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Home » GRE Revised Test » Verbal Reasoning

GRE Verbal Practice Questions — Text Completion

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Question 8

Elementary schools are far better equipped than secondary schools when it comes to (1)____________ students with behavioral disabilities such as autism. While inculcating rudimentary cognitive and behavioral skills (2)____________ elementary education, the same can hardly be said for the secondary level, where students are assumed to have already attained a high level of independent functioning and to possess the necessary planning and study skills for academic survival. Today's emphasis on content knowledge, mainly through standardized testing, at the expense of vocational training has only served to (3)_____________.

Blank (1) Blank (2) Blank (3)
disciplining can potentially hinder boost graduation rates
accommodating is integral to alienate qualified instructors
accepting should be left to exacerbate the problem

Answer and Analysis

Here are the correct entries for the three blanks (you would need to select all three entries to gain credit for a correct answer to the question):

  • Blank (1): accommodating
  • Blank (2): is integral to
  • Blank (3): exacerbate the problem

Reading the passage from start to finish should tell you that it seeks to draw a contrast between elementary and secondary education. With this in mind, probably the best place to begin completing the text is blank (2). The phrase is integral to makes sense there, since it establishes a clear contrast between the two education levels: elementary schools by design teach basic skills, whereas secondary schools do not.

The word accommodating is quite apt for blank (1) because it suggests a capacity to handle and possibly help students with behavioral disabilities.

To complete blank (3), you need to apply some common knowledge — specifically, that students with behavioral disabilities are typically placed in vocational training classes, whereas other students are more likely to be enrolled in courses emphasizing content knowledge. Since secondary schools are ill-equipped to deal with behaviorally disabled students, de-emphasizing vocational training would undoubtedly exacerbate the problem — i.e., make it worse.