Follow the logic from one clue to the next. Work through six questions, from a single missing word to a passage with three blanks.
Try the 6 questionsFree to practice. Answers and explanations included.
Questions 1–2 have one blank, Questions 3–4 have two, and Questions 5–6 have three. Let the details already on the page guide each choice.
Question 1 asks what a small survey can establish. Consider how much confidence that sample supports before choosing the missing description.
In Question 3, the explanation after the colon supports the first blank. Use the plan’s concrete provisions to judge the possible descriptions.
For Question 5, identify the problem, the ecologists’ response, and its intended effect. Each blank needs to fit that same sequence.
Text completion questions have one to three blanks. A single-blank question has five choices; multiple-blank questions have three choices per blank. Choose one answer for each blank. On the GRE, all blanks must be correct to receive credit.
Question format: ETS Verbal Reasoning overview.
Because the survey included only twelve households, all within a single neighborhood, its conclusions about the city's commuting habits must remain [Blank 1].
Select one answer.
Answer: C
The survey drew information from only a small number of households in one neighborhood. Such a narrow sample cannot strongly support a conclusion about an entire city's commuting habits, so the findings must be considered "tentative."
The committee's preliminary report was superficial, but its final analysis was remarkably [Blank 1].
Select one answer.
Answer: B
The conjunction “but” signals a contrast between the two reports. The preliminary report was “superficial,” so the final report must have been thorough. “Comprehensive” means complete and detailed, making it the only choice that provides the required contrast.
The municipal emergency plan was [Blank 1]: it specified an evacuation route for every neighborhood and [Blank 2] the agency responsible for inspecting each public shelter.
Select one answer for each blank.
Blank 1: ABlank 2: D
The colon indicates that the details in the second part of the sentence explain the description in the first part. A plan that specifies a route for every neighborhood and addresses responsibility for each shelter is comprehensive, so “comprehensive” completes Blank 1. To provide the stated level of detail, the plan must have named the agency responsible for each inspection; therefore, “identified” completes Blank 2. Neither “perfunctory” nor “speculative” is consistent with the plan's extensive provisions, and neither “criticized” nor “excluded” expresses the act of specifying responsibility.
Because the archaeologists recorded the position of even the smallest fragments and checked each entry against field photographs, their catalog was unusually [Blank 1]. That care exposed errors in the accepted reconstruction of the site, making a [Blank 2] of its building sequence unavoidable.
Select one answer for each blank.
Blank 1: ABlank 2: E
Recording even the smallest fragments and checking each entry against photographs indicate that the catalog was meticulous. This careful work exposed errors in the accepted reconstruction, so the building sequence must be reassessed. Thus, “meticulous” and “reassessment” provide the completions that preserve the passage’s causal progression.
Because a localized gust can make the reading from any one pollen trap [Blank 1], ecologists seeking regional estimates do not interpret each trap in isolation. Instead, they [Blank 2] data from traps distributed across the study area, thereby [Blank 3] the influence of brief, site-specific fluctuations.
Select one answer for each blank.
Blank 1: ABlank 2: DBlank 3: G
A localized gust can cause the reading from one pollen trap to depart from the usual pattern, so “aberrant” completes Blank 1. Because the ecologists do not interpret each trap separately, they “pool” data from traps across the study area for Blank 2. Combining those data reduces the effect of a short-lived fluctuation at any single site, so “attenuating” completes Blank 3.
The botanical illustrator's reputation for scrupulous empiricism was long [Blank 1] by the remarkable consistency of her published plates. Multispectral imaging, however, shows that irregular features visible in preliminary drawings were repeatedly [Blank 2] before publication; the plates thus appear less to transcribe observed specimens than to [Blank 3] a preconceived botanical ideal.
Select one answer for each blank.
Blank 1: ABlank 2: FBlank 3: I
The remarkable consistency of the published plates initially appeared to support the illustrator's reputation for careful observation, so “buttressed” completes Blank 1. The word “however” introduces evidence that reverses this impression: irregular features in the preliminary drawings were made more uniform before publication and were therefore “regularized” in Blank 2. Because these alterations made the specimens conform to a preconceived ideal, the plates served to “instantiate,” or embody, that ideal in Blank 3 rather than simply record observed specimens.
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StudyPattern connects GRE Verbal lessons with practice in cause and effect, contrast, and completing an idea. Keep practicing those relationships and review missed questions while the reasoning is fresh.
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