GRE Text Completion Set

Here are a couple of text completion questions.

1. The question of whether police need a _________ to affix a GPS tracking device to a _________ vehicle has made it all the way to the Supreme Court, which begins hearing arguments today.

a. warrant, license, subpoena
b. victim's, suspect’s, probate's


2. Privacy can be ________ by terrorists, human traffickers, identity thieves, and other criminals to mask illicit activity and to confer ________, from where it is only a short hop to __________.

a. accessed, exploited, threatened
b. anonymity, legitimacy, depravity
c. complicity, impunity, clemency

New GRE Quant :

More than one answer correct Questions

The new format of GRE has a set of questions that have more than one answer correct. The question may or may not specify the number of answers that are correct. You get credit only if you mark all the correct choices and none of the incorrect ones.

Here is an example.

What values of x will satisfy the inequality x^2 + 12x – 28 < 0?
a. -2 < x < 2
b. -14 < x < -12
c. -6 < x < 14
d. -2 < x < 14
e. x < -14
f. x < 2

Correct Answer: Choices A and B.

Explanation
Factorizing, we get (x + 14)(x - 2) < 0

If the expression in the left hand side of the inequality is less than 0,
either (x + 14) is positive and (x - 2) is negative or
(x + 14) is negative and (x - 2) is positive.

Case 1: (x + 14) is positive and (x - 2) is negative
i.e., (x + 14) > 0 and (x - 2) < 0
or x > -14 and x < 2
or -14 < x < 2

Case 2: (x + 14) is negative and (x - 2) is positive
i.e., (x + 14) < 0 and (x - 2) > 0
or x < -14 and x > 2. Such a number does not exist. Hence, infeasible solution

So, the range of values of x that satisfy the inequality is -14 < x < 2.

Shortcut to find the solution
If (x - a)(x - b) < 0 then x will lie between 'a' and 'b'.

Now let us go to the choices
Choice A : -2 < x < 2. Lies within -14 < x < 2. Hence, satisfies.
Choice B : -14 < x < -12. Lies within -14 < x < 2. Hence, satisfies.
Choice C: -6 < x < 14. Lies outside -14 < x < 2. Does not satisfy.
Choice D: -2 < x < 14. Lies outside -14 < x < 2. Does not satisfy.
Choice E: x < -14. Lies outside -14 < x < 2. Does not satisfy.
Choice F: x < 2. Lies outside -14 < x < 2 for values of x < -14. Does not satisfy.

So, the answer choices that are correct are A and B.

GRE Text Completion Sample

The sentence completion questions of the old format of GRE, with suitable modifications appear as text completion questions in the New Format of GRE.

In the older version, if a question sentence has two blanks, each of the 5 answer choices will have two words. In the new version, there will be 3 choices for the first blank and there will be 3 choices for the second blank. The first of the 3 choices might be correct for the first blank and the last of the 3 choices might be correct for the second blank. So, the link that was provided in the earlier version in the way in which answer choices were presented is no longer available.

It makes this set of questions that much more interesting.

Here are a couple of sample GRE Text Completion questions.

The law of war is __________ not only upon States as such but also upon individuals and, in particular, the members of their armed forces. Parties are bound by the laws of war to the extent that such ______________ does not interfere with achieving legitimate military goals
a. enforcing, forcing, binding
b. incompetence, compliance, reverses

2. Space exploration has often been used as ______________ competition for geopolitical rivalries such as the Cold War. Common ______________ for exploring space include advancing scientific research, uniting different nations, ensuring the future survival of humanity and developing military and strategic advantages against other countries.
a. an uninhibited, a proxy, an unclear
b. rejoinders, rationales, results


Answers and Explanation
Q1. With regard to the first blank, we can rule out enforcing since it doesnt make grammatical sense, and we can rule out forcing since it doesnt make logical sense. The correct choice is 'binding'

With regard to the second blank, We can rule out incompetence since it doesnt make logical sense, and we can rule out reverses since it doesnt make logical sense. The correct choice is 'compliance'

Q2. With regard to the first blank, we can rule out an uninhibited and an unclear since they dont not make logical sense. The correct choice is 'a proxy'

With regard to the second blank, we can rule out rejoinders and results since they dont make logical sense. The correct choice is 'rationales'

A set of 3 GRE Sentence Completion Questions

Here is another set of 3 sentence completion questions. This is one type of question which not only tests your knowledge of vocabulary but also tests the usage in a context.

Sentence Completion Question 1
In 2005, WAKA _______ a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against a rival, DCKickball. In the suit, WAKA claims intellectual property to the official rules of kickball, and seeks $356,000 in compensatory and _______ damages.

a. sued, considerable
b. filed, punitive
c. filled, substantial
d. submitted, small
e. signed, preemptive


Sentence Completion Question 2
Chekhov had at first written stories only for ___________ gain, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have ____________ the evolution of the modern short story.

a. monetary, inhibited
b. financial, influenced
c. profit, coerced
d. fiscal, checked
e. overall, stopped


Sentence Completion Question 3
3. Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder ___________ by recurrent unprovoked seizures.

a. embodied
b. speckled
c. characterized
d. symptomatic
e. caused

Click for Explanatory Answers to this set of GRE Sentence Completion questions

3 more GRE Sentence Completion Questions

Here are another set of 3 GRE Sentence Completion Questions

Question 1
A fire, ________ started by a workman who was repairing the lead of the roof, ____________ the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.
A. wantonly, created
B. deliberately, improved
C. accidentally, destroyed
D. helpfully, revealed
E. singlehandedly, circumvented


Question 2
Emerson gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his ___________, formulating and ___________ the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his 1836 essay, Nature.
A. family, eschewing
B. peers, possessing
C. professors, denying
D. contemporaries, expressing
E. country, cataloguing


Question 3
Art is commonly understood as the act of making works (or artworks) which use the human creative _______ and which have meaning beyond simple description.
A. psyche
B. rationale
C. impulse
D. zeal
E. talent

Answers, explanatio to these questions can be accessed by following this link

Set of 3 GRE Sentence Completion Practice

Question 1
In fear of assassination, Li Shimin __________ and killed his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng in the Incident at Xuanwu Gate. On September 4, Shimin's father __________ in his favor and Shimin became Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor of China.

A. assassinated, descended
B. waited, succeeded
C. ambushed, abdicated
D. conspired, celebrated
E. paid, profited

Question 2
Slavery is a system in which people are the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and _________ of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand wages. In some societies it was _______ for an owner to kill a slave; in others it was a crime.

A. empowered, usual
B. void, mandatory
C. devoid, commonplace
D. imbibed, symbolic
E. deprived, legal

Question 3
While the family's finances ____________ improved with the acquisition of a new house and even the hiring of two servants, it soon became apparent Edwin was an alcoholic. Five years later, he was forced to retire and although he attempted to ___________ himself through treatment, he was never reinstated at the Rock Island Railroad.

A. tremendously, medicate
B. seemingly, rehabilitate
C. evidently, invigorate
D. arguably, strengthen
E. strongly, cure

Click for Correct answers and explanation to these Sentence Completion questions

New GRE from 2011

As you may be aware, ETS, creator of the GRE General Test is revising the format of the test from Aug-Sep 2011. The GRE revised General Test is designed to be even more closely aligned with the skills needed in today's demanding graduate and business school programs, and to help you make more informed admissions decisions.


The GRE revised General Test is aimed to be a friendlier, more technically advanced test that's been updated to provide you with even more reliable results.

The revised test features a new score scale that reports the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures on a 130 – 170 score scale, in 1-point increments (vs. 200 – 800 in 10-point increments). Compressing the reporting metric means producing scores that won't exaggerate small performance differences between examinees.

The new score scale for the GRE revised General Test is as follows:
* Verbal Reasoning scores will be reported on a new 130–170 score scale, in 1-point increments (versus 200–800 in 10-point increments).
* Quantitative Reasoning scores will be reported on a new 130–170 score scale, in 1-point increments (versus 200–800 in 10-point increments).
* Analytical Writing scores will continue to be reported on the same 0–6 score scale, in half-point increments.

What Is Changing in Test Structure and Length?
The overall testing time for the GRE revised General Test is approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes, plus short breaks for the test taker. There are six sections to the revised test:

* One Analytical Writing section with two separately timed writing tasks
* Two Verbal Reasoning sections
* Two Quantitative Reasoning sections
* One unscored section, typically a Verbal Reasoning or Quantitative Reasoning section, that may appear at any point in the test

Here's a breakdown of the timing and tasks for each test section:

1a. Analytical Writing section comprising an "Analyze an Issue" task. The duration of the task is 30 minutes

1b. Analytical Writing section comprising an "Analyze an Argument" task. The duration of the task is 30 minutes.

2. Verbal Reasoning (2 sections). Approximately 20 questions per section. The duration is 30 minutes per section.

3. Quantitative Reasoning (2 sections). Approximately 20 questions per section. The duration is 30 minutes per section.

4. There is an Unscored* section. The number of questions varies and the time duration varies.

5. There is a Research** section. The number of questions varies and the time duration varies.

*An unidentified unscored section that does not count toward a score may be included and may appear in any order after the Analytical Writing section.

**An identified research section may be included in place of the unscored section. The research section will always appear at the end of the test. Questions in this section are included for the purpose of ETS research and will not count toward the test taker's score.

There is a 10-minute break following the third section, and a 1-minute break between the other test sections.

What Is Changing for the Test Taker?

Now, test takers find more real-life scenarios, less reliance on memorization, the freedom to take advantage of their own personal test-taking style and strategies, even an on-screen calculator for help with the Quantitative Reasoning measure.

Here are the changes that provide test takers with a better experience:

* New questions that better reflect the skills they need for graduate and business school
* New response formats, including computer-enabled tasks such as numeric entry answers
* Less reliance on vocabulary knowledge out of context, and more emphasis on reading
* New preview and review capabilities within a section
* New "mark and review" feature to tag questions, so they can skip what they don't know and return later
* New ability to change/edit answers
* New on-screen calculator* for the Quantitative Reasoning measure

Students, who are currently preparing for the GRE, have nothing to worry about — scores will be valid for five years. Nevertheless, the optimal strategy for test-takers will be to prepare for three to four months, and take the test before the format changes.