Text Completion

Section: Text Completion Estimated study time: 45 minutes Content: Text Completion questions appear throughout both Verbal Reasoning sections of the digital GRE and ask you to fill one, two, or three blanks in a short passage (typically 1–5 sentences). Each blank has three answer choices (for single-blank questions, five choices). In multi-blank questions, you must select the correct answer for each blank independently — there is no partial credit; you must get all blanks correct to earn the point. The most important strategy for Text Completion is to predict your own answer before looking at the choices. Read the sentence(s) carefully, identify the direction of logic (is the blank contrasting, extending, or exemplifying the surrounding text?), and predict a word or phrase that fits. Then match your prediction to the choices. Avoid the common trap of substituting answer choices into the blank and picking the one that "sounds okay" — this approach is slow and leaves you vulnerable to sophisticated distractors. Logic keywords are your navigation tools. Contrast signals (although, however, despite, while, even though, yet, but) tell you the blank must go opposite to what was stated. Extension signals (therefore, thus, hence, as a result, consequently, furthermore, moreover) tell you the blank continues or intensifies the stated idea. Cause-effect signals (because, since, given that, so) tell you the blank is caused by or causes the surrounding information. In two-blank and three-blank questions, work through the blanks in the order that gives you the most context. Often one blank is much easier to determine than the others — solve the easier one first and use that to constrain the remaining choices. If Blank (i) is hard but Blank (ii)…