Admission Test Section One : Verbal - GRE-Verbal

Conflict had existed between Spain and England since the 1570s. England wanted a share of the wealth
that Spain had been taking from the lands it had claimed in the Americas.
Elizabeth I, Queen of England, encouraged her staunch admiral of the navy, Sir Francis Drake, to raid
Spanish ships and towns. Though these raids were on a small scale, Drake achieved dramatic success,
adding gold and silver to England's treasury and diminishing Spain's omnipotence. Religious differences
also caused conflict between the two countries. Whereas Spain was Roman Catholic, most of England
had become Protestant.
King Philip II of Spain wanted to claim the throne and make England a Catholic country again. To satisfy
his ambition and also to retaliate against England's theft of his gold and silver, King Philip began to build
his fleet of warships, the Armada, in January 1586.
Philip intended his fleet to be indestructible. In addition to building new warships, he marshaled one
hundred and thirty sailing vessels of all types and recruited more than nineteen thousand robust soldiers
and eight thousand sailors. Although some of his ships lacked guns and others lacked ammunition, Philip
was convinced that his Armada could withstand any battle with England. The martial Armada set sail from
Lisbon, Portugal, on May 9,1588, but bad weather forced it back to port. The voyage resumed on July 22
after the weather became more stable. The Spanish fleet met the smaller, faster, and more maneuverable
English ships in battle off the coast of Plymouth, England, first on July 31 and again on August 2. The two
battles left Spain vulnerable, having lost several ships and with its ammunition depleted. On August 7,
while the Armada lay at anchor on the French side of the Strait of Dover, England sent eight burning ships
into the midst of the Spanish fleet to set it on fire. Blocked on one side, the Spanish ships could only drift
away, their crews in panic and disorder. Before the Armada could regroup, the English attacked again on
August 8. Although the Spaniards made a valiant effort to fight back, the fleet suffered extensive damage.
During the eight hours of battle, the Armada drifted perilously close to the rocky coastline. At the moment
when it seemed that the Spanish ships would be driven onto the English shore, the wind shifted, and the
Armada drifted out into the North Sea. The Spaniards recognized the superiority of the English fleet and
returned home, defeated
The Armada was ___ on one side.

• A. alone
• B. damaged
• C. closed off
• D. answer not available in this article
• E. circled

The Galapagos Islands are in the Pacific Ocean, off the western coast of South America.
They are a rocky, lonely spot, but they are also one of the most unusual places in the world. One reason is
that they are the home of some of the last giant tortoises left on earth. Weighing hundreds of pounds,
these tortoises, or land turtles, wander slowly around the rocks and sand of the islands. Strangely, each of
these islands has its own particular kinds of tortoises. There are seven different kinds of tortoises on the
eight islands, each kind being slightly different from the other. Hundreds of years ago, thousands of
tortoises wandered around these islands. However, all that changed when people started landing there.
When people first arrived in 1535, their ships had no refrigerators. This meant that fresh food was always
a problem for the sailors on board.
The giant tortoises provided a solution to this problem. Ships would anchor off the islands, and crews
would row ashore and seize as many tortoises as they could. Once the animals were aboard the ship, the
sailors would roll the tortoises onto their backs. The tortoises were completely helpless once on their
backs, so they could only lie there until used for soups and stews. Almost 100,000 tortoises were carried
off in this way. The tortoises faced other problems, too. Soon after the first ships, settlers arrived bringing
pigs, goats, donkeys, dogs and cats. All of these animals ruined life for the tortoises.
Donkey and goats ate all the plants that the tortoises usually fed on, while the pigs. Dogs and cats
consumed thousands of baby tortoises each year. Within a few years, it was hard to find any tortoise
eggs-or even any baby tortoises. By the early 1900s, people began to worry that the last of the tortoises
would soon die out. No one, however, seemed to care enough to do anything about the problem. More
and more tortoises disappeared, even though sailors no longer needed them for food. For another fifty
years, this situation continued. Finally, in the 1950s, scientist decided that something must be done. The
first part of their plan was to get rid of as many cats, dogs and other animals as they could.
Next, they tried to make sure that more baby tortoises would be born. To do this, they started looking for
wild tortoise eggs. They gathered the eggs and put them in safe containers. When the eggs hatched, the
scientists raised the tortoises in special pens. Both the eggs and tortoises were numbered so that the
scientists knew exactly which kinds of tortoises they had-and which island they came from. Once the
tortoises were old enough and big enough to take care of themselves, the scientists took them back to
their islands and set them loose. This slow, hard work continues today, and, thanks to it, the number of
tortoises is now increasing every year.
What happened soon after people brought animals to the islands?

• A. The tortoises fought with the other animals.
• B. Tortoise eggs were kept in safe containers.
• C. Scientists took away as many animals as they could.
• D. The tortoises continued to wander freely.
• E. The animals ate the tortoises' food and eggs.

MORBID : UNFAVORABLE

• A. disputatious:favorable
• B. maternal:unfavorable
• C. vigilant:unfavorable
• D. reputable:favorable
• E. lax:favorable

The government's _______ clinical study requirements for new drugs do not _______ pharmaceutical
firms when it comes to research and development, chiefly because of the profit potential afforded by
patent protection.

• A. official . . please
• B. extensive . . impel
• C. vague . . prejudice
• D. onerous . . dissuade
• E. unenforceable . . favor

INSULATE:

• A. expose
• B. restrict
• C. dampen
• D. combine
• E. reflect