17. The buffalo, once _____ to this area, has been hunted nearly to extinction.
The buffalo must have originated and lived in the area. Endemic and indigenous fit this meaning, making the correct answers Choices (A) and (B).
Quintessential refers to a perfect state, truculent means displaying poor behavior, veracious means truthful and accurate, and viable means practical.
18. The _____ spares no time for a cordial gesture.
Cordial refers to an effort to be friendly. Also you know that the sentence is talking about a person, because only a person spares time.
What kind of person would not spare time to be friendly? One who is emotionless, such as a stolid or a stoic. The correct answers are Choices (A) and (F).
Wistful means regretful and. consummate means complete and perfect, neither of which is the case here. Contrite refers to one who is filled with sorrow for a wrongdoing, and coy means shy or modest.
19. A talent for easy conversation can help one build relationships, but too much can make one appear _____ and have the opposite effect.
If too much conversation can be bad, then find words that mean too talkative. Garrulous and loquacious refer to one who talks too much, in a bad way, so Choices (B) and (C) are correct.
Abstruse and recondite refer to one who isn’t easily understood, and they wouldn’t necessarily have the ill effect of talking too much. Lachrymose means tearful, which is certainly not the case here. Gregarious refers to one who is social and outgoing — also talkative, but in a good way.
20. Beneath the _____, the man is something else entirely.
If the man is something else, then he puts up a false front, so disingenuousness and veneer both accurately describe what is in front of this person. The correct answers are Choices (A) and (F).
Divergence refers to straying away from the main point of a discussion. Exculpation means no longer considered guilty. Superciliousness would refer to someone who is disdained and scorned. Superfluity refers to someone or something that’s extraneous.
Chapter 5
Getting the Gist: Reading Comprehension
IN THIS CHAPTER
Reading Comprehension questions on the GRE comprise about half of the Verbal questions and therefore about half of your Verbal score. Each question concerns a single passage that is sort of like a graduate-level journal article on a science, social sciences, or humanities topic that you’ve probably never considered before and never will again.
Each
