GMAT® Verbal Practice Questions
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What is GMAT’s Verbal Reasoning Questions?
The Verbal Reasoning section assesses a candidate’s ability to read and understand written material, reason and evaluate arguments, and rectify the written material to convey information in English effectively.
The Verbal reasoning section consists of 36 multiple choice questions, which are completed in 65 minutes. It consists of three groups of questions:
- Reading comprehension: Given as a passage, you should answer some questions by interpreting the information given in the passage, referencing directly to the passage, or applying other perspectives.
- Critical reasoning: Assesses your ability to make an argument, evaluate an argument, and formulate an action plan. The questions are generated from different sources, and as such, you can answer the questions even if you are unfamiliar with the subject matter.
- Sentence correction: Consists of partly underlined sentences. The answer choices give five ways to rephrase the underlined part: the first way repeats the underlined part, and the other four are different ways. The key to answering these kinds of questions, take note of grammar, sentence construction, and word choice.
What are some of the Answering Strategies in Verbal Reasoning Questions?
Reading Comprehension Questions
- Ensure you comprehend what is being asked. An answer may be incorrect even if it repeats the information in the passage.
- Read through all answer choices before answering a question.
- Study the passage carefully before answering the questions.
- Ensure that you answer all questions based on what the passage indicates or implies. Examine what the question asks and the information given in the passage.
Critical Reasoning Questions
- Read through all answer choices before answering a question. An obvious answer is not always the answer.
- Understand the subject matter of the question being asked, then reread the associated part of the written material.
- In argumentative questions, note the part where the conclusion is located. It is not always at the end of the argument.
- Make sure you understand the statement(s) from which the question is based. It is important to distinguish between factual statements, statements that can be proven, and statements that haven’t been said but are implied by what has been said.
Sentence Correction Questions
- Study the whole sentence in-depth to identify its objective.
- Replace your answer choice with the underlined part in the sentence, and determine if it is suitable. Remember, not all sentences require corrections.
- Examine the underlined part of the sentence while trying to identify errors before reading through the answer choices.
- Always check the correctness and effectiveness of the sentence. Consider grammar, use of idioms, language economy and precision, and relevant phrasing.
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GMAT Verbal Problems
Question 1
Sentence Correction – Long Underlines
At the end of a busy year, she was looking for an assistant – someone not only who could manage the books for her small business, but imitate her idiosyncratic filing system in order to make her more productive and efficient in the next business year.
A) someone not only who could manage the books for her small business, but imitating her idiosyncratic filing system in her home office in order to make
B) someone who could not only manage the books for her small business, but also imitate her idiosyncratic filing system in order to make
C) someone who not only could manage the books for her small business, but also to imitate her idiosyncratic filing system in making
D) that being someone who could not only manage the books for her small business, but imitating her idiosyncratic filing system for making
E) being someone not only who could manage the books for her small business, but imitate her idiosyncratic organization style as well, making
The correct answer is: B)
A) In describing the qualities the business owner was seeking in an assistant, the sentence uses the construction not only… but also… In this construction the clauses need to be parallel or “match”—for example, not only noun, but also noun. This version is wordy and unparallel. While the two verbs in the not only…but also construction should be in the same form, here we have manage and imitating.
B) Correct. This version has a parallel construction. The construction not only…but also… is used correctly, making it clear which qualities the business owner seeks in an assistant. The two verbs in the sought-after assistant are the same: manage, imitate.
C) Manage is not the same form as to imitate, making this version unparallel. Finally, the best way to express the causal relationship between the assistant’s qualities and the business owner’s productivity and efficiency is to use the phrase in order to.
D) Instead of the shorter and clearer someone who, this version uses the longer phrase that being someone who, which is overly wordy.
E) Placing being in front of someone is potentially misleading; it could illogically refer to the business owner herself. The not only … but also … construction is also unparallel.
Question 2
Sentence Correction – Sentence Structure
Civil unrest often reflects community-driven demands within an overarching system, which advocate sympathetic attention to the inequities that such communities may have endured.
A) which advocate sympathetic attention to the inequities
B) which advocates sympathetic attention to the inequities
C) which sympathetically advocates attention to the inequities
D) of which the sympathetic advocacy of attention to the inequities
E) which advocates sympathetic attentions to the inequities
The correct answer is: A)
- Correct. The verb “advocate” properly agrees with the word “demands”. The phrase “within an overarching system” further modifies “demands”, so there is no ambiguity concerning the word modified by “which”.
- No. The verb “advocates” do not agree with the word “demands”.
- No. The verb “advocates” do not agree with the word “demands”, and the word “sympathetically” should modify “attention”, not “advocacy”.
- No. This construction results in a sentence fragment since there is no verb present in the clause.
- No. “attentions” is an incorrect word choice.
Question 3
Sentence Correction – Secondary Issues
In the summer of 2003, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago was temporarily shut down for maintenance due to the heavy rains of the summer, which had caused their bathroom to accumulate mold and to produce an unpleasant odor.
A) Due to heavy rains of the summer, which had caused their bathroom to accumulate mold.
B) Because of the heavy summer rains, which had caused their bathroom to have an accumulation of mold.
C) Due to the summer’s heavy rain, which had resulted in the bathroom’s accumulation of mold.
D) Because the heavy rains of the summer had caused the bathroom to accumulate mold.
E) Because of heavy rains that were causing the bathroom’s accumulating mold.
The correct answer is: D)
Explanation: The subject “Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago” is a singular noun and requires a singular pronoun. The sentence implies that the water build-up from the heavy rains caused the mold and unpleasant odor. To rearrange the sentence to demonstrate the causal relationship, it needs to be clear that the heavy rains caused mold, which was the reason for closure for maintenance, rather than closure due to rain.
A. Due to implies that the reason for the closure and maintenance is linked to the summer’s heavy rain rather than the resulting mold and odor.
B. The pronoun their incorrectly matches the singular subject, the Museum. The structure of the second portion, “accumulation of mold,” does not agree with the parallel structure of the infinitive “to produce” in the second half of the sentence.
C. The pronoun correctly matches the singular subject, the Museum; however, the structure of the second portion, “accumulation of mold,” does not agree with the parallel structure of the infinitive “to produce” in the second half of the sentence.
D. Correct. This structure correctly indicates that the reason for closure is because the water caused an accumulation of mold and an odor, and the sentence uses parallel structures with the infinitive “to accumulate” matching the second infinitive “to produce.”
E. The structure more closely implies the cause-and-effect nature of the rains causing mold; however, the structure of the gerund “accumulating mold” does not agree with the infinitive “to produce.”
Question 4
Reading Comprehension – Application Tasks
Human impacts on our planet have become so profound that many researchers now favor a new name for the current epoch: the Anthropocene. The underlying premise of this term is that essentially every Earth system, from the deep oceans to the upper atmosphere, has been significantly modified by human activity. Yet viewed through an environmental health lens—which recognizes the critical links between human health and the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe—humans’ growing influence on the planet threatens the very long-term survival of our species.
“There’s a bit of a paradox that we’re seeing for the last 100 to 150 years,” says Michael Myers, managing director for health at the Rockefeller Foundation. “Exploitation of the environment has contributed to human health. By exploiting Earth resources we have a more comfortable existence, and our life spans have increased considerably. But we’re now at a tipping point in which the exploitation of the environment is beginning to have a negative impact on human health.” The same natural systems that have benefited us for so long, he says, are now beginning to collapse.
From this realization has come another new term: planetary health. There is significant overlap between planetary health and traditional environmental health; both examine the relationship between human health and conditions and exposures originating outside the body, be they extreme temperatures, chemicals and biological agents, vector-borne diseases, or any number of other potential factors. However, planetary health, by definition, explicitly accounts for the importance of natural systems in terms of averted cases of disease and the potential harm that comes from human-caused perturbations of these systems—a consideration that has not necessarily factored into environmental health research to date.
Question 4.1
Which of the following statements may be inferred from the passage?
A) Humans did not contribute to environmental change prior to 150 years ago.
B) The term “anthropocene” is not uniformly accepted by researchers.
C) There is no overlap between the concepts of environmental and planetary health.
D) Environmental health is not systemic in nature.
E) Extreme temperatures were not common prior to the Anthropocene epoch
The correct answer is: B)
A. No. The passage provides no evidence to suggest that humans did not contribute to environmental change more than 150 years ago.
B. Yes. The fact that many researchers are embracing the new term “Anthropocene” indicates that the acceptance of the term is not uniform.
C. No. This choice is a reversal of the passage, which states that there is some overlap between planetary and environmental health.
D. No. While the passage indicates that planetary health is systemic, it does not address this aspect of environmental health.
E. No. The passage says nothing about extreme temperatures prior to the Anthropocene.
Question 4.2
For which of the following audiences is this passage most likely to have been written?
A) Visitors to a museum exhibition on climate.
B) Students in a high-school science class.
C) Regular readers of a scientific journal.
D) Attendees at an economics conference.
E) Potential funders for a geological non-profit organization.
The correct answer is: C)
A. No. The tone of the passage is more technical than would be expected at a museum exhibition.
B. No. The tone of the passage is more advanced than what would be expected in a high school class.
C. Yes. This choice is well suited to the tone of the passage.
D. No. This choice is outside the scope of the passage, which doesn’t deal explicitly with economic issues.
E. No. This choice is outside the scope of the passage, which does not address geology.
Question 4.3
Which of the following situations is most analogous to the paradox mentioned in the second paragraph?
A) Although digital technology initially improved working conditions, as burdens once undertaken by employees could now be done by computers, the increasing ability of computers to handle such tasks has begun to result in people losing their jobs entirely.
B) While UFOs have typically remained outside the realm of serious scientific study, the release of official documentation about such phenomena may help them to become more accepted in the scientific community.
C) Although draconian measures to stave off a public health hazard are likely to save many lives, it is likely that such measures may result in severe social and economic consequences.
D) Schools that offer gifted and talented programs sometimes run the risk of creating a divide between students who participate in those programs and those who don’t, a situation that can be detrimental to both groups if not handled correctly.
E) Investment in space exploration, while productive in terms of the generation of scientific knowledge and data, runs the risk of taking money away from non-space programs that may be of more benefit to the public.
The correct answer is: A)
A. Yes. Just as the exploitation of the environment for health reasons may negatively impact health in the long run, the exploitation of digital technology to facilitate labor may negatively impact labor.
B. No. The acceptance of UFOs by science is not analogous to the paradox mentioned in the passage.
C. No. That there are costs and benefits to a draconian approach to a public health hazard does not create a direct analogy to the paradox described in the passage.
D. No. That there are costs to the implementation of a gifted and talented program does not indicate a direct analogy to the paradox described in the passage.
E. No. That there are costs to space exploration does not indicate a direct analogy to the paradox described in the passage.
Question 4.4
Which of the following is NOT described in the passage as common to both environmental and planetary health?
A) Investigation of the relationship between health and temperature.
B) Investigation of the relationship between health and vector-borne illnesses.
C) Study of the relationship between health and systems.
D) Research into human health.
E) Investigation of chemical and biological agents.
The correct answer is: C)
A. No. This choice is not supported by the passage, which states that both environmental and planetary health are concerned with the relationship between health and temperature.
B. No. This choice is not supported by the passage, which states that both environmental and planetary health are concerned with the relationship between health and vector-borne disease.
C. Yes. This choice is explicitly supported by the passage, which discusses systems only in the context of planetary health.
D. No. This choice is not supported by the passage, which states that both environmental and planetary health consider health in general.
E. No. This choice is not supported by the passage, which states that both environmental and planetary health deal with chemical and biological agents.
Question 4.5
According to the passage, which of the following best summarizes the reason for the development of the planetary health concept?
A) Humans have modified the earth much more rapidly in recent decades than ever before.
B) The earth may run out of natural resources.
C) Scientists have become aware of the limitations of environmental health as a concept.
D) The earth has entered into the epoch known as the “Anthropocene”.
E) The planet has reached a tipping point beyond which once-protective natural systems are beginning to fail.
The correct answer is: E)
A. No. This choice is not supported by the passage. While the passage indicates that human impacts have accelerated, this observation is not cited as a direct reason for the development of the “planetary health” concept.
B. No. This choice is too extreme. The passage offers no evidence to suggest the earth may run out of resources.
C. No. This choice is tempting, but not supported by the passage as a direct reason for the development of the “planetary health” concept.
D. No. This choice is not supported by the passage. That some researchers believe the earth has entered into the “Anthropocene” has no impact on the development of the “planetary health” concept.
E. Yes. This choice is supported explicitly by the passage. That the earth has reached a “tipping point” is the immediate reason for the development of the “planetary health” concept.
Question 4.6
Which of the following is true of the “perturbations to the system” described in the passage?
A) They have an equal effect on environmental and planetary health.
B) They had no influence on planetary health prior to 150 years ago.
C) They temporarily disrupt an equilibrium.
D) They influence planetary but not environmental health.
E) They may be harmful to planetary health.
The correct answer is: E)
A. No. There is no evidence in the passage to suggest that the impacts on environmental and planetary health are equal.
B. No. This answer choice too extreme. While the passage suggests that human impacts over the past 100-150 years have led to a deterioration in planetary health, there is no evidence to suggest that there was no influence prior to this period.
C. No. There is no evidence in the passage to suggest that these perturbations temporarily disrupt an equilibrium.
D. No. There is no evidence in the passage to suggest that that these perturbations have no impact on environmental health.
E. Yes. This choice is supported explicitly by the passage. The perturbations to the system are potentially harmful to planetary health.
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