Curie was one of the most accomplished scientists in history. Together with her husband, Pierre,
she discovered radium, an element widely used for treating cancer, and studied uranium and other
radioactive substances. Pierre and Marie's amicable collaboration later helped to unlock the secrets of the
atom. Marie was born in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, where her father was a professor of physics. At the
early age, she displayed a brilliant mind and a blithe personality. Her great exuberance for learning
prompted her to continue with her studies after high school. She became disgruntled, however, when she
learned that the university in Warsaw was closed to women.
Determined to receive a higher education, she defiantly left Poland and in 1891 entered the Sorbonne, a
French university, where she earned her master's degree and doctorate in physics. Marie was fortunate to
have studied at the Sorbonne with some of the greatest scientists of her day, one of whom was Pierre
Curie. Marie and Pierre were married in
1 895 and spent many productive years working together in the physics laboratory. A short time after they
discovered radium, Pierre was killed by a horse-drawn wagon in
1 906. Marie was stunned by this horrible misfortune and endured heartbreaking anguish. espondently she
recalled their close relationship and the joy that they had shared in scientific research. The fact that she
had two young daughters to raise by herself greatly increased her distress. Curie's feeling of desolation
finally began to fade when she was asked to succeed her husband as a physics professor at the
Sorbonne. She was the first woman to be given a professorship at the world-famous university. In 1911
she received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for isolating radium. Although Marie Curie eventually suffered a
fatal illness from her long exposure to radium, she never became disillusioned about her work.
Regardless of the consequences, she had dedicated herself to science and to revealing the mysteries of
the physical world.
Her ____ began to fade when she returned to the Sorbonne to succeed her husband.

A) wretchedness
B) misfortune
C) disappointment
D) anger
E) ambition

5. Charles A. Lindbergh is remembered as the first person to make a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic,
in 1927. This feat, when Lindbergh was only twenty-five years old, assured him a lifetime of fame and
public attention. Charles Augustus Lindbergh was more interested in flying airplanes than he was in
studying. He dropped out of the University of Wisconsin after two years to earn a living performing
daredevil airplane stunts at country fairs. Two years later, he joined the United States Army so that he
could go to the Army Air Service flight-training school. After completing his training, he was hired to fly
mail between St. Louis and Chicago. Then came the historic flight across the Atlantic. In 1919, a New
York City hotel owner offered a prize of $25,000 to the first pilot to fly nonstop from New York to Paris.
Nine St. Louis business leaders helped pay for the plane Lindbergh designed especially for the flight.
Lindbergh tested the plane by flying it from San Diego to New York, with an overnight stop in St. Louis.
The flight took only 20 hours and 21 minutes, a transcontinental record. Nine days later, on May 20,1927,
Lindbergh took off from Long Island, New York, at 7:52 A. M. He landed at Paris on May 21 at 10:21 P. M.
He had flown more than 3,600 miles in less than thirty four hours. His flight made news around the world.
He was given awards and parades everywhere he went. He was presented with the U. S. Congressional
Medal of Honor and the first Distinguished Flying Cross. For a long time, Lindbergh toured the world as a
U. S. goodwill ambassador. He met his future wife, Anne Morrow, in Mexico, where her father was the
United States ambassador. During the 1930s, Charles and Anne Lindbergh worked for various airline
companies, charting new commercial air routes. In 1931, for a major airline, they charted a new route from
the east coast of the United States to the Orient. The shortest, most efficient route was a great curve
across Canada, over Alaska, and down to China and Japan. Most pilots familiar with the Arctic did not
believe that such a route was possible. The Lindberghs took on the task of proving that it was. They
arranged for fuel and supplies to be set out along the route. On July 29, they took off from Long Island in a
specially equipped small seaplane. They flew by day and each night landed on a lake or a river and
camped. Near Nome, Alaska, they had their first serious emergency. Out of daylight and nearly out of fuel,
they were forced down in a small ocean inlet. In the next morning's light, they discovered they had landed
on barely three feet of water. On September 19, after two more emergency landings and numerous close
calls, they landed in China with the maps for a safe airline passenger route. Even while actively engaged
as a pioneering flier, Lindbergh was also working as an engineer. In 1935, he and Dr. Alexis Carrel were
given a patent for an artificial heart. During World War I in the 1940s, Lindbergh served as a civilian
technical advisor in aviation. Although he was a civilian, he flew over fifty combat missions in the Pacific.
In the 1950s, Lindbergh helped design the famous 747 jet airliner. In the late 1960s, he spoke widely on
conservation issues. He died August 1974, having lived through aviation history from the time of the first
powered flight to the first steps on the moon and having influenced a big part of that history himself.
What event happened last?

A) Lindbergh flew fifty combat missions.
B) Lindbergh patented an artificial heart.
C) The Lindberghs mapped a route to the Orient.
D) Charles finally was given an honorary degree from college.
E) Lindbergh helped design the 747 airline.

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