GRE Verbal Practice Test 15 (with Answers)

Text Completion

Questions 1–5.

1 The composer's late quartets, once considered almost by audiences, are now regarded as among the greatest works in the repertoire.

2 Folk melodies were rarely written down; instead, they were orally from one generation of singers to the next.

3 Rather than (i) the traditional raga, the musician (ii) its rules, improvising freely only within the boundaries the form allows.

4 The critic's review was unusually , praising the orchestra's precision but faulting the conductor's lifeless tempos.

5 Because the manuscript survives only in form, scholars must reconstruct several missing passages from contemporary descriptions.

Sentence Equivalence

Questions 6–10. Select the TWO correct answer choices.

Reading Comprehension — Passage 1

Questions 11–15 are based on the passage below.

Why does music move us? One influential explanation, developed by the musicologist Leonard Meyer in the 1950s, holds that emotional responses to music arise from expectation. As we listen, we continually and largely unconsciously predict what will come next, based on our familiarity with a musical style. When a composer delays or violates these expectations — by postponing a resolution or introducing an unexpected chord — tension builds, and its eventual release produces pleasure.

Recent neuroscience has lent some support to Meyer's theory. Brain-imaging studies have found that the release of dopamine, a chemical associated with reward, occurs both in anticipation of a favourite passage and at its peak. Yet expectation cannot explain everything: listeners continue to enjoy pieces they know intimately, in which nothing can surprise them, and some emotional responses seem to depend on associations with personal memories rather than on musical structure alone.

📚 Glossary · কঠিন শব্দের অর্থ

Word	বাংলা অর্থ	English meaning
musicologist	সংগীততাত্ত্বিক	a scholar who studies music
resolution	সমাধান (সুরে)	a move from tension to a stable chord
dopamine	ডোপামিন	a brain chemical linked to reward

Reading Comprehension — Passage 2

Questions 16–20 are based on the passage below.

The invention of sound recording in the late nineteenth century transformed not only how music was distributed but how it was performed. Before recording, a performance existed only in the moment, and listeners rarely heard the same piece played the same way twice. Once performances could be replayed, small imperfections that would pass unnoticed in a concert hall became permanent and conspicuous, and musicians began to strive for a new standard of technical accuracy.

Some historians argue that this pursuit of perfection came at a cost. Early recordings reveal that many celebrated performers used flexible tempos and expressive slides between notes that later generations would consider undisciplined. As recordings became the dominant way of hearing music, performance styles across the world grew more uniform. Others contend that recording also preserved and spread regional traditions — from Bengali folk song to Delta blues — that might otherwise have vanished entirely.

📚 Glossary · কঠিন শব্দের অর্থ

Word	বাংলা অর্থ	English meaning
conspicuous	স্পষ্টভাবে চোখে পড়ার মতো	easily noticed
tempos	লয়	speeds at which music is played
uniform	একরকম	the same everywhere