An original GRE Verbal practice test on political science and democracy — 5 Text Completion, 5 Sentence Equivalence, and 10 Reading Comprehension questions, 20 questions in 30 minutes.

রাষ্ট্রবিজ্ঞান ও গণতন্ত্র বিষয়ক একটি মৌলিক GRE ভার্বাল প্র্যাকটিস টেস্ট — ৩০ মিনিটে ২০টি প্রশ্ন।

30min
Timeসময়
20
Questionsপ্রশ্ন
130–170
Scaled Scoreস্কোর

How to use it: Start the timer, complete all sections, then check your answers.

ব্যবহারের নিয়ম: টাইমার শুরু করে সব সেকশন শেষ করুন।

30:00
Text Completion

Questions 1–5.

1 The senator's speech was so that even her political opponents struggled to identify a single concrete proposal to criticise.

2 Far from strengthening the government's position, the early election it, handing a majority to the opposition.

3 The new constitution was (i) in principle, guaranteeing broad freedoms, but in practice these rights were (ii) enforced.

4 Political scientists have long noted that voter turnout tends to be in elections that people believe will not change the outcome of anything important.

5 The coalition proved , collapsing within months as its member parties quarrelled over the budget.

Sentence Equivalence

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

6 Critics described the policy as ______, arguing that it favoured a small elite at the expense of ordinary citizens.

7 The president's ______ response to the crisis, issued within hours, was widely praised.

8 Although the two parties publicly ______ each other, their policies on trade were almost identical.

9 The reforms were intended to make government more ______, requiring officials to publish all contracts online.

10 The dictator's promises of free elections proved ______; no vote was held for another twenty years.

Reading Comprehension — Passage 1

Questions 11–15 are based on the passage below.

Electoral systems shape politics in ways that are easy to overlook. In "first-past-the-post" systems, used in Britain, India and Bangladesh, each district elects the single candidate with the most votes. Such systems tend to produce two dominant parties, an observation known as Duverger's law, because supporters of smaller parties often switch their votes to a larger party rather than "waste" them on a candidate who cannot win.

Proportional representation, by contrast, allocates seats according to each party's share of the national vote, allowing smaller parties to win representation. Supporters argue that this produces parliaments that more accurately reflect voters' preferences. Critics reply that it often leads to coalition governments in which small parties can exercise influence out of proportion to their support, and that it weakens the link between a representative and a particular local community.

📚 Glossary · কঠিন শব্দের অর্থ
Wordবাংলা অর্থEnglish meaning
districtনির্বাচনী এলাকাan area that elects a representative
allocatesবণ্টন করেdistributes
coalitionজোটan alliance of parties forming a government

11 According to the passage, Duverger's law describes

12 Why, according to the passage, do some voters switch from smaller parties to larger ones?

13 Which of the following are criticisms of proportional representation mentioned in the passage? (Select all that apply.)

14 The author's approach in the passage is best described as

15 The word "accurately" in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to

Reading Comprehension — Passage 2

Questions 16–20 are based on the passage below.

Political scientists have long debated why some democracies endure while others collapse. One prominent explanation emphasises economic development: wealthier societies, it is argued, have larger middle classes with a stake in stability and the education to participate in politics. Statistical studies confirm that rich democracies have rarely broken down. Yet the relationship is not simple. Some poor countries have sustained democratic government for decades, while a number of middle-income democracies have slid into authoritarian rule.

Increasingly, researchers emphasise the role of norms — unwritten rules such as mutual tolerance between rivals and restraint in the use of legal powers. Constitutions, they argue, cannot protect democracy on their own, because leaders can exploit legal loopholes while respecting the letter of the law. Democracies survive, in this view, when politicians accept opponents as legitimate and refrain from using every tool available to them.

📚 Glossary · কঠিন শব্দের অর্থ
Wordবাংলা অর্থEnglish meaning
endureটিকে থাকাcontinue to exist
authoritarianস্বৈরতান্ত্রিকcontrolled by a ruler with unlimited power
loopholesআইনের ফাঁকgaps in rules that allow them to be avoided

16 The passage suggests that the link between wealth and democratic survival is

17 The examples of poor countries that have sustained democracy are mentioned in order to

18 According to the passage, why can constitutions not protect democracy on their own?

19 Which of the following are examples of the "norms" described in the passage? (Select all that apply.)

20 The phrase "the letter of the law" refers to

Next: Practice Test 17 →  ·  GRE Verbal guide