GRE Preparation Kit 8 - Section 1

[Samuel]

SECTION 1

1. While many Russian composers of the nineteenth century contributed to an emerging national style, other composers did
    not---- idiomatic Russian musical elements, ---- instead the traditional musical vocabulary of Western European 
    Romanticism.
    (A) utilize ..rejecting
    (B) incorporate.. preferring
    (C) exclude.. avoiding
    (D) repudiate.. expanding
    (E) esteem.. disdaining

2. Because the painter Albert Pinkham Ryder was obsessed with his ----perfection, he was rarely ----a painting, creating
    endless variations of a scene on one canvas, one on top of another.
    (A) quest for.. satisfied with
    (B) insistence on .. displeased with
    (C) contempt for.. disconcerted by
    (D) alienation from.. immersed in
    (E) need for.. concerned with

3. Objectively set standards can serve as a ----for physicians, providing them ----unjustified malpractice claims.
    (A) trial.. evidence of
    (B) model.. experience with
    (C) criterion.. reasons for
    (D) test.. questions about
    (E) safeguard.. protection from

4. In spite of ----reviews in the press, the production of her play was ----almost certain oblivion by enthusiastic audiences
    whose acumen was greater than that of the critics.
    (A) lukewarm.. condemned to
    (B) scathing.. exposed to
    (C) lackluster.. rescued from
    (D) sensitive.. reduced to
    (E) admiring.. insured against

5. The passions of love and pride are often found in the same individual, but having little in common, they mutually ----, not to
    say destroy, each other.
    (A) reinforce
    (B) annihilate
    (C) enhance
    (D) weaken
    (E) embrace

6. The necessity of establishing discrete categories for observations frequently leads to attempts to make absolute ----when
    there are in reality only----.
    (A) analyses.. hypotheses
    (B) correlations.. digressions
    (C) distinctions.. gradations
    (D) complications.. ambiguities
    (E) conjectures.. approximations
 
7. A unique clay disk found at the Minoan site of Phaistos is often ----as the earliest example of printing by scholars who have 
    defended its claim  do this status despite equivalent claims put forward for other printing artifacts.
    (A) questioned
    (B) overlooked
    (C) adduced
    (D) conceded
    (E) dismissed

8. EXEMPT: LIABILITY::
    (A) flout: authority
    (B) bestow: reward
    (C) permit: request
    (D) restrain: disorder
    (E) pardon: penalty

9. FULL-BODIED: FLAVOR::
    (A) penetrating: vision
    (B) humorous: character
    (C) salacious: language
    (D) nostalgic: feeling
    (E) resonant: sound

10. LEGACY: PREDECESSOR::
      (A) gift: donor
      (B) gratuity: service
      (C) contribution: charity
      (D) receipt: customer
      (E) loan: collector

11. HERO: ADMIRABLE::
     (A) critic: capricious
     (B) braggart: surly
     (C) eccentric: unconventional
     (D) anarchist: powerful
     (E) enemy: immoral

12. GALVANIZE: STIMULATE::
     (A) agitate: occlude
     (B) incubate: humidify
     (C) sterilize: separate
     (D) irrigate: flush
     (E) purify: amalgamate

13. MANIFEST: PERCEIVE::
     (A) porous: tear
     (B) renovated: improve
     (C) doubtful: assess
     (D) brittle: break
     (E) elite: qualify

14. LOOSE: CONFINEMENT::
     (A) forgive: injury
     (B) promulgate: rule
     (C) disabuse: misconception
     (D) redress: allegation
     (E) disengage: independence

15. BLANDISHMENT: COAX::
     (A) prevarication: deceive
     (B) reverie: dream
     (C) persuasion: coerce
     (D) enticement: impoverish
     (E) explanation: mislead

16. CONVULSION: CONTRACTION::
      (A) aggression: attack
      (B) sulkiness: punishment
      (C) persistence: acquiescence
      (D) frenzy: emotion
      (E) indifference: greeting

Much of the research on hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD has focused on the neurotransmitter serotonin, a chemical that when released from a presynaptic serotonin-secreting neuron causes the transmission of a nerve impulse across a synapse to an adjacent postsynaptic, or target, neuron. There are two major reasons for this emphasis. First, it was discovered early on that many of the major hallucinogens have a molecular structure similar to that of serotonin. In addition, animal studies of brain neurochemistry following administration of hallucinogens invariably reported changes in serotonin levels. Early investigators correctly reasoned that the structural similarity to the serotonin molecule might simply that LSD's effects are brought about by an action on the neurotransmission of serotonin in the brain. Unfortunately, the level of technical expertise in the field of brain research was such that this hypothesis had to be tested on peripheral tissue (tissue outside the brain). Two different groups of scientists reported that LSD powerfully blockaded serotonin's action. Their conclusions were quickly challenged, however. We now know that the action of a drug at one site in the body does not necessarily correspond to the drug's action at another site, especially when one site is in the brain and the other is not.

By the 1960's, technical advances permitted the direct testing of the hypothesis that LSD and related hallucinogens act by directly suppressing the activity of serotonin-secreting neurons themselves— the socalled presynaptic hypothesis. Researchers reasoned that if the hllucinogenic drugs act by suppressing the activity of serotonin-secreting neurons, then drugs administered after these neurons had been destroyed should have no effect on behavior, because the system would already be maximally suppressed. Contrary to their expectations, neuron destruction enhanced the effect of LSD and related hallucinogens on behavior. Thus, hallucinogenic drugs apparently do not act directly on serotonin-secreting neurons. However, these and other available data do support an alternative hypothesis, that LSD and related drugs act directly at receptor sites on serotonin target neurons (the postsynaptic hypothesis ).

The fact that LSD elicits "serotonin syndrome" — that is, causes the same kinds of behaviors as does the administration of serotonin— in animals whose brains are depleted of serotonin indicates that LSD acts directly on serotonin receptors, rather than indirectly through the release of stores of serotonin. The enhanced effect of LSD reported after serotonin depletion could be due to a proliferation of serotonin receptor sites on serotonin target neurons. This phenomenon often follows neuron destruction or neurotransmitter depletion; the increase in the number of receptor sites
appears to be a compensatory response to decreased input. Significantly, this hypothesis is supported by data from a number of different laboratories.

17. According to the passage, which of the following is one of the primary factors that led researchers studying hallucinogenic 
     drugs to focus on serotonin?
     (A) The suppression of the activity of serotoninsecreting neurons by the administration of hallucinogens
     (B) The observed similarities in the chemical structures of serotonin and hallucinogens
     (C) The effects the administration of hallucinogens has on serotonin production in the human brain
     (D) Serotonin-induced changes in the effects of hallucinogens on behavior
     (E) Hallucinogen-induced changes in the effects of serotonin on behavior

18. It can be inferred that researchers abandoned the presynaptic hypothesis because
     (A) a new and more attractive hypothesis was suggested
     (B) no research was reported that supported the hypothesis
     (C) research results provided evidence to counter the hypothesis
     (D) the hypothesis was supported only by studies of animals and not by studies of human beings
     (E) the level of technical expertise in the field of brain research did not permit adequate testing of the hypothesis

19. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
     (A) Research has suggested that the neurotransmitter serotonin is responsible for the effects of hallucinogenic drogs on the
           brain and on behavior.
     (B) Researchers have spent an inadequate amount of time developing theories concerning the way in which the effects of
           hallucinogenic drugs occur.
     (C) Research results strongly suggest that hallucinogenic drugs create their effects by acting on the serotonin receptor
           sites located on target neurons in the brain.
     (D) Researchers have recently made valuable discoveries concerning the effects of depleting the amount of serotonin in
           the brain.
     (E) Researchers have concluded that hallucinogenic  drugs suppress the activity of serotonin-secreting neurons.

20. The research described in the passage is primarily concerned with answering which of the following questions?
      (A) How can researchers control the effects that LSD has on behavior?
      (B) How are animals' reactions to LSD different from those of human beings?
      (C) What triggers the effects that LSD has on human behavior?
      (D) What technical advances would permit researchers to predict more accurately the effects of LSD on behavior?
      (E) What relationship does the suppression of neuron activity have to the occurrence of "serotonin syndrome"?
 
21. Which of the following best defines "serotonin syndrome" (line 46) as the term is used in the passage?
       (A) The series of behaviors, usually associated with the administration of serotonin, that also occurs when LSD is 
             administered to animals whose brains are depleted of serotonin
       (B) The series of behaviors, usually associated with the administration of LSD, that also occurs when the amount of
             serotonin in the brain is reduced
       (C) The maximal suppression of neuron activity that results from the destruction of serotoninsecreting neurons
       (D) The release of stores of serotonin from serotonin-secreting neurons in the brain
       (E) The proliferation of serotonin receptor sites that follows depletion of serotonin supplies in the brain

22. Which of the following best describes the organization of the argument that the author of the passage presents in the last
      two paragraphs?
      (A) Two approaches to testing a hypothesis are described, and the greater merits of one approach are indicated.
      (B) The assumptions underlying two hypotheses are outlined, and evidence for and against each hypothesis is discussed.
      (C) A phenomenon is described, and hypotheses concerning its occurrence are considered and rejected.
      (D) The reasoning behind a hypothesis is summarized, evidence supporting the hypothesis is presented, and research that
            counters the supporting evidence is described.
      (E) A hypothesis is discussed, evidence undermining the hypothesis is revealed, and a further hypothesis based on the 
           undermining evidence is explained

23. The author 's attitude toward early researchers' reasoning concerning the implications of similarities in the structures of
      serotonin and LSD molecules can best be described as one of
      (A) complete agreeement
      (B) reluctant support
      (C) subtle condescension
      (D) irreverent dismissal
      (E) strong opposition