GRE Verbal Secrets Revealed

Sample Sentence Completions Question from the Verbal subtest

Louisa May Alcott’s _______ the philosophical brilliance of her father’s intellect was_______ by her impatience with his unworldliness.

A. exasperation with . . contradicted

B. concealment of . . supplanted

C. respect for . . augmented

D. rebellion against . . qualified

E. reverence for . . tempered

Let’s look at a couple of different methods of solving this problem.

1. Understand What to Expect

Before you have read any of the answer choices and begin to stumble over some of the complicated vocabulary words used in the answer choices, see if you can predict what the answer might be based on the information provided to you in the problem sentence. You aren’t trying to guess the exact word that might be in the correct answer choice, but only the type of word that you should expect. Is it a positive

word, negative word, etc?

Ask yourself what sort of words would likely fill the blanks provided. Consider the first blank, which comes directly before a description of the intellectual brilliance of Louisa’s father. It is likely that she loved her father and thought highly of him, particularly with regards to his intelligence. Therefore, you should expect a verb

with a positive meaning to fill the first blank.

The second blank comes directly before a description of her impatience with her father over his unworldliness. Her father’s brilliance is a positive attribute, the unworldliness is a negative. The missing word is a verb that allows a transition between these two, somehow reconciling the positive and negative aspects of her father’s character.

Now that you have an idea of what to expect in a correct answer choice, review the choices provided. Choices C and E both have a positive word to fill the first blank, “respect” and “reverence” respectively, so either could be correct. Moving to the second word to clarify which is the correct answer, you encounter the words “augmented” and “tempered”. Augmenting deals with increasing or supporting. It doesn’t make sense that a positive attribute of her father’s would increase her impatience, making choice C incorrect. Tempering deals with modifying or adjusting. It does make sense that her perception of a positive attribute of her

father’s would be modified or adjusted by a negative attribute, making choice E correct.

2. Group the Answers

Review the answer choices and try to identify the common aspects of each answer choice. Are any of the words synonyms or antonyms?

Without ever having looked at the problem, but simply reviewing the answer choices can tell you a lot of information. Classify the words in the answer choice as positive or negative words and group them together. For example, you can tell that both answer choice A and D deal with “anger”, using the words "exasperation” and “rebellion”. Answer choices C and E deal with “appreciation”, using the words “respect” and “reverence”. Answer choice B stands alone, and in many cases can be immediately eliminated from consideration.

Grouping answers makes it easy to accept or reject more than one answer at a time. By reviewing the context of the sentence, “appreciation” makes more sense than “anger” in describing a woman’s perception of her father’s intellectual brilliance. Therefore, answer choices A and D can both be rejected simultaneously. Because “appreciation” is a likely description of Louisa’s perception of her father’s brilliance, choice B can be dismissed temporarily. If on further inspection answer choice C and E do not continue to make sense, then you can easily return to choice B for consideration.

Once again, in comparing the remaining words in choice C and E, “augmented” and “tempered”, the meaning of the root word “temper” as a modifying agent makes it the better answer, and choice E correct.

3. Make it Easier

As you go through and read the sentence and answer choices, don’t allow a complicated wording to confuse you. If you know the meaning of a phrase and it is over complicated, be sure to mentally substitute or scratch through and write above the phrase an easier word that means the same thing.

For example, you can rewrite “Louisa May Alcott’s ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ the philosophical brilliance of her father’s intellect was ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ by her impatience with his unworldliness” as “Louisa May Alcott’s ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ her father’s intelligence was ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ by her impatience with his simplicity.

Using words that are simpler and may make it easier for you to understand the true context of the sentence will make it easier for you to identify the correct answer choice. Similarly, you can use synonyms of difficult words as a mental replacement of the words in the answer choices to make it easier for you to understand how the word fits into the sentence.

For example, if you know the meaning of the word “supplanted” in choice B, but have difficulty understanding how it fits into the sentence, mentally replace it with the word “displaced.” Displaced means the same thing and may be easier for you to read and understand in the context of the sentence.