Free GMAT SECTION 3: VERBAL ABILITY Exam Braindumps
GMAT Section 3: Verbal Ability Questions 186–190 (page: 39)

Updated On: 9-Feb-2026

With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago for $75,000, your property tax would be approximately $914 a year (1 percent of $75,000 increased by 2 percent each year for 11 years); and if your neighbor bought an identical house next door to you for $200,000 this year, his tax would be $2,000 (1 percent of $200,000). Without Proposition 13, both you and your neighbor would pay $6,000 a year in property taxes (3 percent of $200,000).

Which of the following is the conclusion for which the author most likely is arguing in the passage above?

  1. Proposition 13 is unconstitutional because it imposes an unequal tax on properties of equal value.
  2. If Proposition 13 is repealed, every homeowner is likely to experience a substantial increase in property taxes.
  3. By preventing inflation from driving up property values, Proposition 13 has saved homeowners thousands of dollars in property taxes.
  4. If Proposition 13 is not repealed, identical properties will continue to be taxed at different rates.
  5. Proposition 13 has benefited some homeowners more than others.

Answer(s): B



At an enormous research cost, a leading chemical company has developed a manufacturing process for converting wood fibers into a plastic. According to the company, this new plastic can be used for, among other things, the hulls of small sailboats. But what does the company think sailboat hulls used to be made of? Surely the mania for high technology can scarcely go further than this.
The author’s opinion of the manufacturing process described in the passage is based primarily on the fact that

  1. plastic is unlikely to be durable enough for high-quality sailboat hulls
  2. the research costs of developing the process outweigh any savings possible from the use of the plastic
  3. a small sailboat is not normally regarded as a high-tech product
  4. hulls for small sailboats can be made from wood without converting it into plastic
  5. many other spheres of human activity are in far greater need of technological research

Answer(s): D



At an enormous research cost, a leading chemical company has developed a manufacturing process for converting wood fibers into a plastic. According to the company, this new plastic can be used for, among other things, the hulls of small sailboats. But what does the company think sailboat hulls used to be made of? Surely the mania for high technology can scarcely go further than this.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the author’s conclusion?

  1. The plastic produced by the process is considerably lighter, stronger, and more watertight than wood.
  2. The wood used in producing the plastic is itself in increasingly short supply.
  3. The cost of the manufacturing process of the plastic increases the cost of producing a sailboat hull by 10 to 15 percent.
  4. Much of the cost of the research that developed the new process will be written off for tax purposes by the chemical company.
  5. The development of the new plastic is expected to help make the chemical company an important supplier of boat-building materials.

Answer(s): A



A young man eager to become a master swordsman journeyed to the home of the greatest teacher of swordsmanship in the kingdom. He asked the teacher, “How quickly can you teach me to be a master swordsman?” The old teacher replied, “It will take ten years.” Unsatisfied, the young man asked, “What if I am willing to work night and day, every day of the year?” the teacher replied, “In that case, it will take twenty years.” The teacher’s main point is that an important quality of a master swordsman is

  1. humility
  2. willingness to work hard
  3. respect for one’s elders
  4. patience
  5. determination

Answer(s): D



Below is an excerpt from a letter that was sent by the chairman of a corporation to the stockholders.
A number of charges have been raised against me, some serious, some trivial. Individuals seeking to control the corporation for their own purposes have demanded my resignation. Remember that no court of law in any state has found me guilty of any criminal offense whatsoever. In the American tradition, as you know, an individual is considered innocent until proven guilty. Furthermore, as the corporation’s unbroken six-year record of growth will show, my conduct of my official duties as chairman has only helped enhance the success of the corporation, and so benefited every stockholder.

Which of the following can be properly inferred from the excerpt?

  1. The chairman believes that all those who have demanded his resignation are motivated by desire to control the corporation for their own purposes.
  2. Any misdeeds that the chairman may have committed were motivated by his desire to enhance the success of the corporation.
  3. The chairman is innocent of any criminal offense.
  4. The corporation has expanded steadily over the past six years.
  5. Any legal proceedings against the chairman have resulted in his acquittal.

Answer(s): D



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