GRE Question of the Day (August 6)

Verbal

I enjoyed A Dream of Light & Shadow: Portraits of Latin American Women Writers for the same reasons that, as a child, I avidly consumed women’s biographies: the fascination with how the biographical details of another female’s life are represented and interpreted. A Dream offers a rich read, varied in both the lives and texts of the women portrayed, and the perspectives and styles of the sixteen essayists. Yet, as an adult, I have come to demand of any really “great” book a self-consciousness about the tenuous nature of representations of reality, a critical contextualization of florid detail, and a self-awareness of the role of ideology in our lives. In these critical senses, A Dream is
inadequate.

For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select allthat apply.

1. The author of the passage suggests that A Dream falls short in which of the following respects?

A) It does not appear to recognize that representations of reality can be unreliable.
B) It seems to focus on stylistic variety at the expense of accuracy of detail.
C) It offers a wealth of detail without sufficient critical examination of that detail.

Correct Answer - A and C - (click and drag your mouse to see the answer)

 Which of the following best describes the function of the second sentence (“A Dream . . . essayists”) in the context of the passage as a whole?

A) To give examples of how A Dream presents fascinating portraits that display awareness of the tenuous nature of representations of reality 
B) To elaborate on how A Dream fulfills the author’s childhood criteria for a pleasurable book
C) To suggest that the author enjoyed A Dream for reasons more sophisticated than the reasons she enjoyed certain books as a child
D) To illustrate ways in which the author finds A Dream to be inadequate in certain critical senses
E) To imply that A Dream is too varied in focus to provide a proper contextualization of the biographical details it offers

Correct Answer - B - (click and drag your mouse to see the answer)

During the day in Lake Constance, the zooplankton D. hyalina departs for the depths where food is scarce and the water cold. D. galeata remains near the warm surface where food is abundant. Even though D. galeata grows and reproduces much faster, its population is often outnumbered by D. hyalina. 

Which of the following, if true, would help resolve the apparent paradox presented above?

A) The number of species of zooplankton living at the bottom of the lake is twice that of species living at the surface.
B) Predators of zooplankton, such as whitefish and perch, live and feed near the surface of the lake during the day.
C) In order to make the most of scarce food resources, D. hyalina matures more slowly than D. galeata.
D) D. galeata clusters under vegetation during the hottest part of the day to avoid the Sun’s rays.
E) D. galeata produces twice as many offspring per individual in any given period of time as does D. hyalina.

Correct Answer - B - (click and drag your mouse to see the answer)

Question Discussion & Explanation