GRE Reading Comprehension Practice Questions

Read the passage: 'For decades, urban planners assumed that wider roads relieved congestion. Yet data from dozens of cities now suggest the opposite: adding lanes tends to invite more drivers, and within a few years traffic returns to its original density. Some researchers call this phenomenon induced demand, though the term undersells how counterintuitive the effect actually is.' Which choice best states the main idea of the passage? What is the primary purpose of this passage?

Read the passage: 'The novelist's early letters reveal a writer plagued by self-doubt, apologizing to editors for drafts she called "unfinished scraps." Yet those same scraps, published decades later, are now taught as some of the most assured prose of her generation.' Based on the passage, it can most reasonably be inferred that:

Read the passage: 'Critics of the new farming subsidy call it wasteful, pointing to its cost. But cost alone tells us little. If the subsidy keeps small farms solvent during a single bad harvest, sparing rural communities years of economic fallout, then dismissing it purely on price misses the point entirely.' The author's tone toward the critics mentioned in the passage is best described as:

Read the passage: 'Advocates of the four-day workweek cite a Icelandic trial in which productivity held steady even as hours fell. They rarely mention, however, that the trial paired shorter hours with a hiring surge that added staff to cover the same workload -- a detail that complicates any simple comparison between hours worked and output produced.' Which of the following, if true, would most directly strengthen the author's argument in the passage?

Read the passage: 'The museum's decision to display the disputed artifact without a wall label acknowledging its contested origins was defended by curators as "letting the object speak for itself." Historians countered that silence is never neutral: omitting context doesn't let an object speak, it simply lets old assumptions speak in its place.' Which of the following best evaluates the strength of the historians' counterargument as presented in the passage?