I’ve got an interesting* Reading Comp question for you from our new 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems.

*Well, it’s interesting if you like standardized tests, Reading Comprehension, and astronomy. : )

Let’s try it out! Normally, you’d see several questions associated with an entire passage but I’m only giving you one of the paragraphs and one question. Give yourself up to about two minutes total to read the information and answer the question.

In 1604 in Padua, Italy, a supernova became visible, appearing as a star so bright that it was visible in daylight for more than a year. Galileo, who lectured at the university, gave several lectures widely attended by the public. The lectures not only sought to explain the origin of the star (some posited that perhaps it was merely vapour near the earth), but seriously undermined the views of many philosophers that the heavens were unchangeable. This idea was foundational to a worldview underpinned by a central and all-important Earth, with celestial bodies merely rotating around it.

 

The author mentions which of the following as a result of the supernova of 1604?

 

(A) The supernova created and dispersed the heavy elements out of which the earth and everything on it is made.

(B) Galileo explained the origin of the supernova.

(C) The public was interested in hearing lectures about the phenomenon.

(D) Galileo’s lectures were opposed by philosophers.

(E) Those who thought the supernova was vapour were proved wrong.

© ManhattanPrep, 2013

Just an FYI: the full passage consists of two paragraphs, so you might have taken about 2 minutes or so to read the whole passage. Three questions go along with the entire passage; expect to spend about a minute to a minute and a half on each, depending upon the specific question type.

Italics represent quotes from the passage or questions.

Let’s dive in! The paragraph tells us about an event that happened in 1604: a really bright star appeared; Galileo tried to explain it; some previous views of others were undermined by Galileo’s views; those previous views were foundational to the idea that everything revolved around Earth.

The question asks what the author mentions, so this is a lookup detail question; the answer will appear directly in the passage somewhere. Specifically, what happened as a result of the supernova in 1604?

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We’ve got another problem for you from our new book, the 5 lb Book of GRE Practice Problems. The book contains more than 1,100 pages of practice problems (and solutions), so you can drill on anything and everything that might be giving you trouble.

This regular problem solving question asks us to pick one correct answer (other variations might ask us to select more than one answer or to type in our own answer). Give yourself approximately 2 minutes to finish (or make a guess).
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We’re using the launch of our latest book, the 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems, as motivation to take a look at each of the major question types. The book contains more than 1,100 pages of practice problems “ crazy! “ so you can spend all of your spare time doing nothing but studying. (Kidding. : ) )

Let’s try out one of the problems! Give yourself approximately 1 minute to get to your answer. Afterwards, we’ll solve the problem and also discuss how to approach SE questions in general.

Note: If you haven’t done SE before, you need to pick two answers, either of which could fill in the blank!

A field trip was arranged so that this troupe of ___________ dancers could observe the real masters of their art.

•        seasoned
•        fledgling
•        expert
•        torpid
•        novice
•        lithe

© ManhattanPrep, 2013

Do you have your two answers? Let’s go! There are several important steps that help us to answer SE questions both effectively and efficiently. (Note: if you’ve already read the TC article, the steps are the same!)

(1) Read only the sentence

Read all the way to the period, but do NOT then jump to the answer choices. Instead

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