Parts of Speech in Three-Blank Texts - GRE Verbal

The two most tempting answers are "gesticulations . . . bombastic . . . tirade" and "demeanor . . . addled . . . rant." Two points help to make the final determination. First, the sentence clearly notes the candidate's hand motions. This at least works in favor of the set containing "gesticulations" (hand movements). Furthermore, "addled" means confused, but "rant" indicates an angry speech; therefore, the match between the second and third term is tenuous at best. "Bombastic" and "tirade" particularly work well, giving us the correct answer.

The first two blanks are opposites of one another. Contextual clues are "mild flavors of inland cuisine" and "he much preferred... of the coastal regions." The clues for the last blank are "indulged so frequently" and "discern each individual flavor." Of the answer choices, only "insipid, piquant, and epicure" fit the meaning of the sentence.

The most tempting wrong answer is the one that has "alacrity" as its first element. The second sentence, upon filling in the blanks without looking at the answers, clearly indicates that the young man did not wish to seem to have a lack of energy; however, the remaining content for "alacrity . . ." doesn't make sense in this context.

The key word that might cause problems in the correct answer set is "celerity." The word comes from the Latin base "celeriter," meaning quickly, rapidly, and so forth. Related words in English are "accelerate" and "decelerate." The second and third words in this set match the sense of opposition evoked between the sentences, even if "deficit" does not seems like a word that would normally be chosen.

We know that "everyone was surprised" that the corporal "spoke up in the meeting," so for the first blank, we need an adjective that describes her normally quiet personality. Possible options include "taciturn," "laconic," and "reticent." For the second blank, we need a noun that describes the corporal critiquing the general. Of our remaining choices—"audacity," "presumption," and "dogmatism"—the first two choices fit the bill. For the last blank, we know that the general's order was given without much forethought, and need an adjective that describes this. Between "impetuous" (acting or done thoughtlessly or carelessly) and "pragmatic," (dealing with things practically and seriously) "impetuous" is the clear choice, making the answer to the question "taciturn . . . audacious . . . impetuous."

The easiest blank for this question is the final one. Since Frances finished ahead of schedule, she was able to work with speed. "Celerity" means speed in moving and functions well in this sentence as well. It is related to "accelerate," which means to increase speed. This seems to have been an unexpected meeting with positive outcomes. Such fortuitous events are often called "providential" from the older theological notion of divine foreknowledge and ordering of the world. This meeting led to a gathering of helpful factors. Such a gathering is called a "constellation"—just like the stars that are gathered together. (Indeed, "constellation" leterally means stars that are together. See the root "-stella-" found in "stellar".)

The best two clues in this sentence are "all" and "geriatric." The latter adjective describes people who are elderly. (Think of a "geriatric nurse" who cares for the elderly.) Thus, the people in question are "elders." This is slightly better than "seniors." Also, "seniors" is paired with words that do not work for this sentence. Since "all" such people are experienced, it is understandable that Harvey believed that they were universally (or everywhere and by everyone) believed to be worthy of being heard. Finally, be the recipients of experience would make one wise. To be "sagacious" is to have such wisdom. (Think of the related word "sage," meaning a wise person.)

The first answer must be something to soothe, like a soothing lotion, or "liniment." The second must be a synonym for lessen, like "allay," and the third must be a synonym for make worse, such as "exacerbate."

The first blank is perhaps the most easily completed. It uses the adjective "lively" as its main clue. The only really tempting wrong answer would be "aesthetic," meaning dealing with or pertaining to the arts; however, that is a bit too specific for the general remark about "cultural offerings." Therefore, since we know that the cities are "lively," we can also say that they are "vibrant." The small towns seem to lack appreciation for these sorts of matters—hence, the third blank's answer. To have such a lack of appreciation implies a lack of culture. For this, the word "insular" works well, for it means isolated and disinterested in new cultural knowledge. It comes from the Latin for "island." Insular people are like people on an island away from the rest of the world.

The best clues in this sentence are "new believer" and "seeking out new converts." The latter helps us to find the second blank. A "proselyte" is a new convert to a religion, and a "proselytizer" is someone who looks for such new converts. Likewise, since the believer is new, we can guess that he or she has experienced a conversion—meaning that he or she has "turned" from a former way of life to a new way of life in the given religion or group. (The "-vers-" portion of the word comes from the Latin for "to turn." It is found in words like "reverse" and "adverse.") Finally, such a person will do such conversion work with great ambition and energy. To be "zealous" is to act in such a manner. The word is related to the word "jealous"—and jealousy does indeed often lead to great zeal!

The easiest blank in this question is the final one. There is a contrast between "macroscopic" and the third blank. Phenomena that are "macroscopic" are large enough to be seen with the unaided eye—with no instruments. In contrast to this, something "minute" is small—like miniature or the prefix "mini-." (Note, the word is pronounced "my-noot." This might help you to memorize it and not confuse it with the measurement of time, "minute.")

The first blank is relatively easy to fill in as well. Since the "final certainty of the system remained to be determined," this meant that the scientific discovery was not complete. A "theory" is a conjectural explanation, not necessarily complete. This is the best first choice. Finally, since this theory attempts to provide all of the details of the world—from top to bottom (or, better, from little to big)—it provides a complete "ontology"—that is, a complete theory of "being."

The best beginning clue for this question is the fact that the scientists are described as being "all but unintelligible." This means that they are basically completely unintelligible to those who do not understand their language. "Jargon" is a system of terms that are used in a profession but are very difficult to understand for those who are outside of the profession. The term "laity" is often used in religion to describe those who are not part of the clergy; however, it can also mean non-professional people as well. Therefore, this is a good contrast to the jargon-laden scientists described in the sentence. Finally, such language is difficult to understand. Something that is "cryptic" is obscure in this manner.

Note that while "academically . . . scholarly . . . public" could also be correct, the best answer is the one whose words more specifically reference their unintelligibility. While "acadmic" and "scholarly" work is often obscure and hard to understand this is not an inherent part of their definitions as words.

The best initial clue for this sentence is the description "prolix stream." The word "prolix" means, in short, wordy. It comes from roots that are related to "liquid"—as though the words are flowing. Therefore, all we know is that Herman's sister is very talkative. "Loquacious" means this. The word is related to "colloquy," "elocution," and "eloquent"—all words pertaining to speech. The option containing "talkative" does not work because "contumacious" means inflexibly disobedient. This is not a good contrast to "loquacious"; however, "laconic" is, for it means terse or pithy, or in other words, not using many words. Finally, to "inundate" something is to overwhelm it. The word comes from roots that mean "flood" or "wave." (An "undulating" motion is one that is in a wave-like pattern.) The room was filled and overwhelmed by Herman's sister's voice because she was so talkative!

You are told in the sentence that Steve has had problems with alcoholism, it would therefore make sense for him to join an "abstinence" program. "Abstinence" means the act of restraining from participating in something addictive or harmful, particularly drugs or alcohol. An adjective that might reasonably be used to describe an addiction is "unremitting." This word means incessant, ceaseless and constant. Finally, you are told that Steve fails to stick to his program of abstinence and succumbs to a certain lifestyle. Because it is likely to be a lifestyle associated with drunken behavior the correct answer choice is "bacchanal." To provide additional help, "superficial" means not important, not real; "deleterious" means harmful; "abstemious" means abstaining from something, not participating in something enjoyable; "hostile" means aggressive; "remorseful" means feeling bad or sorry for some past wrong; "objective" means based on fact, not biased; "subjective" means based on opinion, biased; "obsolete" means outdated, no longer useful; "homogenous" means the same as, similar; "clandestine" means secretive; "garrulous" means talkative.

From the clues given in the sentence it is hard to tell whether the evidence provided by the comparison of the wife and the husband will prove or disprove the “opposites attract” theory, but you know that the husband and wife are being compared in some way to prove some further point; therefore, to solve this problem you have to see which answer choices fit with this format. If the wife were “eccentric” (interesting, unconventional and extraordinary) and the husband was defined by his “banality” (lack of originality, boringness) it would make sense for the two of them to act as an “archetype” (a typical example of something) for the theory that opposites attract. To provide additional help, “haughty” means arrogant, bold; “humility” means possessing modesty and being humble; “mockery” means make fun of; “gregarious” means outgoing, sociable; “cowardice” means fear, not being brave; “anachronism” means something that does not fit in the time period; “languid” and “lethargy” both refer to having no energy or motivation; “prototype” means an original example of something; “envious” means jealous; “modesty” means humility, or the quality of being unassuming; “invective” means abuse.

The fact that Laura's friends feared to introduce anything interesting seems to hint that the conversation was quite boring and uneventful. The general idea is that it has nothing of real "bite" to it. The word "aseptic" directly means having no disease. Think of an antiseptic agent. This gets rid of anything that is diseased. A "septic tank" is where human waste is stored when there is no connection from a house to a sewage system. Apparently the friends feared anything that could disturb the peace or, to put it another way, the tranquillity of the gathering.

The most tempting wrong answer is likely the set "berate . . . value . . . verbiage"; however, several factors work in favor of the ultimately correct set, "disparage . . . worth . . . invective." Clearly, the last word should capture the sense of being forceful and negative. This already weighs in favor of "invective." The real key to the sentence is noting the synergy between "disparage" and "worth," for disparaging remarks are those that regard someone as having little worth; therefore, these three words work together much more closely than do the three potentially tempting words mentioned above.

The best clue in this sentence is the statement that the drink contained something poisonous. Milton was unaware of this, but it clearly was the case. Thus, the second blank is best answered by "insalubrious" (unhealthy) or "toxic". Now, the first blank does not work well with words like "devoured," "consumed," and "gorged." All of these really refer to solid food, not liquid. The word "imbibed" comes from the Latin for to drink and means basically that in English. Finally, the word "onset" expresses well the fact that the effects of the poisonous brew became evident quickly.

The best first clue for this sentence is the word "horrors." This indicates that the sentence is talking about more than mere battles and happenings of war. The second blank is best filled by "atrocities," which means extremely horrible events, often because of great injuries and death that are caused. The other two blanks are then easily filled given that the sentence is talking about the general experience of such horrors. Any soldier who has been a witness to such horrors will be quite aware of their reality.

The best first clue for this sentence is "his indomitable will." The root "domi-" can come from "dominus" in Latin, meaning lord. (Do not confuse this with "domus", meaning house and found in the English "domicile.") When something is "indomitable," it has no lord; it cannot be overcome. The simple word "tasks" works well enough for the first blank. We really only know that Étienne has a general undertaking—tasks. Something that is "insuperable" is not able to be overcome. Trusting in his undefeatable will, Étienne thinks he can overcome such seemingly impossible tasks. The implication is that he trusts that he can outlast such hardships. Hence, he can "persevere" through them.

We know based on the context of the sentence that the first blank is describing some undersirable or negative characteristic regarding the rise in unemployment. Given this context, "disquieting," meaning upsetting or concerning, and "aberrant," meaning departing from a norm, could both make sense. "Antidiluvian," meaning outdated, "inchoate," meaning undeveloped or in an early stage of development, and "caustic," meaning sarcastic or biting, don't make sense here. This narrows our choices to either "disquieting . . . discomfiture . . . fatuous" or "aberrant . . . antipathy . . . dogmatic."

We can see from the context that the second blank describes some negative reaction resulting from the increase in unemployment. "Discomfiture," meaning an unsettling or disconcerting state, and "antipathy" meaning aversion or antagonism, could both potentially work. Moving to the final sentence, we know that based on early information detailing the rise in unemployment, the mayor's speech about "unlimited opportunities" seems untimely and silly. "Dogmatic," meaning opinionated or dictatorial, doesn't really fit perfectly; however, "fatuous," meaning silly, naive, or pointless, does make sense given the context. Thus, we know the correct final answer is "diquieting . . . discomfiture . . . fatuous."