The Right Way To Answer GRE Text Completion Questions [Along with GRE Verbal Practice Questions & Answers]

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People who are good at reading don’t just read the words on the page and accept them as they are. Instead, they always try to understand and judge what they’re reading by using what they’ve read before to make a complete picture in their mind. They keep changing their understanding as they read more. GRE Text Completion questions check if you have this skill by leaving out important words from a short passage and asking you to fill in the missing words based on the information you already have. This helps create a meaningful and complete passage. In this blog, we will teach you how to tackle the different types of GRE Text Completion questions with the help of some quality GRE Verbal practice Questions

IN THIS BLOG:

1. GRE Text Completion: Question Types
2. How To Correctly Answer GRE Text Completion Questions
3. GRE Verbal Practice Questions On Text Completion With Answers

GRE Text Completion: Question Types

Here are the different question structures that we encounter in GRE Text Completion questions:

1. Passage composed of one to five sentences
2. One to three blanks
3. Three answer choices per blank (five answer choices in the case of a single blank)
4. 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
5. The single correct answer, consisting of one choice for each blank; no credit for partially correct answers

How To Correctly Answer GRE Text Completion Questions

To better approach analyzing a passage with missing words or phrases, follow these steps:

1. Read the passage to understand its main idea.
2. Identify significant words or phrases, such as those that emphasize the structure of the passage (e.g., although, moreover) or that are crucial to understanding the passage’s meaning.
3. Attempt to fill in the missing words or phrases, using context and knowledge of the passage’s structure to guide you. Look for similar words or phrases among the answer choices.
4. Do not assume that the first blank is the easiest to fill; consider all blanks and choose the one that seems most straightforward. Then, move on to the other blanks, checking your choices to ensure they make sense.
5. Once you have filled in all the blanks, check that the passage is logical, grammatical, and stylistically coherent.

Suggested Read: Maximising Your Score On GRE Reading Comprehension

GRE Verbal Practice Questions On Text Completion

For each blank select one entry from the corresponding column of choices. Fill all the blanks in a way that best completes the text.

1.   It is refreshing to read a book about our planet by an author who does not allow facts to be (i) by politics: well aware of the political disputes about the effects of human activities on climate and biodiversity, this author does not permit them to (ii) his comprehensive description of what we know about our biosphere. He emphasizes the enormous gaps in our knowledge, the sparseness of our observations, and the (iii) calling attention to the many aspects of planetary evolution that must be better understood before we can accurately diagnose the condition of our planet.

Explanation:

The overall tone of the passage is clearly complimentary. To understand what the author of the book is being complimented on, it is useful to focus on the second blank. Here, we must determine what word would indicate something that the author is praised for not permitting.

The only answer choice that fits the case is “obscure,” since enhancing and underscoring are generally good things to do, not things one should refrain from doing. Choosing “obscure”

clarifies the choice for the first blank; the only choice that fits well with “obscure” is

“overshadowed.” Notice that trying to fill the first blank before filling the second blank is hard — each choice has at least some initial plausibility. Since the third blank requires a phrase that matches “enormous gaps” and “sparseness of our observations,” the best choice is “superficiality of our theories.”

Thus, the correct answer is Choice A (overshadowed), Choice E (obscure) and Choice I (superficiality of our theories).

2.   In parts of the Arctic, the land grades into the landfast ice so that you can walk off the coast and not know you are over the hidden sea.

(A) permanently 

(B) imperceptibly 

(C) irregularly 

(D) precariously 

(E) relentlessly  

Explanation:

The word that fills the blank has to characterize how the land grades into the ice in a way that explains how you can walk off the coast and over the sea without knowing it. The word that does that is “imperceptibly”; if the land grades imperceptibly into the ice, you might well not know that you had left the land. Describing the shift from land to ice as permanent, irregular, precarious, or relentless would not help to explain how you would fail to know.

Thus, the correct answer is Choice B (imperceptibly).

Regardless of your current level of proficiency and individual learning style, consistent and dedicated practice can improve your skills on GRE verbal. Sign up for a free GRE Verbal demo class with a Jamboree expert and ask your doubts directly from our experienced faculty.

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