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Question of the Day: GMAT Verbal
Adapted from “The Celebration of Intellect” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1861)
I cannot consent to wander from the duties of this day into the fracas of politics. The brute noise of cannon has, I know, a most poetic echo in these days when it is an instrument of freedom and the primal sentiments of humanity. Yet it is but representative and a far-off means and servant; but here in the college we are in the presence of the constituency and the principle itself. Here is, or should be, the majesty of reason and the creative cause, and it were a compounding of all gradation and reverence to suffer the flash of swords and the boyish strife of passion and the feebleness of military strength to intrude on this sanctity and omnipotence of Intellectual Law.
Against the heroism of soldiers I set the heroism of scholars, which consists in ignoring the other. You shall not put up in your Academy the statue of Caesar or Pompey, of Nelson or Wellington, of Washington or Napoleon, of Garibaldi, but of Archimedes, of Milton, of Newton. . . .
For either science and literature is a hypocrisy, or it is not. If it be, then resign your charter to the Legislature, turn your college into barracks and warehouses, and divert the funds of your founders into the stock of a rope-walk or a candle-factory, a tan-yard or some other undoubted conveniency for the surrounding population. But if the intellectual interest be, as I hold, no hypocrisy, but the only reality, then it behooves us to enthrone it, obey it, and give it possession of us and ours; to give, among other possessions, the college into its hand casting down every idol, every pretender, every hoary lie, every dignified blunder that has crept into its administration.
How is the underlined expression “poetic echo” used as an image in the passage?
It reminds the reader of the importance of poetry in contrast to militarism.
It entices the reader and listener to go on to further considerations of the matter.
It sets the stage for the argument the author will make against militarism.
It captures the sound of canon fire while applying it to the emotions aroused by it and other such actions of wartime.
It gives an evocative example of the loud sounds made by canon fire.
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The GMAT Verbal Question of the Day can be emailed to you, or you can access it anywhere you have The Internet, through the website or application. That means you can do your daily test practice virtually anywhere, which is great if you already have a busy schedule. The questions are a random sampling based on the actual questions that may appear on the test on exam day. Each day, you will never know what kind of question you will. One day may be critical reasoning or sentence completion, and the next may be making inferences from business or humanities passages. This will help you to determine what problems are more difficult for you, as you will easily see which areas you get correct and/or incorrect more often. Also, as you answer the GMAT Verbal Question of the Day regularly, you will cover a large variety of Verbal questions. This will help you to keep the topics fresh in your mind, as well help you with test preparedness overall. Varsity Tutors also offers resources like a free GMAT Verbal Practice Tests to help with your self-paced study, or you may want to consider a GMAT tutor.
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If you are looking to further your education or to get your MBA, you know that the GMAT is important for showing admissions councils that you have the capacity to be successful in your advanced studies. That makes proper test preparation and planning very important. The GMAT Verbal Question of the Day is a great free test practice tool to get you started.