Tips for Mastering the GRE’s Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion Questions
The Verbal Reasoning section is just one of three parts on the Graduate Record Examination , also known as the GRE. In addition to answering reading comprehension questions in this section, you must also answer both sentence equivalence and text completion questions.
Take a closer look at what these types of questions entail, and learn some strategies for arriving at the correct answers:
What Are Sentence Equivalence Questions?
For each sentence equivalence question, you are given a sentence with a blank space. There are a total of six answer choices for each sentence equivalence question. Instead of choosing just one answer to put into the blank space, you must choose two – when put into the blank space, each answer option should create a logical sentence. Furthermore, both complete sentences should have the same meaning.
Strategies for Mastering Sentence Equivalence Questions
There are many things you can do to improve your performance on this part of the GRE. You should start working on any sentence equivalence question by reading the entire sentence and scanning all of the answer choice options. One of the most effective GRE sentence completion tips for you to keep in mind is to look for words and phrases that reveal the meaning or tone of a sentence . It’s easier to choose the most appropriate answer options when you grasp the overall meaning of a sentence.
For example, the words “however” and “although” can be clues that the second part of a sentence conflicts or contrasts with the first part. Take a look at this sentence:
“The trial attorney was known for his grandiloquent speeches in the courtroom; however, his demeanor was ____ while spending time at home with his family.”
The word “however” in the sentence should signal a student to look for an answer option that means the opposite of “grandiloquent.” In contrast, if you see the words “moreover” or “similarly” in a sentence, you should bear in mind that these words indicate agreement or continuing an argument.
If you’re looking for other useful GRE sentence completion tips, you may want to try coming up with a few of your own words that would fit logically into a sentence. After thinking of a short list of words, you can peruse the answer options to find two words that are similar in meaning. Another technique to try as you work on GRE sentence equivalence practice is to use the process of elimination – cross out answer options that would definitely not fit in the sentence.
What Are Text Completion Questions?
GRE text completion questions measure how well you evaluate and interpret reading material. Each GRE text completion question features a short passage. There are one to three blank spaces within the passage, requiring you to choose the best answer option for each one.
If there are three blanks in a passage, then you’ll have three answer options per blank. Alternatively, if the passage consists of just a single sentence with one blank space, then you will receive five answer options to choose from. In the end, you should end up with a passage made up of logical sentences.
How to Master Text Completion Questions
The first step in your approach to a text completion question should be to read the entire passage. This gives you an idea of the tone and structure of the passage. The next step is to look for words in the passage that can help you select the answer option that leads to logical sentence completion. GRE questions in this section challenge your ability to consistently create coherent sentences. Some words to look for include “moreover,” “although,” and “however.”
When working on a text completion question, it’s not necessary for you to start with the first blank and finish by finding an answer option that fits the third blank. Sometimes, filling in the blanks out of order can simplify the process of determining the correct answers for each one.
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