GMAT SECTION 3: VERBAL ABILITY Exam Questions and Answers

QUESTION: 136

According to a review of 38 studies of patients suffering from water retention, a large majority of the patients reported that fasting eased their suffering considerably. Yet fasting is not used to treat water retention even though the conventional medications often have serious side effects.
Which of the following, if true, best explains the fact that fasting is not used as a treatment for water retention?

For a small percentage of patients with water retention, fasting induces a temporary sense of nausea
Getting patients with water retention to fast regularly is more difficult than getting healthy patients to do so.
Fasting regularly over a long period of time can lead to temporary impairment of balance comparable to that induced by consuming several ounces of alcohol.
The dramatic shifts in water retention connected with fasting have not been traced to particular changes in brain chemistry.
The water retention returns in full force as soon as the fast is broken by even a small meal.

Answer(s): A

Explanation:

The best answer is A. In choice A, the words object and necessity, both singular, agree.

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QUESTION: 137

The more frequently employees that take a break for guided relaxation exercises during working hours each week, the fewer sick days they take. Even workers who take a guided relaxation break once a week during working hours take less sick leave than those who do not perform relaxation. Therefore, if companies started guided relaxation programs, the absentee rate in those companies would decrease significantly.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

Employees who do guided relaxation exercises during working hours occasionally fall asleep for short periods of time after the exercises.
Employees who are frequently absent are the least likely to cooperate with or to join a corporate relaxation program.
Employees who do guide relaxation exercises only once a week in their company’s fitness program usually also do relaxation exercises at home.
Employees who do guided relaxation exercises in their company’s relaxation program use their working time no more productively than those who do not do relaxation exercises.
Employees do guided relaxation exercises during working hours take slightly longer lunch breaks than employees who do not do relaxation exercise

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

The best answer is C. The passage challenges the validity of the theory that positively biased self-perception is closely correlated with normal human thought and good mental health by showing how a very high self- perception may lead to violent behavior.

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QUESTION: 138

Home insurance premiums are typically set after an appraiser assigns an official assessed value. Reassessments should be frequent in order to remove distortions that arise when property value changes at differential rates. In actual fact, however, properties are reassessed only when they stand to benefit the insurance company. In other words, a reassessment takes place when the most likely outcome is in increase in insurance premiums to the homeowner.

Which of the following, if true, describes a situation in which a reassessment should occur but in unlikely to do so?

Property values have risen sharply and uniformly.
Property values have raised everywhere – some very sharply, some moderately.
Property values have on the whole risen sharply; yet some have dropped slightly.
Property values have on the whole dropped significantly; yet some have risen slightly.
Property values have dropped significantly and uniformly.

Answer(s): D

Explanation:

The best answer is D. Choice d correctly uses the not only… but also… construction, with parallel phrases.

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QUESTION: 139

Although perioral dermatitis rashes are believed to be caused by reactions to Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS) found in shampoos and other personal care products, instructing patients to eliminate all products with SLS frequently does not stop the perioral dermatitis. Obviously, some other cause of perioral dermatitis besides reactions to SLS must exist.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion above?

Many personal care products elicit an allergic skin response only after several days, making it very difficult to observe links between specific products patients use and the perioral dermatitis they develop.
Skin allergies affect many people who never develop the symptom of perioral dermatitis.
Many patients report that the personal care products that cause them perioral dermatitis are among the products they most enjoy using.
Very few patients have allergic skin reactions as children and then live rash-free adult lives once they have eliminated products to which they have been demonstrated to be allergic.
Very rarely do personal care products cause patients to suffer a symptom more severe than that of perioral dermatitis rashes.

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

The best answer is B. The effect of lowering wages is to reduce quality sufficiently to reduce sales. This is a good reason to doubt that wage cuts would give Johnson any competitive edge.

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QUESTION: 140

In prenatal testing for spina bifida, a life threatening disease, a false positive result indicates that an fetus has spina bifida when, in fact, it does not; a false negative result indicates that a fetus does not have spina bifida when, in fact, it does. To detect spina bifida most accurately, physicians should use the laboratory test that has the lowest proportion of false positive results.

Which of the following, if true, gives the most support to the recommendation above?

All laboratory tests to detect spina bifida have the same proportion of false negative results.
The laboratory test that has the lowest proportions of false positive results causes the same minor side effects as do the other laboratory tests used to detect spina bifida.
In treating spina bifida patients, it is essential to begin treatment as early as possible, since even a week of delay can result in loss of life.
The proportion of inconclusive test results is equal for all laboratory tests used to detect spina bifida.
The accepted treatment for spina bifida does not have damaging side effects

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

The best answer is B. The effect of lowering wages is to reduce quality sufficiently to reduce sales. This is a good reason to doubt that wage cuts would give Johnson any competitive edge.
40. The best answer is C. If professional artists, the only customers interested in innovation, created a strong demand for innovations for purposes other than what is officially recognized as a standard medium for purposes of artistic creations, then the conclusion would not follow. Therefore, choice C, which states that professional artists generate no such demand – is assumed and is the best answer.

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GMAT GMAT SECTION 3: VERBAL ABILITY Exam (page: 28) GMAT Section 3: Verbal Ability Updated on: 12-Feb-2026

QUESTION: 136

Explanation:

QUESTION: 137

Explanation:

QUESTION: 138

Explanation:

QUESTION: 139

Explanation:

QUESTION: 140

Explanation:

GMAT GMAT SECTION 3: VERBAL ABILITY Exam (page: 28)
GMAT Section 3: Verbal Ability
Updated on: 12-Feb-2026