Text Completion questions test this ability by omitting crucial words from short passages and asking the test taker to use the remaining information in the passage as a basis for selecting words or short phrases to fill the blanks and create a coherent and a meaningful whole sentence. These questions are easy to answer if one comprehends the text that is given perfectly.
Question Structure
- A question will be given that consists of a passage composed of one to five sentences.
- One to three blanks will be present in the passage.
- Three answer choices will be given per blank. (five answer choices in the case of a single blank.)
- The answer choices for different blanks function independently; i.e., selecting one answer choice for one blank does not affect what answer choices you can select for another blank.
- Single correct answer, consisting of one choice for each blank; there will be no credit for partially correct answers.
Tips for Answering
Do not merely try to consider each possible combination of answers; doing so will take too long and is open to error. Instead, try to analyze the passage in the following way:
- Read through the passage try to understand the gist of it.
- Identify words or phrases that seem particularly significant, they may help you spot the answers correctly. Words like although or moreover will help you reach the central understanding of the passage. Knowing what the passage is about will make your questions easier.
- First try to fill the blanks with words you think make sense to the sentence. Once you know what word will fill the blank, you can look for words that are similar in the answer choices and fill them up.
- Never get stuck with the first blank of the passage. If you cannot figure it out, go ahead and finish the other blanks. Then the passage will get more understandable and may be you can easily fill up the first blank too. If you can’t still fill the first blank, then there is a possibility that you have made a mistake in the other options, so check them.
- After you have finished with the passage, read it fully to see if it makes sense, both logically and grammatically. It should be coherent and sound right. Then you’ll know that your answer is correct.
Some Examples of Text Completion
1. We live in a ____ age; everyone thinks that maximizing pleasure is the point of life.
A. ubiquitous
B. propitious
C. sporadic
D. corrupt
E. hedonistic
2. After having subjected the patient to an aggressive course of treatment that in itself could be (i)____, the doctor was thankful that the disease had gone into (ii)____ . He was able to tell the patient that symptoms might (iii)____ for many years.
Blank (i)
A. refulgent
B. life-enhancing
C. life-threatening
Blank (ii)
D. remission
E. quarantine
F. sequestration
Blank (iii)
G. not recur
H. persist
I. malinger
3. After centuries of (i)____, this philosopher's thesis is enjoying a surprising (ii)____ .
Blank (i)
A. limelight
B. obscurity
C. longevity
Blank (ii)
D. renaissance
E. decimation
F. neglect
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