Admission Test Section One : Verbal Sample Questions:

1. A certain strain of bacteria called lyngbya majuscula, an ancient ancestor of modern-day algae, is making
a comeback in ocean waters just off the world's most industrialized coastal regions. This primitive bacteria
has survived for nearly three billion years due to a variety of survival mechanisms. It can produce its own
fertilizer by pulling nitrogen out of the air; it relies on a different spectrum of light than algae do, allowing it
to thrive even in deep, murky waters; and when it dies and decays, it releases its own nitrogen and
phosphorous, on which the next generation of lyngbya feeds. Lyngbya emits more than one hundred
different toxins harmful to other ocean life as well as to humans. Commercial fishermen and divers who
come in contact with the bacteria frequently complain of skin rashes and respiratory problems, which can
keep these workers off the job for months at a time. The bacteria further disrupts local economies by
blocking sunlight to sea grasses that attract fish and other sea life. Scientists attribute the modern-day
reappearance of lyngbya, and the resulting problems, chiefly to nitrogen- and phosphorous-rich sewage
partially processed at wastewater treatment plants and pumped into rivers that feed coastal ocean waters.
The passage as a whole can appropriately be viewed as an examination of which of the following?

A) The ecological fallout resulting from coastal sewage runoff
B) The causes and consequences of the re-emergence of lyngbya
C) The possible means of halting and reversing the spread of lyngbya
D) The economic impact of lyngbya on certain coastal communities
E) The survival mechanisms and life cycle of lyngbya

2. FISH : AQUARIUM ::

A) lions : den
B) stew : cauldron
C) insects : ground
D) automobile : garage
E) birds: aviary

3. While there will always be a need for social programs geared toward alleviating the poverty of individuals,
the community is perhaps the more relevant level for public policy intervention, especially in rural areas. It
has been recognized that social isolation within urban ghettos is a structural characteristic of urban
poverty, but rural poverty is marked by physical isolation as well. This uniqueness makes rural community
poverty particularly intractable, requiring policies that account for the cost of isolation. It is possible to
provide vocational training for individuals anywhere, but if there are no jobs within the community for
those individuals, the training is largely wasted. The current transition to a service-based economy and
deregulation in transportation (resulting in disproportionately higher transportation costs for relatively
isolated areas) have only exacerbated the growing social and economic distress in rural America,
underscoring the need to redefine poverty and redirect the focus of our funding agencies and
policy-makers in accordance with the new definition. What's needed is a more holistic view on an
aggregate level, where poverty is properly seen as a condition of the local social structure, with income
only one of the salient parameters.
The author seeks to draw which of the following distinctions between urban ghettos and impoverished
rural communities?

A) Impoverished individuals feel more isolated in urban ghettos than in rural communities.
B) Funding agencies are more likely to recognize poverty in an urban ghetto than in a rural community.
C) Residents of urban ghettos typically have better jobs than residents of rural communities.
D) Poverty is more common in rural communities than in urban ghettos.
E) Job training programs are more accessible in urban ghettos than in rural communities.

4. The fossil record reveals innumerable instances of environmental _______ by which one can draw an
analogy between the evolution of life and a tree's branches, a few of which _______ but most of which
branch again and again.

A) events . . intertwine
B) safeguards . . wither and die
C) calamities . . end abruptly
D) adaptations . . progress linearly
E) changes . . produce leaves

5. NATAL : GESTATION ::

A) feeble : cowardice
B) wealthy : investment
C) humble : conceit
D) conclusive : premise
E) truthful : proof

Solutions: