Once again we’re trying to illustrate the brain-teaser-esque nature of GMAT, GRE, SAT, and ACT questions. It tends to be easier to do that with Quantitative questions, but we wanted to illustrate the level of reasoning and critical thinking ability needed for Verbal questions as well. So try the below!
Directions: For each blank select one entry from the corresponding column of choices. Fill all blanks in the way that best completes the text.
Human nature and long distances have made exceeding the speed limit a (i) _______ in the state, so the legislators surprised no one when, acceding to public demand, they (ii) _______ increased penalties for speeding.
Answer:
This is a great and difficult GRE text completion question. Most people assume automatically that, since speeding is generally perceived to be a bad thing, the second blank must be “endorsed” and that the first blank must be “controversial habit” or “disquieting ritual.” There are a couple of problems with this. First of all, “controversial habit” and “disquieting ritual” are similar enough that if one were right, the other would seem to be right too. That should probably be the first sign that something is amiss. The other problem is that the clues in the sentence, while incredibly subtle, point in a different direction. On GRE verbal questions, one needs to be careful not to make assumptions and not to bring in too much outside information. In this case, the answer should be inferable based on the clues in the sentence! The sentence tells us that the legislators surprised no one. Additionally, it tells us that they “acceded” to public demand. Both of these clues indicate that there must’ve been near unanimity of opinion, not controversy. The only answer for the first blank that conveys this meaning is “cherished tradition.” And the only word for the second blank that would go along with that is “rejected.” So, the correct answer is B and F. Great question!