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As of the 2008-2009 testing year, for some GRE test takers the Verbal section will include one Text Completion item, which will involve multiple fill-in blanks and multiple-choices for each blank. Any combination of selections — one per blank — is possible. To receive credit for a correct response to the test item, you must fill in all blanks correctly. (Partial credit is not awarded.) The text will range from one to five sentences and will contain either 2 or 3 blanks.
The following directions will appear on your screen just before your Text Completion question (and you can access them while tackling the question by clicking on the HELP button). |
Directions: Select one entry from each column to fill in the corresponding blanks in a way that provides the best completion for the text.
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Sample GRE Text-Completion Question
The following Text Completion example would be considered average in difficulty level. About 55% of test takers would respond to it correctly — that is, they would fill in all three blanks correctly).
Our growing reliance on computers as (i)____________ tools has led many parents to assume that young children don't need to be monitored when using a computer, as they do when watching television or a movie. Yet, educational psychologists have shown this notion to be largely (ii)____________, not because computers aren't good enough teachers but rather because, (iii)____________ adult supervision, young children cannot focus on any single subject long enough to learn much.
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Quick Tip for Sample Question
To complete certain blanks, you'll need to understand the gist of the entire passage (the passage as a whole). Pay special attention to transition words that suggests a rhetorical point that the passage's writer might seek to convey.
Analysis of Sample Question
Here are the correct responses for the three blanks:
(i) stand-alone educational
(ii) misconceived
(iii) absent
As a whole, the passage examines the use of computers as substitutes for human teachers, so the phrase stand-alone educational in blank (i) makes sense. The word Yet, which begins the second sentence, signals that the idea just ahead opposes, or counters, the previous one; thus, misconceived fits blank (ii). The word absent is the best choice for blank (iii) because it gives the final sentence a meaning that is consistent with the rest of the passage.
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