Admission Test GRE-Verbal Exam : Section One : Verbal

RAIL:

• A. conspire
• B. compromise
• C. acquiesce
• D. esteem
• E. tout

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SWEAR : OATH ::

• A. follow : leader
• B. obey : rule
• C. solve : problem
• D. sign : contract
• E. issue : warning

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Many great inventions are greeted with ridicule and disbelief. The invention of the airplane was no
exception. Although many people who heard about the first powered flight on December 17,1903, were
excited and impressed, others reacted with peals of laughter. The idea of flying an aircraft was repulsive
to some people. Such people called Wilbur and Orville Wright, the inventors of the first flying machine,
impulsive fools.
Negative reactions, however, did not stop the Wrights. Impelled by their desire to succeed, they continued
their experiments in aviation. Orville and Wilbur Wright had always had a compelling interest in
aeronautics and mechanics. As young boys they earned money by making and selling kites and
mechanical toys. Later, they designed a newspaper-folding machine, built a printing press, and operated
a bicycle-repair shop. In 1896, when they read about the death of Otto Lilienthal, the brother's interest in
flight grew into a compulsion. Lilienthal, a pioneer in hang-gliding, had controlled his gliders by shifting his
body in the desired direction. This idea was repellent to the Wright brothers, however, and they searched
for more efficient methods to control the balance of airborne vehicles. In 1900 and 1901, the Wrights
tested numerous gliders and developed control techniques. The brothers' inability to obtain enough lift
power for the gliders almost led them to abandon their efforts. After further study, the Wright brothers
concluded that the published tables of air pressure on curved surfaces must be wrong.
They set up a wind tunnel and began a series of experiments with model wings. Because of their efforts,
the old tables were repealed in time and replaced by the first reliable figures for air pressure on curved
surfaces. This work, in turn, made it possible for them to design a machine that would fly. In 1903 the
Wrights built their first airplane, which cost less than one thousand dollars. They even designed and built
their own source of propulsion- a lightweight gasoline engine. When they started the engine on December
1 7, the airplane pulsated wildly before taking off. The plane managed to stay aloft for twelve seconds,
however, and it flew one hundred twenty feet. By 1905 the Wrights had perfected the first airplane that
could turn, circle, and remain airborne for half an hour at a time. Others had flown in balloons or in hang
gliders, but the Wright brothers were the first to build a full-size machine that could fly under its own power.
As the contributors of one of the most outstanding engineering achievements in history, the Wright
brothers are accurately called the fathers of aviation.
The old tables were __ and replaced by the first reliable figures for air pressure on curved surfaces.

• A. canceled
• B. not used
• C. discarded
• D. destroyed
• E. multiplied

Conflict had existed between Spain and England since the 1570s. England wanted a share of the wealth
that Spain had been taking from the lands it had claimed in the Americas.
Elizabeth I, Queen of England, encouraged her staunch admiral of the navy, Sir Francis Drake, to raid
Spanish ships and towns. Though these raids were on a small scale, Drake achieved dramatic success,
adding gold and silver to England's treasury and diminishing Spain's omnipotence. Religious differences
also caused conflict between the two countries. Whereas Spain was Roman Catholic, most of England
had become Protestant.
King Philip II of Spain wanted to claim the throne and make England a Catholic country again. To satisfy
his ambition and also to retaliate against England's theft of his gold and silver, King Philip began to build
his fleet of warships, the Armada, in January 1586.
Philip intended his fleet to be indestructible. In addition to building new warships, he marshaled one
hundred and thirty sailing vessels of all types and recruited more than nineteen thousand robust soldiers
and eight thousand sailors. Although some of his ships lacked guns and others lacked ammunition, Philip
was convinced that his Armada could withstand any battle with England. The martial Armada set sail from
Lisbon, Portugal, on May 9,1588, but bad weather forced it back to port. The voyage resumed on July 22
after the weather became more stable. The Spanish fleet met the smaller, faster, and more maneuverable
English ships in battle off the coast of Plymouth, England, first on July 31 and again on August 2. The two
battles left Spain vulnerable, having lost several ships and with its ammunition depleted. On August 7,
while the Armada lay at anchor on the
French side of the Strait of Dover, England sent eight burning ships into the midst of the
Spanish fleet to set it on fire. Blocked on one side, the Spanish ships could only drift away, their crews in
panic and disorder. Before the Armada could regroup, the English attacked again on August 8. Although
the Spaniards made a valiant effort to fight back, the fleet suffered extensive damage. During the eight
hours of battle, the Armada drifted perilously close to the rocky coastline. At the moment when it seemed
that the Spanish ships would be driven onto the English shore, the wind shifted, and the Armada drifted
out into the North Sea. The Spaniards recognized the superiority of the English fleet and returned home,
defeated Philip recruited many ___soldiers and sailors.

• A. warlike
• B. timid
• C. non experienced
• D. accomplished
• E. strong

The Andean cordillera is made up of many interwoven mountain ranges, which include high intermontane
plateaus, basins, and valleys. The Northern Andes contain several broad ecosystems falling into four
altitudinal belts. Its northern subregion is distinguished by higher humidity and by greater climatic
symmetry between eastern and western flanks. The Central Andes are characterized by a succession of
agricultural zones with varied climatic conditions along the mountains' flanks and by large, highaltitude
plateaus, variously called puna or altiplano, which do not occur in the Northern Andes. The soil fertility of
the northern altiplano is generally good. The western Central Andean ranges are relatively arid with
desert-like soils, whereas the eastern ranges are more humid and have more diverse soils. The eastern
slopes of the Central Andes in many ways are similar to the wet forests of the Northern Andes. Unlike the
Northern Andes, however, these slopes have a dry season. In regions of gentle topography, such as the
Amazon basin, regional climatic variation can be determined from a few widely spaced measurements.
Regional projections in the Andean cordillera are quite difficult by comparison. For example, while air
temperature generally decreases with increasing altitude, variability of mountain topography can produce
much lower than expected air temperatures. Nevertheless, some general climatic patterns are discernible.
For example, with increasing distance south of the equator the seasonality of precipitation increases,
whereas the total annual amount generally decreases. Humidity commonly increases with increasing
altitude, but only to some intermediate altitude, above which it declines. The variability of mountain terrain
also affects precipitation, such that conditions of extreme wetness and aridity may exist in close proximity.
Related to this temperature gradient is a pattern of greater rainfall at the valley heads, and less rain at
lower altitudes, resulting in part from mountain rainshadow effect. The weather patterns of the Andean
cordillera and Amazon basin in general reflect movements of highand low-pressure cells associated with
the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a low-pressure trough that moves further north and south on a
seasonal basis. Precipitation is high throughout the year in the highlands and on the coast in the Northern
Andes. Coastal aridity increases south of central Ecuador, culminating in the Atacama desert of northern
Chile. In the Central Andes, highland precipitation is seasonal, and amounts are approximately half those
measured in the Northern Andes. The aridity of the Central Andean coastal zone is the result of the drying
effect of the cold Pacific Humboldt current and the southern Pacific high-pressure cell. Much of the
southern portion of the Central Andes in Bolivia is also arid. The dry season causes soil moisture deficits
and diminished stream flow part of each year.
The passage mentions all the following as climatic factors in the Central Andes cordillera EXCEPT for

• A. the southern Pacific highpressure cell
• B. the Pacific Humboldt current
• C. the symmetry of the mountain ranges
• D. the rainshadow effect
• E. the Intertropical Convergence Zone

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