CHALLENGING GRE PROBLEMS......

Set 5 (Answers begin on page 104.)

Another type of sequence question involves a series of

letters in a pattern.Usually, these questions use the letters’

alphabetical order as a base. To make matters more

complicated, sometimes subscript numbers will be

thrown into the letter sequence. In these series, you will

be looking at both the letter pattern and the number

pattern. Some of these questions ask you to fill the

blank in the middle of the series; others ask you to add

to the end of the series.

76. QPO NML KJI _____ EDC

a. HGF

b. CAB

c. JKL

d. GHI

77. JAK KBL LCM MDN _____

a. OEP

b. NEO

c. MEN

d. PFQ

78. B2CD _____ BCD4 B5CD BC6D

a. B2C2D

b. BC3D

c. B2C3D

d. BCD7

79. ELFA GLHA ILJA _____ MLNA

a. OLPA

b. KLMA

c. LLMA

d. KLLA

80. P5QR P4QS P3QT _____ PQV

a. PQW

b. PQV2

c. P2QU

d. PQ3U

81. CMM EOO GQQ _____ KUU

a. GRR

b. GSS

c. ISS

d. ITT

82. QAR RAS SAT TAU _____

a. UAV

b. UAT

c. TAS

d. TAT

83. DEF DEF2 DE2F2 _____ D2E2F3

a. DEF3

b. D3EF3

c. D2E3F

d. D2E2F2

84. SCD TEF UGH ____ WKL

a. CMN

b. UJI

c. VIJ

d. IJT

85. FAG GAF HAI IAH ____

a. JAK

b. HAL

c. HAK

d. JAI

86. BCB DED FGF HIH ___

a. JKJ

b. HJH

c. IJI

d. JHJ

87. ZA5 Y4B XC6 W3D _____

a. E7V

b. V2E

c. VE5

d. VE7

–QUESTIONS–

10


_ Set 6

The next two sets contain verbal classification questions.

For these questions, the important thing (as the

name “verbal classification” indicates) is to classify the

words in the four answer choices. Three of the words

will be in the same classification; the remaining one will

not be. Your answer will be the one word that does

NOT belong in the same classification as the others.

102. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. leopard

b. cougar

c. elephant

d. lion

103. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. couch

b. rug

c. table

d. chair

104. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. tape

b. twine

c. cord

d. yarn

105. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. guitar

b. flute

c. violin

d. cello

106. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. tulip

b. rose

c. bud

d. daisy

107. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. tire

b. steering wheel

c. engine

d. car

108. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. parsley

b. basil

c. dill

d. mayonnaise

109. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. branch

b. dirt

c. leaf

d. root

110. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. unimportant

b. trivial

c. insignificant

d. familiar

111. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. book

b. index

c. glossary

d. chapter

–QUESTIONS–

13

112. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. noun

b. preposition

c. punctuation

d. adverb

113. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. cornea

b. retina

c. pupil

d. vision

114. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. rye

b. sourdough

c. pumpernickel

d. loaf

115. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. inch

b. ounce

c. centimeter

d. yard

116. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. street

b. freeway

c. interstate

d. expressway

117. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. dodge

b. flee

c. duck

d. avoid

118. Which word does NOT belong with the

others?

a. heading

b. body

c. letter

d. closing

ANSWERS

_ Set 5

76. a. This series consists of letters in a reverse

alphabetical order.

77. b. This is an alternating series in alphabetical

order. The middle letters follow the order

ABCDE. The first and third letters are

alphabetical beginning with J. The third letter

is repeated as a first letter in each subsequent

three-letter segment.

78. b. Because the letters are the same, concentrate

on the number series, which is a simple 2, 3,

4, 5, 6 series, and follows each letter in

order.

79. d. The second and forth letters in the series,

L and A, are static. The first and third letters

consist of an alphabetical order beginning

with the letter E.

80. c. The first two letters, PQ, are static. The

third letter is in alphabetical order, beginning

with R. The number series is in

descending order beginning with 5.

81. c. The first letters are in alphabetical order

with a letter skipped in between each segment:

C, E, G, I, K. The second and third

letters are repeated; they are also in order

with a skipped letter: M, O, Q, S, U.

82. a. In this series, the third letter is repeated as

the first letter of the next segment. The

middle letter, A, remains static. The third

letters are in alphabetical order, beginning

with R.

83. d. In this series, the letters remain the same:

DEF. The subscript numbers follow this

series: 1,1,1; 1,1,2; 1,2,2; 2,2,2; 2,2,3.

84. c. There are two alphabetical series here. The

first series is with the first letters only:

STUVW. The second series involves the

remaining letters: CD, EF, GH, IJ, KL.

85. a. The middle letters are static, so concentrate

on the first and third letters. The series

involves an alphabetical order with a reversal

of the letters. The first letters are in

alphabetical order: F, G, H, I, J. The second

and fourth segments are reversals of the

first and third segments. The missing segment

begins with a new letter.

86. a. This series consists of a simple alphabetical

order with the first two letters of all segments:

B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K. The third

letter of each segment is a repetition of the

first letter.

87. d. There are three series to look for here. The

first letters are alphabetical in reverse: Z, Y,

X, W, V. The second letters are in alphabetical

order, beginning with A. The number

series is as follows: 5, 4, 6, 3, 7.

–ANSWERS–

104


_ Set 6

102. c. A leopard, cougar, and lion all belong to the cat

family; an elephant does not.

103. b. The couch, table, and chair are pieces of furniture;

the rug is not.

104. a. The yarn, twine, and cord are all used for tying.

The tape is not used in the same way.

105. b. The guitar, violin, and cello are stringed instruments;

the flute is a wind instrument.

106. c. Tulip, rose, and daisy are all types of flowers. A

bud is not.

107. d. Tire, steering wheel, and engine are all parts of

a car.

108. d. Parsley, basil, and dill are types of herbs.Mayonnaise

is not an herb.

109. b. A branch, leaf, and root are all parts of a tree.

The dirt underneath is not a part of the tree.

110. d. The first three choices are all synonyms.

111. a. An index, glossary, and chapter are all parts of

a book. Choice a does not belong because the

book is the whole, not a part.

112. c. The noun, preposition, and adverb are classes

of words that make up a sentence. Punctuation

belongs in a sentence, but punctuation is

not a class of word.

113. d. The cornea, retina, and pupil are all parts of

the eye.

114. d. Rye, sourdough, and pumpernickel are types of

bread. A loaf is not a bread type.

115. b. An ounce measures weight; the other choices

measure length.

116. a. Freeway, interstate, and expressway are all highspeed

highways; a street is for low-speed traffic.

117. b. Dodge, duck, and avoid are all synonyms

meaning evade. Flee means to run away from.

118. c. Heading, body, and closing are all parts of a letter;
the letter is the whole, not a part