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GRE Text Completion

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GRE Text Completion

shape Introduction

The GRE Verbal Reasoning section of the GRE General Test assesses the ability of the candidates to analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it; analyze relationships among component parts of sentences and recognize relationships among words and concepts; analyze and draw conclusions from discourse; reason from incomplete data; identify author's assumptions and/or perspective; and understand the meanings of words, sentences and entire texts. This article describes the GRE Text Completion category of GRE Verbal Reasoning in detail.
The GRE Verbal Reasoning questions appear in 2 sections, and the test takers need to answer around 20 questions in the 2 sections, the time duration for each section is 30 minutes.
Verbal Reasoning questions appear in 3 formats: Reading Comprehension, Sentence Equivalence, and, Text Completion. Few questions require test-takers to read passages and answer questions on those passages. The other questions require test-takers to read, interpret and complete existing sentences, groups of sentences or paragraphs.
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Text Completion
  • Sentence Equivalence

GRE Text Completion will test GRE aspirant's ability to revise passages of varying lengths (in some cases, entire paragraphs) by selecting the correct words to complete multiple sentences. In this format, the GRE does not award partial credit, so test takers need to select all of the correct words to complete the corresponding passage.

shape Why TC

Why GRE Text Completion?
Skilled readers do not simply absorb the information presented on the page; instead, they maintain a constant attitude of interpretation and evaluation, reasoning from what they have read so far to create a picture of the whole and revising that picture as they go. Text Completion questions test this ability by omitting crucial words from short passages and asking the test taker to use the remaining information in the passage as a basis for selecting words or short phrases to fill the blanks and create a coherent, meaningful whole.

shape Q.Structure

GRE Text Completion - Question Structure
  • Passage composed of one to five sentences

  • One to three blanks

  • Three answer choices per blank (five answer choices in the case of a single blank)

  • The answer choices for different blanks function independently; i.e., selecting one answer choice for one blank does not affect what answer choices you can select for another blank

  • Single correct answer, consisting of one choice for each blank; no credit for partially correct answers

shape Tips for TC

GRE Text Completion - Tips
Do not merely try to consider each possible combination of answers; doing so will take too long and is open to error. Instead, try to analyze the passage in the following way:
  • Read through the passage to get an overall sense of it.

  • Identify words or phrases that seem particularly significant, either because they emphasize the structure of the passage (words like although or moreover) or because they are central to understanding what the passage is about.

  • Try to fill in the blanks with words or phrases that seem to complete the sentence, then see if similar words are offered among the answer choices.

  • Do not assume that the first blank is the one that should be filled first; perhaps one of the other blanks is easier to fill first. Select your choice for that blank, and then see whether you can complete another blank. If none of the choices for the other blank seem to make sense, go back and reconsider your first selection.

  • When you have made your selection for each blank, check to make sure the passage is logically, grammatically and stylistically coherent.

shape Samples

For each blank select 1 entry from the corresponding column of choices. Fill all blanks in the way that best completes the text.
Question – 1
In her startling original writing, she went further than any other twentieth century author in English (perhaps in any language) in (a) ___________ literary language and form, (b) ___________ stylistic conventions, and (c) ___________ a rich and diverse structure of meaning.
Blank (a)
A. Reinventing
B. Canonizing
C. Stabilizing

Blank (b)
D. Undoing
E. Overpraising
F. misunderstanding

Blank (c)
G. Replicating
H. Borrowing
I. Introducing

Explanation: The correct answer choice is A for Blank (a), D for Blank (b) and Ifor Blank (C).
For Blank (a), the choice must be “reinventing”, because neither “canonizing” nor “stabilizing” would indicate a break with traditional forms or language.
Blank (b) must contain a word that describes the writer’s relationship with convention; “undoing” is the only one that reflects originality.
Blank (c) likewise requires a word that conveys the novelty of the writer’s work. Both “replicating” and “borrowing” suggest a derivative approach to writing, so they are incorrect. “Introducing” implies that the writer’s structure is new.
Question – 2 The media once portrayed the governor as anything but ineffective; they now, however, make her out to be the epitome of ___________.
A. Fecklessness
B. Brilliance
C. Dynamism
D. Egoism
E. Punctiliousness

Explanation: The correct answer choice is A, the fecklessness meaning includes ineffectiveness, making it a very good contrast with the first half of the sentence.