# GRE Text Completion: Method, Traps and Example | topin

GRE guidesText Completion

Section

Verbal Reasoning, usually in a block near the start of each section

Format

A passage of one to five sentences with one, two or three blanks

Choices

One blank: five choices. Two or three blanks: three choices per blank

Credit

All-or-nothing: every blank must be right

Time

Verbal averages about 1.5 minutes a question; one-blank items should take less

## How it works

You read a passage of one to five sentences in which one, two or three words or phrases are missing. A one-blank question has five choices; with two or three blanks, each blank has its own column of three choices and you choose one from each. The blanks are not independent: the right word for one often depends on the word in another, and you only score if every blank is correct.

## Worked example

Although the committee's report was praised for its (i)\_\_\_\_, critics noted that its brevity came at a cost: several findings central to the policy debate were (ii)\_\_\_\_ rather than examined in depth.

1. ABlank (i): concision / exhaustiveness / ambiguity
2. BBlank (ii): scrutinised / glossed over / substantiated
Show the answer

Blank (i): concision. Blank (ii): glossed over.

Start with blank (ii), which has the clearest clue: "rather than examined in depth" needs a contrast with careful examination, so glossed over fits. Scrutinised means the same as examined, which the contrast rules out, and substantiated does not oppose examining. For blank (i), "its brevity" tells you what the report was praised for, so concision fits. Exhaustiveness contradicts brevity, and ambiguity is not something a report is praised for. "Although" confirms the shape: praise for being short, then the cost of being short.

## A method for Text Completion

1. 1  
### Read the whole passage first  
Read to the end before touching any blank. The clue for the first blank is often in the last sentence, and a passage can change direction halfway through.
2. 2  
### Find the clue and the signal words  
For each blank, underline in your head the words that define it (the clue) and the words that tell you whether it agrees or contrasts (although, yet, rather than, indeed, because, so). The clue says what the blank is about; the signal says which way it points.
3. 3  
### Predict before you look  
Put your own simple word in each blank, such as "short" or "skipped". Your prediction does not have to be elegant; it only has to capture the meaning so you can match it against the choices.
4. 4  
### Start with the easiest blank  
In two- and three-blank questions, solve the blank with the strongest clue first, whichever position it is in, then use that answer as a clue for the others.
5. 5  
### Reread the full passage with your choices in  
Once every blank is filled, read the complete passage. It should make sense as a whole, with each signal word doing its job. If one blank now feels forced, revisit it before moving on.

## Traps to avoid

* A choice that fits the topic of the passage but points the wrong way, such as a word meaning "examined" where the signal demands its opposite.
* Choosing the first blank in isolation and then forcing the second and third to fit a wrong start.
* Missing a reversal word such as although, despite or yet, so the prediction ends up the opposite of what the passage needs.
* Picking a hard word because it sounds sophisticated rather than because it matches your prediction.
* Misreading double negatives such as "far from unwarranted", which means warranted.

## Text Completion FAQs

Is there partial credit on GRE Text Completion?

No. On two- and three-blank questions you must get every blank right to score, and a question with one wrong blank counts the same as leaving it empty.

How many Text Completion questions are on the GRE?

The exact number varies from test to test, but expect a few in each Verbal section, usually grouped together near the start.

Should I fill the blanks in order?

No. Start with the blank that has the clearest clue and use it to solve the others. The first blank is often the hardest, because its clue sits later in the passage.

How do I get better at Text Completion?

Build vocabulary in context and practise predicting blanks before looking at the choices. Practising topin's Text Completion questions by difficulty and reviewing why each wrong choice fails trains both at once.

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