Predict the missing idea from the whole context, then choose the most precise completion among five options.
GRE General Test45 min study guide9 indexed sections
BY THE END, YOU CAN
Use contrast, explanation and consequence to predict a blank.
Check polarity, degree, grammar and idiomatic fit.
Reject plausible words that do not explain the sentence.
Distinguish context evidence from assumptions about people or subjects.
BEFORE YOU START
Identify the grammatical role of a missing word.
Recognize common contrast and support relations.
Original educational lesson. Work through the examples before revealing the practice answers. This original lesson supports current GRE General Test study; it does not reproduce official questions, certify a writing score or predict test content.
LEARN THROUGH ORIGINAL PRACTICE
Original GRE-style worked examples and practice
All teaching passages, writing prompts, examples and exercises in this lesson are original. No official ETS questions, prompts or explanations are reproduced. Current structure and observed public sample metadata are separate from this original teaching; no official score or question probability is implied.
01 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Complete a coherent thought
A single-blank Text Completion item has five choices and requires one answer. The blank may occur in a short sentence or within a longer passage. Read all the supplied text before selecting: an explanation after the blank may constrain it more strongly than the opening clause.
The task is not to find a word that could appear near the topic. It is to restore a coherent proposition with the appropriate relationship to the surrounding information. All completion sentences and options in this lesson are original educational material.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
An explanation fixes the meaning
Choose one: The curator’s description was ___: it identified the material, date and maker in only twelve words. A prolix; B concise; C evasive; D speculative; E contradictory.
The colon introduces evidence about the description.
Twelve words plus the relevant identifying information suggests economical wording.
Predict “brief but informative,” then match concise.
Prolix means excessively wordy, contrary to the clue. Evasive, speculative and contradictory concern properties the sentence does not establish.
Answer B: concise.
02 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Predict in ordinary language first
Cover the choices and state the missing idea in a phrase: “hard to detect,” “too confident,” “careful about details.” This prevents an attractive option from redefining what the sentence means. The prediction need not match a choice word for word; it should preserve the logical role and degree.
If you cannot predict a specific word, predict a constraint: the blank must describe a limitation, or it must contrast with an earlier advantage. Then use that constraint to evaluate options. Avoid forcing a vague positive/negative label when the needed distinction is more specific.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
Specific rather than merely positive
Choose one: Because every inference in the report is tied to a dated record, the account is unusually ___. A cheerful; B substantiated; C fashionable; D concise; E impartial.
The evidence is explicit support for inferences.
Predict “backed by evidence,” not simply “good.”
Substantiated expresses that property.
Impartial could describe fairness and concise could describe length, but neither follows from documented support. Cheerful and fashionable concern unrelated qualities.
Answer B: substantiated.
03 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Locate the exact axis of contrast
“Although,” “despite,” “yet” and “nevertheless” signal that two propositions pull against an expectation. They do not mean that every word must have a simple antonym. A researcher can be skeptical of one interpretation while enthusiastic about collecting new evidence; identify the objects and dimensions being contrasted.
Write the implied expectation: “If a device is complex, we might expect it to be hard to repair; instead it is easy.” The blank then supplies the surprising property. This works better than mechanically selecting a negative word after a positive clause.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
Contrast between appearance and access
Choose one: Although the instrument’s exterior looks forbiddingly complex, its controls are remarkably ___. A accessible; B ornamental; C fragile; D antiquated; E erratic.
The concession creates an expectation of difficult use.
The main clause reverses that expectation about controls.
Accessible fits ease of understanding or use.
Ornamental and antiquated do not create the relevant reversal; fragile and erratic concern reliability rather than ease.
Answer A: accessible.
04 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Meaning includes degree and implication
Two choices can share a general direction while differing in strength. “Reduce” is not “eradicate”; “question” is not “refute”; “cautious” is not “paralyzed.” Select the word warranted by the evidence, including how far the claim goes.
A word may also carry an implication absent from the text. “Duplicitous” implies deception; an inconsistent account need not be deliberately deceitful. “Innovative” implies novelty; an effective method need not be new. Do not reward an option for sounding more sophisticated.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
Reduction without elimination
Choose one: Corrosion continued beneath the coating, but progressed much less rapidly; the coating ___ the process. A accelerated; B arrested; C slowed; D exposed; E imitated.
Corrosion explicitly continued, so the process did not stop.
“Much less rapidly” specifies a reduced rate rather than complete cessation.
Slowed expresses that continuing but reduced rate.
Arrested would describe stopping the process; accelerated reverses the rate change, and exposed or imitated does not express it.
Answer C: slowed.
05 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Use the full passage rather than the nearest adjective
When the blank appears in a multi-sentence passage, neighboring words may tempt you toward a local association that conflicts with the whole. Build a miniature argument map: initial claim, evidence, correction. The blank often names the corrected judgment.
Longer context can also define an unfamiliar word indirectly. If several sentences describe a result as varying with assumptions, a word meaning conditional or unstable may fit better than a familiar word suggested by the topic.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
The final sentence supplies the limit
Choose one: Early reviews called the archive exhaustive because it contained thousands of files. A later audit found that records from the smallest towns were rarely preserved. The archive’s apparent comprehensiveness was therefore ___. A illusory; B intentional; C indispensable; D increasing; E inevitable.
Thousands of files explains the initial impression, not the final judgment.
Illusory describes an appearance not borne out by the audit.
Intentional invents a motive; indispensable concerns usefulness rather than completeness; increasing and inevitable lack support.
Answer A: illusory.
06 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Reread the completed sentence as a final test
Check part of speech, agreement, preposition patterns and what the word modifies. Then reread the entire completed sentence. It should sound grammatically natural and make the stated explanation or contrast meaningful. Grammar alone is insufficient when several choices are grammatical.
If two answers seem plausible, compare their implications explicitly. Ask what extra fact would be needed to justify each. The better completion usually requires fewer invented assumptions and accounts for more of the supplied clues. A word’s frequent association with the subject is weaker evidence than a direct explanatory clause.
07 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Original practice: predict before selecting
For every question choose exactly one of five options. State the clue before reading the explanation.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 1
The witness was ___ about the exact time, offering three incompatible estimates. A precise; B uncertain; C eloquent; D vindictive; E prompt.
Reveal answer & reasoning
B: uncertain.
Incompatible estimates show lack of certainty about time. They do not establish deliberate revenge, speaking style or punctuality. Precise conflicts with the evidence.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 2
The revised instructions are ___, specifying each step rather than relying on the reader to infer the procedure. A explicit; B obsolete; C optional; D hesitant; E ornate.
Reveal answer & reasoning
A: explicit.
Specifying each step contrasts with leaving information implicit. None of the other properties follows from that contrast.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 3
Although the proposal initially seemed ___, the pilot showed that it could be implemented with existing staff and equipment. A feasible; B impractical; C popular; D familiar; E concise.
Reveal answer & reasoning
B: impractical.
The pilot establishes practicality, reversing the initial impression. Feasible would remove the contrast; popularity, familiarity and brevity do not describe implementability.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 4
The scholar does not ___ the earlier account; she retains its central claim while narrowing its application. A reject; B cite; C read; D describe; E summarize.
Reveal answer & reasoning
A: reject.
Retaining the central claim explains why outright rejection is the wrong characterization. The sentence does not rule out citation, reading, description or summary.
08 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Original practice: degree, implication and whole context
Choose one answer; do not add a second answer merely because it is broadly compatible with the topic.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 1
The data are ___: they support either of two explanations and do not distinguish between them. A decisive; B equivocal; C fabricated; D abundant; E inaccessible.
Reveal answer & reasoning
B: equivocal.
The evidence is ambiguous between explanations. Fabrication would imply false creation, which is not stated; abundance and accessibility do not resolve meaning.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 2
The reform was ___ rather than sudden, proceeding through small annual adjustments. A incremental; B reversible; C secretive; D coercive; E futile.
Reveal answer & reasoning
A: incremental.
Small successive adjustments define incremental change. The alternatives add reversibility, secrecy, force or ineffectiveness without clues.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 3
The critic’s praise was ___: she admired the argument’s clarity but questioned its evidence. A unqualified; B measured; C unanimous; D fabricated; E irrelevant.
Reveal answer & reasoning
B: measured.
Praise balanced with a substantive reservation is restrained or measured. Unqualified conflicts with the reservation; unanimous concerns a group, not this critic.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 4
A notation error affected only one entry. Calling the entire dataset worthless would therefore be ___. A disproportionate; B inevitable; C meticulous; D transparent; E provisional.
Reveal answer & reasoning
A: disproportionate.
The response would exceed the limited defect’s demonstrated scope. The sentence does not prove the dataset sound in every other respect, but it gives no basis for total dismissal.
09 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Review the reasoning, not just the vocabulary
When you miss an item, separate three possible failures: not knowing a word, misreading the logical relationship, or choosing a word with the wrong degree or implication. Write a plain-language prediction and a brief reason each tempting option fails. That record is more transferable than a list of answers.
Learn an unfamiliar answer through a new sentence of your own. Include the contrast that distinguishes it from the nearest distractor, such as “equivocal evidence leaves alternatives open; decisive evidence resolves them.” Avoid treating two words as interchangeable in every context.
KEEP THE BIG IDEAS
Quick revision
A single-blank item requires one of five choices.
Predict the missing idea from all available context.
Match the specific dimension, degree and implication rather than broad positive/negative tone.
Reread the completed sentence to check both grammar and reasoning.
The teaching notes, passages, worked explanations and practice are original. Official references identify the assessment framework and skill scope; they do not endorse this lesson or license official question reproduction.
GRE analytics distinguish current test structure from a small independently classified public sample selection. Writing instruction has no observed prompt-frequency denominator. These are not historical administered-exam frequencies.