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TWENTYThe
Most Di!cult GRE Questions
BenchPreps Most-Often Missed GRE Practice Questions
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Table of Contents
Ch. 1: IntroductionIntroduction to BenchPreps GRE Test Prep
Program
BenchPrep Games, Flashcards, Adaptive Nature and Other
Features
How BenchPrep Can Improve Your Score
Ch. 2: Verbal Reasoning QuestionsVerbal Reasoning Section Basics
Question Types
The 9 Most-Missed Verbal Reasoning Questions
Ch. 3: Quantitative Reasoning QuestionsQuantitative Reasoning
Section Basics Question Types
The 11 Most-Missed Quantitative Reasoning Questions
Ch. 4: Verbal Reasoning Solutions and ExplanationsCorrect
Answers Detailed Explanations for Every Answer Choice
Most-Common Incorrect Answers Average Time Spent on Each
Question Graphs and Charts and Charts from BenchPreps
User Interface
Ch. 5: Quantitative Reasoning Solutions and ExplanationsCorrect
Answers Detailed Explanations for Every Answer Choice
Most-Common Incorrect Answers Average Time Spent on Each
Question Graphs and Charts and Charts from BenchPreps
User Interface
Ch. 6: ConclusionSpecial $50 O" BenchPrep Promo Code
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Chapter 2
Verbal Reasoning Questions
Verbal Reasoning Section Basics
Question Types
The 9 Most-Missed Verbal Reasoning Questions
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BenchPrep | The 20 Most-Di!cult GRE Questions | 22
Chapter 2 Verbal Reasoning Questions
Q.03Based on the same Passage as the previous question, choose
the best answer to the question. Answer on the basis of what is
stated or implied in that passage.
A scientist makes new observations and learns that water waves
of shorter wavelengths spread in all directions not only because
they scatter o! piers but also because they interact with
previously scattered short water waves. Drawing upon the analogy
between water waves and light waves, we might hypothesize which of
the following?
A. Blue light waves act like ripples that other red light waves
meet and scatter from.B. Red light waves will be scattered by blue
light waves like incoming long water waves are
scattered by outgoing ripples.C. Red light waves can scatter
blue light waves, but blue light waves cannot scatter red.D. !e
analogy between water and light waves cannot be extended to include
the way in
which short water waves become ripples and scatter one
another.E. !e scattering e"ect of blue light waves is canceled by
that of red.
Q.04After reading the following passage, choose the best answer
to the question. Answer on the basis of what is stated or implied
in that passage.
In the United States the per capita costs of schooling have
risen almost as fast as the cost of medical treatment. But
increased treatment by both doctors and teach-ers has shown
steadily declining results. Medical expenses concentrated on those
above forty-!ve have doubled several times over a period of forty
years with a re-sulting 3 percent increase in the life expectancy
of men. "e increase in educational expenditures has produced even
stranger results; otherwise President Nixon could not have been
moved this spring to promise that every child shall soon have the
Right to Read before leaving school.
In the United States it would take eighty billion dollars per
year to provide what educators regard as equal treatment for all in
grammar and high school. "is is well over twice the $36 billion now
being spent. Independent cost projections prepared at HEW and at
the University of Florida indicate that by 1974 the comparable
!gures will be $107 billion as against the $45 billion now
projected, and these !g-ures wholly omit the enormous costs of what
is called higher education, for which demand is growing even
faster. "e United States, which spent nearly eighty billion
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BenchPrep | The 20 Most-Di!cult GRE Questions | 34
Chapter 3 Quantitative Reasoning Questions
Q.13Determine which of the two expressions below is larger,
whether they are equal, or whetherthere is not enough information
to decide.
Column A!e area of parallelogram ABCD
Column B15
A. Column A is largerB. Column B is largerC. Column A and Column
B are equalD. Not enough information to decide.
Q.12Determine which of the two expressions below is larger,
whether they are equal, or whetherthere is not enough information
to decide.
!e number of distinct elements in set A is 8, and the number of
distinct elements in set B is 3. Column A!e number of elements
common to set A and set B
Column B!e number of elements in set A that are not in set B
A. Column A is largerB. Column B is largerC. Column A and Column
B are equalD. Not enough information to decide.
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On the Quantitative section, your ability to
apply reason and logic to solving the quantitative
questions is more import-ant than your ability to
recall mathematical for-mulas and principles.
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BenchPrep | The 20 Most-Di!cult GRE Questions | 61
Chapter 4 Verbal Reasoning Solutions and Explanations
Q.06Read the following multiple-choice question and select the
answer that is best suited to com-plete the concept.
Her attitude toward child-rearing was complemented with plenty
of love.
A. austereB. indi!erentC. ambivalentD. lenientE. sycophantic
Solution: !e correct answer is A.
A complement is something that makes up a whole, bringing it to
perfection. Of the answer choices o!ered, only austere could
complement love in such a manner.
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BenchPrep | The 20 Most-Di!cult GRE Questions | 47
Chapter 4 Verbal Reasoning Solutions and Explanations
Number of Users
Nu
mb
er o
f U
sers
Total Answers Count
Question Correctness
0
0
250
500
750
1,000
1,250
1,500
A
B
C
D
E
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
An
swer
Ch
oic
e
The most common incorrect answer was A.Users who answered the
question correctly spent an average of 54 seconds while users who
answered incorrectly spent an average of 49 seconds.
Correct Incorrect
This question has been attempted by our users a total of 1773
times.Of those users, 578 got the question correct and 1195 got the
question incorrect.
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BenchPrep | The 20 Most-Di!cult GRE Questions | 74
Chapter 5 Quantitative Reasoning Solutions and Explanations
Q.10Determine which of the two expressions below is larger,
whether they are equal, or whetherthere is not enough information
to decide. Column APerimeter of a square whose area is a2 Column
BPerimeter of a right-angled isosceles triangle whose area is
a2
A. Column A is largerB. Column B is largerC. Column A and Column
B are equalD. Not enough information to decide.
Solution: Column A: Remember that the area of a square is equal
to the length of its side squared. Since the area of the square is
a2, the side of the square is a.
Hence, the perimeter of the square is P = a + a + a + a = 4a.
Column B: Let b represent the length of the equal sides of the
right-angled isosceles triangle, and let c represent the length of
the hypotenuse:
Since the hypotenuse of a right triangle is opposite the right
angle, the sides labeled b are the base and height of the triangle.
"e area of the triangle is base height = bb = b2 . We are given
that the area of the triangle is a2.
(Solution and explanations continued on next page.)
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