To earn a competitive GRE Verbal score, you’ll need to become adept at solving GRE Text Completion (TC) questions. GRE students often fret about these questions, but there is nothing to worry about! The truth is that, with some time and smart GRE prep, GRE Text Completion questions can become one of your strengths on the GRE. With some time and smart GRE prep, GRE Text Completion questions can become one of your strengths on the GRE.

So, if you’re seeking some GRE TC practice questions, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll talk a bit about Text Completion questions and walk through some high-value sample Text Completion questions.

Let’s begin by discussing what GRE Text Completion questions are.


GRE Text Completion questions present us with a sentence or series of related sentences that are missing a word or words. Where a word is missing, we will see a blank that we need to fill in. The word that we select to fill a blank must logically complete the sentence.

There are three types of Text Completion questions on the GRE: 1-blank, 2-blank, and 3-blank. One-blank questions are always only one sentence long and provide us with five answer choices from which we must choose one in order to fill the blank.

Two-blank and 3-blank TC questions can range from one sentence to multiple sentences (the length of a short paragraph). For 2-blank and 3-blank questions, we are given three answer choices for each blank, and we must choose one answer per blank.

There is no partial credit on 2-blank and 3-blank TC questions. So, for instance, on a 3-blank TC question, you must correctly fill all 3 blanks for the question to be marked correct.

Let’s try a practice Text Completion question.

GRE Text Completion Practice Question #1

The mayor opted to uphold the curfew, despite relentless pressure from residents to __________ it.

A. maintain
B. endorse
C. attempt
D. promote
E. rescind

Solution:

First, we read through the sentence. Next, we locate the signal word “despite.” We then determine that “despite” conveys a contrast. Now, we evaluate our known information: “The mayor opted to uphold (maintain) the curfew.” Finally, we must select the answer choice that best maintains a contrast with the known information.

(A) Incorrect. There is no contrast between upholding the curfew and being pressured to “maintain” the curfew. Those two things are in perfect agreement. Notice that “uphold” and “maintain” actually mean the same thing. Thus, this answer is the opposite of what we need.

(B) Incorrect. There is no contrast between upholding the curfew and being pressured to “endorse” (approve, support) the curfew. Those two things agree. Thus, this answer is the opposite of what we need.

(C) Incorrect. There is no contrast between upholding the curfew and being pressured to “attempt” the curfew. If anything, those two things agree.

Moreover, “attempt” does not really make sense in this context, since upholding the curfew indicates that it was already in place, and thus the “attempt” was already made. So, this choice does not create a logical time sequence.

(D) Incorrect. There is no contrast between upholding the curfew and being pressured to “promote” the curfew. Those two things agree. Thus, this answer is the opposite of what we need.

(E) Correct. There is a clear contrast between upholding the curfew and being pressured to “rescind” (take away) the curfew.

The mayor opted to uphold the curfew, despite relentless pressure from residents to rescind it.

This answer creates the needed contrast between the information that was given in the sentence and the statement that was incomplete.

Answer: E

Let’s now talk about how many Text Completion questions are on the GRE.


On each 20-question Verbal section of the GRE, you can expect to see about six GRE Text Completion questions, for a total of about 12 TC questions on the GRE.

You can expect about four one-blank questions, four to five two-blank questions, and three to four three-blank questions. Remember that each of these GRE Text Completion questions is worth the same number of points.

Let’s try another GRE TC question.

GRE Text Completion Practice Question #2

In the United States, some presidential campaigns begin nearly two years before an election, while in the United Kingdom, such __________ campaigns are unheard of.

A. sensational
B. partisan
C. nonexistent
D. protracted
E. monotonous

Solution:

(A) Incorrect. Although “sensational” may seem related to the topic of presidential campaigns, this trap answer is actually off-topic. The fact is, the only information provided in the first part of the sentence deals with the length of campaigns. Thus, we have no evidence that the campaigns were “sensational” — or completely dull, for that matter.

(B) Incorrect. Although “partisan” (biased) may seem related to the topic of presidential campaigns, this trap answer is actually off-topic. The fact is, the sentence does not give us any information about the nature of the campaigns other than their length. Thus, we have no evidence that the campaigns were particularly “partisan” — although we might argue that campaigns in any country, by their very nature, are “partisan.” Regardless, “partisan” has nothing to do with the fact that “some presidential campaigns begin nearly two years before an election,” so this choice is unrelated to the given context.

(C) Incorrect. This answer choice is illogical in context. It does not make sense to say that presidential campaigns that “begin nearly two years before an election” are “nonexistent.” Clearly, the campaigns exist.

The key to avoiding this illogical answer is recognizing that “such __________ campaigns” refers to presidential campaigns that “begin nearly two years before an election.”

(D) Correct. This is the only answer choice that is logical in context. Given that the sentence discusses presidential campaigns that “begin nearly two years before an election,” it makes sense to refer to those campaigns as “protracted” (drawn out, prolonged).

In the United States, some presidential campaigns begin nearly two years before an election, while in the United Kingdom, such protracted campaigns are unheard of.

(E) Incorrect. Although “monotonous” (boring and repetitive) may seem appropriate to describe presidential campaigns that “begin nearly two years before an election,” the sentence does not actually give us any information about the nature of the campaigns other than their length. Thus, the campaigns could just as easily be “monotonous” or incredibly exciting. In other words, we can’t assume that because the campaigns are lengthy, they are “monotonous.”

Answer: D

Let’s now talk about how to improve your GRE Text Completion skills.