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Try these GRE Sentence Equivalence practice questions from the <\/span>5lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems<\/span><\/a> to test your <\/span>Sentence Equivalence<\/span><\/a> skills. These five problems start simple, but the last few are as complex as anything you\u2019ll see in an official GRE Sentence Equivalence problem.<\/span><\/p>\n To make the best use of these GRE Sentence Equivalence practice questions, start by setting a 6.5-minute timer, then do the entire set without pausing. Only check the explanations after you\u2019re done, and try to figure out as much as you can on your own before checking the answer!<\/span><\/p>\n A field trip was arranged so that this troupe of ______ dancers could observe the real masters of their art.<\/span><\/p>\n (A) seasoned Many people erroneously believe that humans are naturally ______ to distrust or even fear those outside of their social or cultural group; anthropologists and social scientists, however, have consistently shown that xenophobia is a learned behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n (A) indoctrinated By framing the new law as a question of urgent safety rather than of privacy, the government obviated the need to pass through the standard channels of legislation, effectively ______ all formal dissent and relegating any would-be naysayer from a position of engaged activist to that of powerless bystander.<\/span><\/p>\n (A) curtailing Isherwood\u2019s sympathy for communism during the interwar period was not only a reaction against fascism, but also a mark of his fellow feeling for the laboring classes and his ______ to engage as an equal with working people.<\/span><\/p>\n (A) disinclination Only by overlooking the grievances frequently expressed by her constituency could the incumbent think that the pandering advertisements would do anything but ______ her campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n (A) bolster Okay, you\u2019re done with the set! Bring out your <\/span>problem log<\/span><\/a> before you move on to the explanations. Try not to just skim the explanations, looking for whether you got the problem right or wrong! Instead, pause first and look over the questions again on your own. See if you can catch any mistakes you might have made. Feel free to look up any unknown words at this point, too! Once you\u2019re satisfied that you\u2019ve gotten as much as you can out of these problems, move on to the explanations.<\/span><\/p>\n This GRE Sentence Equivalence problem is relatively light on clues. The only clue is that the dancers are observing the <\/span>real masters of their art<\/span><\/i>. Who would need to observe the real masters of an art? People who are new to that art. In fact, two of the answer choices are synonyms meaning <\/span>new<\/span><\/i>: <\/span>novice<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>fledgling<\/span><\/i>. These are the correct answers. <\/span>Expert<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>seasoned<\/span><\/i> are antonyms of the correct answer, while <\/span>torpid<\/span><\/i>, meaning lazy or motionless, is unrelated. <\/span>Lithe<\/span><\/i> is a tempting answer, since it is often used to refer to dancers; however, there is no specific support for it in the sentence, and there is no synonym for it in the answer choices. This is an example of a <\/span>theme trap<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n In this GRE Sentence Equivalence problem, the sentence contrasts two ideas: the <\/span>erroneous<\/span><\/i> beliefs of many people, and the correct beliefs of anthropologists and social scientists. <\/span>One of the core skills tested by the GRE Verbal section is your ability to figure out how two or more ideas relate to each other<\/span><\/a>. In this case, there\u2019s a contrast between the ideas. <\/span><\/p>\n The anthropologists and social scientists have shown that <\/span>xenophobia<\/span><\/i>, or the fear of outsiders, is a <\/span>learned behavior<\/span><\/i>. To contrast with this, other people must believe that fearing outsiders is natural or inborn. <\/span>Indoctrinated<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>taught<\/span><\/i>, and <\/span>compelled<\/span><\/i> are the opposite of this, while <\/span>proven<\/span><\/i> is unrelated and also has no synonym among the other answer choices. The only synonyms that mean something like <\/span>inborn<\/span><\/i> are <\/span>disposed (to)<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>prone (to)<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n In the first half of the sentence, the government <\/span>obviated the need to pass through the standard channels of legislation<\/span><\/i>. In other words, it enacted a law without going through the usual legal process. <\/span><\/p>\n Two things happened as a result of this. Those two things are joined with an <\/span>and<\/span><\/i>, showing that they\u2019re directly related. One result was that the government\u2019s decision <\/span>relegated any would-be naysayer<\/span><\/i> to a <\/span>powerless bystander<\/span><\/i>. In other words, the decision kept people who disagreed with the law from voicing their complaints. This is the same thing as <\/span>stopping <\/span><\/i>or <\/span>preventing<\/span><\/i> formal dissent. So, the word that goes in the blank should mean something akin to <\/span>stopping<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>Be sure to predict this answer before you check the answer choices<\/span><\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n Lobbying<\/span><\/i> for something means promoting it, not stopping it. Instigating and facilitating mean something similar. The only remaining answer choices are <\/span>curtailing<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>undermining<\/span><\/i>, and <\/span>targeting<\/span><\/i>. Of these, <\/span>curtailing<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>undermining<\/span><\/i> are the best synonyms: in the sentence, they both mean that the government prevented any attempts at formally disagreeing with the law.<\/span><\/p>\n This GRE Sentence Equivalence problem offers three reasons for Isherwood\u2019s sympathy for communism. First, it was a reaction against fascism. Second, it was a mark of his fellow feeling for the laboring classes. Finally, it was a mark of his ______ to engage as an equal with working people. What goes in the blank?<\/span><\/p>\n All you have to go on is the relationship between the three reasons, and the fact (from earlier in the sentence) that Isherwood was sympathetic to communism. Communism is an ideology that promotes workers\u2019 ownership of their labor; also, Isherwood is described as having <\/span>fellow feeling for the laboring classes<\/span><\/i>. On this basis, he probably had a <\/span>tendency<\/span><\/i> to engage as an equal with working people.<\/span><\/p>\nGRE Sentence Equivalence Question 1: Dancers<\/b><\/h4>\n
\n<\/span>(B) fledgling
\n<\/span>(C) expert
\n<\/span>(D) torpid
\n<\/span>(E) novice
\n<\/span>(F) lithe<\/span><\/p>\nGRE Sentence Equivalence Question 2: Distrust<\/b><\/h4>\n
\n<\/span>(B) proven
\n<\/span>(C) prone
\n<\/span>(D) disposed
\n<\/span>(E) taught
\n<\/span>(F) compelled<\/span><\/p>\nGRE Sentence Equivalence Question 3: New Law<\/b><\/h4>\n
\n<\/span>(B) undermining
\n<\/span>(C) targeting
\n<\/span>(D) lobbying
\n<\/span>(E) instigating
\n<\/span>(F) facilitating<\/span><\/p>\nGRE Sentence Equivalence Question 4: Communism<\/b><\/h4>\n
\n<\/span>(B) hankering
\n<\/span>(C) proclivity
\n<\/span>(D) implacability
\n<\/span>(E) unwillingness
\n<\/span>(F) joviality<\/span><\/p>\nGRE Sentence Equivalence Question 5: Incumbent<\/b><\/h4>\n
\n<\/span>(B) aggrieve
\n<\/span>(C) encourage
\n<\/span>(D) hobble
\n<\/span>(E) hamstring
\n<\/span>(F) restore<\/span><\/p>\nExplanation 1: Dancers<\/b><\/h4>\n
Explanation 2: Distrust <\/b><\/h4>\n
Explanation 3: New Law<\/b><\/h4>\n
Explanation 4: Communism<\/b><\/h4>\n